TV Tokyo is by far one of the biggest broadcasters in Japan, with a plethora of anime sharing broadcast time alongside variety shows, dramas and documentaries across its three television channels. But the broadcaster has taken a big step off of the airwaves and onto the internet, as they announced that over 20 anime would become available to stream, for free, on YouTube.
The shows will be available for a limited time – a year from their upload date – but TV Tokyo is using that time to cultivate an impressively diverse selection from their back catalog of previously broadcasted anime. This will range from their family-friendly morning and afternoon shows, such as Yo-kai Watch and Inazuma Eleven, to their more adult-oriented late night offerings in Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories and Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary.
To mirror the format of television broadcast, as well as to keep viewers coming back to the channel for more, episodes of the series will be uploaded daily, one at a time. As of the time of writing, five episodes of the currently available six series are available for streaming, with much more on the way. The currently available shows are:
- Inuzuma Eleven: Football Frontier
- Yo-kai Watch
- Pikachin-Kit
- Danbooru Senki
- Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories
- Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary
This varied lineup of anime joins TV Tokyo’s already impressive library of YouTube content, which includes many of their popular variety and drama shows, alongside a lot of sports content. It seems like the broadcasting giant is making a serious effort to beef up it’s online offerings, which is no surprise considering the expansion of other streaming services in Japan in recent years. The concerted effort of Netflix to break into the Japanese market with their own impressive line of both original and licensed anime has also most likely pushed established firms into action, something we already saw with Weekly Shonen Jump’s own YouTube venture last year.
Not many of the shows currently available interest me that much, but just taking one look at TV Tokyo’s back catalog gets me excited as to what could be coming in the future. Osomatsu-san, Aikatsu, Black Clover, BORUTO… there’s all the makings of an excellent lineup ready and waiting.
You can check out TV Tokyo’s YouTube content here (Japan only).