During the Sony Group Corporation press conference at CES 2025 in Las Vegas yesterday. The company has announced A series of PlayStation video game adaptations in production.– Crunchyroll, the Sony-owned anime streamer, has announced a new side move with its aptly named manga service Crunchyroll Manga. The manga app is set to launch this year. It aims to be the leading destination for anime fans to read their favorite series.
While Crunchyroll has not yet revealed when fans should expect Crunchyroll Manga to launch, the company has revealed that the standalone app will be “A new premium option for Crunchyroll members.” Moreover, Crunchyroll plans to launch the app on iOS and Android, with additional plans for web browser integration.
“Crunchyroll Manga will be the premiere online manga app that curates catalogs from well-known publishers, giving fans access to the visionary works that inspire the anime we love. Unparalleled,” Rahul Purini, president of Crunchyroll, said in a press release. “As we strengthen our partnership on this exciting new project, We aim to bring even more value to Crunchyroll members, complementing our extensive anime library, Crunchyroll Game Vault, and a wealth of products in the Crunchyroll Store.”
He continued: “Research shows that nearly 70% of anime fans read digital manga at least once a month. This highlights the huge demand for this kind of media. Not only is Crunchyroll Manga meeting this growing interest, but But it also helps to continue to stimulate the popularity of anime and manga around the world.”
Cartoon and manga fans, this has happened! 🧡 Crunchyroll Manga launches in 2025! This app is just the beginning of a new chapter. What manga are you hoping to see in particular?
📖 More: https://t.co/BepYbR7ddc pic.twitter.com/zWumVS3Pko
— Crunchyroll (@Crunchyroll) January 7, 2025
Another “new” manga app with lots of questions.
As Purini noted Fans' response which picks up the manga after the season finale of the anime. (or while watching an anime adaptation in progress) is a long-standing tradition. In fact Whenever new seasonal anime releases, social media managers at manga companies like Viz Media and Yen Press are quick to remind people to download their apps or visit their storefronts. to check out the remaining anime while waiting for the new season to premiere.
Reading manga through apps like Viz Manga, Shonen Jump App, and Manga Plus allows people to catch up on ongoing and older manga series for an affordable monthly subscription price of $1.99, $2.99 and $1.99 ($4.99 for the Deluxe plan) respectively. For perspective, Crunchyroll's premium membership prices are as follows:
- Fan ($7.99 per month):
- Mega Fan ($11.99 per month)
- Ultimate Girlfriend ($15.99 per month)
Crunchyroll's entry into the manga app makes sense as it currently has the largest anime catalog. which thanks to the important part Merger with Funimation—This isn't technically the first time a streamer has offered a manga-reading add-on to its subscribers. In fact Before the streamer overhauled its website last year, Crunchyroll used to offer premium subscribers a manga reading add-on on its website. where they can read episodes of the Kodansha series such as attack on titan Online. Unfortunately, this service looks like it will shut down in 2023.
In the customer service response to users about what happened to the forgotten services on r/Crunchyroll subreddit, A Crunchyroll representative reportedly told them, “As part of Crunchyroll's commitment to providing the best experience for fans, we will be decommissioning the Crunchyroll manga application on December 11, 2023 (although) it will be removed from Google. Play now”
io9 reached out to Crunchyroll for comment on whether Crunchyroll Manga is a relaunch of the old service. What membership level is associated with? And will there be a separate pricing option for users who don't want to be premium? Added. We'll update if we hear back.
Crunchyroll's 2024 transformation shows no signs of slowing down.
Anime fans seem a bit worried about Crunchyroll Manga. Criticism on social media has called the service a new era of historical launch. It lamented that it was only released in English in the United States and Canada. with plans to expand later and favor physical media over digital licenses.
Others noted how the service previously only offered Kodansha manga, raising questions about whether Crunchyroll Manga will live up to its promise of “making fans read the publisher's newest and favorite titles.” It's easier than ever before for many of the leading manga reading services to be available in one place” when future competitors and former partners like Kodansha offer their own manga reading services like K Manga.
K Manga like Square Enix's Manga UpIt uses a ticket-based payment service which is basically Play manga reading games like live video games.-There is a possibility that Sony will merge with Kadokawa—It continues to monopolize the anime industry.—Will result in Crunchyroll Manga's series catalog being filled with manga from publishers such as Delicious in the dungeon–
This all came after backlash as a result of fans finding out Crunchyroll's Funimation merger meant they could Digitally purchased manga can no longer be accessed. On Sunset anime streamer Crunchyroll has also initiated a few user experience changes. Remove the comments section. from the anime episode and allows users Multiple profiles in the account
While most of the above-mentioned changes are harmless to how other streamers operate, Crunchyroll announced in late 2024 that it would Paywall one piece section Premium subscriptions make fans eager to hit the high seas to pirate popular anime. Instead of being prepared to free up disposable income to watch long-running anime, perhaps Crunchyroll Manga can act as a deal-breaker for fans on the fence to upgrade to Crunchyroll's premium membership.
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