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Netflix is betting big on reality TV as it seeks to expand its reach in Japan, a key international growth market amid plateauing subscriber gains for streaming services in much of the West. The company unveiled a slate of five reality series Wednesday at its offices in Seoul, South Korea, during an event showcasing unscripted content across Asia. The slate reveals Netflix leaning heavily into dating and variety show formats in Japan, two of the country’s most popular TV categories.

The lineup includes quirky dating shows Is She the Wolf? and Love Like a K-Drama, and an intimate spin on Japan’s well-worn comedy-variety category, Lighthouse, featuring musician-actor Gen Hoshino and comedian Masayasu Wakabayashi. Two renewals round out the slate: Second season orders for the comedy competition show Last One Standing and the middle-aged dating show Love Village.

“We’re excited to move into a new phase of our content strategy,...

Creating a vehicle for a comedy act can often result in disappointment; taking the performers outside of their usual format to try and push them to be something they are not. But with “Thanc You”, manzai duo Jaru Jaru basically stick to what they know, working the film around their act, rather than shoehorning it into a script.

Thanc You is screening at Camera Japan

A male-female manzai act bicker about each other’s commitment to the double act; a teacher wants to disband the mountain climbing club at his school as it only has one introverted member; a hairdresser insists that his customers focus solely on him; a young man asks his flatmate to move out as his family name isn’t that of an onsen town…

Having found increased fame over the last few years due to popular, daily YouTube videos, Jaru Jaru – made up of Junpei Goto...