Crunchyroll is about to make a slam dunk with the arrival of Left-hand Layup!—a buzzy new sports anime hitting the platform this April.
The animated series, which wrapped its run in China a few months ago, will finally debut internationally on April 23. Both Part 1 and Part 2 will be available for streaming on Crunchyroll across North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, the CIS region, and the Indian subcontinent.
Fans of sports dramas and high-energy animation won’t want to miss this long-anticipated basketball series as it makes its global debut.
Crunchyroll provided the following synopsis:
Xu Xing Ze is an impassioned basketball phenom hoping to become the best there ever was. His dreams of playing on the championship team are dashed when his sister accidentally enrolls him in a lower-ranked school with a similar-sounding name. Now, it’s up to Xu and his ragtag group of friends to prove themselves on the court against some of the top teams and players in the region.
Created by HEART&SOUL, Left-hand Layup! is an original donghua that began streaming Part 1 in February 2023 and Part 2 in December 2024. Based on the trailer, the series follows a basketball team featuring a lightning-fast newcomer and an overweight boy with some serious skills on the court.
Following the success of Left-hand Layup!, HEART&SOUL plans to expand its sports animation lineup with two additional series—one centered on baseball and the other on soccer.
Donghua, or Chinese animation, has seen a steady rise in global popularity over recent years. Most notably, Nezha 2—the sequel to the critically acclaimed film Nezha—made history as the highest-grossing animated film in China and the first animated feature to surpass $2 billion at the box office.
Crunchyroll has been actively adding more donghua to its catalog. The platform is also streaming To Be Hero X, co-produced by BeDream, bilibili, and Aniplex. Produced by BeDream, Pb Animation Co. Ltd., Studio LAN, and Paper Plane Animation, the superhero donghua has impressed global audiences with its seamless blend of 2D and 3D animation and a plot featuring the top 10 heroes.
Other notable donghua on Crunchyroll include:
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Link Click, also from Studio LAN
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To Be Heroine, the second in the To Be Hero anthology series
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The danmei donghua adaptation of Heaven Official’s Blessing
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The Legend of Hei
Left-hand Layup! begins streaming on Crunchyroll on April 23.
Source: Crunchyroll
