Amazon is giving anime fans a new way to get their fix.
The online retail giant announced today that it’s launching Anime Strike, an new on-demand subscription channel. Amazon says it’ll offer classic anime, exclusives, and rare content, like “new episodes from Japan’s famed late-night anime blocks.”
The subscription will cost Amazon Prime members an additional $4.99 per month, but fans can try it with a seven-day free trial. While there are lots of places to stream anime for free online, Amazon hopes to woo patrons to the service with a deep catalog of more than 1,000 new and classic episodes and movies served up ad-free.
It also promises new content weekly, including same-day-as-broadcast episodes of Scum’s Wish, Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga, and more. Amazon inked exclusive deals to make Anime Strike the only place in the U.S. to stream several series, including Onihei, The Great Passage, Vivid Strike!, Crayon-Shin Chan Gaiden: Alien vs. Shinnosuke, Scum’s Wish, and Chi’s Sweet Adventure.
You can scroll through options on the channel here. This is Amazon’s first self-branded subscription channel (after offering provider-specific subscription channels for networks like HBO and Showtime). Michael Paull, Amazon’s VP of digital video and head of Amazon Channels worldwide, told Variety that Anime Strike is the first in a rollout of Amazon-curated subscription channels, though he did not say what other genres the company might tackle next.
