Crunchyroll and Funimation Announce Partnership, Gives Better Access to Anime Content

By Staff Reporter - 12 Sep '16 06:00AM

In what will surely be a moment of celebration for anime fans, Crunchyroll and FUNimation have decided to partner up. For those not in the know, both are leading global providers of anime. The aim of the collaboration is to improve fan experience. Instead of having to choose between one or the other, fans may now have a more holistic experience due to the partnership.

Crunchyroll will still focus on streaming subtitled shows, while FUNimation will continue to stream English-dubbed anime. However, with the joint effort, shows from one side are now available to the other via cross-streaming.

For instance, Crunchyroll subscribers will be able to stream subtitled versions of D. Gray-man HALLOW, Puzzle & Dragons X, as well as FIRST LOVE OF MONSTER, which are summer simulcast titles from FUNimation.

To follow in the coming weeks, FUNimationNow will have access to dubs of Crunchyroll's titles, such as 91 Days, Mob Psycho 100 and Orange. Schedules are to be announced. A caveat for this service is that it's currently only available in the United States and Canda.

Further down the line, titles such as Ace Attorney, Alderamin on the Sky, Bungo Stray Dogs, JOKER GAME, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and ReLIFE are slated for both dubbed and subtitled versions as EST (electronic sell-through) releases from Crunchyroll's home video release titles, with FUNimation as distributors.

"No more thinking about which company has what show," Mike Duboise, COO of FUNimation, said to Mashable. "ALL of the best of anime brought to you by Funimation and Crunchyroll, both subbed and dubbed. This partnership will enable both companies to grow the anime industry, both in Japan and in the U.S. - this means more great anime for everyone. Fans won't pay more for dual subscription. It really is bringing the concept of 'anime my way' to life."

Kun Gao, Crunchyroll co-founder and general manager, told ANN that he and Fukunaga met in June at a conference and started discussions then about working together. Gao also says that, "We're getting closer to that goal every quarter, but it's challenging. Funimation runs a great service and they get a ton of great titles as well - each season, fans had to make a choice, or subscribe to both services. It wasn't an optimal fan experience, for simulcasts."