Culture news Crunchyroll is raising its prices! One of the leading streaming platforms for anime explains why
Crunchyroll is, without a doubt, one of the essential platforms in France for those wishing to watch the latest Japanese animated series. It offers a subscription system allowing you to enjoy this content without advertisements barely an hour after its broadcast in Japan. It has just increased its prices.
Crunchyroll: A must-have platform for Japanese anime fans
While Japanese animated series and films have been broadcast in our homes for almost half a century, the genre seems to be experiencing a rise in popularity in France. A phenomenon that can be explained by the proliferation of high-quality content. The health crisis, which occurred between 2020 and 2022, probably caused a higher consumption of these products, which managed to grab a new audience. The reference platforms on the fingers of one hand: Netflix, ADN and Crunchyroll make up the top three in France.
If Netflix stands out for the quality of its original productions in the field (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Pluto or Castlevania), Crunchyroll is probably the platform of choice for those looking for regular new releases. They are available one hour after their broadcast in Japan, sometimes accompanied by their French version. Arguments that justify the subscription of many fans of the genre… until the announcement of the price increase.
“Two years to watch everything”
On May 1st, the Crunchyroll platform announced the increase in subscription prices for Fan and Mega Fan tiers: subscriptions that allow you to enjoy the Crunchyroll catalog without ads one hour after their broadcast in Japan. Revised prices that affect Colombia, Portugal, Argentina, the United States and also France.
- Fan Subscription : goes from €4.99 to €5.99 for the monthly package / €39.99 to €59.99 for the annual package
- Mega-Fan Subscription : goes from €6.49 to €7.99 for the monthly package / €64.99 to €79.99 for the annual package.
Beyond the price increase, it is also the trial period that is revised: it goes from 14 days to 7 days. Something that Crunchyroll justifies in the following way:
The price increase reflects the platform's growing content offerings in recent years, expanding its catalog to over 45,000 episodes across 1,400 series and movies. That means it would take almost two years to watch everything on Crunchyroll. Big news includes the recent Spring 2024 anime season with over 50 simulcast series (up to double the previous half of 20-25 series per season) and the arrival of music videos and concerts thanks to Crunchyroll's partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Japan.
A decision that does not go down well with everyone. Among the comments related to the announcement on the official website, we can read that the increase is not justifiable just by the increase in content. Several Internet users are pointing out the malfunctions concerning certain dubbings, the announcement of May 1st effective… from May 1st or the still unfulfilled promise to repatriate the titles formerly available on Wakanim following the merger orchestrated by Sony.
