Toei Animation has forged a deal with the online site Crunchyroll to offer download-to-own and streaming access to four of its anime series, Digimon 2, Pretty Cure, Fist of the North Star, and Slam Dunk.  The first episodes in each series are available now in Japanese with English subtitles with new episodes premiering each week.  Episodes of Slam Dunk (Viz Media has begun publishing the Slam Dunk manga here) debut on Mondays at noon (PST), Fist of the North Star eps on Tuesday at noon, followed by Pretty Cure on Wednesdays and Digimon Adventure 02 on Thursdays.

In 2005 Toei attempted to enter the North American market directly by releasing Slam Dunk and Air Master on DVD with Geneon distributing the titles (see “Geneon Schedules First Toei Titles”), but released only a few DVDs before scaling back its North American efforts to just licensing (see “Toei Animation Establishes Licensing Office”).  Now Toei is joining a growing number of American anime companies in exploring digital distribution of its titles (see “Funimation Launches on Joost”). As Kanji Kazahaya, director of Toei’s International Sales Department, put it: “We believe that digital distribution holds the potential to improve the economics of our studio rather than weaken it and Crunchyroll is a great company to work with because of its reach and unique approach to end users.”