Anime Streamer Crunchyroll Removing Forums, Other Legacy Features from Site
If you’re a user of the Japanese animation-dedicated streaming service Crunchyroll, your experience is about to get a lot less personalized. Ironically, Crunchyroll used a post on its dedicated forums to announce that those very forums — along with several other features — would be leaving the service on Nov. 1.
Along with forums, Crunchyroll is sunsetting the following legacy features next month:
- Library
- User Photo Albums
- User Groups
- Favorite Groups
- Custom Avatars
The post by Crunchyroll explained that the changes are being made ahead of the launch of the service’s new website, however, the post did not give a specific date for that impending launch. In the website’s Q&A section, the company suggests that fans be sure to save photos from their albums and their profile avatar locally, because there’ll be no way to recall those photos once the forums are sunsetted.
Crunchyroll also suggests that fans who want to engage with others follow the service on social media or use the comment section feature on the web or mobile app to talk about their favorite characters and shows.
Crunchyroll is a subscription video streaming service catering to fans of anime with over 30,000 episodes available to stream. Viewers can see new episodes of shows one hour after they air in Japan, and read hundreds of chapters across dozens of manga titles. Some of their more popular series available on Crunchyroll are “Dragon Ball Super,” “Attack on Titan,” and “Fire Force.”
The service — which was officially purchased by Sony last year — currently offers three subscription plans. The “Fan” ($7.99) tier allows streaming on one device but offers no offline viewing. The “Mega Fan” ($9.99) plan allows viewing on four devices and does include offline viewing. And the “Ultimate Fan” ($14.99) plan offers viewing on six devices, offline viewing, and an annual swag bag, among other perks.
Since being acquired by Sony, Crunchyroll has continued to add content and fine-tune its offerings for a growing audience. Earlier this spring, the streamer integrated content from former rival Funimation into its catalog while also requiring a premium subscription to watch episodes of new series during their initial overseas runs.
Despite that move, in July, the streamer reduced its subscription price in nearly 100 countries and territories. As anime continues to grow in popularity around the world, Crunchyroll is actively working to solidify its position as the home for some of the best new and classic content that the genre has to offer.
The service is hoping that its new website will further that goal, though the announcement is certain to disappoint fans who enjoy the social and legacy aspects of the current Crunchyroll site. Time will tell if the new site integrates those features in some form, or if they are officially canceled like a show that has slipped in the ratings.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is a subscription video streaming service catering to fans of anime with over 30,000 episodes. Viewers can see new episodes of shows one hour after they air in Japan, and read hundreds of chapters across dozens of manga titles. Some of their more popular titles are Dragon Ball Super, Attack on Titan, and Fire Force.