Doctors Are Prescribing Anime: Crunchyroll Helps Treat Amblyopia
A new lazy eye treatment just won FDA approval, offering a long-awaited alternative to patching and fresh hope for millions with amblyopia.
Anime as medicine sounds like a joke setup, but it is very real: Crunchyroll shows are now part of an FDA-approved treatment for amblyopia, better known as lazy eye.
Crunchyroll jumps into VR therapy
Crunchyroll has teamed up with digital health company Luminopia to supply anime to its virtual reality platform. Instead of the classic pirate-patch route, kids aged 4 to 12 with amblyopia can be prescribed one hour of VR viewing a day, six days a week. The idea is to retrain the brain using engaging content rather than forcing one eye to do all the work.
Luminopia’s catalog is not just Crunchyroll. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the platform also includes very kid-safe staples like Pokemon, Nickelodeon, and Sesame Street. And before anyone asks: no, I would not put Chainsaw Man on for a 6-year-old, thanks.
Crunchyroll at 30,000 feet
That is not the only unexpected Crunchyroll crossover lately. Starting in early November, five series made the jump to airline seatback screens for SkyMiles Members, with another 25,000 hours of Crunchyroll programming available over in-flight Wi-Fi. So if you are stuck in the middle seat for 10 hours, at least your queue is covered.
- Solo Leveling
- Horimiya
- Fruits Basket
- My Roommate is a Cat
- Black Clover
Meanwhile, in theaters: domination
Crunchyroll’s big-screen run is just as loud. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc both hit number one at the box office, and Infinity Castle has now climbed to the top as the highest-grossing anime release ever. Between clinics, cabins, and cinemas, Crunchyroll is everywhere right now.