News

HIDIVE Expands MBS Partnership, Licenses Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden Anime

AMC Global Media announced on Monday that it will extend and expand the distribution agreement between its subsidiary Sentai Filmworks and Japan's Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) in a new multi-year deal. As part of the deal, HIDIVE will simulcast MBS' upcoming multi-year series line-up exclusively in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and other markets outside of Asia. The new expanded deal will launch with the television anime of Umikaze Minamino's Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden (Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku) light novel series as the first title, which will also make its North American premiere at Anime NYC on August 26.

HIDIVE will reveal the other simulcast titles for its fall 2026 slate at a later date.

AMC first announced its distribution deal with MBS in March 2023. The deal provided exclusive rights for HIDIVE to stream part of MBS' future programming in all global markets outside of Asia. 

AMC Networks acquired Sentai Holdings, LLC, which includes Sentai Filmworks and the HIDIVE streaming service, in January 2022. The acquisition includes all of the member interests from Cool Japan Fund, Inc., a public-private Japanese investment fund.

The Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime will debut on October 6 on Tokyo MX at 9:25 p.m. JST, then on the BS NTV, and MBS channels. The anime will hold an advance screening of its first three episodes on September 22 at esports TOKYO BAY studio.

Honoka Inoue stars in the anime as the titular Nia Liston.

Motoki Nakanishi (Love Is Indivisible by Twins, Summoned to Another World for a Second Time) is directing the anime at KONAMI animation with Haruta Segi as the assistant director. Gigaemon Ichikawa (Himitsu no AiPri, PuniRunes three seasons) is in charge of series scripts, Yūki Itō (Mob Psycho 100 II OAV key animator) and Kana Tosaoka (Kantai Collection -KanColle- film in-between animator) are designing the characters. Naoki Endō (Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, Nijiyon Animation) is composing the music, and Hiromi Kikuta (Aikatsu!, Blue Period, Haikyu!!) is directing the sound.

Minamino launched the story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in 2019, and ended its run there in 2021. Hobby Japan started publishing the novels with illustration by Jishaku in September 2022. Katana Canata started drawing the novels' illustration from its third volume in 2023. (The anime credits both illustrators for the original character designs.) Hobby Japan published the 11th volume on June 1.

Kabuto Kodai launched the novels' manga adaptation on Square Enix's Manga UP! service in 2022. Square Enix published the manga's first compiled book volume in May 2023, and the eighth volume on February 6. Square Enix's Manga UP! Global service publishes the manga in English.

Source: Press release