Naoko Yamada’s K-On! The Movie anime film is joining the lineup of The Criterion Channel in May 2026. It will only be available to watch in the U.S.
The anime film’s main premise is described as:
Five high school bandmates make music and memories on a life-changing trip to London in this charming, heartfelt ode to friendship and growing up.
K-On! The Movie was first released in Japanese theaters on December 2, 2011. Yamada directed the anime film, with Reiko Yoshida (Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction) writing the screenplay and scripts and Yukiko Horiguchi (Hello World) as the chief animation director and character designer. Kyoto Animation handled the animation production. Sentai Filmworks released the anime film on home video in 2013.
The Criterion Channel previously added Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Season 1 and Gunbuster: The Movie in March 2026. It also streamed Yamada‘s Liz and the Blue Bird anime film and five Makoto Shinkai films: 5 Centimeters Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, She and Her Cat, and Voices of a Distant Star.
The Criterion Channel is described on its website as an “independent streaming service” operated by The Criterion Collection that hosts several classic and contemporary films from Hollywood and around the world.
The Criterion Channel announced the launch of an anime section in July 2025, which included an initial release of titles later in August such as Ghost in the Shell, Redline, Paprika, and Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space.
