Amazon Japan announces its first original series, including Kamen Rider and Ultraman

At least a dozen original television series are coming to Amazon Japan, Deadline reports. The company announced a new slate of original, Japanese-made shows this morning, including spinoffs of the popular superhero series Kamen Rider and Ultraman. The shows will be available for anyone with an Amazon Prime subscription.

More original shows are coming

Amazon Prime Video only launched in Japan last fall, but with a price of ¥3900 (about $32) a year, it's significantly cheaper than Prime's $99 annual subscription fee in the US. It's also cheaper than Netflix; the lowest price tier in Japan is ¥650 (about $5.40) per month. Amazon Japan's move into original content is likely a way to remain in step with Netflix, which also came to Japan last fall.

Other upcoming original series for Amazon Japan include an animated "teenage rom-com" called Baby Steps, a sci-fi manga series called Businessmen vs. Aliens, and two manga dramas. When Amazon Prime Video launched last year, the company said it would eventually bring up to 20 original series to the service. These are the first 12 original titles, with more likely to come, according to Deadline. While some of the series are already available on Amazon Japan as of today, the rest will premiere later this year and in 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

• ViaDeadline