The western anime industry has once again been disrupted with another major announcement. Sony's Crunchyroll announced that Right Stuf Anime will join forces. Fans of the industry are in awe of the recent news drop.
A recent article by Right Stuf Anime and Crunchyroll states they will continue to sell a wide variety of products, excluding "Erotica products." Anime fans took to Twitter to point out the contradiction of the announcement due to Crunchyroll and Right Stuff Anime's decision to exclude one type of product. However, a new store in Vegas will apparently open to selling "Erotica products." The website is called The Ero Anime Store So what does this all mean?
Fans have speculated that since Sony acquired Crunchyroll, Sony plans to monopolize the western anime industry and impose censorship on various anime and manga. We have already started seeing this with heavily censored anime shows such as World Ends Harem and Harem in a Labyrinth in Another World. Square Enix has also created an online manga subscription, again with heavily censored manga. The signs are there, and it seems that anime fans are right to be worried about a potential monopolization.
Regardless of the news, nothing has been decided on the merger's logistics. Right Stuf Anime has a FAQ page already addressing some questions and concerns about the recent partnership. Click here to see the FAQs page. Whether we like it or not, the merger is happening. As anime fans, we have to voice our opinions and concerns about the industry and support anime the best we can.