Xross Road, a startup backed by the TV Asahi Group, has announced up to $1.5 million USD in pre-seed funding alongside the launch of a closed beta for its AI-powered manga creation engine, “HANASEE.” The funding round was co-led by Arbitrum Gaming Ventures and Decima Fund, with participation from Taisu Ventures, Baboon VC, and others.
According to the company, HANASEE is positioned as an “AI-agent-based manga creation engine” designed to accelerate IP discovery and adaptation by transforming novels or screenplays into manga. Xross Road describes its goal as addressing fragmentation across the IP pipeline, spanning novels, manga, production committees, and distribution, which often slows or prevents promising stories from being adapted.
HANASEE is described as a “proprietary manga generation system trained on the structural logic of professional creators.” Rather than relying on a single model, the engine uses multiple specialized AI agents responsible for illustration, story composition, and panel layout. Xross Road states that this structure is meant to resolve common consistency issues seen in general image-generation tools, allowing for coherent long-form manga production.
Key features highlighted by the company include “professionally supervised training architecture,” where the system is fine-tuned by active manga artists, a “specialized multi-agent system” modeled after real production workflows, and tools aimed at “complete character and world consistency.” The platform also incorporates what it describes as “pro-quality composition and pacing,” automatically accounting for manga-specific concepts such as visual flow and page-turn rhythm. Creators interact with the system through “dialogue-based creative control,” guiding agents directly rather than generating static outputs.
Content produced through HANASEE is intended to integrate into Xross Road’s core platform, with plans for public release, sales, and revenue sharing. The company says a blockchain-based rights management system is planned for early 2026, intended to ensure transparent attribution and monetization.
The company is also positioning HANASEE as a tool for IP holders, studios, and publishers seeking faster and lower-cost ways to adapt original IP into manga for market testing and potential expansion into other formats.
Several investors and executives commented on the announcement.
Dan Peng, Founding Partner at Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, said:
“Connecting fans directly to bluechip anime, Manga, and other entertainment IP has always been difficult. Supply side complexities from major IP holders and shifting consumer demand requires a team with both deep experience working with the top creative teams and a strong connection to fan communities. In HANASEE, Xross Road and TV Asahi have created a powerful platform that gives fans a home base for Manga and anime content while simultaneously working with IP holders to ideate and fund new products across gaming, merchandise, and content.”
Kiet Fong, APAC Gaming Partnership Lead at Offchain Labs, commented:
“After working closely with the Xross Road team for months, it’s clear they have a deep understanding of anime culture and where it can go next. Xross Road expands anime beyond watching into games, sticker packs, merchandise, and new content formats, while HANASEE empowers fans themselves to become the next generation of creators.”
Ken Kitahara, General Partner at Decima Fund, added:
“Japan produces more exportable IP than any other market, but the path from rights holder to global distribution remains one of the hardest to navigate. Xross Road is the only team we’ve seen that can close on the supply side with traditional Japanese IP stakeholders while building distribution infrastructure that reaches a global audience — and HANASEE adds a new dimension by turning that pipeline into a creation engine.”
Founder and CEO Yosuke Utsumi said:
“There are countless exceptional stories and creators in the anime IP world that have yet to reach a global audience. Xross Road is building the infrastructure that supports the entire journey — from the birth of anime IP, to discovery, to global expansion. At the core of this ecosystem is HANASEE, our manga creation engine.”
The HANASEE closed beta is currently invitation-only, with creators able to apply via a public waitlist. Xross Road is also accepting inquiries from companies interested in IP adaptation trials and monetization partnerships as it continues to develop its platform.
Source: Press Release
Participate In Discussions