Formerly | FunimationNow (2016–2020) |
---|---|
Type of business | Division |
Type of site | OTT streaming platform |
Available in | 3 languages |
List of languages
| |
Dissolved | April 2, 2024 |
Headquarters | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
Country of origin | United States |
Area served | Worldwide [a] |
Industry | |
Products | |
Services |
|
URL | Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2024-04-02) |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Required |
Launched | January 7, 2016 |
Current status | Defunct (consolidated into Crunchyroll) |
Funimation [b] was an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It streamed popular series, such as Dragon Ball , One Piece , YuYu Hakusho , My Hero Academia , Attack on Titan , Fairy Tail , Black Clover , Fruits Basket , Assassination Classroom and Tokyo Ghoul among many others. [1] The service and its parent company were acquired by Sony, [2] [3] who ran the service through Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2017 to 2019 and then through SPE and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex from 2019 to its closure in 2024. In 2021, Sony acquired Crunchyroll. [4]
In March 2022, Funimation Global Group, the service's parent company, was rebranded as Crunchyroll, LLC and a large majority of its catalog was moved to Crunchyroll; [5] [6] despite this, the Funimation streaming service remained active and continued to distribute titles that were originally licensed by the Funimation company before the merger until it was shut down in April 2024. [7] [8]
In the early 1990s, Japanese-born businessman Gen Fukunaga was approached by his uncle, Nagafumi Hori, who was working as a producer for Toei Company. Hori proposed that if Fukunaga could start a production company and raise enough money, Toei Animation would license the rights to the Dragon Ball franchise to the United States. Fukunaga met with co-worker Daniel Cocanougher, whose family owned a feed mill in Decatur, Texas, and convinced Cocanougher's family to sell their business and serve as an investor for his new company. [9] [10] [11] The company was founded on May 9, 1994, as FUNimation Productions. [12]
They initially collaborated with other companies on Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z , such as BLT Productions, Ocean Studios, Pioneer and Saban Entertainment. [13] [14] After two aborted attempts to bring the Dragon Ball franchise to television via first-run syndication, Cartoon Network began airing Dragon Ball Z as part of its Toonami programming block in 1998, which quickly became the highest-rated show on the block and garnered a large following. [15] [16] [17] The success of Dragon Ball Z is credited for allowing Funimation to acquire other licensed titles. [17] [18]
In 2009, Funimation signed a deal with Toei Animation to stream several of its anime titles online through the Funimation website. [19] On October 14, 2011, Funimation announced a partnership with Niconico, the English language version of Nico Nico Douga, to form the Funico brand for the licensing of anime for streaming and home video release. From this point on, virtually all titles simulcasted by Niconico were acquired by Funimation. [20] On February 18, 2012, Funimation announced that it would launch its video streaming app on April 6, 2012. [21]
In 2014, Funimation released Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods to theaters in partnership with Screenvision. [22] Based on its success, Funimation launched its own theatrical division in December 2014. [23] On June 22, 2015, Funimation and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced a multi-year home video distribution deal. The deal allowed UPHE to manage distribution and sales of Funimation's catalog of titles. [24] Universal began distributing Funimation's titles in October of that year. [25]
In January 2016, Funimation introduced a new logo and announced the rebranding of their streaming platform as "FunimationNow". [26] [27] In April 2016, they launched their service in the UK and Ireland. [28]
On September 8, 2016, Funimation announced a partnership with Crunchyroll. Select Funimation titles would be streamed subtitled on Crunchyroll, while select Crunchyroll titles would be streamed on FunimationNow, including upcoming dubbed content. In addition, Funimation would act as the distributor for Crunchyroll's home video catalog. [29]
On May 18, 2017, Shout! Factory acquired the North American distribution rights to In This Corner of the World , with a U.S. theatrical release to take place on August 11, 2017, co-released by Funimation Films. [30]
In May 2017, it was reported that Universal Studios and Sony Pictures Television were interested in purchasing Funimation; however, Universal decided not to proceed with the bidding. [31] On July 31, 2017, Sony Pictures Television announced that it would buy a controlling 95% stake in Funimation for $143 million, a deal that was approved by the United States Department of Justice on August 22, 2017. [32] This deal allowed Funimation to have synergies with Sony's Animax and Kids Station divisions and "direct access to the creative pipeline". [33] The deal was closed on October 27, 2017. [34]
