Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures, And Japanese Broadcaster Wowow Unveil Multi-Series Co-Production Deal

Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures, and Japanese broadcaster/streamer Wowow have unveiled a new multi-project co-production deal for the development and production of new anime series, starting with the fantasy adventure Bye, Bye, Earth.

Details:

• No specific number of planned co-productions has been announced, but Bye, Bye, Earth, as well as each subsequent series co-produced by the three companies, will broadcast and stream on Wowow in Japan and stream on Crunchyroll in 200-plus other countries.
• Bye, Bye, Earth, based on a novel by writer Tow Ubukata (RWBY: Ice Queendom, Ghost in the Shell: Arise), follows protagonist Bell as she tries to uncover her own past, encountering adventure and conflict along the way.
• No animation studio for Bye, Bye, Earth was named in the announcement, but we’ve reached out to request more info and will update when we know more.
• According to Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini: “Anime fans love to discover new worlds and our partnership with Wowow and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan will allow us to present new adventures to the global anime community. We’re excited to work with such incredible partners to create and support new content that we know will become favorites for fans worldwide.”
• Wowow representative director, president, and CEO Akira Tanaka added: “Beyond Japan, anime is video content that global fans pay attention to… Our first project will be Bye Bye, Earth by Tow Ubukata. We aim to draw the charm of this grand-scale fantasy masterpiece with a unique worldview that anime can offer, and inspire as many fans [as possible] regardless of their nationalities, languages, and ages. We would like to create a show that the fans will love for a long time,”