Funimation will close on April 2, 2024. The anime streaming service will begin migrating existing subscribers to Crunchyroll, a move that will not only affect subscription prices but also wipe out digital libraries.
TO Support page on Funimation's website says the service will automatically transfer existing subscribers to Crunchyroll, noting that the transfer “may vary depending on your specific payment platform, subscription type, and region.” But the page, unhelpfully, doesn't say how much subscribers will have to pay after the transition, only that legacy subscribers will see a price increase. You will have to check your email to see how much you will have to pay.
Screenshot by Emma Roth/The Verge
Since I am a legacy subscriber, my price is going up. Instead of paying $5.99 per month for the Funimation Premium Plus plan I had, I'll have to pay $9.99 per month for Crunchyroll's Mega Fan plan. (For some reason, my email says my new price is $12.49 Canadianwhich is what Canadian users must pay for the Mega Fan plan).
I'm not the only one getting a price increase either. In a post on X, an user says they will see the price of their annual subscription increase from $54.95 to $99.99. However, the user points out that they were also protected by a previous Funimation plan, which is why the price increase is so steep. Other user On the same legacy plan as me you will also see the same jump from $5.99 to $9.99 per month. We reached out to Crunchyroll for further clarification on the new prices Funimation subscribers will have to pay, but did not immediately hear back.
To make matters worse, Crunchyroll will not support digital copies redeemed through Funimation. This promotion allowed users to redeem digital copies of a Funimation Blu-ray or DVD they purchased, giving them the ability to store and watch the show or movie through the streaming service. Funimation said users could keep copies “forever,” but that is clearly not the case now.
According to Funimation's support page, Crunchyroll “does not currently support digital copies from Funimation, meaning access to previously available digital copies will not be supported.” In other words, all of those digital copies will be gone too, which is a big bummer for anyone who bought (and then sold) eligible DVDs or Blu-rays in hopes of storing the digital copies on Funimation forever.
Funimation has been writing on the wall for quite some time. When Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021, it made plans to combine Crunchyroll and Funimation into a single streaming service. After that, Crunchyroll inherited a huge library of content from Funimation, but Funimation stayed online and continued adding episodes of ongoing series. We didn't know when Funimation would close until now.
If you're interested in transferring to a Crunchyroll subscription, there are instructions on the support page on how to transfer your watch history and queue. As for me, I'll probably cancel my subscription. The only reason I kept Funimation was because I have a $5.99 per month legacy plan, making it the cheapest ad-free streaming service I have amid industry-wide price increases. Sure, Funimation's playback controls and UI aren't as good, but I'll miss using the app to fill me with nostalgia. Dragon Ball Z or to catch up on new episodes of my hero academia.
