As anime began to grow in influence in the Western world, the ability to get the content was limited to stores and videos. A television station might show a very popular show, but Western audiences had a small window of what to watch. Some students from California decided that there might be a better and faster way to get anime to the people who wanted to watch it. Their creation, Crunchyroll, would become the go to place for anime veterans and newbies.
When it started over 12 years ago, Crunchyroll was streaming content from East Asia. This consisted manly of fan dubbed versions of some popular anime. If this was the goal, Crunchyroll would have strayed in a very small niche market. The company had bigger plans. When a investment firm invested millions in the service, Crunchyroll began to secure rights for streaming anime. This was straight from the source, more and more companies offering their series to be streamed.
It can not be overstated how important this decision was to the growth of anime in the Western World. There were plenty of shows that I had heard about, but had no one to view. Adult Swim on Cartoon Network was were I could watch anime, unless I saw something in the store in a very small selection. The ability for shows to be viewed allowed for anime to come to those who were curious. Looking at that same store now, the selection of anime has grown. Crunchyroll was a big factor in that happening.
One of the coolest things is to watch shows on or very near when they premiere in Asia. When Crunchyroll was still just a dream, I watched Dragon Ball Z on Adult Swim. My friends and I would talk about what had happened on that week’s episode. We had no idea that the “new” episode was years old. We did hear rumors and someone one brought in a Asian magazine that showed scenes and characters we were totally ignorant of. Now, everyone can get into discussions with people around the world about new episodes as they air.
Crunchyroll has become a global powerhouse and the user count is now in the multi-millions. Anime used to be a fringe thing that only a few people you knew were into. Now, you have celebrities openly talking about shows, a anime awards show and suddenly anime is now the cool thing to be into. This is not to suggest that all of the postives have come from Crunchyroll, but the simple fact is that anime has become more mainstream as the company grew and grew. If you are into anime, this service is a must.