Oct 9
Crunchyroll announced Storyworks, a new division combining Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Japanese creators, and Sony Pictures to develop global stories as anime and Japanese anime as live action. Tohru Iokibe, a 25-year Sony veteran, leads it, reporting to chief content officer Asa Suehira. The company also said Crunchyroll Manga expands to more than 250 titles in English-speaking markets, and PlayStation 5 gets a dedicated anime space next spring.
Oct 7
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.
Sep 10
Crunchyroll has acquired the anime feature film Witch on the Holy Night and will release it in theaters in the United States and Canada on January 29, 2027. The film is animated by ufotable and distributed by Crunchyroll with Sony Pictures Entertainment. It adapts the 2012 visual novel written by Kinoko Nasu and developed by Type-Moon. The story follows Aoko Aozaki, a high school student who is an apprentice Magician, and her housemate Alice Kuonji. Screenings will be offered in Japanese with English subtitles and in an English dub. The international rollout opens earlier in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on January 21, then moves through Austria, Germany, and German-speaking Switzerland on January 26, France, Belgium, and French-speaking Switzerland on January 27, and a larger group of markets including Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand on January 28. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and India join the January 29 date, with Spain and Kazakhstan on February 5.
Aug 12
Crunchyroll announced it acquired most worldwide distribution rights to Makoto Shinkai's new feature film, excluding almost all of Asia but including India. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures will co-distribute. No title or details were revealed. Shinkai said in November 2025 he was working on a new film with dependable companions.