...

Funimation And Wakanim’s Anime Titles Shift To Crunchyroll, Becomes World’s Largest Anime Library

Crunchyroll has guaranteed that, despite the huge increase in content, subscription rates will not change.

Crunchyroll announced on March 1, 2022, that the entire catalogue of Funimation, Wakanim, as well as Crunchyroll’s VRV — including shows, movies, and previously exclusive forthcoming simulcast debuts — will be available under the Crunchyroll brand beginning on Tuesday.

This move comes in the wake of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.’s acquisition of Crunchyroll last year for $1.175 billion from AT&T and WarnerMedia.

According to Crunchyroll, the upcoming slate of spring 2022 anime premieres will be exclusively streamed on Crunchyroll. For now, Funimation will only add new episodes of continuing series.

By the end of March 2022, 80 percent of Funimation and Wakanim’s most popular existing series will be available on Crunchyroll.

Crunchyroll has released a list of all titles that will be available on its site, including titles with English subtitles and English dubs. This list will be “regularly updated”.

Some notable dubs coming to Crunchyroll include Dr. Stone, Fire Force, My Hero Academia, and Tokyo Ghoul. Other iconic series that were previously exclusive to Funimation, like Cowboy Bebop and Yu Yu Hakusho, are also now available on Crunchyroll.

The streaming giant has guaranteed that, despite the huge increase in content, subscription rates will not change. Ad-free subscriptions will continue to cost $7.99 per month by default, $9.99 for the Mega Fan package, and $14.99 for the Ultimate Fan package.

Users of VRV and Crunchyroll will enjoy 60 days of free Crunchyroll Premium service to try out the new library. In a FAQ page tied to the announcement, existing Funimation subscribers are recommended to discontinue service and migrate entirely to Crunchyroll.

In regard to the merger Colin Decker, CEO of Crunchyroll shared a few words in the press release saying, “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. 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.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment and AT&T announced in August 2021 that Sony’s Funimation Global Group has completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T at the price of US$1.175 billion. This amount was paid in cash while the deal was closing.

Source: Crunchyroll news, Crunchyroll Press Release