Aniplex's So-Ra-No-Wo-To Coming to Crunchyroll

A-1 Pictures' Original Creation Directed by Rising Star Mamoru Kanbe Coming to Crunchyroll

San Francisco, CA and Tokyo, Japan (January 8, 2009) — Crunchyroll and Aniplex announced today the addition of SO-RA-NO-WO-TO to Crunchyroll's Winter 2010 Anime Lineup. Developed and animated in-house by Aniplex's subsidiary studio, A-1 Pictures, SO-RA-NO-WO-TO is directed by rising star Mamoru Kanbe and features voice-acting newcomer Juri Aikawa in the lead role of Kanata Sorami. More information can be found at http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Soranowoto.

“For many years, Aniplex has had one of the keenest senses of what will be successful in the entire Japanese animation business,” states Crunchyroll Vice President of Licensing, Rob Pereyda, “with SO-RA-NO-WO-TO, we first congratulate them on their achievement and then look forward to its highly anticipated release on Crunchyroll.”

“With the commencement of Aniplex, A-1 Pictures, and TV Tokyo's ANIME-NO-CHIKARA (The Power of Anime) project aimed at cultivating original animation, we are pleased to present SO-RA-NO-WO-TO as its inaugural series,” states Hideki Gotō, Executive Vice President at Aniplex. “We are excited that Crunchyroll can be a part of this historic event.”

SO-RA-NO-WO-TO will be available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, in standard definition free of charge to all visitors of Crunchyroll's website and across the Crunchyroll network one week after airing in Japan. Crunchyroll's Anime Members and All-Access Members will receive early access to the program in 480P within one hour after its Japanese airing.

SO-RA-NO-WO-TO joins hundreds of other Japanese anime and Chinese and Korean live-action drama series in one of the largest English-subtitled streaming collections of officially-licensed East Asian content in the world.

All fans can enjoy all content on the site for free, but Crunchyroll Anime Members benefits include higher quality streams of all shows (in some cases at 720p High Definition Video) with no advertisement and early access to all simulcast shows as early as one (1) hour after its Japan Broadcast. Crunchyroll Anime Membership costs as little as $5 a month and goes directly towards supporting Japan Animation companies. More information, including a two week free trial membership can be found at http://www.crunchyroll.com/freetrial.

Title Synopsis:

SO-RA-NO-WO-TO

There is no happiness in the world.

There is no joy.

If anything, it is a dark and needy world.

However, that is just one state of the world...

There are beautiful things, filthy things, harsh things, and even enjoyable things...

How you take them will be up to you.

About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the largest online community and video site for the very best in Japanese Anime and Dramas from Asia. Crunchyroll's content is provided by Asian media leaders including TV TOKYO, Shueisha, d-rights, Fuji Creative Corporation (FCC), Media International Corporation (MICO), Pony Canyon, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Toei Animation, Gonzo, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation America and many others.

Crunchyroll was founded in June 2006 and has offices in both San Francisco and Tokyo. Crunchyroll is a pioneer and innovator within the Japanese anime industry and the only video service in the world to offer hit programs like NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, GINTAMA and many others online to its subscribers within one hour of its Japanese broadcast. Crunchyroll is a member of the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) and the Licensing International Merchandisers Association (LIMA) and is funded by leading venture capital firm, Venrock. More information can be found at its website http://www.crunchyroll.com.

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