The Crunchyroll platform, whose portfolio is focused on the anime universe, has recently announced a new partnership with VIZ Media, a US anime distribution and entertainment company based in San Francisco, California. As reported by Crunchyroll, the aim of the partnership is to expand the platform’s catalog in Latin America, and add almost 600 titles.
Titles already available include ‘Bleach’; ‘Death Note’; ‘Naruto’ and ‘Naruto Shippuden’, dubbed into Spanish and Portuguese. As officially reported by Crunchyroll, ‘Bleach’ features 229 dubbed episodes; ‘Naruto’ has 220; ‘Naruto Shippuden’ features 112; and ‘Death Note’ is fully dubbed (27 episodes), and is also available in Japanese, with Spanish subtitles.
The plot of ‘Bleach’ focuses on Ichigo Kurosaki, a 15-year-old student who is able to see, hear and speak with ghosts. ‘Death Note’, focuses on Light Yagami, a student who comes across the ‘Death Note’, a notebook that the God of Death drops on Earth. On the other hand, ‘Naruto’ is based on Naruto Uzumaki, a boy within whose interior resides the power of a beast that was about to destroy his village years ago, which makes no one want to get close to him. In his solitude, Naruto will fight to be the leader of the village. Finally, ‘Naruto Shippuden’, also focused on Naruto, begins after the two years in which the character has been training, with the aim of being the best ninja on Earth. During the series, all the characters from ‘Naruto’ reappear, but with more experience and strength.
The partnership between Crunchyroll and VIZ Media takes place months after the company has launched new premium packages, which it named ‘Fan’; ‘Mega Fan’ (monthly subscription) and ‘Mega Fan’ (annual subscription). All three support an initial 14-day free trial period, as well as being ad-free; allowing unlimited access to the Crunchyroll library, and other features available.
In addition, in December 2020, Crunchyroll was officially acquired by Sony, with which AT&T is no longer the platform’s owner. As reported, the transaction between Sony and AT&T was valued at USD 1,175 million. On the other hand, the anime universe has recently added new players in Latin America. One of them is Funimation, SVOD OTT launched in Brazil and Mexico last year, who has recently launched an app for Android devices in those countries. Another is Anime Onegai, launched in mid-October in Latin America, and with dubbing studios recently opened in Mexico.