Anime is now mainstream, which of course has an impact on the market, which used to be completely niche. This has advantages for fans in terms of availability, but can have a negative impact on price, as we are currently seeing with the recent price increase by the anime streamer Crunchyroll. It had just switched off free streaming at the turn of the year and is already as expensive as Netflix in the USA.
This is how much the anime streamer Crunchyroll now costs in Germany
Sea Crunchyroll There are now two types of subscriptions that have become more expensive as follows:
- Fan subscription: previously 6.99 euros, now 8.99 euros per month (69.99 euros to 89.99 euros per year)
- Mega fan subscription: previously 9.99 euros, now 11.99 euros per month (99.99 euros to 119.99 euros per year)
In the announcement of the change, which is effective immediately, Crunchyroll justifies the price increase with the words: “The streaming service is reacting to the ongoing expansion of its global anime offering.”
Customers who already have a subscription must agree to the increase. If you do not agree, the service is free to terminate the person.
Even more anime:
Anime fans react angrily to the price increase
Of course, customers on social media were not happy about the higher prices and some threatened to cancel their subscription. The YouTuber Evanit0 wrote on X to applause from over 7,000 likes: “Yo @Crunchyroll, I’m going to talk to you right here, but if you seriously think you’re worth as much as a Netflix subscription, then rest assured we will ALL be canceling ASAP. Goodbye.”
Crunchyroll is the largest anime streamer with the most simulcasts of the Japanese release seasons. Netflix now also has many popular titles such as the fantasy highlight Freezing: After the End of the Journey on offer.
A common complaint is that many of the English-language dubbed versions that were available in Funimation‘s days before the service became Crunchyroll are still missing. More money for less service, so to speak.
However, it remains to be seen whether Crunchyroll will really achieve a large wave of subscription cancellations and respond to this in terms of price.
