Crunchyroll Storyworks Creates a New Path From Anime to Live Action
Sony Pictures’ latest division is designed to connect Japanese creators, rights holders and global film and television production.
Summary
Sony launched Crunchyroll Storyworks for original anime and live-action adaptations.
Led by Tohru Iokibe, it prioritizes creator visions and high quality.
Storyworks partners with production venture HAYATE to accelerate global releases.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has launched Crunchyroll Storyworks, a new division designed to develop anime and live-action adaptations in closer collaboration with Japan’s creative industry. Announced by Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ravi Ahuja during the inaugural Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum in New York, the unit will operate within Crunchyroll’s content group and work in both directions: adapting stories from around the world into anime while developing Japanese anime properties for live-action film and television.
Central to the initiative is an emphasis on working directly with Japanese creators and rights holders, with Sony positioning Storyworks as a creative bridge intended to preserve the identity and intent of original works as they move between mediums and audiences. The groundwork for this creative expansion was laid in March 2025 with the formation of HAYATE, a Tokyo-based production joint venture co-founded by Aniplex and Crunchyroll.
Originally established to fuse Aniplex’s industry-leading production expertise with Crunchyroll’s massive global distribution network, HAYATE will now work in tandem with the newly minted Storyworks division. Crunchyroll Storyworks will serve as the developmental engine, identifying, planning, and accelerating projects before passing them over to HAYATE and its partner Japanese studios for physical production. At the time of writing, no specific titles under the Crunchyroll Storyworks banner have been announced yet.
