By James Fletcher

It’s a good day for anime fans with the announcement that subscribers of the streaming service Crunchyroll will now have access to library and simulcast content previously exclusive to Sony operated streamer Funimation.

A direct result of Sony’s acquisition of the AT&T streaming property Crunchyroll, completed in August 2021 for a reported US$1.175 Billion, the move marks AT&T’s shift back to connectivity, while further distancing themselves from the streaming market. It’s a move that allows Sony to captilise on the brand reputation and subscription base of Crunchyroll’s global operation.

This content shift also makes good on the promise made to Australian and New Zealand fans that the 2021 merger of AnimeLab – previously operated by Madman Amine Group, a subsidiary of Madman Entertainment – and Funimation, and now Funimation and Crunchyroll, would bring together the previously separate services into a unified, user friendly single subscription option.

“When we brought Funimation and Crunchyroll together last year, our top priority was to put fans first,” says Colin Decker, CEO of Crunchyroll. “Unifying all of our brands and services under the Crunchyroll brand globally enables us to offer more value than ever before as we combine subs, dubs, simulcasts, library, music, movies, manga all into one subscription. The new Crunchyroll is the realisation of a dream, and we are grateful to the creators of anime and the millions of fans who have joined us in making the community what it is today.”

As of today, Crunchyroll has in excess of 40,000 subtitled and English dubbed manga episodes available for Australian and New Zealand fans to enjoy, with more content dropping on the service daily over the next few weeks. All new series from the upcoming April season – hailed as the site’s biggest on record – will stream only on Crunchyroll, while Funimation will continue to add new episodes of their current streaming series. Existing subscribers of Funimation can learn more by clicking here.

Crunchyroll’s ad-free subscription options and pricing have not changed, creating a huge incentive for new and existing subscribers who will no longer need to pay for two separate services. Crunchyroll offers three membership tiers, beginning with the monthly access packages FAN and MEGA FAN, right up to the yearly MEGA FAN package, which offers a 16% discount rate. All packages currently have a 14-day free trial attached. Australian pricing for each tier can be found by clicking here.

In addition to free ad-supported and premium content, Crunchyroll serves the anime community across events, theatrical, games, consumer products, collectibles, and manga publishing. The Crunchyroll app is available on over 15 platforms, including all gaming consoles.

For all information on Crunchyroll, click here.

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