Crunchyroll Is Bringing Anime to VR Headsets for Medical Therapy

Crunchyroll is making a surprising and innovative move from entertainment into health tech. The anime streaming giant announced on October 28, 2025, that it has partnered with Luminopia, Inc., a medical technology company. This collaboration will add Crunchyroll's massive anime library to Luminopia's FDA-approved virtual reality (VR) platform, which is prescribed by doctors to treat children with amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye. 

The initiative's goal is to make daily, required therapy less of a chore and more of an engaging experience for young patients. Luminopia's system is a doctor-prescribed treatment that requires children to use a VR headset for one hour a day, six days a week. 

How Can Watching Anime Help These Kids?

By adding popular anime to the platform, the companies hope to transform this treatment time into something kids can actually look forward to. Crunchyroll now joins other major content partners on the medical platform, including Nickelodeon, PBS Kids, Sesame Workshop, and The Pokémon Company. 

Amblyopia is the leading cause of vision loss in children, affecting an estimated one million paediatric patients in the U.S. For decades, the standard treatment involved "eye-patching"—forcing a child to cover their "good eye" to help strengthen the "lazy" one. 

Luminopia's modern VR approach is different; it encourages the brain to use both eyes together while the patient simply watches their favourite shows. With 59% of U.S. teens identifying as anime fans, this partnership is a strategic move to leverage content kids already love for a real-world health impact.

How Anime Is Being Used for Medical Therapy

"Our mission has always been to transform lazy eye treatment into something children are actually excited about," said Scott Xiao, co-founder and CEO of Luminopia. "By bringing anime content from Crunchyroll's catalog into our library, we're giving patients more shows to choose from, with the goal of making therapy as engaging as possible for every single child.” 

Mitchel Berger, Crunchyroll's EVP of Global Commerce, agreed, stating, "Now with Luminopia, we’re glad anime can help kids' treatment journeys feel more like fun."

This new health venture isn't the only major move Crunchyroll has made to expand its U.S. footprint recently. The company also officially launched its new premium manga service, Crunchyroll Manga, on October 9, 2025, in the U.S. and Canada. The new mobile and web app features hundreds of titles from major publishers like Viz Media, Square Enix, and Yen Press.

Both of these initiatives signal Crunchyroll's broader strategy, which it announced in September, to create a "unified anime lifestyle experience". By combining its core streaming service, a new digital manga platform, and now an innovative health application, the company is finding new ways to deepen its engagement with fans. 

Parents and guardians interested in this new form of therapy can ask their eye doctors for more information about Luminopia.