Amazon's
platform continues to expand its catalog with high-caliber franchises. During
the Prime Video Presents: International Originals presentation
held in London, it was officially announced that the service will broadcast the
new Ghost in the Shell and Fist of the North Star anime globally.
In addition, the premiere date for the second season of From Old
Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman was confirmed.
These
licenses will be available globally (with specific territorial exceptions
for Ghost in the Shell in Russia and China). Below, we break
down the technical information of each production revealed.
Ghost in
the Shell and Fist of the North Star anime details
The
Ghost in the Shell (Science SARU)
This new
adaptation produced by Science SARU will be released in July
2026. In Japan, the series will be part of Kansai TV and Fuji TV's new
"Ka-Anival!!" programming block.
The
production features a revamped creative team, including the directorial debut
of a key artist from the studio:
- Mokochan as Director.
Known for his storyboarding work on DAN DA DAN and The Heike Story. - Toh Enjoe as Writer and Supervising
of the series
Novelist for The Empire of Corpses and screenwriter for Space Dandy. - Shūhei Handa as Character Designer and
Chief Animation Director
Recognized by Little Witch Academia. - Taisei Iwasaki, Ryō Konishi and Yuki
Kanesaka as music composers
Fist of
the North Star (Hokuto no Ken)
For its
part, the new adaptation of Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's manga
is scheduled to premiere sometime in 2026. This project
commemorates the 40th anniversary of the franchise and will use CG
animation, with the promise of the staff to remain more faithful to the
original work than previous versions.
From Old
Country Bumpkin Season Two
Finally, it
was confirmed that the second season of From Old Country Bumpkin to
Master Swordsman (Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei or Naru) will
debut in July 2026. The series will return to TV Asahi screens in
Japan and Prime Video in the rest of the world.
The main
production cast reprises their roles at Passione and Hayabusa
Film studios:
- Akio Kazumi as Director
Known for directing Loner Life in Another World. - Kunihiko
Okada as Screenwriter
- Satsuki
Hayasaka as Character Designer
- Yasuharu
Takanashi as Music composer
About
the franchises
