Funimation and Crunchyroll, two competing anime streaming services, merged in 2021 and announced in 2022 that all of the content would eventually combine under the Crunchyroll banner. That event officially has a date, and it's April 2.
For Funimation subscribers, you will have to go through the process of merging your account before the April 2 date, and, frustratingly, any shows that were outright purchased through Funimation will not transfer to Crunchyroll. Just another reminder that when you purchase digital content, true ownership does not technically exist and you will always be at the mercy of the platform holders when it comes to access.
Crunchyroll subscribers do not need to make any changes, but the price of the subscription will rise to $100 a year soon. The merger officially going through does mean Crunchyroll will feature more content, but a price increase will always be frustrating.
Alongside this merger finally completing, Crunchyroll is also entering the video game space as a publisher. It remains to be seen what kind of video tames the anime company will help produce, but you can check out this package it sent over on Game Informer's TikTok account.
As a subscriber to both services who somehow has managed to continue to have a need for both (Outlaw Star is curiously currently only available on Funimation) the merger is bittersweet. I embrace the simplicity of one anime streaming service but don't look forward to paying more, and will forever be wary of mergers being a good thing.
Source: Game Informer
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