Farewell to Funimation: Fan-Favorite Streaming Service Shuts Down as Crunchyroll Merger Is Completed

For many fans in the West, particularly in the United States, Funimation has been the ultimate anime source for years. In fact, we can say freely that Funimation actually raised a generation or two of anime lovers, as it was one of the most reliable anime sources online. And while Funimation always had a smaller library than Crunchyroll and there were issues regarding the site’s geographical restrictions, the streaming service was a household name and that is why many fans were sad when it was announced that Crunchyroll had bought Funimation and that the two services would be merging.

The merger has been executed through several phases, and in April 2024 it has finally been completed, as Funimation officially shut down, with Crunchyroll remaining as the sole streaming service. Earlier, Funimation was still accessible, but in a limited way, but the Funimation era is now officially over and while Crunchyroll promised a smooth transition, it seems that there are problems nevertheless.

Namely, after the acquisition was announced, Crunchyroll promised that there would be no issues with the merger, which is why the latter would be conducted in several phases so that Crunchyroll could merge the two libraries. While this was supposed to go without issues, there are still some titles missing, which is why Crunchyroll sent out the following notification: “Please stay updated by visiting our news page and Anime Lineup for the latest developments. Our team is diligently working to expand our content offerings for all our fans.”

Now, the number of titles is not large – although fans keep listing more and more titles as time passes, with the current number being at around 200 – and Crunchyroll has promised to integrate the whole library, but that should have happened by now and it is understandable that fans are dissatisfied. One of the major missing titles is Black Butler, whose new season is slowly approaching, as only one episode is available at the moment. Sure, some of the titles have alternative services where they can be accessed, but we’re hoping that Crunchyroll will fix the issue soon. Keep following us for more updates!

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