Funimation is shutting down – and taking your digital library with it

Funimation will be shutting down on April 2, 2024. The anime streaming service will begin migrating existing subscribers to Crunchyroll — a move that will not only impact subscription prices, but will wipe out digital libraries as well.

a Support page Funimation's website says the service will automatically transfer existing subscribers to Crunchyroll, noting that the transfer “may vary depending on the specific payment system, subscription type, and region.” But the page – unhelpfully – does not explain how much subscribers will have to pay after the transition, only old subscribers will see a price increase. You will have to check your email to find out how much you will have to pay.

Since I am an old subscriber, my price goes up. Instead of paying $5.99 per month for the Funimation Premium Plus plan I joined, I will have to pay $9.99 per month for Crunchyroll's Mega Fan plan. (For some reason, my email lists the new price as $12.49 Canadianwhich is the amount Canadian users have to pay for the Mega Fan plan.)

And I'm not the only one getting a price increase either. In a post on X, 1 user He says they will see the price of their annual subscription rise from $54.95 to $99.99. However, the user notes that it was also included in the older Funimation plan, which is why the prices have risen so steeply. Another user On the same old plan I'm using, you'll also see the same jump from $5.99 to $9.99 per month. We reached out to Crunchyroll for further clarification on the new prices Funimation subscribers will have to pay but did not immediately receive a response.

To make matters worse, Crunchyroll will not support digital copies redeemed through Funimation. This promotion allowed users to redeem digital copies of Funimation Blu-ray or DVD discs they had purchased, giving them the ability to store and view the show or movie through the streaming service. Funimation said Users can keep copies “forever” – but that is clearly not the case now.

According to Funimation's support page, Crunchyroll “does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, which means access to previously available digital copies will not be supported.” In other words, all those digital copies will disappear as well, which is a big problem for anyone who bought – and later sold – eligible DVDs or Blu-ray discs, hoping to store the digital copies on Funimation forever.

The writing has been on the wall for Funimation for some time. When Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021, it made plans to combine Crunchyroll and Funimation into one streaming service. After that, Crunchyroll inherited a huge library of content from Funimation – but Funimation remained available online, while continuing to add episodes of ongoing series. We don't know when Funimation will shut down yet.

If you're interested in switching to a Crunchyroll subscription, there are instructions on the support page on how to transfer your viewing history and queue. As for me, I'll probably cancel my subscription. The only reason I'm keeping Funimation is because I'm on an old $5.99/month plan — making it my cheapest ad-free streaming service amid rising prices across the entire industry. Funimation's playback controls and UI certainly aren't great, but I'll miss using the app for nostalgia Dragon ball Z Or to follow new episodes of My hero academy.