Former Pirated Anime Site Turns Into Sony's Global Money Maker (bloomberg.com) 30
An anonymous reader shares a report: When top anime streaming platform Crunchyroll was first gaining popularity as a pirated-video site in the mid-2000s, Japanese animation was considered a niche form of entertainment, appealing mainly to enthusiasts known as otaku. Today, it's a $20 billion industry spanning streaming, games and merchandise, and the company's hit series, such as One Piece and Demon Slayer, have drawn millions of US and European subscribers. Crunchyroll, now owned by Sony Group, is setting its sights on India as a major growth market -- one that could help the industry further expand from a made-in-Japan subculture into a mainstream and global phenomenon.
The company, founded in 2006 by graduates of the University of California at Berkeley, started off as an anime-sharing site. It eventually began streaming only legitimate content, helped by investment from venture capitalists including former News Corp. President Peter Chernin and ownership by AT&T's WarnerMedia. Now the largest anime-dedicated streaming platform in the world, it was bought by Sony in a $1.2 billion deal announced in 2020. Crunchyroll has more than 100 million registered members, including 11 million paid users, after rapid subscriber growth during the pandemic when people binge-watched exotic content. With growth in Western markets moderating, the anime giant is looking to India for its next breakthrough, according to President Rahul Purini.
The company, founded in 2006 by graduates of the University of California at Berkeley, started off as an anime-sharing site. It eventually began streaming only legitimate content, helped by investment from venture capitalists including former News Corp. President Peter Chernin and ownership by AT&T's WarnerMedia. Now the largest anime-dedicated streaming platform in the world, it was bought by Sony in a $1.2 billion deal announced in 2020. Crunchyroll has more than 100 million registered members, including 11 million paid users, after rapid subscriber growth during the pandemic when people binge-watched exotic content. With growth in Western markets moderating, the anime giant is looking to India for its next breakthrough, according to President Rahul Purini.
Crunchyroll is a great deal (Score:3)
Crunchyroll is a great deal. I have been a customer for years. You get access to a huge library of anime with more arriving all the time.
I have visited Japan, and when I looked into buying anime on disc, I was shocked by how expensive it was. Crunchyroll is a better bargain than anything available to the people in Japan.
There are other anime services... I'm probably going to sign up for HIDIVE and try that out. But if you only sign up for one, I recommend Crunchyroll.
P.S. Here are a few animes on Crunchyroll which I recommend:
A Place Further than the Universe: slice-of-life about high school girls managing to get on a trip to Antarctica
Psycho-Pass: a grim SF thriller set in a somewhat dystopian world. (I'm recommending the first season.)
Iwakakeru Sport Climbing Girls: a sports anime where the sport is competitive wall climbing, and the protagonist finds her gaming skills help her figure out routes. (I also like the music [youtube.com].)
Lycoris Recoil: a secret agency recruits young girls and turns them into assassins who eliminate threats to public safety. One of the protagonists is essentially John Wick as a Japanese schoolgirl. (I'm only partway through, but I haven't heard that the ending was bad so I'm expecting to like the whole series.)
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: a dragon decides to become a maid for a software developer. Wacky comedy ensues and Miss Kobayashi's life gets more complicated as more dragons keep showing up. (Dragons have a human form and are keeping a low profile.)
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
We get it. You like fantasies about high school girls.
This, I'd argue, is why anime is never really going to gain mainstream acceptance. It is always going to be a "made-in-Japan subculture" as long as it caters to sexually repressed Japanese and incels the world over.
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This, I'd argue, is why anime is never really going to gain mainstream acceptance. It is always going to be a "made-in-Japan subculture" as long as it caters to sexually repressed Japanese and incels the world over.
While there is certainly truth to that stereotype, there are also plenty of anime that don't fit this mold.
I tend to like sports anime, and there's a lot of good ones. Some I quite like are Free! Iwatobi Swim Club; Kuroko's Basketball; Haikyu! (volleyball); Tsurune (archery); ALL OUT! (rugby)
Want mindless just-about-non-stop fighting? DragonBall Z's been around for 30 years. God of High School is a more recent one.
Stories involving the supernatural? Jujutsu Kaisen is way better than I expected. Inuyasha was
Re: (Score:2)
We get it. You like fantasies about high school girls.
