Danica Davidson
December 30, 2024 
Crunchyroll is a major anime streaming platform, but according to a report by Bloomberg, things aren’t all rosy in the company. The report bases this opinion after interviewing 18 former and current employees (none of whom wanted to publicly share their names) and looking at sales numbers, among other things.
Part of Crunchyroll’s dilemma is competing with platforms that offer anime and other shows and movies. Amazon, Disney and Netflix may not have started out with anime, but they see the money, and they want in.
Orina Zhao, the research manager at Ampere Analysis, noted, “There’s growth [at Crunchyroll] in casual anime viewers, but not core anime fans. Those people will tend to watch it on Netflix or Amazon Prime, which are more mainstream.”
There was also recently a survey that said 76% of Gen Z anime watchers tune in to Netflix, as opposed to 58% who tune in on Crunchyroll.
As for the anonymous former and current workers, they alleged that Crunchyroll’s new management is “out-of-touch” with the people working under them, and that some of them dismiss anime as merely “kids’ cartoons” and don’t want to hire fans. There were complaints that some of the higher ups just don’t understand anime.
There have been a few rounds of layoffs since Sony bought the company. People currently working there believe that Crunchyroll, which is hoping to get 25 million subscribers before 2025 is over, does not have a clear plan. Workers claimed they picked the number 25 million to have “a big, catchy number,” and not something that matches data.
Right Stuf, which Crunchyroll bought, has also seen its revenue drop in part because Sony requested that all adult titles be removed, which was about 5% of their income.
39% of Crunchyroll workers said in a survey that they feel motivated by the strategy Crunchyroll has transmitted. The last time that survey happened, the number was at 51%. Sony looked into a report filed to Human Resources about alleged sexism at Crunchyroll and ultimately sided with the man who was accused. The same man has had other complaints against him.
While all the workers here are quoted anonymously, voice actor and director David Wald recently alleged abuse by Crunchyroll and said he would be talking about details publicly.
Crunchyroll was asked to give a statement about these quotes from anonymous workers. Crunchyroll stated in an email, “There’s never been a more exciting time to be an anime fan, and we are strategically feeding a pipeline of anime content and experiences that fuels that fandom, deepens the love of anime, and exposes more audiences to the medium. The Crunchyroll business is outperforming our financial expectations, and the company is well positioned to continue to grow alongside the rising global demand for anime.”
Source: Bloomberg via The Japan Times
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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