Crunchyroll ends ad-supported simulcasts but offers ‘seasonal sampler’ with free episodes for new shows

Anime fans are now left with no choice but to pay for a premium Crunchyroll subscription if they want to keep watching their favorite shows. The company announced it is ending its free, ad-supported simulcast streaming of anime shows. But to garner fans for new titles, Crunchyroll announced it will offer a “seasonal sampler.”

Crunchyroll released an updated support page recently, detailing the “changes to ad-supported viewing.” The change, simply put, is that fans can no longer watch upcoming episodes of their favorite anime for free.

Before the announcement, Crunchyroll was a haven for anime lovers around the world. The platform allowed fans to use its service without paying a monthly membership fee with a few caveats. For one, they have to watch through some ads. But the “simulcast” episodes were only made available for free viewing a week after they were released in Japan. While spoilers are always around on social media, the waiting time was a reasonable compromise, especially for casual anime viewers.

Unfortunately, they can no longer enjoy such services after the announcement last week. “To view new and continuing simulcasts, a premium monthly or annual subscription will be required,” Crunchyroll said. The end of the free ad-supported viewing also applies to upcoming episodes of ongoing series and new shows included in the Spring 2022 lineup. Meanwhile, the company said “previously published episodes” will still be available to free users.

The monthly premium subscription costs $9.99. Users can also subscribe to an annual plan with a one-time payment of $79.99. New users can take advantage of the 14-day free trial. The end of free viewing was announced a few months after the Sony-owned Funimation completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll.

Crunchyroll also announced a new “seasonal sampler” offer so it could still build an audience for all-new shows every season. The company will release the first three episodes of all new shows per season for free viewing. But they will be available for a limited time only.

For the Crunchyroll Spring 2022 lineup, fans can watch the first three episodes for free of the following shows: “Spy x Family,” “A Couple of Cuckoos,” “Dawn of the Witch,” “Tomodachi Game,” “Skeleton Knight in Another World,” “Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie,” “The Greatest Demon Lord is Reborn as a Typical Nobody,” and “Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs.” Free episodes will still be released a week after they were added to the premium-tier library, and they will be available until May 31 only.