The Verge interviewed Crunchyroll CEO Rahul Purini, who talked about Crunchyroll’s history of mergers and acquisitions, as well as how it was lucky enough to have the supportive environment of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex. When asked if the big merger with Funimation means Crunchyroll now feels stable enough to hit the market or if there will be more mergers and acquisitions to come, Purini replied: “Structurally, We feel we are in the right place. We are in the right holding company to be able to go and seize the opportunity that is before us. Are there potential inorganic opportunities that could add to our current growth?” Purini laughed loudly. “Correct. And do we pursue them when they make sense? Correct. But I feel like we’re in the right place. We have the right structure to focus on our future.”
Purini’s comments follow Funimation’s recent announcement of the end of the service. The majority of their customers migrated to the Crunchyroll service smoothly. However, this announcement caused controversy over the loss of digital copies of content that Funimation customers already owned after purchasing physical copies of the release. Purini addressed the issue, advising customers to contact customer support and stating that Crunchyroll is willing to accept alternative forms of compensation. This could include as Purini says, “access to a digital copy on any other existing service they may have access to. It could be discounted access to our subscription service so they can access the same programs through our subscription service. So we’re trying to tailor it based on each user’s preferences.” However, many Funimation users reported significant price increases leading up to the move, and The Verge, which tested the policy, stated that Crunchyroll’s current compensation policy “seems inconsistent.” and difficult to take advantage of.
As Crunchyroll establishes itself as the one-stop shop for anime fans — with Purini outlining his vision of casual anime fans perhaps starting on Netflix and moving to Crunchyroll when they want more — many voiced concerns about their dominance of the industry. Possible benefits could include ensuring creators are better compensated through Crunchyroll, as opposed to pirate sites, and providing large amounts of overseas data to producers. produced in Japan so that the needs of international fans are best reflected in the anime production process. Purini emphasized this in the case of the popular Solo Leveling anime, in which he said: “Our team read the manhwa, liked the IP, and so we actually gave it to our partners in Japan. Ban – one of our sister companies, is actually Aniplex. – and co-produce the show with them. And that’s an example where we co-produced a show that we brought to the table based on what we heard from our fans.”
However, Crunchyroll’s dominance allows it to raise prices without any real legitimate alternative. While Purini’s admission that it is open to more mergers is normal in business, dominating an industry at the scale that Crunchyroll does is not. It is said to encourage streaming services to not easily improve service quality due to lack of competitors. Anime fans have reported lower quality service since Right Stuf was integrated into the Crunchyroll store – mainly due to shipping delays and packaging issues, as well as presentation. Unreliable video streaming, websites, and subtitles are sometimes unavailable at launch.
Source: The Verge