Summary
On August 6, anime fans across the globe were shocked to see the premature and unofficial release of various upcoming anime titles set to premiere on Netflix and Crunchyroll, includingDandadan,Ranma 1/2, the second season ofArcaneand more. Multiple episodes of various titles, and even some in their entirety, were shared to various sites in an incident quickly developing into what’s being calledthe worst anime leak incident in history.
What happened, and what impact is this going to have on the industry both in the short-term and going forward?
The Upcoming Anime Titles Affected By The Breach
Several Episodes of Various Shows Were Leaked
Some of the titles affected by the breach includeDandadan,produced by Science SARU (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off), set to premiere in October. Six episodes ofDandadanwere leaked, along with five episodes of the second season ofArcane,set for release in November; 12 episodes ofRanma 1/2, produced by MAPPA, also set for October; the entirety of theMononoke: Karakasafilm, which hit Japanese theatres on July 26 and has no plans for an international screening or any confirmed international licensee; the entirety ofTerminator Zeroset for release August 29 and the first episode of the third season ofRe:Zero - Starting Life in Another Worldwhich premieres this October. The episodes were leaked to various social media applications and websites such as X (formerly known as Twitter), 4chan and TikTok.
How much of it got leaked?
5 episodes
6 episodes
In its entirety
12 episodes
Re:ZeroSeason 3
1 episode
August 29
All the leaks are in low resolution (640x360 or 640x352) and have burned-in watermarks as well as blurred watermarks. In the case ofRe:Zero, the watermark was from France’s Japan Expo, held from July 11 to 14. The other titles are set for screenings at the upcoming Anime NYC, which will be held August 24, withDandadan’sEnglish Dub being premiered at the event, while “First Encounter”,a theatrical screening of the first three episodes, is set to run in Asia starting at the end of August; Europe from September 7 and North America on September 13. Anime wasn’t the only medium affected, according to reports from IGN, as other unrelated content likePlankton: The Movie,Spellbound; the third season of the live-action adaptation of Alice Oseman’s webcomic,HeartstopperandJentry Chau vs The Underworld.
Has Netflix Addressed The Crisis?
“We Are Aggressively Taking Action”
“One of our post-production partners has been compromised and footage from several of our titles has unfortunately leaked online. Our team is aggressively taking action to have it taken down.”
– Netflix spokesperson Sabryna Phillips’s statement to The Verge, Thursday, July 01, 2025
According to Variety, the production partner that was compromised was the Burbank-based Iyuno, a provider of subbing, dubbing and other language-based services to the entertainment industry. On Friday, August 9, Iyuno posted a statement to their website to address the incident, with an investigation being conducted to mitigate further risks and find the parties responsible. Most anime fans who have encountered any of the leaked content have expressed condemnation and disdain for the lack of patience and overall selfishness of such an action, and howit negatively affects not only the production companiesbut the creatives who have put in an immense amount of work and dedication to produce these titles to begin with. Many people were confused by the desire to leak such low-res iterations of the anime titles in question, especially when many of them are anticipated specifically for the purported quality of their visuals. Beyond wanting to experience titles likeDandadanor the first in theMononokefilm project in their full glory, a leak of this magnitude doesn’t look good for the various companies involved at different parts of the production pipeline.
“Iyuno is aware of a recent security issue, involving unauthorized access to confidential content. Protecting our clients’ confidentiality and ensuring the security of their content is our highest priority. We are actively investigating this security breach to mitigate any potential risks and identify the responsible parties. When there are material changes or information we will make further statements.”
– Iyuno statement 9 August. 2024
What Does This Mean For The Affected Titles and Industry?
Production Companies and Distributors Are Bound To Be More
Leaks are by no means a new problem, especially not in the digital age, and a significant number of major leaks of video games, TV series and plans for the aforementioned media have taken place, but the pervasiveness of this incident, and how much it affects Netflix’s upcoming anime, are concerning for fans and everyone on the production side of things. In April, a number of Crunchyroll’s slated Spring anime titles had episodes leaked, including two episodes of the third season ofKonoSuba – God’s blessing on this wonderful world!. Piracy and hackers are a constant reality. However, depending on how it is used, piracy has significance when it comes to accessibility in this age wherephysical media is rapidly being phased outfor digital content. In this situation, the leaked material is by not the final product, and it is very likely that the responsible party(ies) were anime looking to gain some kind of notoriety, or to simply become a spanner in the works, but at this point, one can only really speculate on their intentions.
Production companies, distribution and various parts of the pipeline are going to be even more protective of their work, and if the perpetrators of the leak are found, they are likely to be liable for some kind of legal action, especially with a leak of this magnitude, one that is being dubbed the worst incident of its kind in anime history. There will likely be some changes made to the production pipeline, especially in this streaming era. Something of this magnitude cannot be allowed to happen again, so it is a high possibility that Netflix, Crunchyroll and everyone else affected will do something to mitigate the possibility of a recurrence. With leaks, it is sometimes the case that the material is officially released ahead of its intended premiere date, but there has been no news that this is the path that will be taken, nor does it make sense for that to be the way to go when, in the case of series likeDandadanorRe:Zero, there have already been pre-screenings or there are pre-screenings that are about to exhibit them in any case. For now, we can only hope that those who have an appreciation for the anime medium will wait patiently for the aforementioned titlesto be released as intended.
