like honestly this was the cherry on top for me to really stop supporting Crunchyroll as a whole and a company and slowly move back to the pirate ship with the expectation of still psychical media when I really want something psychically or if I still want to support stuff through merch and getting stuff from local artists when I have the money
and unfornatenly still subbing to the service mainly for my friends one especially who's only way to access anime is through my account and me needing to check their watch history (for very personal and private reasons I will not mention)
Before I begin this blog
I am aware its been a while since my last one and that was due to loss in motivation or energy being drained or tired from irl stuff or other things so I apologize for that but I do have plans for other blogs and other things when I have the time and energy to do so
this one I will admit I've been wanting to do for a while talking about Crunchyroll as a whole as well as the expo
Shout to Facebook memoires for reminding me that its been 3 years since the con lmao
Now lets start by talking about my history with Crunchyroll in general and why I subbed to it in the first place
So back in my teen years I was convinced by an ex friend or I guess it was drilled into my head that if I really enjoy the media I love I shouldn't rely on torrenting or pirating unless it wasn't available to buy or easy to get and that I had to support what I enjoy or else I was "selfish" or being a "criminal" and that's
what I did
mainly buying dvds or blu-rays from madman entertainment which I guess at the time worked in my favor as I didn't always had the best internet back then and relied on someone else I use to be close with to torrent stuff for me at the time and it was due to buying dvds/blu-rays from madman entertainment, siren visual I discovered a few of my fave animes seeing them on the shelves at JB HI Fi
back in the day where anime shelves were FILLED with anime dvds and blu-rays and not just little to fuck all now and merch
Anime such as
Heavens Lost Property
Squid Girl
(pics from ebay)
2010s and 80s and 90s brings back so many memories
although to be fair it wasn't just that ex friend and the way it was drilled in my head to support the anime industry back then it was also this old video by gigguk which really shows how different things were when it came to anime in the west compared to now
as you can see this video didn't age well lmao
but it really showed how concerning things were back then in 2011/2012
Fast forward to 2014 where I first went to Tafe and stuff and got curious about Crunchyroll and the website itself and what anime they got
as well as seeing they had currently airing anime I was curious about at the time
being drilled in my head of supporting stuff legally back then I felt this was the next step into "doing the right thing" and trying a trial of crunchyroll for a bit
the animes I remember first watching on the site was
Love Stage
Listen To Me Girls I am Your Father
and of course at the time when it was first airing
Sailor Moon Crystal!!
Around the same time that I got into Crunchyroll another streaming service in Australia made its way into the scene which I felt was just as good if not BETTER then Crunchyroll
Animelab by Madman Entertianment
It had most of its library from Madman Entertainment and a simple yet coinvent interface with how the site looked honestly it was perfect and even better then Crunchyroll at times sadly the site didn't last long as it turned into Funimation by 2021
Which okay fine... but the interface and website was fucking ASS
but then the worse thing that made things a nightmare and worse for anime in Australia
Madman Entertainment decided to become its anime side of things to Crunchyroll in 2022
now apparently according to wikipedia
they sold the company to aniplex as well as a few other things that I feel the site explains better then I could
But even then it felt like the end at that point where Crunchyroll just took over EVERYTHING
and becoming the big monopoly it is now
Now over the years I knew Crunchyroll had its flaws and controversies
and special thanks to this video by Pirate Diaries that helped me refresh my memory on all the controversies which I will say my current thoughts on below
>Sony wanting to acquire and buy them
The first red flag apparently which at the time I didn't know would be a red flag until it was too late
yet at the same time Sony was also owning Funimation too sooo...
>Sony was then the reason Crunchyroll and Funimation merged into one
At first I thought was a good idea getting everything all at once and it meant not paying for too many streaming services however knowing now this was a bad idea and would mean Crunchyroll becoming the greedy monopoly it is now
>Price Hikes
Most streaming services are guilty of this tbh and its really frustrating and not to mention annoying and bullshit
but crunchyroll especially was guilty of it
it went from -insert price here once I get a statement from mum- a month in 2016 to 13.99 aud a month as of the 18th of august 2025 which was the mega fan option
the joys of being in crunchyroll jail just so my friend can access it till their allowed back on the internet again and just so I can keep an eye on the watch history (for very personal and private reasons)
>Removing the digital copies people have purchased on Funimation
honestly what the actual fuck... that is such a stupid thing of them to do
>Class action lawsuit/privacy breach
so the anime watch histories were apparently/allegedly shared to 3rd parties without permission which yeah is really fucked up obviously although I doubt these 3rd parties will get a joy out of my watch history especially since its used by friends now and not much me anymore lol still fucked up regardless
>Underpaying voice actors and translators and other workings
you think with supporting a streaming service or when you buy a dvd or watch a movie you think its coming back to the creators
well in the case of crunchyroll lmao what a load of bullshit
underpaying people especially as a big company is really just dumb clown behaviour you have the fucking money FUCKING PAY THEM PROPERLY
>in b4 that's just a capitalism problem in general dewie not just Crunchyroll
yeah I know but still...
