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Time is, as we all know, a circle. Crunchyroll, the biggest anime streaming service in the world, first set out to tackle digital manga distribution back in 2013 with Crunchyroll Manga. That service closed down in December 2023, but it is due to be revived in a new form in 2025 as Crunchyroll once again looks to capitalize on its pride of place in the anime community.

The announcement that Crunchyroll would be trying its hand once again at manga distribution came during their parent company Sony’s CES 2025 press conference. The new app was billed as a standalone service that would launch in the US and Canada before the end of 2025.

The announcement didn’t include any confirmation about which titles would be included in the service or how much it would cost. Crunchyroll Manga has been described as an “add-on” for existing subscribers, suggesting that those who already get their anime through Crunchyroll would pay a lower price for manga than those who subscribed to the standalone service.

The move comes on the heels of Sony’s attempt to purchase manga and light novel publisher Kadokawa, settling for increasing their stake to 10% to become the largest single shareholder of the company. That purchase could give Crunchyroll access to major titles like Oshi no Ko, Delicious in Dungeon, and Konosuba, among many others.

The difficulty Crunchyroll is going to find with this new venture into manga distribution is the stiff competition from other publishers. Viz and Shonen Jump both offer monthly subscriptions for less than $3 per month and have iconic titles like One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Bleach included. It is unlikely that Crunchyroll will be able to offer the same library for that price. The market is very competitive compared to when Crunchyroll first offered a manga reading app back in 2013 – they may find that they need to work hard to lure fans away from their existing subscriptions.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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