Crunchyroll to Simulcast Strike Witches 2 on Wednesday (Updated)

HD video for subscribers; streaming in Americas, Scandinavia, Middle East, Africa

The media-distribution website Crunchyroll has announced on Wednesday that it will "exclusively" stream the Strike Witches 2 television anime series within one day of each episode's premiere in Japan. Crunchyroll's streaming will begin on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. PDT (on Thursday 8:00 a.m. Japan Time). Like the first season, Strike Witches 2 adapts Humikane Shimada's mecha-girl illustrations.

The simulcast will be streamed to Premium Subscription members in high definition on the same day as the Japanese broadcast, and for free in standard definition one week later. The simulcast will be available the United States and the rest of North America, South America, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Middle East, and Africa.

Crunchyroll had simulcasted the first Strike Witches anime series, but Funimation is now streaming the first series and distributing it on DVD.

Update: More background information added and press release's link fixed. Thanks, Shiroi Hane.

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TV Tokyo Exec: Crunchyroll Broke Even in Month of May (Updated)

TV Tokyo's animation head Akihiko Tamura makes comment on streaming site

Akihiko Tamura, a managing executive officer at TV Tokyo and the general manager of its animation division, revealed during a TV Tokyo meeting on Friday that the media-distribution website Crunchyroll had broken even during the month of May. Crunchyroll, which is best known for streaming anime worldwide, had announced in March that TV Tokyo had made a US$750,000 strategic investment for a minority stake in Crunchyroll. Tamura did not indicate if Crunchyroll has continued to stay in the black since May.

Crunchyroll began streaming TV Tokyo's Naruto anime series in January of 2009 — the same month it stopped accepting user-submitted videos and other content from individuals, and began only hosting videos approved by copyright holders. The site began streaming TV Tokyo's Bleach anime last month.

TV Tokyo established its animation division in April of 2009 to consolidate its existing anime businesses. Among other duties, Tamura is involved in TV Tokyo's ongoing Anime no Chikara lineup of programs with the anime production company Aniplex.

Source: animeanime.biz

Update: Crunchyroll itself had revealed during its Anime Expo panel on Thursday that it broke even in May. Thanks, zetsuie.