the irony crunchyroll started as a piracy site and with fansubs too to now this... bruh
>The Kyle Mcarly Controversy and screwing over voice actors in general
So due to union issues and this person being apart of Sag Aftra they fired the guy who was a well known voice actor in the popular anime Mob Psycho 100
as someone who loves anime voice actors in the west and did some experience in voice acting myself this is seriously fucked beyond belief
voice actors deserve so much better treatment and respect
>David Wald Controversy
HOLY FUCK THIS ONE
STEALING PRIVATE MAIL DAMN WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE MAN LMAO WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK HAHAHAH
>AI translations
Stupid and bullshit but also I use a machine translator aka lunatranslator for visual novels in japanese sometimes soo I can't really talk tbh... but I sitll hate ai slop
>Removing comments and reviews
pussies lol thats all
Now onto the Crunchyroll expo itself
which I will only speak my experience of
if you want the full issues and details of it
I suggest checking out this video below
I went on Saturday with my friends
Sky aka Fluttersky
Tim
Mitchell aka AlphaSteelix96
and Josh all my friends irl
2 who went all the way from Gippsland which is 3 hours away from Melbourne
and the other 2 who went all the way from interstate one from Sydney and one from Brisbane
This fact alone was one of the reasons I wanted to brave that line...
the other reason being meeting Lisa Ortiz the voice actress for Amy Rose
While having breakfast at Hungry Jacks I saw on both their Facebook and Twitter about the lines and how huge the lines were already gonna be
I shrugged it off at first as I know lines can be intense during conventions in general
little did I know how bad it was actually gonna be which got me super anxious
The line was HUGE and apparently Crunchyroll Expo was "over capticty"
which I can already tell you was a load of crap as I was in the building and there wasn't that many people and even if there was it there would be enough that would fit but thats just me speaking from memory and looking at old pics
Me and my friends braved the line
and even chatted with others also braving the line and also feeling frustrated and annoyed
it was even raining at one point which meant waiting out in the cold rain (typical moody Melbourne day to be honest)
I even heard Crunchyroll was still selling tickets despite being "sold out" or over capticty like I'm sorry what the actual fuck
at that point I was getting frustrated and hungry but I had no appetite due to anxiety
however someone was handing out Woolworths cookies at one point which was one of the best cookies I ever had in my life
and even a furry was handing out stickers which was super cute
it took at least 2 to 3 hours but finally somehow LUCKILY I got in
this was one of the pics I took at the con at the time as I didn't take much pics
that smug face this bitch has knowing she knew I was in a shitty con
I sped run doing some shopping for figurines
stickers before 4.30pm so I can meet the voice actress for Amy Rose from 2005 to 2010
Lisa Ortiz which was a lot of money for the autograph and I think photo by the way??
I don't fully remember
This pic alone shows how very lucky and grateful I am and even though I had trouble hearing due to the loud noise it was really nice meeting her and hearing her Amy voice in real time
and she was really sweet
I still have the autograph I bought up in my bedroom door which is still one of my fave things I have it laminated too
I was feeling really hungry and was worried I was gonna faint by the end of the day and finally having food and finishing my shopping I decided to say fuck it with my friends and leave
and these were the thoughts I had at the time after the con
I still agree with the statement that I feel sad for those who didn't make it in the con at all
and hope they still found ways to support local artists they love and other ways to spend money
I remember saying I wanted to give the Crunchyroll Expo a second chance after the first one but honsently after their shitshow I am glad they didn't have another con after that
and theres so much better cons in Melbourne anyway
such as
PAX
Animaga and Oz Comic Con
now one Crunchyroll controversy I forgot to mention was this one
Now hot take
I actually didn't mind the idea of the show and thought it looked really cute and I even bought pins of it when they were on sale
and while the show had its flaws I felt it had potential it would of been much better received if it wasn't on Crunchyroll or was on a different streaming service
I feel sorry for the creator as they seemed like a good person who just wanted to make a fun and cute show
Overall
Fuck Crunchyroll and the only reason I'm still buying monthly their streaming service is for my friends who use my account one especially for personal and private reasons I have to keep an eye on what their watching and they have no other way to access anime online until hopefully 2033 or they can hopefully afford it themselves I WILL BE FREE FROM CRUNCHYROLL JAIL BY THEN!! (please do not ask why to be very clear ITS FOR VERY PERSONAL AND PRIVATE REASONS)
and personally if your still using their streaming service
fucking stop
none of the money they get will ever go to voice actors or anyone else in the anime industry other then their own greedy selfish pockets
If you want to properly support anime you love
BUY PSYHICHIAL MEDIA WHILE YOU STILL CAN
BUY MERCH
thats all you can do for now if you can
if you want other ways to the pirate ship
I suggest looking into this below to help
https://ripped.guide/TV/Anime
and also this https://theindex.moe
figure out the rest on your own for obvious reasons
thats all for now
Hope to bother blogging more again soon
Later my dudes!~
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