The landscape of anime streaming has grown prodigiously over the last 20 years. Where anime was once only available outside of Japan through swapped Betamax and bootlegged VHS tapes at niche conventions and backrooms, it has now skyrocketed into home video and streaming on demand. For the right money (or even in some cases FREE), you can get it dang near anywhere and stream it on dang near anything. While quite a few anime fans might be able to navigate the anime digital divide with aplomb, for some fans, especially those new to the genre, it can be confusing to figure out how best to consume the media. Some services offer a vast catalog of selections, while some are geared to specific niches, and even more offer anime merely as an afterthought, throwing some random shows on their service to check a box. 

While you could opt to make like Ash and catch ’em all, and if you’re able to do so, more power to ya, if, instead, you are more fiscally cautious, allow me, your Cajun Samurai Uncle Josh, to give you a detailed (read: Long Winded) profile of some of the more major services in the series I’m calling “Samurai’s Streaming Survey”. We’ll be looking at some of the major and minor streaming services that provide anime, giving you a breakdown of their history and going in-depth to see what makes them tick, how much they cost, and if it’s worth investing in monthly or yearly! 

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For our inaugural post, let’s take a look at what is often considered the one-stop shop for all things anime, and a site that can either draw grins or grimaces from the fandom: Crunchyroll.

Service Overview:

For better or worse, Crunchyroll is the Walmart of anime streaming companies. Though it ironically started as a piracy website, in the last two decades, Crunchyroll has grown into the leader in the industry for legal anime streaming. Part of that growth has come from several key acquisitions and mergers, including former stalwarts in the industry like Funimation Entertainment and The Right Stuf International. With over 17 million subscribers and growing, plus the advantage of being backed by parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment, Crunchyroll, much like Walmart, has become synonymous with anime. 

Alas, also like Big Blue, Crunchyroll has had more than its share of controversies. Whether it’s the handling of remote recording for vocal talent during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the refusal of higher management to meet with SAG-AFTRA members to discuss recording conditions, employee benefits, and fair pay, the allegations of mail theft by one of their most noted ADR Directors, removal of the community comments across the site, or more recently, the use of AI for translation and subtitle purposes (I’m still mad over what happened with The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons), Big Orange has seemingly stomped on the toes of both fans and employees alike over the years, and to many, reflects a transformation from the fans-first approach employed initially, to a more stale, corporate strategy that favors finances over fandom. Nobody likes it when the mom-and-pop shop goes corporate, and the world of anime is no different…though it would probably be an okaa-san and otou-san shop. 

Love ’em like a boo, hate ’em like an ex, or tolerate ’em like that one cousin at Thanksgiving, you can’t deny that Crunchyroll has made an impact on the industry, and for many, it’s Stop Number 1 for the latest and greatest from the Land of the Rising Sun. The site has evolved with the times and expanded onto devices big and small, offering its over 1,900 movies and shows (In the U.S. region) to the masses, and, at least at present, shows zero signs of slowing.

Site Layout: 

Crunchyroll embraces its identity as the Netflix of Anime, adopting a layout similar to Big Red, with sliding panels displaying posters of its various offerings. Scrolling down reveals more offerings based on genre and themes like “Best Healing Anime,” “Try Not to Cry”, or “Sing Your Heart Out”. It is an exciting way to find something when you don’t know what you’re in the mood for. And with a catalog just under 2000, Big Orange’s “Hey, what are you in the mood for?” approach can be welcoming, if not a little overwhelming, for newcomers. Of course, for those who know what they want, you can search for titles or even filter out all the old stuff and get to the season’s new goodies. It’s all decently organized, but nowhere near perfect. Some multi-seasonal shows aren’t well organized, and some movies, specifically those acquired from Funimation, are classified as single-episode, single-season shows and NOT movies. A prime example of this is The Stranger by the Shore, a Funimation acquisition from the early days of the merger.

Speaking of The Stranger by the Shore, I can’t help but notice that the Genre section doesn’t include a specific section for LGBTQ+ shows. Some other companies, like HiDive, proudly offer this section, but Crunchyroll opts to tuck everything under “Romance” and calls it a day. It does make things inconvenient if you are specifically looking for LGBTQ+ programming, but I personally don’t think it’s a deal breaker. Other than that, Big Orange seemingly has everything sorted right, making it easy to get to what you wanna see.

Service Offerings: 

Before acquiring Funimation Entertainment, Crunchyroll was deep in the competition sauce with other streaming companies to obtain licenses for the hottest new shows. In this post-acquisition landscape, with the might of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex behind it, Big Orange has emerged as the landing spot for loads of major anime franchises like Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Spy x Family, and the new home for old, ongoing classics like One Piece and Dragon Ball Z. In addition, Crunchyroll also serves as a platform for seasonal shows of various genres, as well as some feature-length anime movies and live-action offerings. It should also be noted that quite a few shows on Big Orange are also available on other platforms—for example, 2006’s Ouran High School Host Club, once a Funimation Exclusive title, is available for streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, YouTube TV, Apple TV, and possibly others. So, while some shows (especially newer ones) are Crunchyroll exclusives, there’s always a chance that some older anime are available elsewhere. But a lot of shows, especially some newer seasonal offerings, you can only find on Big Orange. But that’s not all they’re offering.

