Sounds like Funimation are gearing up to compete head-on with Crunchyroll instead of working together as partners. In the current streaming ecosystem where consumers are already overwhelmed with...
Fukunaga explained that Funimation's decision to end the partnership was due to its acquisition by Sony Pictures Television Networks last year, as Sony is investing in Funimation to make it a "global sub and dub anime brand."
Sounds like Funimation are gearing up to compete head-on with Crunchyroll instead of working together as partners. In the current streaming ecosystem where consumers are already overwhelmed with disparate streaming services and mounting monthly fees, this seems like a strategic mistake to me. The VRV service which combined Crunchyroll and Funimation for a relatively low incremental fee seemed pretty good for consumers.
Who knows if the competition here will end up benefiting or hurting consumers. There's the general refrain that consumers always benefit from competition, but in a world of bidding wars over licensing rights, where high licensing fees may be partly passed on to consumers, it definitely isn't that clear cut in my mind.
Damn it.....I just cancelled my CR sub and went with VRV for both CR and FUN, along with Rooster Teeth. I have to question Funimations decision here though. Anime is still a fairly niche genre...
Damn it.....I just cancelled my CR sub and went with VRV for both CR and FUN, along with Rooster Teeth.
I have to question Funimations decision here though. Anime is still a fairly niche genre and, while it is gaining in popularity, anime consumers already have a ton of options IE Netflix, Hulu, CR, Fun, and the lesser known sites. Striking out on their own when the more well known and more popular platforms, including the juggernaut Netflix are increasing their libraries seems foolhardy. Funimation can't compete with Netflix as Netflix has more than enough money to snap up licensing rights over any contested materials.
sigh.... similar situation for me too. I just switched from Crunchryroll + Funimation (which I was subbed to separately beforehand) to VRV about a month ago (thanks to a recommendation here on...
sigh.... similar situation for me too. I just switched from Crunchryroll + Funimation (which I was subbed to separately beforehand) to VRV about a month ago (thanks to a recommendation here on Tildes), specifically because VRV had both and saved me a bit of money. Fuck these greedy-ass companies and their attempts to drive everyone to their services at the exclusion of others. There is no way I am resubbing to Funimation again after this dick move by them though, and will just go back to pirating Funimation's stuff now. Serves them right.
Does anybody know how this would affect Dragonball Super when it returns? I watch the subbed version, can Crunchyroll still stream the subbed version? I'm happy they're adding HIDIVE though.
Does anybody know how this would affect Dragonball Super when it returns? I watch the subbed version, can Crunchyroll still stream the subbed version?
That's too bad for me because Funimation doesn't work in my country. I'm currently on Crunchyroll, which is great, but if this means it will lose a lot of shows I'll have to find other ways. I'd...
That's too bad for me because Funimation doesn't work in my country. I'm currently on Crunchyroll, which is great, but if this means it will lose a lot of shows I'll have to find other ways. I'd never pirate anime, of course. But I might download from some terrible people that do...
Sounds like Funimation are gearing up to compete head-on with Crunchyroll instead of working together as partners. In the current streaming ecosystem where consumers are already overwhelmed with disparate streaming services and mounting monthly fees, this seems like a strategic mistake to me. The VRV service which combined Crunchyroll and Funimation for a relatively low incremental fee seemed pretty good for consumers.
Who knows if the competition here will end up benefiting or hurting consumers. There's the general refrain that consumers always benefit from competition, but in a world of bidding wars over licensing rights, where high licensing fees may be partly passed on to consumers, it definitely isn't that clear cut in my mind.
Damn it.....I just cancelled my CR sub and went with VRV for both CR and FUN, along with Rooster Teeth.
I have to question Funimations decision here though. Anime is still a fairly niche genre and, while it is gaining in popularity, anime consumers already have a ton of options IE Netflix, Hulu, CR, Fun, and the lesser known sites. Striking out on their own when the more well known and more popular platforms, including the juggernaut Netflix are increasing their libraries seems foolhardy. Funimation can't compete with Netflix as Netflix has more than enough money to snap up licensing rights over any contested materials.
sigh.... similar situation for me too. I just switched from Crunchryroll + Funimation (which I was subbed to separately beforehand) to VRV about a month ago (thanks to a recommendation here on Tildes), specifically because VRV had both and saved me a bit of money. Fuck these greedy-ass companies and their attempts to drive everyone to their services at the exclusion of others. There is no way I am resubbing to Funimation again after this dick move by them though, and will just go back to pirating Funimation's stuff now. Serves them right.
Does anybody know how this would affect Dragonball Super when it returns? I watch the subbed version, can Crunchyroll still stream the subbed version?
I'm happy they're adding HIDIVE though.
That's too bad for me because Funimation doesn't work in my country. I'm currently on Crunchyroll, which is great, but if this means it will lose a lot of shows I'll have to find other ways. I'd never pirate anime, of course. But I might download from some terrible people that do...