There is no bigger news in the world of anime right now: Funimation disappears, swallowed up by Crunchyroll. This is going to have many implications, especially for Funimation users. Not many less for Crunchyroll subscribers. And it is that while the absorption of one company into another is rarely big news, in this case, it is particularly negative.
Funimation will cease to exist on April 2nd. This will have immediate consequences for all Funimation users, who will see their subscriptions converted into Crunchyroll subscriptions. With a catch. These are substantially more expensive. The average user can expect to go from paying $5.99 to $9.99 per month, but it may even be more. Since it seems that the increase in subscription prices is something that may happen in the near future.
But that’s not even the worst part. All purchases made on Funimation will not be transferred to Crunchyroll nor will they be allowed to be downloaded. That means that all movies and series acquired by Funimation users will no longer be accessible starting April 2nd.
This is a good reminder that digital files, unless they lack DRM, are not physical possessions and we can lose their usefulness at any time. That’s why what happened this time with Funimation and Crunchyroll could happen in the future with other companies. That’s why we should make sure to continue supporting those that sell their digital products without DRM and those that continue to sell physical products. Because a license to use has never been and will never be the same as owning a physical work.
