Arknights anime series will be free to watch for a limited time

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn, the anime adaptation of mobile strategy RPG Arknights, will be free to watch by all for a limited time. According to an announcement on the official Arknights social media account, the series will go live on the official Arknights YouTube channel, with all episodes freely available. The limited-time promotion will run from November 19, 2023 through December 2, 2023.

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn is the first part of animation studio Yostar Pictures' ongoing adaptation of the game's story. Prelude to Dawn consists of eight episodes, adapting the first three chapters of the game's story. It stars game characters like Amiya, and features a fully voiced role for the player character, known only as The Doctor. Like the game, Prelude to Dawn introduces viewers to the game's setting of Terra, where the pharmaceutical company-slash-paramilitary group Rhodes Island works to resist the attacks of Reunion, an insurrectionist organization fighting for the "Infected", people who suffer persecution due to their suffering from a disease called Oripathy. It first aired in October 2022.

The continuation of the Arknights anime, titled Arknights: Perish in Frost, began airing in October 2023, and is available on Crunchyroll. It continues the story started in Prelude to Dawn, and follows Rhodes Island's encounter with Reunion's ringleaders, including a squad of soldiers called the Yetis, led by the ice-wielding Reunion agent Frostnova.

Arknights is available on iOS and Android, and via Google Play Games on PC. Arknights: Prelude to Dawn will be available on YouTube from November 19 to December 2, 2023 and on Crunchyroll the rest of the time.