Completion Of Funimation-Crunchyroll Merger Results In Over 100 Anime Titles Being Made Digitally Unavailable To Western Audiences Including ‘Astro Boy’, ‘Slayers’, And ‘Mobile Suit Gundam SEED’

Nerdigans Inc. |

Apr 23, 2024

The Strike Gundam awakens in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Episode 30 "Flashing Blades" (2003), Sunrise

In a result that will no doubt bolster the very anime piracy the newly-formed entity is seeking to combat, thanks to various licensing issues that arose during the acquisition process, the recent completion of the previously-announced Funimation-Crunchyroll merger has rendered a worrying amount of titles, all of which were previously hosted on the former platform, completely unavailable to streaming audiences.

Trunks (Takeshi Kusao) finds his Super Saiyan powers are still no match for the combined might of Androids 17 (Shigeru Nakahara) and 18 (Miki Ito) in Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks (2000), Toei Co. Ltd.

As previously reported, in August 2021, the Sony-owned Funimation announced that not only had they acquired Crunchyroll for roughly $1.175 billion USD, but also that, as part of the deal, their own service and library of anime would eventually be folded into the latter in order to better streamline their offerings.

The Aegis Gundam charges forth in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Episode 30 "Flashing Blades" (2003), Sunrise — The Aegis Gundam charges forth in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Episode 30 “Flashing Blades” (2003), Sunrise

And while many fans had hoped they would still be able to legally access all of Funimation’s library following the merger, reality has since proven to be far more consumer-unfriendly, as following the initial confirmation that digital copies of Funimation titles would not be supported by Crunchyroll, it has now been discovered that several titles have been lost, or at least partially so, in the digital shuffle.

Per a list complied by one of the moderators of Crunchyroll Discord server and verified by Bounding Into Comics against the streaming database Just Watch, following the April 2nd completion of the merger, over 100 Funimation-licensed titles are now sitting in digital purgatory, unavailable to stream or purchase digitally anywhere online.

Source: Astro Boy Episode 12 “Damdam’s Neck” (1980), Tezuka Productions

These titles include:

.hack//Legend of the Twilight
.hack//Quantum
.hack//Roots
.hack//SIGN
A Certain Magical Index: The Miracle of Endymion
Aliens vs Ninja
Aquarion Logos
Aria the OVA: Arietta
Aria The Origination: That Little Secret Place
Aria the Avvenire
Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA
Armitage III: Poly Matrix
Armitage: Dual Matrix
Astro Boy
Athena: Goddess of War
Bakemonogatari
Baldr Force Exe
Blessing of the Campanella
City Under Siege live action
Classroom Crisis
Code Geass – Akito the Exiled
[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Confucius live action
Doamygar-D
Durarara!!x2
EscaFlowne: The Movie

toma accelerator — Toma Kamijo and Accelerator in A Certain Magical Index Season 2 Episode 21″Learning Device (Testament)” (2011), J.C. Staff

FLCL
Free! Orchestra Concert 2020
Galaxy Angel
Goemon live action
Hal
Haruchika – Haruta & Chika
Heaven’s Lost Property Angeloid of Clockwork
High School Fleet
Ikki Tousen
Kimba the White Lion Seasons 2-3
Koyomimonogatari
Le Chevalier D’Eon
Mekakucity Actors
Minami-ke
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (Dub)
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn – Specials
PUCHIM@S
Psychic School Wars
Rage of Bahamut
Rainbow Days
Rental Magica
Samurai Flamenco
Sengoku Basara: The Last Party

Masayoshi (Toshiki Masuda) searches for King Torture (Sho Hayumi) in Samurai Flamenco Season 1 Episode 10 "Final Battle at the Enemy Base!" (2013), Manglobe — Masayoshi (Toshiki Masuda) searches for King Torture (Sho Hayumi) in Samurai Flamenco Season 1 Episode 10 “Final Battle at the Enemy Base!” (2013), Manglobe

Shonen Hollywood – Holly Stage for 49-
Shonen Hollywood – Holly Stage for 50-
Show By Rock!! Stars!!
Silver Spoon
Seraph of the End Season 1
Smuggler live action
Steins;Gate: The Movie – Load Region of Déjà Vu
Steins;Gate: Open the Missing Link – Divide By Zero
Slayers
Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike
Tenchi Muyo! Season 3
Tenchi Universe Seasons 2-3
The Asterisk War Season 2
The Legend of Legendary Heroes
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Sword with no Name
The Tatami Galaxy
The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake
TO Movie
Tokyo ESP
Ultimate Otaku Teacher
Vividred Operation
World Conquest Zvezda Plot
You’re Being Summoned, Azazel-san

slayers — Lina Inverse in Slayers Season 5 Episode 5 “RAIDER! A voice from the darkness!” (2009), J.C. Staff

Meanwhile, the following titles are no longer available to stream on the Funimation-Crunchyroll platform but can still be purchased from various digital stores: