About the studio
Youku launched in public beta June 21, 2006 and officially December 21, 2006, founded by Victor Koo and once dubbed the YouTube of China. Based in Beijing, China, Youku merged with rival platform Tudou in 2012 to form Youku Tudou Inc., before Alibaba Group acquired the combined company in 2015, pivoting it from user-generated content toward licensed streaming and original productions. *From scrappy video-sharing site to Alibaba's official streaming arm, that's a significant glow-up.* Youku licenses and streams Japanese anime for Chinese audiences, including titles like Black Clover and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and it's also gotten into co-producing donghua, Chinese animation, including Saiyuki Reload Blast. Nearly two decades since its founding, Youku remains one of the major platforms in China's competitive anime streaming market, now backed by one of the country's largest tech conglomerates.