Crunchyroll is the first port of call for anyone who loves manga and anime. While mainstream video services overlooked this channel of entertainment, Crunchyroll was able to achieve a commanding position in the niche. Now, more than a decade in operation, Crunchyroll is the leader to beat and everyone wants a slice of its market.
Founded by enthusiasts, the key to Crunchyroll’s success is that it has never lost its passion for its content. Although the business is now owned by megacorporation AT&T through its WarnerMedia division, fans of anime and manga are drawn to the site because its genuine love for the media shines through its increasingly slick presentation. In short, the growing sophistication of the Crunchyroll service hasn’t dented its integrity.
Although Crunchyroll started out as a place where fans could upload their own copies of anime, the service has gone legal and now only allows its own team to upload videos and makes sure it gets the licenses to broadcast all of them. Now part of the world’s largest media company, Crunchyroll is 100 percent legit.
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Who is Crunchyroll best for?
As the dominant force in anime video streaming, Crunchyroll attracts fans of East Asian animated entertainment. The site is based in San Francisco, California, but its audience spreads all over the world.
According to Google Trends, Anime keywords are most searched for in Japan (unsurprisingly) followed by the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, El Salvador, and then Peru. So, the USA doesn’t have the largest market for anime, despite hosting more than 300 anime conventions every year. It is Crunchyroll’s global user community that makes this American brand such a success.
How to access Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is available at the Crunchyroll website, which gives access to anime and manga videos. The media play in the site is small. However, it can be expanded to full screen. The Crunchyroll website can be reached through any standard web browser. This includes Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Safari browsers.
Casting the video player to a TV with Chromecast is possible and it can also be channeled through an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, or a Roku set-top box.
Many game consoles can stream Crunchyroll to your TV. This includes PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. There is a Crunchyroll app for the handheld PlayStation Vita. You can also access Crunchyroll through a Wii U and the Xbox One console.
Apps for mobile devices are available for iOS, which gets you access from an iPhone or an iPad. The Google Play store gives you an app to access Crunchyroll on Android phones and that will also run on Kindle Fire tablets. The Windows Phone Marketplace also has a Crunchyroll app available.
You don’t need to create an account at the Crunchyroll website to watch anime there. However, there are benefits to paying for a membership, which include the ability to watch videos ad-free. The player available to members has HD definition, whereas the free service’s media player is at 480 pixels. The paid service has access to a much larger video library and anime titles become available on the paid site much quicker than they are released on the open-access web pages of Crunchyroll.
