by As Funimation closes its doors after merging with Crunchyroll in 2022, anime fans are honoring the company with tributes on their websites.
The Texas-based anime firm eventually retired the Funimation brand and website two years after it was announced in 2022 that Funimation would be merging with Crunchyroll. Because of this, anime enthusiasts are now praising Funimation on social media.
On April 2, 2024, the Funimation name, brand, and services formally ended after 30 years in the North American anime business. Funimation ends, of course, at the surface level. As mentioned in the initial news of Sony’s acquisition, the company would carry on with its operations under Crunchyroll. Now, visitors to Funimation.com are taken directly to the Crunchyroll streaming platform.
Since the merger was announced in 2022, a lot of anime enthusiasts have noted that Funimation’s departure will further reduce the size of the anime streaming market, favoring Crunchyroll, which now holds a dominant position. In addition, Funimation subscribers are being switched to Crunchyroll, which has more expensive subscription prices. Even though the two businesses have merged, not all of Funimation’s anime catalog has been transferred over. This could be because to things like licensing concerns, and some titles from Funimation may eventually surface on Crunchyroll. In fact, a lot of well-known games that were available on the old website—like Dragon Ball Super with an English dub—are currently available on Crunchyroll.
The news that digital titles redeemed on Funimation would not transfer to Crunchyroll is the most contentious part of the Funimation/Crunchyroll merger. As of right now, Crunchyroll has not made a formal announcement on its intentions to modify digital owners. When consumers successfully contact Crunchyroll Customer Service, they are rewarded with digital copies that may be used for other services and a limited-time, free Crunchyroll Premium subscription. Crunchyroll has not yet made it known in the public if this is the company’s official response to the loss of digital copies for previous Funimation owners.
As the streaming website Funimation closes its doors permanently, anime fans pay tribute to it.
Both young and old anime enthusiasts are paying tribute to the legendary anime company Funimation following its complete shutdown. Many are expressing their gratitude for the streamer and recognizing the revolutionary influence the Texas-based distributor had on the anime industry. For example, the Space Dandy dub on Cartoon Network that aired concurrently with its sub-release helped to normalize the simuldub production process. Here are just a few of the tributes to Funimation’s legacy that have been posted on X (previously Twitter).
Some of the most popular anime series in the world, like Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and One Piece, will still be available to view on Crunchyroll. Additionally, the streaming service will keep funding anime initiatives like the hugely popular Solo Leveling series.
