Forum - View topicNEWS: Crunchyroll Halts Ad-Supported Streaming on December 31
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PilotPayback
 Posts: 137 |
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gonna be honest, this wasn't surprising since they were downsizing on it over the years...
kinda reminds me of when hulu did something similar a few years back...now that service is going to eventually just merge with disney+ (over here in na, at least), so yeah.. Last edited by PilotPayback on Mon Dec 08, 2025 2:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 5343 |
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I think we all saw this coming when they went to only using it for certain titles.
The ad-tier is what I used before deciding to subscribe years ago. At the time, I wondered how lucrative it was since it was 50/50 on whether there was a generic ad (mostly McDonald's at the time) or a self-promotion for the paid service or the Crunchyroll store, which obviously didn't result in ad revenue. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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I can't stand ads. Hell, I even pay for a subscription to YouTube just so I don't have to deal with ads.
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NickCMedia
Posts: 48 |
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The ads were excruciating to me, anyway. That's why I prefer paying for a subscription. Even before Funimation bought out Crunchyroll, then merged with it, I finally chose to subscribe to Crunchyroll, considering how many compelling titles they had dubbed at the time. Even five years later, I remain subscribed.
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Cypher997
Posts: 192 |
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Removing ads from their streaming service does not absolve them of the other issues that are still ongoing. The backend the service still relies on stinks to heaven and hell, the subtitles are woefully inadequate in a number of ways, the list is pretty hefty to say the least.
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CelticMutt
Posts: 95 |
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Same. |
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Pokenatic
 Posts: 637 Location: Neo Venezia |
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If they're discontinuing the ad-free tier, they shouldn't complain when the kids and teens who can't pay for the subscription because they don't have money go and use whatever illegal streaming sites that are currently running instead of Crunchyroll.
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Kiwi93
Posts: 536 |
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Same with me lol I mostly watch anime and YouTube so I find YouTube premium absolutely worth it with the amount of YouTube I watch. |
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Dr. Wily
Posts: 863 |
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I'm not shocked this happened but still think it's a shame. Anime is always gonna have a slight barrier to entry and free ad-streaming was a good way for people to try it out and say "hey I like this, maybe it'd be worth it to pay more to stop these ads and maybe try some other shows". Moreover it feels like CR really shooting themselves in the foot unnecessarily, since every other streaming platform has anime now too (even if they're licensing from CR) so it's not like they're the only game in town. They're creating a walled garden essentially, and I can only see it leading to an uptick in piracy.
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Raktus
 Posts: 7 Location: USA |
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Yeah, Crunchyroll just isn't the friendly anime place it was 10 years ago. They've destroyed the things that kept the community together and now are making their own services worse and worse... man, I miss VRV.
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AJ (LordNikon)
 Posts: 537 |
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In related news, 31 March 2026, Chrunchyroll announces limited adverts for all paid users for certain first run shows for users on lowest paid tier.
Rinse and repeat every 12-18 months until all paid subscribers have adverts. This will happen. |
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JustMonika
Posts: 1564 |
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I wouldn't have known since I've been a paid subscriber for several years. I always buy yearly subscriptions for this and HiDive.
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pip25
Posts: 268 |
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And that will be the moment when I cancel my subscription. Let's be real here: people can find ways to watch the anime they really want to watch. The one who stands to lose the most from such a move is CR, not us. |
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kgw
 Posts: 1532 Location: Spain, EU |
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Me too. Besides, I don't know many paid streaming services offering their content for free, so I don't understand why Crunchyroll should give theirs for free. |
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WatcherZer
Posts: 521 |
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Its a pity, Amazon Prime have been having a lot of classic TV series content supported by ads and its a good way for them to add extra legacy content separately from adding new and recent films and tv to the core platform. They've also had the occasional free first episode of Anime to promote Crunchy subscriptions as well and that's the closest I've ever come to picking up a Crunchy subscription.
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