It seems that Crunchyroll-Hime, the famous orange mascot of the popular anime streaming service, is a bit rude.
Crunchyroll has acquired anime merchandise retailer Right Stuf, the company announced Thursday. The deal further cemented Crunchyroll as a central force in the distribution of anime products, and it drew criticism from anime fans, as the acquisition resulted in the removal of the products. porn from Right Stuf’s store.
Under its new ownership, Right Stuf is “gradually phasing out pornographic products and content,” the retailer said in a statement. FAQ on its website. All sales, including pre- and unfilled orders, are being moved to a new storefront called Ero . Anime Store. According to Right Stuf, that retailer will “carry a full range of pornography” and customers “can look to them for current and future releases”. About this third-party origin, the people behind Ero Anime Store said in Its own FAQ that the store’s owner “has worked with the Right Stuf team for many years.”
Not everyone is nervous. The acquisition had an immediate impact on consumers, as pornographic content such as anime and manga hentai is now no longer available on Right Stuf’s website. Jacob Grady, CEO of Fakku, the largest English-language hentai manga publisher in the world, say on Twitter that the deal is a “huge blow” to his company. “Right Stuf is a massive FAKKU account and one of the only retailers that actually accepts 18+ anime/manga. Not good,” Jacob said in a tweet. It is unclear whether Fakku’s catalog will be available on the Ero Anime Store.
“[Right Stuf] have long been champions of anime and manga hentai, having sold adult content since their catalog printing days. We have long had a good relationship and have worked on many exclusive projects with them, so we are sad to see them continue,” Grady told Polygon via Twitter. “The anime fusion hasn’t really affected us much so far, but after situations like this, it’s something that we’ll be actively watching from here on out.”
Polygon asked Crunchyroll about criticisms of the deal. “We worked with the Right Stuf team to ensure a smooth transition to another provider (Ero Anime Store) who could seamlessly complete adult content,” said a Crunchyroll rep. know in a statement.
The Ero Anime Store is not open yet. In a statement published on Ero Anime Store landing page, the retailer’s president – who signed it as “Wendy C” – acknowledges that the change can feel abrupt, but asks customers to be patient. “It might take us a little while, but we want to make sure it’s done right,” Wendy said. The site’s FAQ states that the store will be up and running “within a couple of weeks.”
Crunchyroll’s acquisition of Right Stuf has also led to criticism regarding the streaming service’s increasingly consolidating anime industry. Last summer, Crunchyroll merged with its biggest competitorstreaming service Funimation is owned by Sony, which further reduces competition in the space.
“A company, no matter how much I like it, shouldn’t have too much control over THIS part of a product,” said anime critic Kate Sánchez say on Twitter. In one separate topic later, she added“Buying Crunchyroll’s RightStuf is like Disney buying your local comic book store and then restricting what they can sell.”
As for what’s going on for Fakku, Grady said the change could provide new opportunities for customers to support publishers directly.
“Source access is a good opportunity to better support publishers and can often provide more opportunities to select exclusive products that have never been shared with online retailers.”
Update: We’ve updated this article to include comments Fakku CEO Jacob Grady made to Polygon.
