HBO Max Partners With Crunchyroll To Offer 17 Popular Anime Series Upon Launch, With More To Follow
HBO Max is gearing up to have one of the most stacked collection of library titles upon its May 27 launch — from Friends, to decades of Warner Bros. films, to everything Batman — but it will be providing titles from one more highly demanded market: anime.
Netflix and Hulu have been working hard to cater to anime fans as the streaming wars kick into high gear, but HBO Max may have got one leg up on them by partnering with Crunchyroll, the biggest anime streaming service in the world and the central hub for anime fandom in the United States. HBO Max and Crunchyroll have partnered to offer a slate of 17 popular anime titles upon the launch of the WarnerMedia streaming platform, with even more to follow.
Crunchyroll was one of the first legitimate distributors of anime in the U.S., and to this day it remains the biggest hub for anime streaming. The website has even ventured into producing original content, in response to streamers like Netflix and Hulu who have been trying to appeal to the target anime demographics. But Crunchyroll is still a little anime company that could, with no way to realistically compete with a giant like Netflix. But perhaps a partnership with HBO Max could give them the boost they need.
HBO Max and Crunchyroll are teaming up to provide dubbed and subtitled anime to HBO Max subscribers when the platform launches on May 27. Subscribers will have 17 popular anime titles upon launch, including Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Rurouni Kenshin, Kill la Kill, Your Lie in April, Keep Your Hands off Eizouken and even Crunchyroll Original series like In/Spectre.
Crunchyroll will curate top anime titles for HBO Max that will be rolled out each quarter, including Hunter x Hunter and Death Note, which will be available within the first year of launch.
"The HBO brand is known for premiere content and innovative storytelling. By bringing series from Crunchyroll to HBO Max, we hope to introduce anime to a wider audience who appreciates compelling stories told through this dynamic medium," said Crunchyroll General Manager Joanne Waage. "Together with HBO Max, we are delivering the maximum reach for these incredible anime series, and we can't wait for new fans to fall in love with anime."
Here are the list of anime titles that will be available upon launch of HBO Max, along with two series that will be rolled out after launc.
TITLES AVAILABLE ON DAY ONE, MAY 27th:Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Full Series (64 episodes)
Disregard for alchemy's laws ripped half of Edward Elric's limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse's soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philosopher's Stone.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Director's Cut) – Season 1 (13 episodes and 1 OVA)Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is transported to another world where the only person to reach out to him was a beautiful girl with silver hair. Determined to repay her, Subaru agrees to help the girl find something she's looking for.In/Spectre – Season 1 (12 episodes)
In this Crunchyroll Original, an enthralling, fantastical mystery mixes with the supernatural and romance, as a duo sets out to solve a series of dark incidents plaguing their world.
Keep Your Hands off Eizouken – Season 1 (12 episodes)
Three high school students band together to create an animation club to realize the "ultimate world" that exists in their minds.
Rurouni Kenshin – Full Series (94 episodes)
Former government assassin, Kenshin Himura works to keep the peace during the Meiji Era in Japan, a time of troubled renewal after a long and bloody civil war.
KONOSUBA -God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! – Seasons 1 and 2 (22 episodes)
Kazuma Sato is transported to a fantasy world filled with adventure after a traffic accident. Now, along with the goddess Aqua, he is on a quest to solve many of this world's problems.
Bungo Stray Dogs – Seasons 1 – 3 (37 episodes)
Kicked out of his orphanage and on the verge of starving to death, Atsushi Nakajima meets members of the "Armed Detective Agency" said to solve incidents that even the military and police won't touch.
Berserk – Seasons 1 and 2 (26 episodes)
Spurred by the flame raging in his heart, the Black Swordsman Guts continues his seemingly endless quest for revenge.
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress – Season 1 (12 episodes)
At a time when the industrial revolution was carrying the world into the modern age, a horde of undead monsters suddenly appeared. The people of Hinomoto have built fortresses to help them survive this threat.
Kill la Kill – Season 1 (24 episodes)
Six years since their collaboration on the ground-breaking anime series, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima are back to shock the world! Ryuko Matoi is a vagrant schoolgirl who enters Honnouji Academy to search for clues to the truth behind her father's death.
Your Lie in April – Season 1 (22 episodes)
Kousei Arima was a genius pianist until his mother's sudden death took away his ability to play. Then he meets a violinist named Kaori Miyazono who changes his life forever.
ERASED – Season 1 (12 episodes)
A young manga artist struggles to make a name for himself while living with a strange condition that transports him back in time before something life-threatening occurs. How can he erase the threats to stop this from happening?
Kiznaiver – Season 1 (12 episodes)
A secret high school group is formed with students from different cities who share one another's pain: a "Kiznaiver."
Schwarzes Marken – Season 1 (12 episodes)
In 1983, the East German Army 666th TSF Squadron, "Schwarzes Marken," is a special-response force tasked with assaulting BETA forces.
91 Days – Season 1 (13 episodes)
During prohibition, the law held no power and the mafia ruled the town. This 91-day story follows men guided by revenge as they try to escape their tragic fates.
The Testament of Sister New Devil – Seasons 1 and 2 (22 episodes)
Basara Toujo is a high school student whose father has suddenly just remarried. Hijinks ensue as his father then departs overseas leaving Basara with two new beautiful step-sisters.
Rokka -Braves of the Six Flowers – Season 1 (12 episodes)
Legend says, when the evil god awakens from the deepest of darkness, the god of fate will summon six braves and grant them with the power to save the world. However, it turns out that there are seven braves who gathered at the promised land.
TITLES AVAILABLE AFTER INITIAL LAUNCH WINDOWHunter x HunterGon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.Death NoteLight Yagami is an ace student with great prospects and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god.