Crunchyroll is (back) in the Manga App game

During Sony Group Corporation’s press conference at CES 2025 in Las Vegas yesterday, the company announced a series of PlayStation video game adaptations in production. Sony’s anime streamer Crunchyroll has also announced a new side move with the manga service titled Crunchyroll Manga. This manga app, scheduled for release this year, aspires to be the main destination for anime fans to read their favorite series.

While Crunchyroll has yet to reveal when fans can expect Crunchyroll Manga to roll out, the company did disclose that the standalone app will be a “new premium option for Crunchyroll members.” Android with further plans for web browser integration.

“Crunchyroll Manga will be the first online manga app to carry catalogs from renowned publishers, offering fans unparalleled access to the visionary works that inspire the anime we love,” said Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini in a press release. “As we strengthen partners in this exciting new venture, we want to add even more value to the Crunchyroll membership by complementing our extensive anime library, Crunchyroll Game Vault, and extensive selection of products in the Crunchyroll Store.

He continued: “Research shows that almost 70% of anime fans read digital manga at least once a month, highlighting the huge demand for this medium. Crunchyroll Manga not only meets this growing interest, but also fueling the continued global popularity of anime and manga.

Manga fans, it’s happening! 🧡 Crunchyroll Manga is launching in 2025! This app is just the beginning of a new chapter. What manga are you hoping to see featured?

📖 More: https://t.co/BepYbR7ddc pic.twitter.com/zWumVS3Pko

— Crunchyroll (@Crunchyroll) January 7, 2025

Another “new” manga app with many questions

As Purini notes, the feedback loop of fans picking up manga after an anime’s season finale (or while watching an ongoing anime adaptation) is an ancient tradition. In fact, whenever new anime seasons come out, social media managers at manga companies like Viz Media and Yen Press are quick to remind people to download their app or visit their storefronts to catch up. where the anime left off while waiting for new seasons. at first.

Reading manga via apps like Viz Manga, Shonen Jump App and Manga Plus allows people to keep up with current and older manga series at monthly subscription prices of $1.99, $2.99 ​​and $1.99 ($ 4.99 for a deluxe plan), respectively. For perspective, Crunchyroll’s premium subscription prices are as follows:

• Fan ($7.99 per month):
• Mega Fan ($11.99 per month)
• Ultimate Fan ($15.99 per month)

While Crunchyroll dipping its toe into the manga app service makes a lot of sense, as it currently hosts the largest catalog of anime – thanks in large part to its merger with Funimation— this isn’t technically the first time the streamer has offered subscribers a manga-reading add-on. In fact, before the streamer did a website overhaul last year, Crunchyroll used to offer a web-based manga reading add-on to premium members where they could read chapters of Kodansha series like and Attack on Titan online. Unfortunately, the service was apparently shutting down in 2023.

In a customer service response to a user about what happened to the service often forgotten about the r/Crunchyroll subreddit, A Crunchyroll representative told them: “As part of Crunchyroll’s commitment to providing fans with the best experiences possible, we will be retiring the Crunchyroll manga application on December 11, 2023 (even if) it has been removed from Google Play.

io9 has contacted Crunchyroll for comment on whether Crunchyroll Manga is a soft relaunch of its older service, what membership levels it will be paired with, and whether it will have separate pricing options for users who don’t want it as premium. add We’ll update if we hear back.

Crunchyroll’s 2024 changes show no sign of slowing down

Anime fans already seem a little trepidatious for Crunchyroll Manga. Feedback on social media called the service a relaunch of revisionist history, lamented that it only launched in English in the US and Canada with plans to expand later, and supported physical media over the digital license.

Others noted how the previous service only offered Kodansha manga, questioning how Crunchyroll Manga will live up to its promise to “make it easier than ever for fans to read new and beloved titles from several major publishers in one. place,” when its prospective competitors and former partners like Kodansha offer their manga reading services like K Manga.

K Manga, like Square Enix’s Manga UpUse a ticket payment service that essentially gamifies manga reading as a live service video game. There is a chance of Sony merging with Kadokawa –monopolizing in addition the anime industry– will result in the Crunchyroll Manga series catalog which will be full of manga from the publisher as Delicious in Dungeon.

All of this comes after a backlash from fans who discovered Funimation’s merger with Crunchyroll meant they could. no longer access manga that have been purchased digitally on the sunset anime streamer. Crunchyroll has also started a couple of user experience changes, including remove their comment section from anime episodes and let users many profiles on an account.

While the changes mentioned above are largely innocuous with the way they fold into the way other streamers operate, Crunchyroll’s announcement at the end of 2024 that it would be paywalling One piece episodes at premium subscription levels has made fans feel like going to the high seas to pirate mega-popular anime rather than preparing to pony up more disposable income to watch long-running anime. Perhaps Crunchyroll Manga will serve as the driving force that will sweeten the deal for fans on the fence to upgrade to Crunchyroll’s premium subscription.

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