Crunchyroll is the hub for legal anime streaming in the United States. With this acquisition, Sony gets a foothold in the anime streaming business, which has seen major growth and popularity in the past decade or so. What started as a cultural revolution in Japan in the form of Manga has caught the eyes of all the audiences especially the millennials.
The deal
Sony entertainments’ Funimation buying Crunchyroll from AT&T comes as a good strategy for them as they would want a share in this pie too. With three million subscribers in the US alone, Sony can compete with Netflix and Hulu which also have anime titles on their streaming subscriptions.
The deal said to be worth $1.17 billion could an expensive one, but gives Sony a strong customer base and ownership of a large number of Anime, games, and manga titles.
Tony Vinciquerra, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said the firm had already developed “a deep understanding of this global artform” through its own anime streaming service Funimation, which it will combine with Crunchyroll.
“Together with Crunchyroll, we will create the best possible experience for fans and greater opportunity for creators, producers, and publishers in Japan and elsewhere,” he said.
The Origin
Crunchyroll was founded by a group of University of California, Berkeley graduates in 2006. It has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Barcelona, Vancouver, Chisinau, and Tokyo. It also a member of the Association of Japanese Animation (AJA).
It offers over 1000 anime shows, more than 200 East Asian dramas, 50 manga titles as Crunchyroll manga. It also organizes an annual awards show to recognize talented anime production of the previous year.
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