Amazon Prime Video is expanding its anime catalogue through a newly-signed partnership with KC Global Media. The Asian media giant is now bringing Animax and Gem content to the streaming platform, boasting popular anime such as Haikyu!!, My Senpai is Annoying, Fruits Basket, and more. The content is now available as an add-on subscription-based channel and costs Rs. 299 per year. The package also includes a collection of J-dramas (Japanese), which also come included with English subtitles. Once subscribed, users can stream the shows at their leisure, just like all other content on Prime Video.
“Fueled by passionate fans and the strong following of Japanese pop culture in India, we are excited to bring the ultimate Japanese entertainment experience in collaboration with one of India’s leading streaming platforms,” George Chien, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of KC Global Media said in a prepared statement. “This partnership with Amazon Prime Video marks another significant milestone for us, as we continue our efforts to provide fans in India with greater accessibility across multiple genres of premium Japanese hit series and anime content, anytime, anywhere.” Japanese pop culture in India has been on a staggering rise recently, with some anime films like Suzume and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To The Swordsmith Village getting theatrical releases.
The key highlight of this deal is Haikyu!!, which follows a short-statured teenager Shōyō Hinata, who joins the Karasuno high school volleyball team upon getting inspired by a TV segment. All four seasons of the sports anime will unlock upon subscribing to the Animax + Gem channel and will include English subtitles to go along with the original Japanese audio. It’s worth noting that Haikyu!! is alternatively also available on Netflix, though for now, it’s unclear if this new alliance will have any adverse effect on its availability there. Other notable inclusions are the slice-of-life anime Fruits Basket, Seven Deadly Sins, and My Senpai is Annoying. All of this is categorised under Animax’s offerings, of course.
Meanwhile, Gem marks its Indian debut with a lineup of Japanese dramas and variety shows, including the boxing drama 10 Count to the Future, the police procedural Outsider Cops, an airborne love story Nice Flight!, and more. Amazon Prime Video previously partnered with Paramount to bring its Hollywood content slate — featuring Star Trek: Discovery, 1883, and more — to the streamer, albeit it was included as part of the base subscription rather than as a separate channel.
Reports from last week also suggested that Prime Video has been beta testing ad-supported MiniTV content on the platform, which integrates an ad-supported carousel. Currently, it’s unclear what this would look like, though the idea is to incorporate advertisements of any new launches, product promotions, and add any brand extensions.
