Crunchyroll, pardon the cliche, is on a roll.

The streaming online video service (at crunchyroll.com) already has signed up a number of anime studios and publishers to provide content for its service. Last week brought word of another addition: Toei Animation, which has been faithfully churning out TV series and animated feature films for a little over 50 years now, will be adding its series “;Slam Dunk,”; “;Fist of the North Star,”; “;Pretty Cure”; and “;Digimon Adventure 02”; to Crunchyroll's expanding lineup.

This isn't the first time that Toei has ventured into the U.S. market under its own name in recent years. In November 2004, Toei announced it would be releasing its own series on DVD in the U.S. under its own label, with a partnership with Geneon getting the discs onto store shelves. The first three series Toei released under that arrangement were “;Slam Dunk,”; “;Air Master”; and “;Interlude.”;

Those also turned out to be the LAST three series Toei released. When Geneon announced the deal was off in August 2006, only the three-episode “;Interlude”; had successfully finished its U.S. run; “;Slam Dunk”; and “;Air Master”; were canceled with two volumes of each left to go.

No reason was ever formally given, but low sales likely were a factor; I'd be hard-pressed today to say what “;Air Master”; and “;Interlude”; were about without looking them up online.

This time, the studio is bringing more-recognizable series to the dance:

» The basketball anime “;Slam Dunk,”; which is the lone series returning from the aborted DVD venture, should benefit from increased exposure this time around with Viz's manga release. New episodes will be posted weekly on Mondays at 10 a.m. Hawaii time.

» “;Fist of the North Star,”; originally released on DVD by Manga Entertainment in 2003, is head-explodingly violent post-apocalyptic action-adventure anime at its finest. New episodes will be posted Tuesdays at 10 a.m.

» “;Digimon Adventures 02”; is, well, more “;Digimon,”; the highly successful franchise where children and their digital monster counterparts battle evil forces. This is the first time to my knowledge that the series has been available in subtitled form. New episodes will be posted Thursdays at 10 a.m.

A fourth series that was supposed to show up on Crunchyroll at the same time, the transforming-magical-girl series “;Pretty Cure,”; had yet to appear as of Friday. When it appears—the only indication that it will be appearing is a promise that it'll be “;coming soon”;—new episodes will be posted Wednesdays at 10 a.m.

For impatient fans who can't wait to get their weekly anime fix or those who want to take their episodes on the road with their Apple iPods or Sony PSPs, the first 15 episodes of each series are also available in a “;download to own”; service at $1.99 per episode ...

Meeting roll call

» MangaBento: Meetings this month for this group of anime- and manga-inspired artists are 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and Nov. 23 at the Academy Art Center, 1111 Victoria St., Room 200. For more information, visit www.manga-bento.com ...