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’

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

RELATED: Sony’s Funimation Completes $1.175 Billion USD Purchase of Crunchyroll From AT&T

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

RELATED: All Of Funimation, Wakanim, and VRV Content To Move To Crunchyroll

  • 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:

  • A Certain Magical Index – Season 2
  • A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd
  • Ai Yori Aoshi
  • Angel Links
  • Appleseed XIII
  • Aquarion
  • Aquarion Evol
  • Armitage III
  • Attack on Titan live action movies
  • Ben-To
  • BlazBlue Alter Memory
  • [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
  • Castle Town Dandelion
  • Cheer Boys!!
  • Daimidaler: Prince vs. Penguin Empire
  • Dragon Ball Movie Curse of the Blood Rubies
  • Dragon Ball Movie Mystical Adventure
  • Dragon Ball Movie Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle
  • Dragon Ball Movie The Path To Power
  • Dragon Ball Z Special History of Trunks
goku krillin
Goku (Masako Nozawa) and Krillin (Mayumi Tanaka) undertake their Turtle School training in Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure (1988), Toei Animation
  • Eureka Seven
  • Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
  • Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino Season 2
  • Heavy Object
  • Inari Kon Kon
  • Kiddy Girl-AND
  • Luck & Logic
  • MoonPhase
  • My Bride is a Mermaid
  • Ninja Slayer From Animation
  • No-Rin
  • Pandora in the Crimson Shell:Ghost Urn
  • Riddle Story of Devil
  • Rurouni Kenshin live action movies 2-3
  • selector infected WIXOSS
  • Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Kings Season 3
Masamune Date (Kazuya Nakai) and Kojuro Katakura (Toshiyuki Morikawa) come to blows in Sengoku Basra: Samurai Kings Season 1 Episode 6 "Bonds Torn Asunder - Mortifying Retreat for Masamune!" (2009), Production I.G.
Masamune Date (Kazuya Nakai) and Kojuro Katakura (Toshiyuki Morikawa) come to blows in Sengoku Basra: Samurai Kings Season 1 Episode 6 “Bonds Torn Asunder – Mortifying Retreat for Masamune!” (2009), Production I.G.
  • Seraph of the End Season 2
  • Serial Experiments Lain
  • Show by Rock!! Season 3
  • Soul Eater Not!
  • Starmyu Season 1
  • Tenchi Muyo! Seasons 1-2
  • Tenchi Universe Season 1
  • The Heroic Legend of Arslan
  • The Legend Is Born: Ip Man
  • The Rolling Girls
  • The Vision of Escaflowne
  • Unbreakable Machine-Doll
  • Vexille
  • Visual Prison
  • Yatterman Night
  • Yurikuma Arashi
  • Zillion
Yuichiro and Mikaela
Yuichiro Hyakuya (Miyu Irino) gives Mikaela Hyakuya (Kensho Ono) a hug in Seraph of the End Season 2 Episode 10 “Yu and Mika” (2015), Wit Studio

NEXT: Former Funimation Script Writer Jamie Marchi Doubles Down On Her Infamous Anti-Patriarchy Localization Of ‘Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid’: “This Is What Happens When A Script Is Dubbed Into A Different Language”

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