After news surfaced previously about Amazon taking on the streaming through their Prime Video service for the Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress anime series, it looks like things are going to a different level for it that will definitely provide fans with some choices ahead.
Amazon and Fuji TV have put together an exclusive partnership that sees the service streaming the noitaminA block of shows going forward and with the first episode of shows streaming on the service before the begin their broadcast run, giving Amazon some potentially big eyeballs in Japan for said service.
The streaming is going to be extending outside of Japan as well, though there wasn’t any indication if the exclusivity would include this aspect of it as well. Amazon is looking to secure more viewership in Japan now that they’re facing some strong competition from Netflix and their recent moves there, particularly with original content and the US generated original content. At this stage, it’s possible that overseas streaming is less important so it may not be exclusive. It’s also unclear how Aniplex shows that are a part of the block could be impact as Aniplex has largely made sure that in recent seasons that their shows are available across multiple services.
While anime fans have been able to stick to just a couple of services up until the past year or so, there are now more and more exclusive services that are spreading out as content spreads out, which for some fans it will end up putting them into more of a position of choosing which services to support. And for fans outside of the US where Amazon Prime doesn’t exist the ability to watch if these are exclusive takes on an even stranger tone.
Amazon Video currently serves United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Austria. Yes, that’s right, not even Canada.
[Source: ANN]
