‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus’ Will Premiere On Adult Swim, Crunchyroll Next Month

By Alex Dudok de Wit | 10/08/2021 10:36 am | Be the First to Comment!

Back when it still resided at Warnermedia, Crunchyroll struck a content deal with its stablemate Adult Swim, home to the anime-heavy Toonami block. This arrangement may change now that Crunchyroll has moved to Sony, but in the meantime, fruits of the partnership are due to premiere soon.

At New York Comic Con, it was confirmed that the first two episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus (image at top) will premiere on November 13, at 9 p.m. PT. The series, which is billed as a “Crunchyroll and Adult Swim Original,” is based on the feature Blade Runner 2049. The English dub will air on Toonami, with Crunchyroll holding global rights to the subtitled version.

The series is produced by Alcon Entertainment and animation studio Sola Digital Arts, with Shinichiro Watanabe (director, Cowboy Bebop) serving as a creative producer. The directors are Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama (Ultraman).

The Comic Con panel also revealed a first-look trailer for Shenmue the Animation, another original from Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. The show will also air on Toonami in the U.S. and Crunchyroll around the world (excluding Japan and mainland China).

The series is based on the Shenmue video game series, which debuted on Sega’s Dreamcast. Its creator Yu Suzuki serves as executive producer on the anime, and Chikara Sakurai (One Punch Man) directs at Telecom Animation Film.

With more than five million paid subscribers, Crunchyroll has led the market for dedicated anime streaming for some time — although it was recently bought by what was its biggest competitor, Sony’s Funimation. Sony has vowed to create “a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, just as it lost Crunchyroll, Warnermedia announced a push into anime production through its units Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios.

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