Sony Group’s flagship anime subsidiaries Aniplex and Crunchyroll revealed Monday that they have partnered to establish Hayate, a joint venture anime production company based in Tokyo, Japan. The companies say the entity’s primary purpose is “planning, developing, and producing anime content for the Crunchyroll streaming service.” The investment continues Sony Group’s ongoing prioritization of anime as a key pillar of its growth strategy.
Aniplex is Sony’s longstanding in-house anime production and distribution unit, sitting under the conglomerate’s Sony Music Entertainment business line. Crunchyroll, meanwhile, is Sony Group’s international anime streaming service, which aims to be a hub that meets all the needs of the growing anime fanbase around the world. As of last July, Crunchyroll had over 15 million subscribers worldwide. The platform also operates a free, advertising-supported streaming option.
Hayate’s staff will be made up of current employees from both Aniplex and Crunchyroll. The company will be led by chairman and CEO Masanori Miyake and president and COO Leo Watanabe, both from Aniplex.
Sony’s bullishness on anime is backed by an international surge of interest in Japanese pop culture — and anime in particular. From 2013 to 2023, the global market for anime more than doubled to $22 billion (3.3 trillion yen), according to the Association of Japanese Animations. Once the domain of subculture superfans, anime has become a mainstay of Gen Z youth culture across the globe, analysts regularly note.
“Hayate will produce 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 as well as Crunchyroll’s development, marketing, and distribution capabilities built upon its strong ties to the anime community and passionate fandom,” the two companies said Monday in a statement.
Crunchyroll, Aniplex and Sony Pictures will also collaborate later this year on the North American and international release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, a trilogy of films that concludes what is currently the world’s most bankable anime franchise. The previous film in the series, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, was released during the challenges of the pandemic in 2020-2021 but earned $49.5 million in North America and $473 million worldwide — the largest total ever for a Japanese animation. The first film in the franchise’s forthcoming trilogy will release in North American theaters on Sept. 12, 2025.
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2025-03-17 13:26