Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan’s Aniplex that specializes in the dubbing and distribution of East Asian media, with a long history of working with Japanese anime. The company was founded in May 1994 as Funimation Productions by Gen Fukunaga and his wife Cindy Brennan in Silicon Valley, with funding by Daniel Cocanougher and his family, who became investors in the company, which then relocated to North Richland Hills, later to Flower Mound, Texas, and after that in Coppell, Texas. Funimation was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It licensed popular series, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, Fruits Basket, Assassination Classroom, and Tokyo Ghoul among many others. Funimation was acquired by Navarre Corporation in May 2005; in April 2011, Navarre sold Funimation to a group of investors that included Fukunaga for $24 million. From 2017 to 2019, the Japanese conglomerate Sony owned a 95% stake in the company through its Sony Pictures Television division. In March 2022, the company itself was rebranded into Crunchyroll, LLC after acquiring the streaming service of the same name in August 2021, but the Funimation brand currently co-exists with Crunchyroll and remains in active use.
Funimation is a streaming service that caters firmly to a niche: anime fans. Except for a smattering of live-action content, all of its content is animated. Funimation covers plenty of range within the anime world, with a sizable list of genres represented, including anime-specific styles like shoujo and shounen. Most of Funimation’s shows and movies are available with original audio (Japanese) accompanied by English subtitles. Viewers can also watch dubbed versions in English or other languages, including Spanish. (In fact, even before Funimation entered the streaming market, a key part of its business was dubbing.)
Funimation offers a limited free plan, with which some content (but not the full library) can be viewed with advertisements. Otherwise, with subscriptions ranging between $7.99 and $9.99 per month, it has a similar price to major streaming sites like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. However, it is important to note that as of mid-2022, Funimation is in an ambiguous position. Its parent company, Sony, is in the process of merging Funimation with another anime streaming service now under the Sony umbrella, Crunchyroll. Funimation’s library is now available on Crunchyroll, and new content will mostly debut there, too. Funimation will only offer new episodes of its existing series. As of September 2022, it was still possible to sign up for a Funimation subscription, although even FunimationâÂÂs official website recommended subscribing to Crunchyroll instead. If you are unsure about the change, it is possible to try Crunchyroll with a two-week free trial.
Funimation’s starting plan is called Premium and costs $7.99 per month, but to save about $15 you can opt for an annual subscription for $79.99. This includes ad-free access to Funimation’s full library, with both subtitled and dubbed versions of anime content. Premium subscribers can watch Funimation on two devices at once, but they cannot download content to view offline. Beyond the Premium plan, Funimation also has the Premium Plus plan for $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually. Like the Premium subscription, you will get access to Funimation’s ad-free full anime library. But, Premium Plus users can download content onto mobile devices to watch offline. Additionally, they can stream on up to five devices simultaneously. Funimation offers a free plan, too, which allows users to access a selection of its anime library with advertisements. Both of Funimation’s paid plans (Premium and Premium Plus) come with a 14-day free trial. Users will be charged the regular subscription fee at the end of the trial unless they cancel it.
Funimation is strictly focused on anime. Within that category, it does offer a range of genres, such as comedy, sci-fi, adventure, and romance, plus a small selection of live-action content. It does not offer original content, although Funimation does its dubbing of Japanese content into English. Due to Funimation’s impending merger with streaming service Crunchyroll, the service is not adding new series to its platform, although it continues to add new episodes to existing series. Funimation can be streamed on a wide range of devices. It has Android and iOS apps for phones and tablets and is compatible with streaming devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV. Smart TVs from Vizio, Samsung, and LG are supported, as well as game consoles like Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. No additional equipment is required beyond the Funimation app.
