Funimation, owned by Sony, announced an agreement with VIZ Media to upload a giant organization of world-class animated series to its offerings, starting with Terra Formars, Terra Formars Revenge, Coppelion, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet and MegaloboxArray.
The series will be available on Funimation’s broadcast from September 22, the company said, with “more to come” in what it called an “expansive” agreement.
VIZ Media and Funimation are long-standing pillars of the specialized but lucrative Japanese animation market, estimated at $20 billion international this year, with another $4 billion in profits for anime-related video games, basically on mobile devices. Japanese animation, called anime, and graphic novels and comics, called manga.
Funimation, a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Aniplex, distributes foreign cartoons through what it calls an omnichannel approach, with streaming, home entertainment, theatrical premieres, e-commerce, traditional products and events.
The company said it broadcasts more than 700 anime series and more than 13,000 hours of content on 15 platforms in 47 countries and has more than 25 million fans on its social networks.
Funimation already offers all 220 episodes of VIZ’s popular Naruto franchise, as 75 episodes of Hunter x Hunter, Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II – The Battle for Doldrey and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent.
Funimation’s announcement comes at a time when rival Crunchyroll has announced two more degrees of design to give his top ardent enthusiasts deeper access to exclusive products, systems and other benefits.
Earlier this year, Crunchyroll acquired and renamed VIZ Media’s European unit to its positions in major anime markets in France and Germany.
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