Crunchyroll and Webtoon Announce Partnership to Create Animated Series

Crunchyroll stands as one of the top leaders in anime streaming, and it seems the company is ready to expand its original content. In a brand-new announcement, the company confirmed it will be entering a strategic development partnership with Webtoon to co-produce animated series based on the web comics.

According to Crunchyroll, the partnership will see both parties develop animated series based on stories found on Webtoon. Each brand will co-produce each series as well as handle distribution, licensing, and retail.

“There is tremendous crossover appeal with our audiences,” Taylor Grant, SVP of IP Development at WEBTOON, said in a new statement, “and exceptional creative synergy on the types of stories we want to tell. We’re excited to partner with Crunchyroll to bring our globally appealing characters to audiences and consumers in new ways, as well as create new opportunities for our talented creators.”

“We are extremely excited to be partnering with WEBTOON,” Joanne Waage, General Manager of Crunchyroll, continued. “WEBTOON has a tremendous catalogue of content and creators that resonate deeply with our audience and we can’t think of a better way to delight fans than by bringing these stories to life through animation.”

This partnership is an exciting one for fans of WEBTOON who want to see their favorite comics come to life. So far, several other titles published by the brand have gotten TV adaptations with South Korea developing a slew of live-action shows. Cheese in the Trap is one of the biggest webtoon hits to take over Korean television, and dozens of WEBTOON titles have gotten similar treatments since.In fact, news broke recently that The Jim Henson Company is doing an adaptation of Lore Olympus, so fans will be excited to see how this WEBTOON x Crunchyroll deal works out.

So, which series from WEBTOON would you like to see come over to Crunchyroll? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!