After Sony sorted its acquisition of Crunchyroll earlier this month, clouds started looming around the fate of the bundle subscription service VRV.
Ellation Inc., the former parent organization of Crunchyroll, started VRV back in 2016. The service used to include Funimation, which later detached due to Sony’s acquisition.
This detachment was speculated to be because of VRV not being part of Sony’s long-term business plans.
So, it was natural to question VRV’s status after the Crunchyroll acquisition, which is a little unexpected.
The subscription bundle service VRV is now part of the Sony Funimation Global Group, following Sony’s acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T.
We will likely see Crunchyroll and Funimation content bundled up under VRV once again very soon.
With most of the anime streaming world already in their pocket, Sony seems really determined to take over the world.
Given their position in the west and Funimation’s expansion in South America, they also have the AnimeLab service under the Funimation name, cementing their place in Oceania.
Some fans may be delighted about these major services coming under one umbrella, but we are still far from an all-encompassing anime streaming service. The online anime space may look like a monopoly now, but it is not.
The other big player besides the Sony umbrella is Netflix. The streaming service has begun investing in major anime titles like Evangelion, One Piece, and JoJo’s, and several Netflix original anime. Its accessibility to the general public also gives it a slight edge.
Amazon is also there somewhere, but it is nothing compared to these two when it comes to anime.
The ultimate anime streaming service may be a pipe dream, but the fact that it won’t exist may be for the better because too much power in the hands of a single entity is never good.
Source: Anime News Network
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