Animeism

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Animeism is a late-night anime programming block that began on Japanese broadcaster MBS in October 2006 with a single half-hour slot and a single show. That first show was Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, a mecha drama that would later return to the same block for a 15th-anniversary rebroadcast. What started as a modest window for co-produced titles has grown into a multi-part broadcast arrangement spanning MBS, TBS, CBC TV, and BS-TBS, all members of the JNN affiliate network. By the time Code Geass came back for that anniversary run in 2021, Animeism had aired more than a hundred titles, formed a partnership with Amazon, co-produced shows with a major manga publisher, and restructured itself more than once. How a half-hour block became a significant force in Japanese late-night anime broadcasting is a story driven by scheduling pressure, corporate deals, and a catalogue that ranges from giant robots to mahjong.

• 2. Growth and Restructuring

  ›

  In April 2011, the block doubled in length from half an hour to a full hour. A year later, in April 2012, it relaunched under the name Animeism, with Natsuiro Kiseki and Eureka Seven: AO among its first official titles under that banner. Those two shows occupied two separate time slots within the same block, a structure that would define how Animeism stacked its programming for years.

  In April 2015, MBS moved the block from its Thursday night position to Friday nights and Saturday mornings. MBS chief producer Hiro Maruyama explained the reason plainly: the shift was made to avoid scheduling conflicts with Fuji TV's broadcast of Noitamina, a rival late-night anime block. The decision showed that Animeism was no longer just an internal experiment but a product competing for audience attention in a crowded late-night landscape.

  On the 8th of March 2019, MBS announced Super Animeism, an expansion that added a half-hour to the block starting in July of that year. That expansion would later be superseded by Super Animeism Turbo, which took effect from April 2024 and moved back to Thursday nights and Friday mornings, reversing the 2015 shift.

• 3. The Amazon Deal

  ›

  In June 2017, Amazon signed an exclusive streaming agreement with MBS to carry Animeism titles on Amazon Prime Video worldwide. The first two shows to reach Prime Video subscribers internationally under that deal were Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul and Altair: A Record of Battles, both going live on the 29th of June 2017.

  The exclusivity did not last. From January 2019, the worldwide exclusive arrangement ended, and other streaming services including Hidive, Crunchyroll, and Funimation began licensing titles from the block. Prime Video retained its exclusive streaming rights only within Japan. The shift illustrated how quickly the anime streaming rights market was moving in those years, with multiple platforms competing for the same catalogue.

• 4. The Kodansha Partnership

  ›

  On the 23rd of March 2019, an announcement at AnimeJapan 2019 detailed a two-year co-production partnership between MBS, Kodansha, and DMM Pictures. The arrangement gave the partners two routes: adapt manga published by Kodansha, or create entirely original anime works for the block. Domestic Girlfriend, based on a Kodansha manga by Kei Sasuga and produced by Diomedéa, was the first title to air under the partnership.

  The partnership ran its course and concluded with Blue Period, based on the manga by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, which aired in the block's Super Animeism slot in late 2021. During those two years, the collaboration brought a steady flow of manga adaptations from Kodansha's roster into the late-night lineup.

• 5. A Catalogue of Adaptations

  ›

  From its earliest titles, Animeism drew heavily from existing source material. Manga adaptations make up the bulk of the catalogue. Berserk, based on Kentaro Miura's long-running manga, aired across two seasons in 2016 and 2017. Haikyu!!, based on Haruichi Furudate's volleyball series, appeared in multiple instalments, from the Karasuno High School vs Shiratorizawa Academy season in 2016 through to rebroadcasts of earlier episodes under the title Haikyu!! Otokoma Selection in early 2024.

  Video game adaptations also appeared regularly. Devil Survivor 2: The Animation, based on an Atlus game, aired in 2013. Persona 4: The Golden Animation, also from Atlus, followed in 2014. The World Ends with You: The Animation, based on a Square Enix game, aired in 2021, and Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal, likewise from Square Enix, aired in late 2022.

  Original works without a pre-existing source ran alongside the adaptations throughout. Kill la Kill, produced by Trigger, aired in the 2013-14 season and ran for 24 episodes. Granbelm, from studio Nexus, aired in 2019. The block's willingness to carry original productions alongside adaptation-heavy seasons kept its output varied across more than a decade of programming.

• 6. Recurring Titles and Studios

  ›

  Several series returned to Animeism across multiple seasons. The Yuki Yuna is a Hero franchise appeared in 2014, then again in 2017, in 2021 for both a shorter spin-off and a full sequel season, and as a running short-form series. Rent-A-Girlfriend, based on the manga by Reiji Miyajima and produced by TMS Entertainment, aired five consecutive seasons across the block from 2020 through to 2026, a run that placed it among the longest-tenured franchises in Animeism's history.

  Fire Force, adapted from Atsushi Okuba's manga by David Production, ran for three seasons across the block between 2019 and 2026, with its third season concluding in April 2026. Jujutsu Kaisen, also produced by MAPPA and based on the manga by Gege Akutami, aired its first season in the 2020-21 period and returned for a third season beginning in January 2026.

  Polygon Pictures handled adaptations of Tsutomu Nihei's manga Knights of Sidonia for two seasons in 2014 and 2015, as well as two seasons of Ajin: Demi-Human in 2016. Science Saru appeared as a production house for Dandadan starting in late 2024, then produced a rebroadcast of that first season alongside a second season in 2025. The block's habit of returning to the same franchises and studios gave it a recognisable identity over time. Code Geass: Roze of the Recapture, a sequel to the original series that launched the block back in 2006, is scheduled to air in July 2026.