Seasons 1-2 of ‘Knights of Sidonia’ Returns to Netflix

The Netflix Original anime series Knights of Sidonia was removed from Netflix in July 2019, but it has been restored to full Netflix as of December 2019. Here’s been the removal schedule so far, why it left in the first place and any details on a third season.

Knights of Sidonia was one of many anime that Netflix picked up from Japan. In fact, it’s actually one of the earliest animes that Netflix acquired with season 1 coming to Netflix in 2014 with the second arriving in July 2015.

The series is about a hero rising up to save a world that’s under threat from aliens. The anime still has a high rating of 7.8 from IMDb.

The Knights of Sidonia season 1-2 was removed from Netflix

Netflix had both Seasons 1 and 2 of Knights of Sidonia removed at different times in 2019. Season 1 of Knights of Sidonia was pulled from Netflix in February 2019, while season 2 was taken out in July 2019. This is according to our July 2019 Netflix Removals List.

Removal date on Knights of Sidonia

This was newsworthy in the beginning because it is now a Netflix Original.

We’re all used to seeing titles leaving Netflix at this point but not necessarily titles carrying the Netflix branding. Some of the original British series that Netflix used as Originals, Knights of Sidonia, have since been removed.

What made Knights of Sidonia quit Netflix?

Of course, this isn’t a full Netflix Original which is a hard distinction to make. Netflix distributes the series only in Japan.

In this instance, it was likely the choice of the distributor to lapse and find a new home for the series but given it’s now back on Netflix as of December 2019, that looks like Netflix wanted it back.

We first reached out to Senai Film Works and Netflix to find out about possible cancellations of this series. Netflix replied with:

“Netflix partners with content providers to license streaming rights for a variety of TV shows and movies. Though we strive to keep the content you want to see, we acquire licensing rights for TV shows and movies for a certain period of time – not indefinitely.”

How about Season 3 of Knights of Sidonia

We reported in 2019 that we still expect a third season, despite having been commissioned in 2017.