American e-commerce company Amazon and Japanese television network Fuji TV has announced on Thursday that they have signed a deal for the network’s noitaminA anime block will stream exclusively the Amazon Prime Video service.
In addition, the first episodes of new anime shows will be available online on Thursdays at midnight, a full day before the Japanese telecast.
The fantasy action series Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress will be the streaming service’s first anime offering from the deal, which will be available online starting at 03:00am JST.
The announcement has also revealed that Amazon and Fuji TV is planning to make noitaminA shows available outside Japan, but did not state if the exclusivity deal will be in effect only in Japan or worldwide.
Currently, Amazon Prime Video is only available in selected territories, including North America, Japan and United Kingdom.
Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, has posted on his Twitter account in January that the upcoming anime series would be streamed in Japan and United States, but then retweeted an article from German website Animania which reported that Amazon has acquired the worldwide rights for the anime, albeit not stating it personally.
The official website of Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress announced that the anime will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in both inside and outside Japan.
On the island country Hinomoto, humans hide themselves in fortresses called “stations” against the threat of zombie-like beings with steel hearts known as “Kabane.” Only armored locomotives known as “Hayajiro” go between the stations. (Synopsis from Anime News Network)
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is an upcoming anime series produced by Wit Studio, which will be directed by Tetsuro Araki, who also worked in popular anime titles like Death Note, High School of the Dead and Attack on Titan. The anime series is airing on Fuji TV starting Thursday, April 7.
The anime series is written by Hiroshi Seko, who also worked on the highly-popular Attack on Titan, with supervision by Ichiro Okouchi, who created the highly-popular Code Geass franchise.
The Japanese voice cast are lead by Sayaka Senbongi (“Claire Kokonoe”, Chronicles of the Going Home Club) as “Mumei” and Tasuku Hatanaka (“Yuma Tsukumo”, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal) as “Ikoma”.
