“They now have the opportunity to create a unified subscription experience that puts fans first,” Macdonald says, “offering the most comprehensive lineup ever.THE DIRTY ARMY: Nik, this girl should be ashamed of herself, she nearly ruined my marraige with my husband. If Crunchyroll and Funimation combine their libraries under one subscription service, that could be good news for fans and with their combined licensing power, it’s likely fans will get more out of their subscriptions. If an anime fan wanted access to every new show, she’d have to pay $47 a month for access to Crunchyroll, Funimation, HIDIVE, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. The breadth of any given season’s top anime are scattered across two, three, or even four websites. “When it comes to streaming services, competition is not good for the consumer,” says Christopher Macdonald, CEO of Anime News Network. These days, what’s bad for creators may be great for consumers-or at least their wallets. (Sudo told WIRED last year that in Japan, there is a lot of excitement around Netflix’s anime projects because the direct financing allows directors more freedom over their projects.) It will be interesting to see whether Funimation will wield its new market power to co-produce more anime, and whether its producers’ approach will differ from or compete with Netflix’s. Unfettered from the production committee, some of these Netflix originals feel less like anime and more like anime-inspired cartoons. It often circumvents the production committee system, downloading money into particular studios’ or producers’ budgets to make a Netflix-specific anime-and a lot of the time, those anime are more heavily computer-animated or even somewhat Westernized. Netflix, now a big competitor to FuniRoll, takes a less traditional approach. “We don’t necessarily seek to change or adapt it.” In the past, Funimation has implied it would like to be on more production committees to help anime that it licenses reach a broader international audience. In a 2020 interview with WIRED, Funimation CEO Colin Decker said he views Funimation’s role in internationalizing anime as stewardship. Although this model is tailored for Japanese television, Crunchyroll or Funimation may sit on these committees as international licensing partners and marketers. It distributes risk and lets each stakeholder do what they’re best at. Traditionally, anime is made by committee: Merchandisers, DVD companies, music labels, advertisers, and producers plan out and finance a given title. It’s hard to say how consolidation will impact specific studios. By selling the work at a high price, you can continue to maintain the studio.” Overseas markets made up almost half the anime market in 2019, according to the Association of Japanese Animators. “It is desirable for animation studios to have buyer competition. “If the only buyer of anime works is the Sony Group, it may not be possible to sell the works at a high price,” says Sudo. On the other hand, of course, competitive licensing fees help support anime creators and fund new projects. Anime industry experts interviewed by WIRED say that Funimation-Crunchyroll, however it manifests, represents a big shift in the size and structure of the anime industry and a key footnote in the greater narrative of today’s streaming wars. Sony Pictures Entertainment’s CEO, Tony Vinciquerra, did give one hint: “Our goal is to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible,” he said in a press release on August 9. Funimation’s acquisition of Crunchyroll was also reportedly the target of an antitrust review after the agreement was announced last December.Įight months later, FuniRoll will exist-though details remain scarce about what that will look like. The US Department of Justice sued AT&T over its plans to buy Time Warner in 2017, claiming the resulting megacorp would harm consumers, but the company prevailed. Sometimes, these deals are impactful enough to attract regulatory scrutiny. WarnerMedia is merging with Discovery Disney acquired 21st Century Fox Viacom merged with CBS. Power players in the world of content are folding in their competition like giant solar systems bending space-time in their direction. The era of Big Anime is officially here.Ĭonsolidation is the hottest trend when it comes to streaming services. Earlier this month, Funimation finalized its acquisition of Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion, merging the anime megaplexes of Sony and AT&T and setting the stage for industry upheaval.