After 16 years of business, Crunchyroll just made a major change to its store that has resulted in fans losing access to a great deal of fan-favorite anime and manga titles. While fans are still reeling from the loss, it's unclear just how extensive the store cuts go.
As pointed out by X user MangaAlerts, Crunchyroll has removed all manga from its store as well as a great deal of anime Blu-rays. Though it's not known how many anime Blu-rays have been delisted or made unavailable on Crunchyroll's store, what is far more apparent is the lack of manga. Searching for manga on Crunchyroll's store produces zero results.
Additionally, fans can only shop on Crunchyroll's store now if they have an active Mega Fan or Ultimate Fan subscription. These tiers are both higher than a normal subscription. The Fan tier costs $9.99 a month, the Mega Fan tier costs $13.99 a month, and the Ultimate Fan tier costs $17.99 a month. While this change to Crunchyroll's store was announced in July, it's still a sour note for many.
Crunchyroll's Store Change Earns Poor Reception From Fans
The backlash to Crunchyroll's store changes has been particularly pronounced on social media. X user @obsidianmother, in reply to MangaAlerts' original post, commented: "Noooo, I had stuff in my cart and now it's gone". That sentiment appears to be common, as X user @tenbinzan replied to MangaAlerts with, "Ugh. I was just about to buy some of their discounted final sale stuff. They said they would tell us about the store change at a later date… not just spring it on everyone all of a sudden."
Making the change even more difficult to accept for many is that this comes after Crunchyroll's parent company, Sony, purchased anime and manga retailer Right Stuf. Right Stuf was folded into the Crunchyroll store in 2023. Before its closing, Right Stuf had a solid reputation among anime fans for its wide product range and ease of use. Additionally, Right Stuf carried more adult anime and manga that Crunchyroll lacks.
Given that many were perfectly happy with Right Stuf, it's understandable why some fans are frustrated that a perfectly fine service was merged with a bigger one, only for the bigger service to lose many of the products that kept fans coming back.
Why Anime Fans Are Worried About Sony
Making matters worse is the optics of it. The reduction in physical media is coming after Sony announced the end of production for physical PS5 discs after 2028. Given that, it's understandable why some would be worried this is also the direction Crunchyroll is moving in with its Blu-ray releases.
At the time of writing, this is only speculation. Given the fierce backlash Sony received for the move to digital only, it seems unlikely that they would want to incur more controversy, especially from a group like anime fans.
Still, it's easy to see why fans are worried. Though the Crunchyroll store maintains a collection of 387 Blu-rays at the time of writing, the majority of space on Crunchyroll's website appears to be taken up by clothing drops, with only three Blu-rays being advertised on the homepage (The Apothecary Diaries season 1 steel book, Solo Leveling season 1 Blu-ray, and a Cyberpunk: Edgerunners complete series Blu-ray set).
It's also strange that big series like Naruto don't have a bigger presence. Currently, only three Naruto products are listed on Crunchyroll's store. These include an Akatsuki letterman jacket which is sold out, a Naruto version of the board game Clue, and a Madara figurine available for pre-order.
Given the strange omissions, the cutting of all manga, and the switch to needing a subscription, it's clear big changes have taken place at Crunchyroll's store. While it's possible fan backlash will bring some of the lost Blu-rays and manga back, it's harder to see other changes being undone. Sony has typically remained silent when facing controversy, so it will be interesting to see how or if Crunchyroll and its parent company will respond to fan discontent.
- founded
- May 14, 2006
- notable shows
- In/Spectre, Tower of God, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Shenmue the Animation