After a 2-year partnership, US publisher Funimation announced the termination of its partnership with Crunchyroll. Here you can find out what this means for us and what effects it could have.
Under their expired pact, both companies shared licenses on several series. Shows that belonged to Funimation were also released on Crunchyroll, only in a subtitle-only version. Funimation, which focused on English-synchronized anime series, reversed the game and gave English voices to the works licensed but not translated by Crunchyroll. Furthermore, Funimation often distributed DVD and Blu-ray versions for Crunchyroll.
The decision to end the collaboration, which began in 2016, stems from the acquisition of Funimations by Sony Television Pictures about a year ago. According to Variety, Sony plans to invest additional money in Funimation to make film distribution a global brand, which could mean that the FunimationNow streaming service, previously available only in the US and Canada, could soon be available in this country.
As a result of this decision, both platforms will lose some anime series in their selection grids in the near future. Currently broadcasted simulcasts and series that premiered during the partnership, such as Attack on Titan or My Hero Academia, will continue to be available on Crunchyroll.
Fortunately, the current situation probably has little impact on us in Germany. As Funimation, as already mentioned, is not even available in Germany, there are no consequences to be expected. Only Crunchyroll could get slight damage by the loss of several series in this country – which anime it is about is not known yet, but will be revealed by the series supplier in the near future.