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During the inaugural ‘Prime Video Presents International Originals’ event held on Feb 12, 2026 in London, which showcases the streamer’s international content to global audiences, Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President of APAC & ANZ at Prime Video said that Prime Video aims to be world’s preferred destination for anime content.
Gandhi described the anime sector as a category experiencing explosive growth. Gandhi emphasized that since Prime Video is already the established home for top-tier anime in Japan, the company now intends to replicate that success.
“Given that we are the home for the best anime in Japan, we want to become the preferred destination for anime content globally too,” he said at the event.
In line with this goal, the streamer highlighted three anime titles, scheduled to release exclusively on the platform in 2026.
Leading the lineup is the reboot of Fist of the North Star: Hokuto no Ken, for which Prime Video has secured exclusive worldwide rights.
Produced by TMS Entertainment, the new series celebrates the 40th anniversary of the legendary manga and will feature a visual style that combines CG with traditional hand-drawn animation.
The story follows Kenshiro, the heir to the Hokuto Shinken assassination art, as he traverses a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the year 199X searching for his kidnapped fiancée, Yuria, and his rival, Shin.
Prime Video has also secured the rights for the highly anticipated Ghost in the Shell anime series. This latest adaptation of Shirow Masamune’s 1989 manga is being produced by Science SARU, known for animating Inu-oh and the recent hit Dandadan.
Prime Video will hold exclusive worldwide streaming rights for the series, excluding Russia and China, while maintaining an early exclusive window for viewers in Japan. It will hit the platform in July 2026.
The final of the three highlighted series was the second season of From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman, which follows Beryl Gardenant, a humble rural swordsmanship instructor whose life is upended when he is recruited as a special trainer for the Royal Order of Knights.
The first season of the anime was a breakout hit for the platform, ranking among the Top 10 titles in more than 45 countries.
Prime Video indicated that these three titles are only a sample of a larger 2026 slate that will be fully unveiled in the coming months.
In Japan, Prime Video already hosts a massive library. However, many of these titles are currently licensed to competitors like Crunchyroll or Netflix for international distribution. If the streamer leverages its relationships with Japanese studios to secure global exclusivity for major titles, it could significantly alter the competitive landscape currently dominated by dedicated anime platforms.
However, despite their efforts to expand, the streamer had almost burnt their bridges with the anime community by releasing AI dubs for multiple anime on their platform. Though Amazon eventually pulled these dubs, the move has left a bad taste in the mouth of the viewers. Based on this recent reception, company’s stance on the use of AI in future will also play a role in how well it will be received by the fans as a go-to source for anime.
Crunchyroll currently remains the current leader with the world’s largest dedicated anime library, providing simulcasts and a vast back-catalog that appeals to both casual viewers and hardcore fans.
Source: Deadline, Press Release
