{"rewrite":{"id":"r_1ab5b72f975e72e809a34492","clusterId":"c_35467031fbf0c07d6f9aca96","slug":"crunchyroll-unveils-storyworks-division-at-anime-future-forum","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Crunchyroll Unveils Storyworks Division at Anime Future Forum","summary":"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.","whyItMatters":"Storyworks formalizes a pipeline Sony already owns on both ends, moving Crunchyroll past licensing into development of its own cross-format titles and giving Japanese creators a named route into live-action production.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eStoryworks will report to Crunchyroll chief content officer Asa Suehira and be led by Tohru Iokibe, a 25-year Sony veteran, with a mandate to center original creative visions on greenlight-ready projects for HAYATE, Crunchyroll\u0026#39;s joint venture with Aniplex. Separately, Crunchyroll Manga starts rolling out Wednesday as a premium add-on for readers in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Nepal and Pakistan, with J-Novel Club, Square Enix and Yen Press among the first partners and VIZ Media action titles to follow. Sony Interactive Entertainment\u0026#39;s Hideaki Nishino said a dedicated anime space arrives inside the PlayStation 5 home experience next spring.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Crunchyroll announced Storyworks at the Anime Future Forum, a division pairing Crunchyroll, Aniplex and Sony Pictures to push global stories into anime and anime into live action. Crunchyroll Manga also expands to 250-plus titles, and PS5 gets an anime space next spring.","twitterPost":"Crunchyroll announced Storyworks at the Anime Future Forum: Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Japanese creators and Sony Pictures developing global stories as anime and anime as live action, led by 25-year Sony veteran Tohru Iokibe. Crunchyroll Manga expands, PS5 gets an anime space.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"At the inaugural Anime Future Forum, Crunchyroll announced Storyworks, a division that combines Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Japanese creators and Sony Pictures to develop global stories into anime and Japanese anime into live action. Tohru Iokibe, a 25-year Sony veteran, will lead it under chief content officer Asa Suehira. Crunchyroll also expanded its digital manga add-on to more than 250 titles in several English-speaking markets, and Sony said the PlayStation 5 home experience will gain a dedicated anime space next spring.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"The Hollywood Reporter Anime\",\"url\":\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/crunchyroll-beyond-the-spiderverse-new-anime-division-1236725102/\",\"title\":\"New 'Beyond the Spider-Verse' and Crunchyroll Live-Action Reveals Shared at Anime Future Forum\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4638,"outputTokens":708,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791581848,"createdAt":"2026-10-09T21:31:13.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-09T21:36:05.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-09T21:36:05.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_35467031fbf0c07d6f9aca96","canonicalTitle":"New ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ and Crunchyroll Live-Action Reveals Shared at Anime Future Forum","representativeArticleId":"a_1d6e23c6e042c6ba0fdb7790","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse\"],\"studios\":[\"Crunchyroll\",\"Sony Pictures Animation\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"announcement\",\"domain\":\"anime\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"business","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-09T20:29:36.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-09T20:29:36.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-09T21:36:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"The Hollywood Reporter Anime","url":"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/crunchyroll-beyond-the-spiderverse-new-anime-division-1236725102/","title":"New ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ and Crunchyroll Live-Action Reveals Shared at Anime Future Forum"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse"],"studios":["Crunchyroll","Sony Pictures Animation"],"people":[],"type":"announcement","domain":"anime","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}