On February 16, 2018, it was reported that Shout! Factory's Shout! Studios division acquired the U.S./Canadian distribution rights to Big Fish & Begonia and partnered with Funimation Films again for distribution. [35] On July 12, 2018, it was announced that Funimation Films had picked up licensing rights for Dragon Ball Super: Broly in North America and that its English dub would premiere in theaters sometime in January 2019 in the United States and Canada, only around a month after its national premiere in Japan. [36]
On August 7, 2018, AT&T fully acquired Otter Media, owner of Crunchyroll. [37] On October 18, 2018, Funimation and Crunchyroll announced that their partnership with would end on November 9, 2018, as a result of Sony Pictures Television's acquisition of Funimation. [38] Despite the home video releases being unaffected and still going on as planned, select Funimation content would be removed from Crunchyroll, and subtitled content would return to FunimationNow. Additionally, it was also announced that Funimation would be removed from Otter Media-owned streaming service VRV entirely, being replaced by Hidive. [38] In December 2018, it was reported that another reason the partnership ended was due to a dispute concerning international expansion. [39] On December 4, 2018, Funimation inked an exclusive multi-year first-look SVOD deal with Hulu. [40]
On March 23, 2019, at AnimeJapan 2019, Funimation announced that they had partnered with Chinese streaming service Bilibili to jointly license anime titles for both the U.S. and Chinese markets. [41]
On May 29, 2019, Funimation announced that they had acquired Manga Entertainment's UK branch, and immediately consolidated the former's UK business into the latter's. [42] On July 5, 2019, Funimation announced at Anime Expo that they had reached a streaming partnership with Right Stuf Inc., with select titles from Nozomi Entertainment being made available on FunimationNow later in the year. [43] On August 31, 2019, Aniplex of America announced on Twitter that they would be partnering with Funimation Films to co-release Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl theatrically in the U.S. on October 2, 2019, and in Canada on October 4, 2019. [44]
On September 24, 2019, Sony Pictures Television and Aniplex announced that they were consolidating their international anime streaming businesses under a new joint venture, Funimation Global Group, LLC., with Funimation general manager Colin Decker leading the joint venture. The joint venture would operate under Funimation's branding, and allow Funimation to acquire and distribute titles with Aniplex subsidiaries Wakanim, Madman Anime and AnimeLab. The first title under the joint venture, Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia , would receive a 30-day exclusivity on FunimationNow, AnimeLab and Wakanim, and provide Funimation exclusive rights to the English dub for one year. [45]
In December 2019, Funimation launched a "Decade of Anime" poll in which fans voted for their favorite anime across multiple categories. [46] [47]
On January 24, 2020, Funimation announced it would be merging its online catalog into AnimeLab for Australian and New Zealand audiences, and would shut down FunimationNow for Australia and New Zealand on March 30. [48]
On May 1, 2020, Funimation announced that they formed a partnership with Kodansha Comics to host a series of weekly watch parties. [49] On May 4, Funimation announced that they had struck a deal with NIS America to stream select titles on FunimationNow. [50]
On July 3, 2020, Funimation announced at FunimationCon that they would expand their streaming service to Latin America, starting with Mexico and Brazil in Q4 2020, with one of the first dubbed titles released being Tokyo Ghoul:re . [51] [52] Funimation later revealed that they would launch their Latin American services in December 2020. [53] However, they launched their service early on November 18, 2020. [54]
On September 9, 2020, Funimation announced that they had reached a distribution partnership with Viz Media, with Viz Media titles being made available to stream on Funimation's website. [55] The deal was made after select Viz titles such as Part I of Naruto and the first 75 episodes of Hunter × Hunter were previously made available on FunimationNow. On December 2, 2020, Brazilian TV channel Loading announced a content partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Funimation titles being included in the partnership was hinted at, but not confirmed. [56] Five days later, it was officially confirmed that Funimation titles would be included in the partnership. [57]
On November 24, 2020, Funimation announced they had partnered with Sunrise to stream select Gundam titles such as Mobile Suit Gundam , Mobile Suit Gundam SEED , and later Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam . Some Gundam titles already streamed on Funimation prior to said partnership like Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans . [58]
On December 9, 2020, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that it would acquire Crunchyroll from AT&T's WarnerMedia (later spun out by AT&T and merged with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery) for a total of US$1.175 billion in cash, placing the company under Funimation once the acquisition was finalized. [59] The acquisition of Crunchyroll was completed on August 9, 2021, with Sony stating in their press release that they would create a unified anime subscription using their anime businesses as soon as possible. [60]
