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Sony Launches Crunchyroll Storyworks Division Led by Tohru Iokibe

Storyworks gives Crunchyroll a formal pipeline into HAYATE, the Aniplex joint venture that already owns anime studio Lay-duce outright after acquiring all its shares in April, so the division is positioned to feed production capacity the company controls rather than license from outside.

Key Facts

  • Sony Pictures Entertainment announced Crunchyroll Storyworks on October 7, 2026, during the Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum in New York.
  • Tohru Iokibe, a 25-year veteran of Sony, will lead Crunchyroll Storyworks and report to Crunchyroll Chief Content Officer Asa Suehira.
  • Crunchyroll Storyworks will seek greenlight-ready projects for HAYATE Inc., the anime production venture Aniplex and Crunchyroll founded in March 2025 and headquartered in Tokyo.
  • HAYATE Inc. is led by Chairman and CEO Masanori Miyake and President and COO Leo Watanabe, and it acquired all shares of anime studio Lay-duce in April.
  • Crunchyroll surpassed 21 million subscribers earlier this year, and its parent Sony completed the US$1.175 billion purchase of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021.

Reporting from 5 sources: Anime News Network, Deadline Anime, Cartoon Brew, Animehunch, and 1 more.

Sony Launches Crunchyroll Storyworks Division Led by Tohru Iokibe

Sony Pictures Entertainment announced Crunchyroll Storyworks on Wednesday during the Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum at the North Javits Center in New York, on the eve of New York Comic Con. The new division will adapt stories from around the world into anime and turn Japanese anime into live-action adaptations, working with Japanese creators. Tohru Iokibe, a 25-year veteran of Sony, will lead Storyworks and report to Crunchyroll Chief Content Officer Asa Suehira. The unit sits inside Crunchyroll's content group and will develop projects meant to be greenlit for HAYATE Inc., the anime production venture Aniplex and Crunchyroll founded in March 2025 and based in Tokyo, led by Chairman and CEO Masanori Miyake and President and COO Leo Watanabe. Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Ravi Ahuja delivered brief remarks at the forum. Iokibe recently led IP initiatives connecting SPE and PlayStation Productions.

Tohru Iokibe keeps the title of head of Crunchyroll Storyworks and moves into a content group that has grown well past streaming. Crunchyroll's service, merchandise, events, and manga passed 21 million subscribers earlier this year, and Sony has kept funding the expansion since closing its $1.2 billion Crunchyroll purchase in 2021 and folding the service together with Funimation.

At the October 7 forum, speakers framed the mandate as protection of the source material rather than volume. Ravi Ahuja said the company has "a responsibility to protect and amplify what makes it special while always keeping creators' visions at the center," and called Storyworks a way to amplify anime as a "global force" while paying homage to its Japanese roots. Asa Suehira said the division would "build a creative bridge between Japan and storytellers around the world." Iokibe said "the best adaptations begin with respect for the original work."

Several details around the announcement differ by outlet. Crunchyroll is described as an independently operated joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan's Aniplex, and both those companies trace back to Tokyo-based Sony Group. Storyworks projects are meant for HAYATE Inc., the Tokyo venture founded in March 2025, whose staff is drawn from Aniplex and Crunchyroll employees and which focuses on planning, developing, and producing anime for Crunchyroll's platform worldwide. In April, HAYATE acquired all shares of anime studio Lay-duce, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

Synthesized by Yomimono from the 5 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.

Crunchyroll Sony Pictures Entertainment

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