Funimation Shuts Down Permanently On April 2 And Merges With Crunchyroll
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The end of an era in anime is now on the horizon as it was announced that Funimation will be shutting down on April 2nd, completing its merger with Crunchyroll.
Funimation, originally named FUNimation Productions first launched in 1994, and was originally a distributor of hit anime such as Dragon Ball Z, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Cowboy Bebop throughout the 90s and 2000s, whilst also producing English dubs of these anime, growing into one of the biggest streaming services for dubbed anime before being acquired by Sony in 2017 for $143 million.
Sony would then purchase Crunchyroll, the largest streaming service for anime, in 2021 for $1.175 billion. Since then, Crunchyroll’s library has grown to include Funimation-distributed and dubbed anime as well as movies. Since the start of the merger, Funimation’s dubbing production has continued smoothly under Crunchyroll, meaning that any ongoing anime dubbed by Funimation will continue to be dubbed under Crunchyroll, as will new anime distributed by Crunchyroll.
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For any still subscribed to Funimation, they can still transfer their account information, watch history, and queues over to Crunchyroll. For any subscribed to both Crunchyroll and Funimation, their accounts can be merged if both accounts are linked to the same email address.
While Crunchyroll seems to be making the migration from Funimation relatively seamless, some decisions are being made that are raising eyebrows for many subscribers. First is a massive increase in Crunchyroll’s yearly subscription cost, which is set to change from $54.99 a year to $99.99, though this change will not take effect until January 2025. Fortunately, in the meantime, new subscribers coming from Funimation will still be able to use Crunchyroll at the same starting price of $7.99 per month. At this time it is unclear if or how monthly subscriptions will change.
Additionally, it was made known that Crunchyroll will not support digital content from Funimation’s DVD and Blu-ray releases, meaning anyone who had digital copies of anime and movies through a physical purchase will lose access to these copies permanently on April 2nd, and anyone who purchases Funimation-produced DVD or Blu-Ray releases will be unable to redeem their digital copies, which has caused uproar among fans who have bought or still buy these releases as they never had ownership of products that they paid money to own. This decision only adds fuel to the fire among audiences returning to purchasing physical media rather than subscribing to streaming services that will pull content or refuse to honor prior purchases.
Regardless, as Funimation’s closure draws near, fans can only observe and see what Sony and Crunchyroll will do next, and whether they’ll do right by their new subscribers.
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Source(s): AnimeNewsNetwork, IGN, Men's Journal
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