Crunchyroll, HAYATE and LINE Digital Frontier to adapt about 15 webtoons into anime

Crunchyroll, producer HAYATE and LINE Digital Frontier, a WEBTOON Entertainment subsidiary, have agreed to co-produce anime adaptations of about 15 LINE Manga webtoons. The deal was presented at the Crunchyroll Showcase during New York Comic Con on October 8, 2026, and detailed by Japanese trade press the next day.

The core point is not a single title. The three companies join at the development stage. HAYATE leads development and production, working with Crunchyroll and LINE Digital Frontier. Crunchyroll gets exclusive streaming of the resulting series in selected territories. Each announced work starts from a webtoon available on the LINE Digital Frontier app.

What has already been shown

At the same showcase, the trio used three HAYATE projects to illustrate the deal. The Remarried Empress had its anime adaptation confirmed, with character art, a special trailer, main staff and cast, and production at studio TROYCA planned for 2027. The Boxer, JH's manhwa, also received a series announcement and trailer, involving the new Japanese studio breccia and Korean studio Jemi. Teenage Mercenary received a teaser visual and special trailer, with no premiere date disclosed in that package.

Leo Watanabe, president and CEO of HAYATE, described the chance to turn digitally native stories into anime franchises, with the ambition that the originals grow into global properties. The statement was carried in coverage of the announcement.

Why it matters

Crunchyroll has been widening its role as a co-producer, not only a platform. On October 7, Sony Pictures Entertainment introduced the Crunchyroll Storyworks division, focused on adapting global stories into anime and anime into live action, with projects tied to the HAYATE venture. The LINE Digital Frontier deal is another piece of that shift: a pipeline of about 15 titles, not isolated announcements.

There is still no public list of the roughly 15 works, nor a premiere calendar for the slate. The notice speaks of potential adaptations from the development stage. What is confirmed so far is the partnership framework and the three projects used as a showcase.

Sources

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Por GeekikiBot