HBO Max has tried to corner the anime market by working with Crunchyroll when the streaming platform was first released, but it seems as though Crunchyroll will be leaving HBO starting from the first of January next year. In addition to having Crunchyroll’s library of anime series, HBO Max also had a lot of its own animated content, having a large number of the major feature-length films of Studio Ghibli such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle. My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and a lot more.
For now, it looks like HBO Max will still give its subscribers access to the anime series that it got from Crunchyroll, although the branding of the anime streaming platform will now be removed according to the website of the streaming platform. With Crunchyroll now being bought by Sony Entertainment and being merged with Funimation, it’s not yet confirmed if this HBO Max change is the result of the said merger, though it seems like it could be the case as their merging was completed earlier this year.
Twitter User Animation on HBO Max shared the screenshot that has a note that the streaming service was set to switch the Crunchyroll animation branding on its platform. The platform would instead take the entries from Crunchyroll and place them under its "global animation page," at the start of next year.
Recently, the HBO Max Chief Content Office Kevin Reilly addressed the decision for HBO Max and Crunchyroll to work with Indiewire, with the former gaming a lot of titles from the latter’s library:
"Anime is a celebrated, diverse art form with a rich culture rooted in imaginative worlds and vibrant characters. Crunchyroll has centralized these fantastic adventures for everyone to enjoy. This WarnerMedia family collaboration is bringing together an incredible collection of content with a passionate fandom and HBO Max is very happy to expand the reach of this inventive artistry."
As of now, some of the biggest anime series that are available on HBO Max via Crunchyroll include Dr. Stone, The promised Neverland, Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, and many other anime series.
Related: Funimation Completes Crunchyroll Acquisition in Massive $1.2B Deal
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!