The anime battleground has never been fiercer. Crunchyroll, once the predominant top dog of the industry, is being rivaled by the likes of Netflix and Amazon, with each bolstered by financial backing, fearsome reputations, and their own set of exclusives – including Dan Da Dan on Netflix, The Ghost in the Shell on Prime Video, and Bleach on Disney Plus.
But Crunchyroll CEO and president Rahul Purini remains assured that, even in a crowded marketplace, the anime streamer is offering the biggest and best options for viewers.
“The audience is young; they’re engaged; they spend money in the medium. We’re not surprised that a lot of people want to serve this audience. We expected it,” Purini tells GamesRadar+.
Purini points to Crunchyroll’s storied history in the anime space (prior to its merger, Funimation was founded in 1994) and its sole focus on anime and anime-adjacent content as reason enough why it has the edge over its peers.
“At the same time, we’ve been doing this for 30 years. We are focused on this audience. This is not just one genre for us. This is the entire thing. We have the single largest anime library in the world. We had 55-plus shows every quarter. So, we feel good in terms of being able to bring an offering to fans that’s differentiated, unique, and is compelling. The competition is aggressive, but we are confident in our ability to attract this audience.”
As of May, Crunchyroll now has over 21 million subscribers. Previous figures from Netflix suggest half of its 300 million-plus subscribers have watched anime at least once, while almost a third of subscribers on Disney Plus and Prime Video have also dabbled in the medium.
With anime hotter than ever – and grossing hundreds of millions of dollars at last year’s box office – it appears the old idiom is true: a rising tide lifts all boats. But Crunchyroll, more than most, remains steadfast in navigating busy waters as the flood of anime content increases.
The 10th Anime Awards are streaming live on Crunchyroll’s Twitch and YouTube channels on May 23.
For more, run the rule over what’s still to come this year with our guide to new anime.
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