NATO chief says the Arctic is now 'a priority' after Trump said 'we'll have Greenland one way or another'

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

Funimation, the popular anime streaming service, is set to shut down on April 2nd, 2024. Subscribers will be migrated to Crunchyroll, another anime streaming platform, but this transition comes with some significant changes. Not only will subscription prices be affected, but users' digital libraries will also be wiped clean.

According to a support page on Funimation's website, existing subscribers will be automatically transferred to Crunchyroll. However, the specifics of the transfer, including pricing, will vary based on payment platform, subscription type, and region. Unfortunately, the support page does not provide details on the new pricing structure, and users will have to check their email to find out the updated costs.

Legacy subscribers, like myself, will experience a price increase. For example, I was paying $5.99 per month for Funimation's Premium Plus plan, but after the transition, I will have to pay $9.99 per month for Crunchyroll's Mega Fan plan. Interestingly, my email states that my new price will be $12.49 Canadian, which is the rate for Canadian users on the Mega Fan plan.

Others are also facing price hikes. One user mentioned in a post that their yearly subscription price will jump from $54.95 to $99.99. However, it's important to note that this increase is due to being on an older Funimation plan. Another user, on the same legacy plan as me, will also see their monthly fee rise from $5.99 to $9.99. We have reached out to Crunchyroll for more information on the new pricing structure for Funimation subscribers but have yet to receive a response.

To add to the disappointment, Crunchyroll will not support the digital copies redeemed through Funimation. This means that access to previously redeemed digital copies will no longer be available. Funimation had initially promised that users could keep these copies "forever," but that is no longer the case.

According to Funimation's support page, Crunchyroll does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, resulting in the loss of access to these previously available digital copies. This is especially disheartening for those who purchased eligible DVDs or Blu-rays with the intention of storing the digital copies on Funimation indefinitely.

The closure of Funimation has been anticipated for a while. When Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021, plans were made to merge the two services into a single streaming platform. Although Crunchyroll gained a vast content library from Funimation, Funimation continued to operate independently, adding new episodes to ongoing series. The announcement of Funimation's shutdown was not known until recently.

For those interested in transferring to a Crunchyroll subscription, the support page provides instructions on how to transfer watch history and queue. As for myself, I will likely cancel my subscription. I only kept Funimation because of my legacy $5.99 per month plan, which was the most affordable ad-free streaming service for me amidst industry-wide price increases. While I'll miss using the app for my nostalgia fix of Dragon Ball Z or to catch up on new episodes of My Hero Academia, the upcoming changes have led me to reconsider my subscription.