At the time of this printing, Crunchyroll is also launching…or rather, RE-LAUNCHING Crunchyroll Manga, a service that lets you read manga as a part of your subscription. This is not the first time Big Orange has ventured into manga, as they originally tried dipping their big toe in the manga waters, but shut down the service in 2023. Now reorganized under the same name, and promising hundreds of titles both past and present, Crunchyroll Manga returns, but is only available with a different subscription option that includes access to the service. While the library does promise to be sizable, locking it behind a higher paywall could dissuade those on a budget. 

Presentation: 

In addition to older, pre-existing titles and shows acquired in the acquisition, Crunchyroll’s claim to fame is offering seasonal subtitled anime, often within minutes of the original Japanese airing. There are delays, of course, but they’re not that often and are typically due to either technical issues or broadcasting issues in Japan, such as during the Olympic Broadcasts in 2024. In other cases, depending on the show’s popularity or the hype surrounding an episode —like Episode 1071 of One Piece or the finale of Attack on Titan —the sheer number of fans inundating the site caused Big Orange’s servers to smoke like Snoop Dogg on 4/20. Under normal circumstances, you should be able to get through and watch your show with no problems. However, if Luffy somehow finds a Gear 6, or My Hero Academia’s last episode features the wedding of Midoriya and Uraraka, all bets are off.

If English Dubs are more your style, in addition to classic dubs, Big Orange also offers Simuldubs; shows that are dubbed days after the original Japanese premiere instead of after the show ends. Sadly, not all shows get a Simuldub, but those that do feature some of the best vocal casts in the industry, both past and present.

However, if you prefer subtitled anime, that’s available too, of course, and can be easily switched. Contrary to popular belief, the existence of Dubbed Anime does not cause the subtitled iteration to somehow disappear in the ether. You can enjoy anime as you wish in whatever language you wish. Sorry for the digression, but as you are no doubt aware, there’s a group of people who need to be reminded of this fact. Moving swiftly on…

Subscription Prices and Features:

At the time of printing (October 2025), Crunchyroll offers three tiers of paid “Premium” subscriptions that can either be charged monthly or yearly. The base membership, “Fan“, is $7.99 per month, the mid-tier “Mega Fan” is $11.99, and the highest tier, “Ultimate Fan“, is $15.99. All three tiers grant you full, complete, ad-free access to the catalog of shows and movies, including new premieres. The difference between the tiers comes through added features like increasing discounts for the Crunchyroll Store and access to free games through the Crunchyroll Game Vault. If we’re keeping things 100, I know very few people who have a high-tier membership, and those who do, I don’t hear any of them bragging about the six devices they can stream on or games played on the Crunchyroll Game Vault.

If you’re interested in getting some manga with your anime, Big Orange is offering separate plans that give you access to the new Manga library. “Fan+Manga” is upped to $11.99 per month, “Mega Fan+Manga” is $15.49, and for some crazy reason, “Ultimate Fan+Manga” is $15.99 per month. Honestly, I don’t get the pricing here. It’s only about a $0.50 difference between “Mega Fan” and “Ultimate Fan“, and the ONLY thing “Ultimate” gives you is a slightly higher discount with free shipping in the Crunchyroll Store, and a “Swag Bag” after a year of service. Why even have the “Mega Fan” tier? Is it a business tactic to make “Ultimate” look more appealing? “Oh, it’s only fifty cents more! That’s a bargain!” I mean, it does sound like a deal, but only if you’re going to be shopping in the store a lot and you know for sure you’re going to be reading the manga.

There’s also a seven-day free trial for all the different tiers, allowing you to try things out and see if you really want to give Big Orange your money. This is a far cry from the 14-day free trials offered before 2022, and an even further cry from the Crunchyroll Guest Passes of yore, when Premium Subscribers would receive 48-hour passes to give out to others for testing the waters. I had quite a few of these in my day and would give them out often. Alas, this service is no longer offered, and all we get is the seven-day trial. 

Samurai Suggestion: 

So, with all that, should you subscribe to Crunchyroll, and if so, what plan should you pick? While yes, Big Orange has its faults and more than its share of questionable business practices (like not having given David Wald his mail…), if those factors don’t bother you, then a Crunchyroll subscription would be a worthwhile investment, especially if you are just getting started in this wild and wacky world of Japanese animation. It’s easy to use, features an ever-expanding multi-faceted catalog, and serves as the first stop for many new shows every season. 

As for what subscription plan to pick? Well, for most people, I think the standard monthly “Fan” package would be plenty. The discounts in the Crunchyroll Store aren’t worth paying more for per month unless you’re going to be shopping there frequently. The ability to download videos and view them offline isn’t particularly impressive, as most people are usually in areas with cellular or Wi-Fi access to stream real-time content. And regarding the Crunchyroll Manga service…Well, I don’t know. It’s too early to really say if it’s worth getting the manga plan or not. At the end of the day, it’s all about what you want and how much you wanna pay for it.

See ya then!