Anime: The Funimation Crunchyroll Merge Is Finally Happening
Funimation and Crunchyroll are finally merging into one streaming service, simplifying your anime watching forever.
It’s finally happening. Crunchyroll and Funimation are joining forces to form a single battle mech of anime watching: Crunchyroll. Everything is still on Crunchyroll, Funimation is just transferring their library over and phasing out.
This honestly shouldn’t come as a surprise. Way back in August news broke that Funimation had acquired the anime streaming service, Crunchyroll for a cool $1.175 billion. That’s right, billion with a B.
It was only a matter of time before the two services merged their libraries and became one. And Crunchyroll has the more recognizable branding.
But What Does This Mean For Us?
From the Crunchyroll press release:
“This means all your anime, all on one platform. Starting today, tons of shows and movies from Funimation and Wakanim will begin arriving on Crunchyroll — so you’ll get more dubs, more subs, more everything. That includes titles available now like ‘My Hero Academia’, ‘Tokyo Ghoul’ and ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ alongside favorites like ‘Cowboy Bebop’ and ‘Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation’, all under one subscription! Check out the list of new arrivals on Crunchyroll, with much more to come!
This also means new series in the upcoming Spring season (the biggest on record—stay tuned!) and beyond will only stream on Crunchyroll. Moving forward, Funimation will only add new episodes of continuing series, which means Funimation users will want to move to a Crunchyroll account as soon as possible.
That’s why now, as a welcome to the new Crunchyroll family, Funimation, Wakanim, and VRV subscribers get a special deal for 60 days of Crunchyroll Premium free! Over the next few days, qualified Funimation, Wakanim, and VRV subscribers will receive an email with their unique link to redeem.”
And then there are the more specific question Funimation users may have about the transfer. Questions such as “When will my favorite show make the jump?” and “Can I still use this Funimation gift card I’ve been sitting on?” and “Will my watchlist and queue transfer?” For those questions, Crunchyroll has a set up an FAQ page.
So what do I do with my subscription?
Crunchyroll expects that around eighty percent of the Funimation and Wakanim libraries will be available on Crunchyroll by the end of March. From there all new series will stream exclusively on Crunchyroll going forward. If you have a Funimation subscription, the time to cancel and make the jump to Crunchyroll is fast approaching. And if you, like me, use both services, it’s safe to cancel Funimation without fear of missing out on any new releases.
It’s hard to guess if this change will be food for anime in the long run. But the change will certainly streamline the anime streaming experience. Which service is Ranking of Kings on, again? Going forward, remembering won’t be an issue.
How do you feel about the Funimation / Crunchyroll merger? Which service did you prefer? Where have all of your favorite animes been streaming? Let us know in the comments!
Ja ne, Adventurers!
