Crunchyroll, Funimation merge to be world’s largest anime streaming library

Crunchyroll announced that starting on Tuesday, the entire library of Funimation anime — including shows, movies, and previously exclusive upcoming simulcast premieres — will live under the Crunchyroll brand. This move follows the acquisition of Crunchyroll by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., who last year purchased the anime streaming service from AT&T and WarnerMedia for $1.175 billion.

“Unifying all of our brands and services under the Crunchyroll brand globally enables us to offer more value than ever before as we combine subs, dubs, simulcasts, library, music, movies, manga — all into one subscription.” Crunchyroll CEO Colin Decker said. “The new Crunchyroll is the realization of a dream, and we are grateful to the creators of anime and the millions of fans who have joined us in making the community what it is today.”

According to Crunchyroll, the upcoming slate of spring anime premieres will exclusively stream on Crunchyroll going forward, while 80 percent of Funimation and French anime streaming service Wakanim’s most popular existing series will be available to watch on Crunchyroll by the end of March 2022.

Crunchyroll’s pricing will stay the same ($7.99/month Fan, $9.99/month Mega fan, and $14.99/month Ultimate fan); new Crunchyroll or VRV subscribers will get 60 days of Crunchyroll Prime for no cost. Funimation has released a FAQ to inform subscribers that they should immediately cancel their subscriptions. Funimation will continue adding episodes to series in the meantime.