On April 12, 2021, it was announced that subsidiary Manga Entertainment would officially be rebranding as Funimation UK in the UK and Ireland, starting on April 19, 2021. [61] On June 10, 2021, it was announced AnimeLab would begin the process of rebranding and transitioning its services to Funimation in Australia and New Zealand, on June 17, 2021. [62] On June 16, 2021, Funimation launched in Colombia, Chile, and Peru. [63]
On September 1, 2021, Funimation and Gonzo announced a partnership to upload select remastered titles on their respective YouTube channels until November 30. These titles were Ragnarok the Animation , Witchblade and Burst Angel . [64]
On January 25, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that they were going to release Jujutsu Kaisen 0 in theaters on March 18, 2022, in the United States and Canada. The film launched in over 1,500 theaters, as well as some IMAX theatres, in both sub and dub. They also stated that the feature would be coming soon to theaters in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and Latin America among other countries. This was the first and only Crunchyroll film to be distributed in association with Funimation Films. [65]
On March 1, 2022, it was announced that the Funimation, Wakanim and VRV SVOD services would be consolidated into Crunchyroll. [5] [6] Despite this, the Funimation streaming service remained in operation, and continued to simulcast newer titles acquired by Crunchyroll, LLC after the merger. [7] [66] [67]
On February 7, 2024, it was announced that the Funimation app and website would shut down on April 2, 2024, and that all Funimation subscribers could choose to migrate their account data to Crunchyroll until then. [8] As part of the merger of services, legacy Funimation subscribers would see a price increase and users would lose access to their digital library. [68] [69] Following complaints from users, Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini stated that the company would work with customers to provide "appropriate value" for their digital copies. [70] [71]
Country | United States |
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Broadcast area | Northern America |
Network | Colours TV (2006–2008) |
Headquarters | West Palm Beach, Florida |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English Spanish (via SAP audio track) |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Olympusat |
Parent | Funimation |
History | |
Launched | September 29, 2005 |
Closed | December 31, 2015 |
Replaced by | Toku |
Funimation Entertainment, along with OlympuSAT, launched the Funimation Channel on September 29, 2005, the second 24-hour anime digital cable network in North America (the first being A.D. Vision's Anime Network). [72] [73] OlympuSAT was the exclusive distributor of the channel. [73]
On March 23, 2006, a syndicated block was announced for Colours TV. [74] A few months later, it was announced that the channel was launched in a few cities via VHF and UHF digital signals. [75] [76] Both services were discontinued in favor for a more successful expansion on digital cable, fiber optics and DBS systems. [77] [78] The channel launched its HD feed on September 27, 2010. [79] On December 31, 2015, Funimation and OlympuSAT ended their deal and no longer broadcasts Funimation titles on the channel. [80] The television channel was replaced by Toku, while Funimation announced plans to relaunch Funimation Channel in 2016. [81] [82]
Back in 2007, Funimation licensed Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie , the Record of Lodoss War series, the Project A-ko series, Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer and Grave of the Fireflies from Central Park Media and played them on the Funimation Channel on television in the United States. [83] [84] [85] [c] In 2009, they licensed Buso Renkin , Honey and Clover , Hunter × Hunter, Nana and Monster from Viz Media (their fellow rival) for the channel. [86] [87] [d] They also licensed Ninja Nonsense and Boogiepop Phantom from Right Stuf Inc.'s Nozomi Entertainment division for it as well. The only title licensed for Funimation Channel which was not licensed by Funimation, neither Viz Media, nor Nozomi Entertainment or Central Park Media was Haré+Guu , which was licensed for North American distribution by AN Entertainment and Bang Zoom! Entertainment and had its North American DVD release published by Funimation, while its licensors were the producers. [88] [89] The only Enoki USA titles Funimation licensed for Funimation Channel were Revolutionary Girl Utena and His and Her Circumstances . [90]
Funimation's catalog of series and films, as well as official Japanese simulcasts, were available for streaming on their website and dedicated apps. [91] They streamed over 800 titles from their catalog, Aniplex of America, Viz Media, Nozomi Entertainment, NIS America, and TMS Entertainment among other distributors. Their titles were available for streaming in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and by Wakanim they were also available in select parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. [92] [93] Via Crunchyroll, they also have over 5 million subscribers and 120 million registered users worldwide with over 1,200 anime titles, 200 dorama, and 80 manga currently available from a wide array of distributors such as Sentai Filmworks and Discotek Media. [94] [95]
