Amazon Prime Video is now streaming the TV anime series April Showers Bring May Flowers and High School! Kimengumi in North America.
April Showers Bring May Flowers aired for 13 total episodes from July 2025 to September 2025.
Minato Mirai (Mission: Yozakura Family) directed the anime series, with Miwa Oshima (My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!) as character designer and Beat (animation director on episodes of Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms et al.) as sub-character designer. Silver Link was in charge of the animation production.
It is based on Roku Sakura’s romantic comedy manga series, which was serialized in Kadokawa’s Young Ace magazine from April 4, 2016 to September 2, 2022. Thirteen tankobon volumes in total were released in Japan. Yen Press licensed the manga for English release. Another short manga installment ran in the same magazine from March 2025 to September 2025.
©作楽ロク/KADOKAWA/ブスに花束を。製作委員会
Amazon Prime Video describes the main premise of April Showers Bring May Flowers as:
Convinced that she is unattractive, Hana Tabata has never managed to find her place since starting high school. To escape her bleak daily life, she loses herself each day in romantic daydreams where she imagines herself as the heroine. Taking pleasure in replacing the flowers in her classroom every day, she uses those solitary moments to slip into the role of her fictional alter ego.
High School! Kimengumi began broadcasting in Japan on Fuji TV’s noitamina programming block on January 9, 2026.
Kazuaki Seki (Ranma 1/2 remake first opening director and co-storyboard artist, “Suki Da” music video director) is directing the anime series, with Takashi Nishikawa as animation director, Shigeru Murakoshi (Apocalypse Hotel series composer and scriptwriter) as series composer, and Yuka Abe as character designer. Seven is handling the animation production.
The comedy manga series by Motoei Shinzawa began with San-nen Kimengumi, which ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from October 13, 1980 to April 12, 1982. Six total tankobon volumes were published in Japan.
It was then followed by the long-running sequel series, High School! Kimengumi, which was serialized in the same magazine from April 19, 1982 to July 6, 1987. Twenty total tankobon volumes were released in Japan.
Two more manga series were later released in 2000 and 2001, respectively. The franchise also inspired a 1986 anime film, video games, and stage plays.
©新沢基栄／集英社・奇面組
The first 86-episode TV anime series was released from 1985 to 1987 and was directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi. Studio Comet and Studio Gallop were credited with production assistance for the show. REMOW streamed the original 1985 High School! Kimengumi series in select countries and territories on the It’s Anime YouTube channel.
Amazon Prime Video describes the main premise of the 2026 High School! Kimengumi anime as:
Rei Ichido, Go Reietsu, Kiyoshi Shusse, Jin Daima, and Dai Monohoshi are five students attending Ichio Junior High. With their unique quirks, eccentric personalities, and feats like repeating grades in junior high, they have earned a reputation among their peers as the infamous group, “Kimengumi.”
Sources: Amazon Prime Video (2), WTK Twitter Account (2)
