Funimation's streaming library will now be available through Crunchyroll.
As detailed on the Funimation blog, the company's entire streaming selection of 800 titles, including previously exclusive series such as The Devil is a Part-Timer and Kaguya-sama: Love is War, will now be available on Crunchyroll's streaming platform. Wakanim, a subsidiary of Funimation that specializes in anime localized into French, and Crunchyroll's own VRV streaming service will also bring all of their content onto Crunchyroll's platform. A video announcing the changes was posted by Crunchyroll.
An end date to Funimation's streaming service was not announced, but the company is suggesting that all of its subscribers create a Crunchyroll account, as from this point forward Funimation will only add new episodes for continuing series and will not host any of the new series in the upcoming spring 2022 season on its platform. Funimation, Wakanim, and VRV subscribers will be sent a special offer giving them 60-days of access to Crunchyroll Premium for free, according to Funimation's blog.
Funimation was founded in 1994 and has become one of the largest anime localization and distribution companies in North America. In 2017, it was purchased by Japanese tech conglomerate Sony and turned into a division of Sony Pictures. In 2021, Sony bought Crunchyroll, one of the world's largest anime streaming services, which boasts over 5 million paid subscribers and 120 million registered users, for a reported $1.1 billion USD. Crunchyroll was previously owned by WarnerMedia and its parent corporation, AT&T. The sale was criticized by some within the press and anime industry, who worried that Sony was being given a monopolistic level of control over the streaming anime market. Many speculated that Sony would merge the two company's streaming services following their purchase of Crunchyroll, but up until today, the two platforms continued to operate independently of each other. It now appears that Sony has finally begun consolidating all of its anime content under the Crunchyroll brand.
In the official statement posted to its website, a representative from Funimation wrote, "As Crunchyroll and Funimation enter this new era together, we couldn’t be more excited to bring together a vibrant community of anime fans, creators, and artists. Thank you for taking anime to the next level with us!"
Crunchyroll was founded in 2006 and originally streamed unlicensed, fansubbed content. The company began licensing anime series such as Naruto in 2008, and has since only offered officially authorized, legal streams of over a thousand titles. The company has expanded into financing and producing its own series, such as 2021's Fena: Pirate Princess and the recently released Shenmue: The Animation, and now hosts its own yearly anime convention, Crunchyroll Expo.
Source: Funimation, YouTube
