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Crunchyroll, Aniplex's Joint Venture Hayate Acquires Anime Studio Lay-duce

HAYATE Inc., the new anime production venture from Aniplex and Crunchyroll, announced on Friday that it has acquired all shares of anime studio Lay-duce, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. The announcement stated the purchase marks HAYATE Inc.'s "first capital participation in an anime production studio."

HAYATE Inc. was founded in March 2025 and is headquartered in Tokyo. Aniplex's Masanori Miyake leads the venture as Chairman and CEO along with President and COO Leo Watanabe. The staff is composed of Aniplex and Crunchyroll employees.

HAYATE is focusing specifically on planning, developing, and producing anime content for Crunchyroll's streaming platform worldwide.

Noritomo Yonai founded Lay-duce in 2013. The studio has produced works such as Fanfare of Adolescence, O Maidens in Your Savage Season, Clevatess, Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Magi: Adventure of Sinbad, Rising Impact, #COMPASS2.0 ANIMATION PROJECT, and Heroines Run the Show. The studio's upcoming works include Clevatess (TV 2) and Please Excuse My Younger Brothers (Uchi no Otōto-domo ga Sumimasen).

Source: HAYATE Inc.'s website via @animebusiness on Bluesky