FUNimation, otherwise now known as Crunchyroll, have started to inform current members via e-mail (and through the help section on the FUNimation website) that the platform will cease streaming on 2nd April 2024. More alarmingly, is that those who have redeemed codes for digital copies of a title will not be able to access them in the future, and that they will not be transferred to Crunchyroll.
Why is Funimation ending?
At Funimation, our mission has always been to provide our fans with an exceptional streaming experience and access to the largest anime library in the world. The collaboration between Funimation and Crunchyroll allows us to continue delivering on that mission and bring you the best of anime content.
When will the sunset happen?
The Funimation service is ending on April 2, 2024.
So what exactly happened? Well, back in August 2021 Sony Pictures Entertainment (who owned FUNimation) acquired Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion dollars and announced that FUNimation and Crunchyroll would merge into a single company. In March 2022 this became a reality, with FUNimation becoming Crunchyroll for home video releases and Crunchyroll’s streaming platform becoming the home of streaming anime.
Since then Crunchyroll has expanded its existing catalog with FUNimation titles and has been the place for new simulcast streams. FUNimation had its catalog unchanged, but offered continued (returning) seasons of shows and allowed users to access Digital Copies of shows they had redeemed through codes included inside Blu-Ray releases. Throughout this merger process both Crunchyroll and FUNimation required separate accounts, but Crunchyroll were working to merge accounts and reportedly allow subscribers to access digital copies of content they own on Crunchyroll once the merge was completed.
Now, Crunchyroll have confirmed that the streaming services of FUNimation will cease on 2nd April 2024 and that existing FUNimation members can use their login details on Crunchyroll in order to migrate their account details across to Crunchyroll. FUNimation subscribers that log into Crunchyroll will also have their subscription automatically changed to a Crunchyroll subscription, but may see a price increase and the next payment may need to be re-verified.
Those who have both a Crunchyroll and FUNimation account, and have used the same e-mail address on both services, will also be able to transfer details across as well and will see a prompt on screen when they log in.
Funimation users with an active Crunchyroll subscription or a Crunchyroll free account will need to confirm the changes first with these simple steps:
Log in to Crunchyroll using your Funimation credentials
You will be prompted with three options to sync your account:
Combine Funimation and Crunchyroll data
Replace my Crunchyroll data with Funimation data
Save Crunchyroll data only
Confirm the changes by selecting YES, I AM SURE
Sadly while account details will be transferred the ownership of FUNimation Digital Copies will not, something which comes as bit of a shock.
What is going to happen to my digital copies?
We understand that you may have concerns about your digital copies from Funimation. These Digital copies available on Funimation were a digital access to the content available on the DVDs or Blu-rays purchased.
Please note that Crunchyroll does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, which means that access to previously available digital copies will not be supported. However, we are continuously working to enhance our content offerings and provide you with an exceptional anime streaming experience. We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to explore the extensive anime library available on Crunchyroll.
FUNimation Digital Copies were included with selective Blu-Ray releases in the UK, namely those released in the UK after FUNimation acquired Manga Entertainment and before the merger with Crunchyroll. Redeeming a code included inside the Blu-Ray on the FUNimation website would grant the user streaming (and download to device) access for that particular title, and was a nice benefit to have. More importantly you did not need to be a FUNimation subscriber, as long as you had a FUNimation account you could redeem titles and watch them online (or downloaded to your device) via FUNimation services.
To not have these transferred to Crunchyroll, and as part of your account, is extremely disappointing news and once again shows that Digital Media can be removed without much notice. So, as a reminder, FUNimation will cease to operate on 2nd April 2024 and details will be transferred to Crunchyroll, while ownership of Digital Copies redeemed on your FUNimation account will be lost – but you’ll be able to stream them (as a subscriber) on Crunchyroll.
