Crunchyroll said it will soon paywall particular arcs of the megapopular One Piece anime arc on the streaming service for premium customers.
I’ve been watching One Piece for months and enjoying catching up. But Crunchyroll made the stunning announcement on Monday, December 2, via its official X/Twitter account.
In a tweet, Crunchyroll announced that the first 206 episodes of the show will be available to Crunchyroll users on its ad-supported tier “at no cost.” To continue watching the remaining 1,151 episodes of One Piece, viewers must upgrade their Crunchyroll membership to the premium tier.
Crunchyroll revealed the steps of the One Piece update’s distribution. Beginning December 23, the One Piece: Water 7 to Fishman Island arc will require a premium membership. As a result, on January 20, viewers must have a premium membership to see the Punk Hazard to Whole Cake Island arc (which includes six specials). Finally, on February 17, One Piece’s Reverie, Wano Kuni, and Egghead Island arcs will be available through a premium subscription.
Crunchyroll’s premium membership is divided into three categories, with each tier’s fee increasing for the first time in five years earlier this May. Here is a breakdown of the monthly prices: Fan ($7.99), Mega Fan ($11.99), and Ultimate Fan ($15.99).
While Crunchyroll is not One Piece’s exclusive streaming home, it is the only one that hosts all of its episodes and movies. In contrast to Crunchyroll, competitive streamers such as Hulu and Netflix only offer a limited number of anime arcs on their sites. As of the time of publication, Hulu’s One Piece library only includes the Dressrosa arc. Similarly, Netflix has been gradually backfilling anime arcs while airing the show’s Egghead Island arc alongside Crunchyroll, causing the streamer to only get up to the Punk Hazard arc before diving into the most recent episodes.
Given how One Piece is gaining popularity, thanks to Netflix’s live-action series and an upcoming anime remake, it isn’t easy to see Crunchyroll’s decision to paywall the anime as anything other than a capitalistic move. This action is all the more concerning given that Crunchyroll owner Sony intends to further control the anime business by acquiring Kadokawa.
As one might expect, Crunchyroll’s revelation sparked outrage from viewers who accused the streamer of nickel-and-diming them into watching one of anime’s most popular series when they didn’t have to before. Rather than enticing viewers to pay more for Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus, Crunchyroll’s statement has prompted them to vow to take to the seas and begin pirating the series in protest. Fans shared images of “The Grand Pirate Era” and “becoming king of the pirates.”
Crunchyroll’s 2024 results have been varied. In April, the streamer completed its merger with Funimation, which resulted in customers losing digital ownership of content on the closed platform once their accounts were merged. Crunchyroll introduced various profiles to the platform while Funimation was shutting down. While that feature was viewed as beneficial, bringing the site on a level with competitors such as Hulu and Netflix, Crunchyroll sparked outrage among fans in July when it announced the closure of its comment section. This, combined with concerns about Crunchyroll’s unstable and frequently inaccurate auto-closed captioning, has made the largest anime platform one of the most despised by fans.
What do you think? Are you happy, Crunchyroll is locking down the anime?
