If you’ve been looking for Funimation’s YouTube channel, you won’t find it. The channel has been rebranded as Crunchyroll Dubs. While the name has changed, what it’s offering, so far, hasn’t. Anime News Network reports that it will still stream trailers, clips, and episodes of English-dubbed anime.
Crunchyroll’s English-subtitled YouTube content can be seen on its Crunchyroll Collections channel. (Calling it Crunchyroll Subs seems like a missed opportunity, no?)
This is the latest in Funimation and Crunchyroll’s merger into a single anime-streaming powerhouse—but under the latter’s branding. Earlier this spring, as ANN points out, it was announced that Funimation and Wakanim’s anime catalog and simulcast content had also moved to Crunchyroll.
This convergence should come as no surprise. Back in December 2020, Sony’s Funimation announced it had purchased Crunchyroll from AT&T for over $1 billion—which, as Kotaku’s Ian Walker noted, is a lot of anime figures! The deal was finalized in August 2021, with the final purchase price being $1.175 billion—which is even more anime figures.
“The alignment of Crunchyroll and Funimation will enable us to get even closer to the creators and fans who are the heart of the anime community,” Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation said at the time.
“Our goal is to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible,” added Tony Vinciquerra, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Hey, they weren’t kidding!
Funimation was bought by Sony back in 2017 for only $149 million. That price tag seems like a steal compared to what the company paid for Crunchyroll. (Everything really has gotten more expensive, even for multinational mega corporations buying massively popular anime streaming services.)
The unified anime subscription experience does simplify things, which many users welcome. But no doubt long-time subscribers will miss the Funimation logo and intros. I know I will.