If youâve been looking for Funimationâs YouTube channel, you wonât find it. The channel has been rebranded as Crunchyroll Dubs. While the name has changed, what itâs offering, so far, hasnât. Anime News Network reports that it will still stream trailers, clips, and episodes of English-dubbed anime.
Crunchyrollâs 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 Crunchyrollâs merger into a single anime-streaming powerhouseâbut under the latterâs branding. Earlier this spring, as ANN points out, it was announced that Funimation and Wakanimâs anime catalog and simulcast content had also moved to Crunchyroll.
This convergence should come as no surprise. Back in December 2020, Sonyâs Funimation announced it had purchased Crunchyroll from AT&T for over $1 billionâwhich, as Kotakuâs Ian Walker noted, is a lot of anime figures! The deal was finalized in August 2021, with the final purchase price being $1.175 billionâwhich is even more anime figures.
âThe 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,â Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation said at the time.
âOur goal is to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible,â added Tony Vinciquerra, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Hey, they werenât 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.
