Crunchyroll’s presence in the overseas anime industry continues to grow. The Sony-owned streaming service purchased Right Stuf, which runs the largest online anime retailer in North America. The deal was announced on August 4, 2022, just ahead of the Crunchyroll Expo event. Pricing and other terms were not disclosed publicly. [Thanks, ANN!].
The Right Stuf acquisition bolsters Crunchyroll’s burgeoning e-commerce business, widening its selection in both anime and manga. The merger of Crunchyroll with Funimation also put Funimation’s physical home video releases under the “Crunchyroll for Home Video brand.”
Right Stuf was quick to announce on its blog that the retail side of the business, fronted by the RightStufAnime.com, will not change in large part. No branding changes or mergers of catalog are planned, and all orders, current and future, will continue to be processed normally. The Crunchyroll and Right Stuf online stores will also operate separately “for the moment”.
There is one exception one exception: Erotica. Following the acquisition, Right Stuf will phase out its Erotica genre content and products. It will honor existing orders, but will no longer take future orders. All products and future orders in the now-defunct Erotica section will be transferred to a new business, EroAnimeStore.com. At the moment, EroAnimeStore’s store site is down, but the linked FAQ promises that all existing orders and products will be transitioned in time.
