With a bang, not a whimper
Funimation and Crunchyroll, two leading names in anime streaming, are coming together for a huge new partnership: Effective today, select subtitled Funimation series will be exclusively available on Crunchyroll, while Funimation gets Crunchyroll’s dubbed library of shows.
That means anime like Psycho-Pass, Puzzle and Dragons X and the all-time great Cowboy Bebop are available to Crunchyroll subscribers right now in their original Japanese. Previously, these were exclusive to Funimation’s platform; now, Crunchyroll is the only place to watch them and other subtitled Funimation classics.
Crunchyroll will also stream simulcast titles, which are Japanese shows that air day-and-date stateside with subtitles. Older and newer Funimation shows will continue to appear on the platform as the weeks go on.
Neither service has confirmed what other Japanese-language anime from the Funimation library are making their way to Crunchyroll, with an FAQ only stating that more Funimation titles will be appearing on Crunchyroll throughout the year. Funimation is one of the biggest distributors of anime stateside, with heavies like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood included on its roster.
This sounds like a bigger gain for Crunchyroll than Funimation, in fact; while Funimation now gets some of Crunchyroll’s English-language selection of shows, the majority of anime on both services is in Japanese. With Funimation giving up much of that content to Crunchyroll, the price of its FunimationNow subscription service will be adjusted to reflect the change.
Crunchyroll costs $6.95 a month for a premium account, although non-simulcast programs can be watched for free with commercials. FunimationNow launched this past February in partnership with Sony, with a subbed-only option costing $4.95 per month.
Source: Polygon – Full
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