Crunchyroll Adds Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains, Serial Experiments Lain, C-Control Anime Streaming

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will stream the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS television anime series as it airs in Japan. The four episodes that have aired so far are currently streaming in Japanese with English subtitles, and new episodes will premiere on Wednesdays.

In addition, Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will add Serial Experiments Lain and C – Control – The Money and Soul of Possibility from FUNimation Entertainment to its catalog at 8:00 p.m. EDT and 9:00 p.m. EDT, respectively. Both will stream in the United States and Canada. As of press time, both series are still streaming with both Japanese and English audio on Funimation's website.

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo and its affiliated networks on May 10. Crunchyroll describes the series:

In “Den City” where the latest network has developed, people were dueling day and night in the VR world called "LINK VRAINS" managed by SOL Technology Inc. The main character, Yusaku Fujiki is a quiet high school student with a great insight. He has been dueling, transforming himself into his avatar "Playmaker", to battle the "The Knights of Hanoi” that plots to destroy "LINK VRAINS".

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS is the sixth television anime in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Masahiro Hosoda (Heroes ~Legend of Battle Disks~ , Nangoku Shounen Papuwa-kun) is directing the anime at GALLOP. Shin Yoshida and Ken'ichi Hara are returning from previous Yu-Gi-Oh! anime to work on series composition and character design, respectively. Masahiro Hikokubo is again handling the duel layout. Yuki Matsuoka (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V) is serving as sound director and Shinkichi Mitsumune (Yu-Gi-Oh!) is composing the music. Hiroaki "Tommy" Tominaga (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) is performing the theme song "With the Wind," and dance vocal unit Ryoga are performing the ending theme song "Believe In Magic."

Crunchyroll describes Serial Experiments Lain:

Acclaimed artist Yoshitoshi ABe (Haibane Renmei, Texhnolyze) brings to life the existential classic that paved the way for blockbuster films such as The Matrix. Follow along as fourteen year old Lain—driven by the abrupt suicide of a classmate—logs on to the Wired and promptly looses herself in a twisted mass of hallucinations, memories, and interconnected-psyches.

Funimation announced in 2010 that it licensed the 1998 psychological cyberpunk series previously held by Geneon, and it has since released the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

Crunchyroll describes C – Control – The Money and Soul of Possibility:

Kimimaro works two jobs to make ends meet. He could go from pauper to prince in a parallel world called the Financial District—if he'll invest his future as collateral in a dangerous game. Winning gets you more wealth, but losing could erase you from existence. When the destructive forces at play compel Kimimaro to confront the most powerful player, can he save the real world from total collapse?

Funimation streamed the series as it aired in 2011, and released the series on Blu-ray Disc and DVD with an English dub.