The English-speaking anime community and anime fans around the world are unhappy with the latest announcements from Crunchyroll and its new owner Sony, we explained what happened below.

Crunchyroll announced on March 25 it's changing a major part of its business model. Starting the Spring 2022 season which starts on the first week of April, a premium subscription will be mandatory to watch any episodes of any anime series on Crunchyroll. The free offer that lets fans watch anime episodes one week late without a sub is disappearing. Certain popular series of Spring 2022 such as Spy x Family will have their first 3 episode available to non-subs for a limited time, before free episodes completely disappear.

Ad-supported, free viewing option for anime episodes is disappearing from Crunchyroll

The move from Sony and Crunchyroll has been met with criticism by anime fans on social media and for several reasons. First, many pointed out Sony, with its newly found near-monopoly on the anime streaming and simulcast industry in the US, is lacking awareness and knowledge of the anime community' habits. Expecting all anime fans to pay up. There are also fans concerns regarding how it's unlikely all the money from the subs will be redistributed to underpaid translators at Crunchyroll.

Overall, many pointed out that anime fans, compared to fans of other media, are more likely to pirate if a legally streaming solution like Crunchyroll's free viewing was to disappear. If you look at official numbers from 2021, Crunchyroll had 100 million users, and only 4 million were subscribers. Meaning over 95% of the users are watching anime with the ad-supported free versions released one week after an episode aired.

Free viewing for past anime is staying (March 29, 2022 update)

Crunchyroll has announced through Anime News Network that anime series released before the Spring 2022 season will still be available for free with ad-support.

Sony could be making a big mistake, failing to understand anime fans

Personally speaking, I definitely believe this is a bad move from Sony. As for why many fans, myself included, think this way, look no further than Crunchyroll itself and its own history. Older anime fans following the media since at least the early 2000s will remember that Crunchyroll itself used to be a pirate site. It would host fansubbers' translations without authorization and profit from them, sometimes sparking conflicts between them and other fans.

What are your thoughts on the situation, do you already have a Crunchyroll subscription? Let me know your own thoughts on the Sony and Crunchyroll situation in the comments below! I've included some of the memes and reactions from fans on Twitter right below too. Some of which are obviously One Piece-based.