Crunchyroll’s NYCC Announcements: Adapting Webtoons, Video Games, And Eat-Man

The latest batch of anime announcements from Crunchyroll seem to indicate it isn’t just print manga that gets an adaption anymore. Manga or manhwa that debut as webtoons online are taking up an increasing amount of the pie after being ignored for so many years. You can thank Solo Leveling, a successful series that began as a webtoon manhwa, for this growing trend.

Crunchyroll is going all-in on webtoon manga adaptions with three more series: The Remarried Empress, Teenage Mercenary, and The Boxer. They all have trailers already; check ’em out….

But it isn’t just webtoons that are trending…it’s video game adaptions. Kadowaka, Qzil.la and Arch are producing a hand-drawn animated version of the PS5 game Sekiro called Sekiro: No Defeat. The first season will be eight episodes long and will premiere on Crunchyroll in January. A Ghost of Tsushima anime was also announced for a 2028 premiere. We should point out both Crunchyroll and the PS5 are both owned by Sony, so…of course these adaptions would be of Playstation exclusives.

You don’t need to fear a total takeover, though…these new trends are just a small sample of the wide anime industry that, for the most part, remains traditional. Eat-Man is coming back….in 1997 an anime was produced out of this wacky premise where Bolt Crank, an enigmatic mercenary, has the power to eat anything and then reproduce it from his body at any time. A new adaption of the manga is in the works now.

Yaoi and yuri fans will be served with Here U Are, a tale of two university students who turn from enemies to lovers, and The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, based on the manga by Sumiko Arai. The latter will be directed by Masashi Ishiyama and premieres in January.

Finally the anime adaptation of Kagurabachi is still on the way, but apparently not finished enough to show much. Panel attendees were shown some character designs, but not much else. The anticipated series is about Chihiro Rokuhira, a boy who is training to become a swordsmith under his renowned father Kunishige. But after the mysterious sorcerer organization, the Hishaku, show up at their home and take Kunishige’s life, Chihiro vows revenge and takes up Enten, his father’s Enchanted Blade, to pursue his enemies. The anime should premiere sometime next year.