Summary
- Aniplex and Crunchyroll launch HAYATE, a joint venture for premium anime content production.
- HAYATE promises high-quality anime by combining Aniplex’s expertise with Crunchyroll’s distribution.
- The joint venture could see major studios producing exclusive content for Crunchyroll, shaping the future of anime.
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Anime industry heavyweights Aniplex, Inc. and Crunchyroll have announced a brand-new joint venture that promises to bring new anime content to the streaming service. HAYATE, Inc. is a production company that is focused on the planning, development and production of anime content for Crunchyroll.
The new company will be run by staff from both sides, with Aniplex’s Masanori Miyaki as Chairman and CEO, and Leo Watanabe as president and COO. HAYATE promises premium anime content for fans through combining the time-tested industry expertise of Aniplex with Crunchyroll’s marketing and distribution to deliver high-quality anime content to audiences worldwide.
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More About the Collaborating Companies
The Joint Venture Means Several Major Studios Could Potentially Produce Content For Crunchyroll
Aniplex is a Japanese entertainment company that develops various businesses in the planning and development of anime and anime-related IPs like video games, merchandise, theatrical releases, music and is also involved in planning events. It is the overseer and full owner of several major anime production studios, including Solo Leveling studio A-1 Pictures (Lycoris Recoil, Sword Art Online), and former A-1 Pictures Kōenji Studio, CloverWorks (Spy x Family, Bocchi The Rock, Wonder Egg Priority, Horimiya, The Elusive Samurai); game developer Lasengle (Fate/Grand Order) and Aniplex of America. In May last year, Sony, which owns both Aniplex and Crunchyroll, had plans to establish a training academy for anime creators with Aniplex and Crunchyroll, and the establishment of HAYATE appears to be a step closer to making that plan a reality.
The official press release promises “premium content for anime fans worldwide using Aniplex’s production know-how cultivated over the years through its partnerships with a wide range of creators and studios, and Crunchyroll’s development, marketing, and distribution capabilities built upon its strong ties to the anime community and passionate fandom.”
With two major anime production studios under Aniplex now directly connected to the Crunchyroll streaming service, there is great potential in the joint-venture to produce IPs exclusively for the platform. Crunchyroll has undergone a lot of change over the past five years, being acquired by Sony in 2021 after a stream of global anime theatrical releases like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, and following that success with anime films like Jujutsu Kaisen: 0, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, One Piece Film Red, Makoto Shinkai’s award-winning Suzume, hallmarks of an age in which anime has rapidly become a booming global industry and part of mainstream culture.
Source: Crunchyroll
