Sony Crunchyroll expands into Taiwan and South Korea

Crunchyroll is bringing fully localized versions of its anime streaming service to Taiwan and South Korea, the latest step in a multi-year expansion of Sony Group’s steadily growing animation business. President Rahul Borini announced the steps at the APOS media conference in Bali, with Taiwan scheduled for this summer and South Korea later in 2026.

“Asia is a priority for Crunchyroll because it is home to some of the most passionate anime communities in the world,” Borini said in a fireside chat, framing the expansion as part of the company’s long-term mission to be “the best place for fans to experience anime, wherever they are.”

The company said Taiwanese fans will be able to access much of the platform’s catalog and simulcast roster this summer, with South Korea following later in 2026. Over the past three years, Crunchyroll has moved into India and Thailand, building its offerings there around local showcases, large-scale dubbing and on-ground community events that support its core streaming product.

Crunchyroll credits this localization-driven approach with significant gains in engagement. In India – which it describes as one of its fastest growing markets worldwide – the platform now offers more than 900 titles and more than 180 dubbings across Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, with dubbed content accounting for more than 65 percent of viewing and total viewing time of up to 3.5 times, the company said. In Thailand, where it launched an all-local service in February, Crunchyroll reported that viewership quadrupled and ranked fourth in the global anime syndication market — with the help of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castlewhich it says became the highest-grossing Japanese film and the highest-grossing animated film of all time in that market.

The expansion into Asia is part of a broader animation strategy that Sony Group has elevated to a central corporate priority. Sony acquired Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2020 for $1.18 billion and folded it into Funimation, the leading anime streaming company it had acquired earlier. The fully integrated service now has over 21 million subscribers and operates as a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex, the anime production arm of Sony Music Entertainment in Japan. Investment bank Jefferies expects the global animation market to reach $60.1 billion by 2030, up from $22 billion in 2023. Sony’s foresight in the category was clearly demonstrated last year with the release of Infinity Castlewhich grossed over $700 million worldwide and became the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time, with Crunchyroll as co-distributor outside of Japan.

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