Singapore-based micro-entertainment company RisingJoy plans to produce 30 vertical anime titles by the end of the first quarter of 2027, using AI production tools to support an expansion into original content.
The company has already delivered six titles under its RJOY Originals banner, which are available through its RJOY branded service on Indonesia’s IDN App and Malaysian streaming service sooka, operated by Astro. RisingJoy says the titles rank among the top 10 by views on both platforms.
The push into vertical animation comes alongside an MOU with Japan’s NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live covering international distribution of the Japanese company’s vertical content, including anime. The arrangement provides for potential non-exclusive licensing on a title-by-title basis, with terms agreed for each release.
RisingJoy’s original anime titles are developed and directed by its in-house creative team and produced in Japanese and English. The company says AI production tools enable it to increase output within short-form production budgets.
The first six are Addicted to the Dark Boss, Hide My Secret in the Moonlight, In the Devil’s Hand, Last Order from the Revenge Club, Locked Away I Became Unbreakable and Modern Cinderella Behind the Lies. Four more are due by the end of 2026, followed by two in January 2027. The slate is available for licensing.
Cassandra Yang, co-founder and CEO of RisingJoy (pictured), said: “Most successful vertical series today are live action, and vertical anime is still an underdeveloped category. We read that as an opportunity rather than a limitation. Our own data shows the anime audience is narrower for now, but those viewers are more loyal, more engaged and more attached to the characters, and that is what franchises are built on. This is a strategic category for us, not an experiment.”
Alongside animation, RisingJoy is developing original IP with partners across Asia. Projects are originated, written and cast locally, then packaged for international distribution through the company’s network, which it says spans more than 50 platforms in over 40 countries.
“The industry’s default has been Chinese production houses making English-language titles for the world,” Yang said. “The next step is IP that starts where the audience is. The talent, the genre instincts and the production discipline are already in these markets, and we bring the format knowledge and the route to market, so a title made in Asia can reach audiences in São Paulo and Los Angeles.”
RisingJoy’s existing licensing and distribution business has a catalogue of more than 700 titles across Chinese, English, Korean and AI-original content. Its RJOY consumer streaming service is available through TikTok Minis in Japan and the US, alongside regional platform partnerships in Southeast Asia.
