Three years after buying Crunchyroll for more than $1 billion, Sony plans to cash in on its acquisition (and upset many anime fans) by banning free users from one of its popular series. The company said that starting soon, you will need a paid subscription to watch past the first 206 episodes One piece. Check out the obvious jokes about locking a program about hackers behind a paywall. (Yo ho!)
Crunchyroll will use a phased release to block free members from most of the anime, which has been in production since 1999. On December 23rd, the story arcs of Water 7 to Fishman Island will close. On January 20th, Punk Hazard to Whole Cake Island (and six specials) will be locked after registration, followed by Reverie and Wano Kuni to Egghead Island on February 17th.
Until Sony’s new content ban goes into effect, free users can (as they always have) been able to watch the entire series with ads. Synopsis of One piece they’re also available on Hulu and Netflix (the latter also hosts a live-action version). But Hulu’s library only reaches 384 episodes, while Netflix goes to 238. The series currently has over 1,100 episodes.
Sony is reportedly in talks to buy Japanese publisher Kadokawa. In addition to games like Elden Ring, Dark Souls again Bloodstudio produces anime like Overlord again Rise of the Shield Hero. If today’s news is any indication, watching more anime in the West that doesn’t go through Sony will soon require the digital equivalent of the Straw Hat Pirates.
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