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TV Tokyo to Stream Naruto via Crunchyroll Worldwide (Update 2)
posted on by Egan Loo
The Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo has announced that it will begin streaming English-subtitled episodes of the Naruto anime series, about one hour after their Japanese broadcast, to paid monthly subscribers worldwide on the Crunchyroll video service on January 8, 2009.
Crunchyroll will then provide free Internet streaming of the episodes seven days after the paid subscribers see them. This coincides with when the online video services Joost and Hulu are providing their own free streaming of the same episodes via Viz Media. Viz Media announced earlier today that it will also begin hosting free streams of the new episodes on the official Naruto.com website on January 15.
On January 8, Crunchyroll will stop accepting user-submitted videos and other content from individuals, and only host videos approved by copyright holders. Gonzo and Toei Animation are two other major Japanese copyright holders of anime that decided to stream on Crunchyroll. ANN interviewed Crunchyroll founder Vu Nguyen in March.
Image © Masashi Kishimoto Scott/Shueisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot
Update: BB Watch reports that TV Tokyo will distribute five anime series, including Naruto and Gintama, worldwide on the same day that they broadcast in Japan. ANN has added more background information to this article.
Update 2: Crunchyroll has posted a press release corroborating the details in TV Tokyo's press release on Naruto.
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