I certainly don't hate them... but I don't get all excited over drawings of girls, especially drawings of girls young enough to be my daughters.
I do like escapist fare, and I tend to watch things that were well-reviewed. Lycoris Recoil was very well-reviewed (I watched it after seeing John Wick, But Make it Anime [youtube.com]) and when I tried watching it, I liked it.
caters to sexually repressed Japanese and incels
Why, I do believe I've just been called an incel. S
Isekais are garbage (Score:1)
Isekais all have hurtful and inaccurate depictions of trolls and troll culture. For example the MC goes on a foolish adventure and encounters trolls and yet he’s not eaten, I can only suspend my disbelief so much before watching becomes a chore. I refuse to watch them.
The only good anime is Space Dandy, Lupin III, DragonballZ, Akira, Ninja Scroll, and Dragon Maid but you can skip the episode where she’s trying to slip Kobayashi a micky.
All other anime is shit. Even if you enjoy watching it.
City Hunter (Score:1)
City Hunter is also acceptable and its fun to pause and see what jibberish they used for the computerese scenes.
Re: Crunchyroll is a great deal (Score:2)
This guy comes in and makes the best slashdot comment in a few weeks and you imply he's a pedo. Just fuck all the way off.
"But mainstreammmm"
Is that the topic of his post? He didn't claim the world needed to watch his dragon girl anime, he just said it was good and he liked it.
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Crunchyroll do a pretty good job. I prefer Kodi/SubsPlease but have a paid Crunchyroll subscription to support the content creators.
Re: (Score:2)
You left out the whole isekai genre, what about Arifureta?
I haven't seen that one, but I did watch Re:ZERO and I liked it.
Also I was interested in Remake Our Life! (which is a time-rewind story rather than a proper isekai) but I didn't like the direction the story turned, and it doesn't seem to have an ending... Crunchyroll has 12 episodes and the 12th one doesn't end anything, it just stops in the middle. (The protagonist was born to be a producer, and he uses his producer skills to try to help artists, a
Re: (Score:2)
I can't believe you left Yurucamp out.
Re: (Score:2)
I can't believe you left Yurucamp out.
Never saw it, never even heard of it. But I just looked it up. Apparently IGN said it is "a wonderful celebration of nature and friendship".
I like slice-of-life as a genre, and a laid-back slice-of-life anime would be a good one to add to my watch list. Thanks, I'll check it out.
Re: (Score:2)
It depends where you buy your anime from in Japan. The big shops in touristy places are not cheap. If you don't mind used though they can be quite affordable.
That said, Crunchroll is a good deal. Some of the subtitling can be a bit questionable, but mostly it's okay.
From what you recommend I'd suggest you might like Do It Yourself! if they have it. It's very silly but kind of enjoyable, and the theme song gets stuck in your head.
Re: (Score:2)
I did enjoy visiting a store called "Book Off" that had used and remaindered books and videos. I got a DVD of a Pixar movie in Japanese for like 600 yen.
I will check out Do It Yourself!, thank you for the suggestion.
GundamInfo releases on Crunchyroll (Score:2)
The last two Gundam releases came out on Crunchryoll first, the most recent being The Witch from Mercury.
Which is somewhat annoying because I'm not in the mood to sign up for yet another service somewhere. I wait it out until they release their series on YouTube in a few months and then watch it.
In the meantime, I get to see the dorks claiming they have a "reaction" video about the latest episode. Considering the over-the-top, clearly exaggerated crap these videos put out, it's no wonder there are so many
"looking to India"? (Score:3)
And, yes, I'm one of those "Subs, not dubs" types.
Re: (Score:2)
"Subs, not dubs" [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Commercial translations have to deal with commercial realities. People not familiar with Japanese culture won't get some of the references and jokes, so they have to be re-written. Other stuff is just cultural sensitivities, and the fact that some characters in anime are rather young for the situations they get into, so have a few years added to their age.
I most prefer fan subs because of that. At first it was for the authenticity, but now I can understand a fair bit of the Japanese being said it's because
Re: (Score:2)
You want confusing? Try watching "Tora! Tora! Tora!".
nyaa.si is even better. (Score:2, Informative)
proof of piracy is also a question of availibility (Score:2)
Meh (Score:2)