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Move to legal distribution Ĭrunchyroll eventually began securing legal distribution agreements with companies, including Gonzo, for a growing list of titles. The investment drew criticism from anime distributors and licensors Bandai Entertainment and Funimation as the site continued to allow users to upload unlicensed copies of copyrighted titles. In 2008, Crunchyroll secured a capital investment of $4.05 million from the venture capital firm Venrock. Some of the content hosted on Crunchyroll included versions of East Asian shows that had been subtitled by fans.
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The original Crunchyroll logo used from 2006 to 2012.Ĭrunchyroll started in 2006 as a for-profit video upload and streaming site that specialized in hosting East Asian content. History Origins and informal distribution Crunchyroll also releases titles on home video either directly or by having select anime titles released through its distribution partners ( Sentai Filmworks, Viz Media, Discotek Media, and its corporate sibling, Aniplex of America in North America Anime Limited in the United Kingdom). Crunchyroll passed one million paid subscribers in February 2017, and has over 10 million paid subscribers as of 2022. Ĭrunchyroll offers over 1,000 anime shows, more than 200 East Asian dramas in over 10 languages, and around 80 manga titles as Crunchyroll Manga, although not all programming is available worldwide due to licensing restrictions. "Crunchyroll-Hime", also known as "Hime", is the official mascot of Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll was a subsidiary of AT&T's Otter Media, and from 2016 to 2018, the company partnered with Funimation, which would eventually merge into its brand in 2022 after Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021.Ĭrunchyroll is a member of The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA).
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The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by East Asian media, including Japanese anime, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with the Japanese branch located in Shibuya, Tokyo.įounded in 2006 by a group of University of California, Berkeley, graduates, Crunchyroll's distribution channel and partnership program delivers content to over 100 million registered users worldwide. Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony Group Corporation.
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