Funimation’s acquisition of Crunchyroll is officially complete

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Isaac Todd
August 10, 2021
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Sony’s Funimation purchased Crunchyroll late 2020 for over $1 billion, and the deal has now officially closed.

According to Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Tony Vinciquerra, the company’s goal is to “to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible”. This statement is mirrored by Funimation’s FAQ on the merger, though they don’t confirm that all content will be available on both subscriptions.

This announcement essentially means that Sony has a pretty large monopoly on anime in the global market, only in competition with the likes of Netflix. It might end up giving Funimation and Crunchyroll subscribers access to more shows in the long run, but now there’s less incentive for either to offer better services — have you tried using the Funimation website recently?

Either way, we wont see the full effects of the merger until next year at the earliest. Hopefully it leads to something positive for the anime industry — or at the very least, Crunchyroll Originals that aren’t as bad as Ex-Arm…

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