As confirmed with Anime News Network (ANN), Crunchyroll has announced that it will discontinue web and mobile apps for its ‘Crunchyroll Manga’ digital manga distribution service. The service will no longer be available after December 11.
In an interview, the streamer told ANN that the decision has been made as a part of its “commitment to providing fans with the best experiences around their favorite series.” The Store will keep selling physical manga volumes. The news surfaced just after Crunchyroll phased out Right Stuf, which is a 36-year-old anime storefront acquired by Sony in 2022.
Crunchyroll told ANN:
“As a part of Crunchyroll’s ongoing commitment to providing fans with the best experiences around their favorite series, we will be sunsetting the Crunchyroll manga application on December 11 across web and mobile. However, fans looking to discover new manga adventures can head over to the Crunchyroll Store, which now offers more than 17,000 manga across genres. Fans can also enjoy other benefits of a Crunchyroll Mega Fan or Ultimate Fan membership, including Crunchyroll Game Vault, which includes a growing catalog of free-to-play titles across iOS and Android.”
Crunchyroll, which is one of the biggest hubs for reading anime and manga, had sent out an email to announce the app’s termination previously stating:
“Beginning November 7, 2023, digital manga will no longer be available on Crunchyroll.”
The Crunchyroll Manga service came into existence in October 2013. It’s been publishing titles from Kodansha USA Publishing in 170+ countries worldwide. In February 2018, Crunchyroll pulled simulpub titles, followed by the removal of 10 catalog titles in March 2018. Then, on January 31, Kodansha USA Publishing removed many of its manga titles from Crunchyroll. On May 10, Kodansha launched its K MANGA distribution service exclusively in the USA.
Recently, Crunchyroll has launched a video game app offering a myriad of anime-inspired mobile games to gaming and anime lovers. The new service is available to Crunchyroll’s Mega-fan and Ultimate-fan subscribers.
According to Terry Li, Executive Vice President of Emerging Business at Crunchyroll, Game Vault is focused on “curating a game selection that was broad enough to appeal to multiple areas of our fanbase.”
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.
