TOKYO―14 December 2023―Today, Prime Video announced that it will exclusively premiere Japanese Original The Silent Service Season One – The Battle of Tokyo Bay, a scripted series based on the legendary Japanese manga franchise, on February 9, 2024 in Japan and in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. The Silent Service Season One – The Battle of Tokyo Bay is the latest addition to the Prime membership. Prime members enjoy savings, convenience, and entertainment, all in a single membership.

The Silent Service is a popular manga series written and illustrated by artist Kaiji Kawaguchi, which was published in Kodansha’s Weekly Morningmanga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and has sold a total of 32 million copies. Amazon MGM Studios launched the project to create a world-class scripted series from Japan by teaming up with CREDEUS, Inc, which has produced a variety of films, including the Kingdom and Gintama film series. Acclaimed actor Takao Osawa took the role of Shiro Kaieda. Osawa, who played Wang Qi in the Kingdom movie series, is a longtime fan of the manga and produced the project himself, including establishing a cooperative framework with the Maritime Self-Defense Force and presenting the project to the original writer, Kawaguchi. With the gathering of Japan’s top creators, this project evolved from a traditional drama series production to the first Japanese-language theatrical film production by Amazon MGM Studios. The film The Silent Service launched on September 29, distributed by TOHO in Japan, and has been recording box-office receipts of 9.2M USD as of December 10. The Silent Service Season One – The Battle of Tokyo Bay, streaming from February 9, includes the story of the film version, scenes not shown in theaters, and the story afterward.

The Silent Service Season One – The Battle of Tokyo Bay depicts Kaieda’s story on a grand scale, from declaring the independent state of Yamato and negotiating a military alliance with Japan, to the subsequent Battle of Tokyo Bay.

“We saw so much potential from The Silent Service, and took on a challenge to produce the theatrical film in Japan for the first time,” said James Farrell, vice president of local Originals, Amazon MGM Studios. “With huge support from TOHO, we brought the submarine action to the big screen this fall. Now, we are pleased to present as a drama series with more than three hours of additional content which expands the universe we saw on screen, and also continues on well past the ending to an amazing new conclusion. We can’t wait for our customers to see it!!”

“This fall, the nuclear submarine Yamato, Captain Kaieda, and the characters who created the drama became reality in the theater,” said Kaiji Kawaguchi. “Finally, Yamato surfaces in Tokyo Bay and enters into negotiations with Japan and The United States. I want to see with my own eyes the best decisions made by Japan in the midst of the fierce battle in Tokyo Bay.”

“The Silent Service, a film released this fall, is set to embark on a new voyage as an Original drama series to more than 240 countries and territories around the world,” said Takao Osawa. “The leading production staff in Japan has created this film with thorough attention to detail and without compromise. The world is in a time of turmoil and change. We are thrilled to present this film to all people living in this time. We hope you will experience the epic story that goes far beyond the concept of drama, and the dynamic images and sound.”

“First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Amazon which enable us to work on a project of a scale never before seen in Japan,”said Shinzo Matsuhashi, CEO of CREDEUS, Inc. “With this opportunity, we are able to produce and present to the world one of Japan’s greatest hit comics, The Silent Service by Kaiji Kawaguchi. Everyone around the world would enjoy the big-scale and high-quality storyline of the series. I also wanted to prove to the world that it is possible to create such an amazing work in Japan.”

The Silent Service Season One – The Battle of Tokyo Bay Overview

Title: Amazon Original drama The Silent Service Season One – The Battle of Tokyo Bay

Launch date: February 9, 2024

Launch schedule: Episodes One-Six on February 9 and Episodes Seven-Eight on February 16, 2024

Cast: Takao Osawa

Hiroshi Tamaki, Aya Ueto

Yusuke Santamaria, Tomoya Nakamura, Aoi Nakamura

Kodai Matsuoka, Kou Maehara

Asami Mizukawa

Yoji Tanaka, Hiromasa Taguchi

Aleks Paunovic, Rick Amsbury

Isao Hashizume

Tao Okamoto, Toru Tezuka, Yoshi Sakô

Takashi Sasano, Yui Natsukawa

Yosuke Eguchi

Original Work: Kaiji Kawaguchi, The Silent Service (Kodansha)

Director: Kohei Yoshino, Teppei Nakamura, Masatoshi Kurakata, Yuki Kishizuka

Screenwriter: Hikaru Takai, Tetsuo Kamata

Music: Yoshihiro Ike

Theme song: Ado “DIGNITY” (Universal Music) / Music provided by B’z

Copyright: ©2024 Amazon Content Services LLC OR ITS AFFILIATES*Membership registration is required to view the film. After the free trial period ends, the paid period will automatically transition to a paid period (for more information about Amazon Prime, visitamazon.co.jp/prime).