The divorce rate in the US is about 50%. Well, the statistic has just hit the anime industry: the once holy union between Crunchyroll and FUNimation is no more, and Crunchyroll is already seeing someone new…or rather, someone from their past who got a makeover.
It seems like only yesterday when the big shakeup was announced, but it’s already been two years. While the two sites were rivals, during this period, Crunchyroll took on most of the subtitled anime while FUNimation dealt with dubs. And it wasn’t just for new shows either; plenty of FUNimation’s back catalog like Trigun and The Slayers were added to Crunchyroll, and the third season of the latter was just added in late September. Crunchyroll also offered preorder discounts on FUNimation Blu-rays in their store.
While fans could subscribe to either for as low as $5 a month, fans could get both plus several other channels for $10 with VRV. This meant that the majority of seasonal anime along with a number of English dubs was available with this package. 
While Amazon and Netflix were their main competitors, HIDIVE later entered the field after Sentai Filmworks’ alliance with Amazon’s Anime Strike ended. Now, Sentai Filmworks, who was once Crunchyroll’s content partner, is once again returning to the fold via VRV. However, while HIDIVE is now part of the package, FUNimation is no longer included as of November 9th and had 300+ subtitled series return to their fold.
The Streaming Landscape Changes Yet Again
So why the breakup? Most likely, Sony, who now owns FUNimation, is planning on launching their own service to compete with Disney and WarnerMedia. They already have a leg in the streaming business thanks to the PlayStation Vue TV service, but I could see their movies and TV shows being available in a package along with the anime distributed by FUNimation. Sony still co-owns GSN with WarnerMedia parent AT&T, but otherwise, media companies are continuing to explore ways where they can get their revenue without having to share it with other streaming platforms.
It’s good that VRV immediately announced a replacement for FUNimation, but I know a lot of people joined HIDIVE during their $3.99 a month introductory offer. A lot of these people also had Crunchyroll to have access to most of the seasonal anime, so that would be at least $9 a month, more if their Crunchyroll subscription is month-to-month. With VRV costing $9.99, that means they’re saving a $1 at best, but they also don’t get channels like Geek & Sundry or NickSplat. Plus, if they still want all three major anime streaming sites, most people are now going to be looking at a $1 a month increase.
It’s not a huge increase, but that is just an increase right now. As the conglomerates’ streaming plans become finalized, things could change again so that it’s another $1, $2, even more on top of this current $1 increase. Crunchyroll hasn’t had a price increase in years, so they could hike the regular plan in hopes that more people will see VRV or Super Fan Pack as a better value.
Beyond that, I can see Crunchyroll eventually becoming VRV-limited or only available with the Super Fan Pack tier. The argument will be that fans would be getting much more content (Western animation, gaming, dubbed anime, music) for only $3-10 more depending on the package while anime watchers will, of course, point to this as a way to grab more money, particularly for what some view as foolhardy moves with Ellation Studios. As the media conglomerates want to produce and obtain more of their money directly without paying someone else, I could see bundles with their own content being a way to offset licensing cost. That being said, I don’t see any issue like a double paywall a la Anime Strike coming up, making costs out of range for a number of users.
There are going to be some transition pains even with the arrival of HIDIVE on VRV. Considering this announcement is coming right off the heels of the DramaFever shutdown, it’s evidence the Great Streaming Wars of 2019 or 2020 are on the horizon. But in the immediate future, not much is going to change. Yes, what shows are available on each will change, with some additions and subtractions on all three. That means there’s likely a series viewers will have missed that they would have enjoyed, but that happens whenever a license expires.
The bigger changes, I’d be willing to bet, are yet to come. Netflix is going to need some content to replace the whole left by Disney and to support their own created series, Sony’s PlayStation 5 could launch before the next presidential election, and AT&T’s Ellation Studios are just getting off the ground. No doubt that all these companies and others like Amazon see some financial appeal by reaching out to anime fans. But specialty streaming sites like Crunchyroll, FUNimationNow, and HIDIVE may soon no longer be individual islands on the web but rather part of larger networks. First the end of DramaFever, now the Crunchyroll-FUNimation breakup and the debut of HIDIVE on VRV…buckle up, the Great Streaming Wars are just getting started.