On September 19, 2006, Funimation created an official channel on YouTube where they upload advertisements for box sets, as well as clips and preview episodes of their licensed series. In September 2008, they began distributing full episodes of series on Hulu. [96] In April 2009, Funimation began distributing full episodes of series at Veoh. [97] [98] In February 2012, Crackle began streaming select titles from Funimation, joining titles previously acquired from Funimation for their localized Animax hub. [99]
A dedicated Funimation streaming app launched for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in June and December 2014, respectively. [100] [101] The app later launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms in March and July 2015, respectively. [102] [103] A Nintendo Switch app launched in December 2020. [104]
In January 2014, English dubbed episodes of Space Dandy premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block a day before the Japanese broadcast; one of the rare occasions an anime series premiered in the United States before Japan. Funimation would later introduce a new "SimulDub" program in October 2014, in which English dubs of their simulcast titles would premiere within weeks after their subtitled airing. [105] This practice began with SimulDub versions of Psycho-Pass 2 and Laughing Under the Clouds , episodes of which were streamed roughly three weeks to one month following their original Japanese broadcast. [106]
On March 18, 2020, Funimation announced that production of SimulDubs would be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Subtitled simulcasts would continue as scheduled. [107] On April 10, 2020, Funimation announced that an episode of My Hero Academia had been recorded and would be released on April 12. [108] Funimation would later announce the scheduled release dates for SimulDubs that were produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. [109]
Following the corporate name change to Crunchyroll, LLC in 2022, the practice of SimulDubs officially continued with series such as Spy × Family , the second season of Classroom of the Elite, and Tomo-chan Is a Girl! . [110]
The streaming service was available through Funimation's official website in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Brazil. In select parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia, it was available via Wakanim. [92]
The Funimation app was also available on digital media players (Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku), smart TVs (Android TV, Chromecast, Samsung, and LG Electronics), video game consoles (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch) and smartphones (iOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle). [111]
Right Stuf Inc. was an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specialized in Asian entertainment. It had several divisions including: Nozomi Entertainment (production) and RightStufAnime.com. In March 2012, Right Stuf launched 5 Points Pictures, its live action label. Right Stuf also offered production services and distribution for Japanese labels Sunrise Inc., Eleven Arts, Pony Canyon, and its corporate sibling, Aniplex of America.
One Piece is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation that premiered on Fuji Television in October 1999. It is based on Eiichiro Oda's manga series of the same name. The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the "One Piece" in order to become the next King of the Pirates.
Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by East Asian media, including Japanese anime, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a Japanese branch located in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Sentai Filmworks, LLC is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios.
Tia Lynn Ballard is an American voice actress and ADR director affiliated with Funimation and Sentai Filmworks. Some of her notable roles are Kusano in Sekirei, Mizore Shirayuki in Rosario + Vampire, Rin Ogata in Rideback, Happy in Fairy Tail, Eris in Cat Planet Cuties, Nanami Momozono in Kamisama Kiss, Kokomi Teruhashi in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Zero Two in Darling in the Franxx, Itsuki Nakano in The Quintessential Quintuplets and Yashiro Nene in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun.
Alexis Tipton is an American voice actress and ADR director. She has provided voices for English-language versions of anime series, films and video games. Some of her roles include Sun Seto in My Bride Is a Mermaid, Musubi in Sekirei, Yomi Isayama in Ga-Rei: Zero, Mizuki Himeji in Baka and Test, Millianna in Fairy Tail, Moka Akashiya in Rosario + Vampire, Saya Kisaragi in Blood-C, Rika Shiguma in Haganai, Honey in Space Dandy, Mina Carolina in Attack on Titan, Kurumi Tokisaki in Date A Live, Kofuku in Noragami, Lupusregina Beta in Overlord, Kid Trunks in Dragon Ball Super, Mei Hatsume in My Hero Academia, and Kaguya Shinomiya in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War.
Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to reinforce the parent company's licensing business in the North American market. They operate the English language version of the Aniplex+ store, and from 2013 to 2017 operated a streaming service called Aniplex Channel through their website. The company most of the time only directly releases its titles in the Americas, however, some of its titles have been released in other territories by other distributors, such as Anime Limited, MVM Films, Siren Visual and corporate siblings Crunchyroll UK and Ireland and Crunchyroll Store Australia.
Michelle Rojas is an American voice actress and director who is the founder and owner of Studio Nano. Some of her major roles are Tohka Yatogami in Date A Live, Zuikaku in Azur Lane, Kanade Sakurada in Castle Town Dandelion, Mikoto Sakuragawa in Gonna be the Twin-Tail!!, Kō Yagami in New Game!, Nashiro Yasuhisa in Tokyo Ghoul, Maya Sato in Classroom of the Elite, Toka Yada in Assassination Classroom, Shion in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Roxy Migurdia in Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, and Yamato in One Piece.
Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, best known from his role in Scotland Loves Anime. The company releases both old and new anime titles both on home video and theatrically, aided by the Scotland Loves Anime film festival.
Austin Tindle is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the lead role of Ken Kaneki in the Tokyo Ghoul series, Kiyoshi Fujino in Prison School, Ayumu Aikawa in Is This a Zombie?, Yu Ishigami in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Accelerator in the A Certain Magical Index series, as well as its spinoffs A Certain Scientific Accelerator and A Certain Scientific Railgun S, Karma Akabane in Assassination Classroom, Shu Ouma in Guilty Crown, Tsukasa Yugi in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, Vali Lucifer in High School DxD, Marco Bodt in Attack on Titan, Neito Monoma in My Hero Academia, Kenji Kazama in D-Frag!, Crowley Eusford in Seraph of the End and Leopold Vermillion in Black Clover.
The Rising of the Shield Hero is a Japanese light novel series written by Aneko Yusagi. Originally published as a web novel in the user-generated novel site Shōsetsuka ni Narō, the series has since been published by Media Factory with an expanded story-line featuring illustrations by Seira Minami. As of June 25, 2019, 22 volumes have been published.
Otter Media Holdings, LLC was an American digital media company owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The company was founded in 2014 by AT&T and The Chernin Group as a holding company of the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, in which the latter invested in 2013.
VRV was an American over-the-top streaming service launched in November 2016 by AT&T and the Chernin Group. Owned by Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex, the service bundled together anime, speculative fiction, and gaming-related channels aimed at fans of such content.
Wakanim was a French subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service.
Crunchyroll Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, is an anime distributor and licensing company in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1987 as Island World Communications, the company operated as Manga Entertainment Ltd. until 2021. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Television and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.
Billy P. Kametz was an American voice and stage actor. He was best known for his work dubbing anime and video games. Kametz began his voice acting career in 2016. He provided the English voices for Josuke Higashikata in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, Takuto Maruki in Persona 5 Royal, Naofumi Iwatani in The Rising of the Shield Hero, and Ferdinand von Aegir in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Kametz died from colorectal cancer at the age of 35.
Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll Store Australia, and previously known as Madman Anime, is an Australian video publisher and distribution company focused on Asian entertainment. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film distributor Madman Entertainment, the company is now operated as a division of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.
Alejandro Saab is an American voice actor. Some of his noteworthy roles include Gabimaru in Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Anton Ivanov in Zenless Zone Zero, Takezo Kurata in Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life, Kazuki Yasaka in Sarazanmai, Izumi Miyamura in Horimiya, Tatsuya Shiba in The Irregular at Magic High School, Cyno in Genshin Impact, Jing Yuan in Honkai: Star Rail and Cheng Xiaoshi in Link Click. Outside of voice acting, he also runs a YouTube channel named KaggyFilms and a VTuber channel known as CyYu.
Megan Shipman is an American voice actress, known for providing voices in English dubs of Japanese anime series. Some of her notable roles include Yuzu Aihara in Citrus, Aoba Suzukaze in New Game!, Grey in Black Clover, Maple in Bofuri, Sakura Adachi in Adachi and Shimamura, Komichi Akebi in Akebi's Sailor Uniform, La Brava in My Hero Academia , and Anya Forger in Spy × Family.
Crunchyroll, LLC, formerly known as Funimation, is an American entertainment company based in Dallas, Texas. It operates an eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand service, which showcases acquired content and original programming from other Japanese animation studios and companies or focusing on the distribution and licensing of anime, films and television series.