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Hulu partners with Funimation to offer popular anime series

The streaming service has dibs on new anime distributed by Funimation.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.
Marrian Zhou
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A poster for the third season of The Attack on Titan. 

Screenshot by Marrian Zhou/CNET

Hulu is doubling down on anime.

The on-demand video-streaming platform unveiled on Tuesday a partnership with Funimation, an anime company owned by Sony Pictures Television. The partnership will bring more subtitled and dubbed anime from Japan to Hulu, according to a release.

The partnership marks Hulu's biggest deal to acquire anime, a popular Japanese-style of cartoon, and gives the streaming service first look privilege for Funimation's new anime series. It will also significantly expand Hulu's anime collection, and make the two companies co-exclusive US premiere homes to dozens of new shows. The deal goes into effect in 2019.

Watch this: Hulu's next commercial break may be whenever you pause your binge

Hulu has successfully expanded its audience in recent years. On Tuesday morning, Hulu CEO Randy Freer said the service will have at least 23 million subscribers by the end of this year. He said the company expected to add more subscribers in the second half of the year than it did in the first.

The deal will cover top anime hits, including My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul, in both subtitles and dubbing, according to the release.