Funimation Hires Ex-Crunchyroll Executive

Funimation Productions hit the jackpot with its original acquisition of the Dragon Ball series to share it with ravenous fans in the US. Crunchyroll, known as the destination on the internet for streaming anime series, has worked with Funimation in the past in terms of the weekly release of episodes of Dragon Ball Super. It’s no wonder that Funimation would look for new talent with the monolithic streaming service and it found that talent in the form of Colin Decker.

Colin Decker, a former executive for Crunchyroll, will act as General Manager for Funimation. While the two studios have found themselves working together in the past as mentioned, they have also established something of a rivalry. Anime is a hit in the United States, with companies trying to consistently find the “next big thing” and with Funimation’s new streaming service, FunimationNow, it is looking to dethrone Crunchyroll as the prime spot for anime streaming.

Decker joins the Sony Pictures Television owned company Funimation, years after Sony acquired a 95% majority steak of the company, with the original founder Gen Fukunaga retaining a 5% minority stake. Mike Hopkins, current head of Sony Pictures Television, had this to say about Colin:

“Adding Colin’s leadership, experience in emerging media and proven track record of success to the mix is an exciting next step for Funimation.”

(Photo: Funimation Productions and Crunchyroll)

Hopkins also added that he believes the founder of Funimation was something of a “dean of anime” and was grateful for Gen’s role in transitioning Mike as the new chairman of the board. Decker officially started his role as General Manager of the company on Monday, May 6th, with a background not only at Crunchyroll but also previously working in a management capacity at Discovery Digital Networks, Rooftop Media, and Yahoo to name a few.

FunimationNow, Funimation’s streaming service that is comparable to Crunchyroll, is currently $5.99 USD per month for a “Premium” subscription, $7.99 USD per month for a “Premium Plus” subscription, or $99.99 USD for a “Premium Plus Ultra” annual subscription. Crunchyroll, in comparison, is currently $7.99 USD per month, $22.99 USD for three months, or $79.99 USD for an annual subscription. Currently, Funimation has a catalogue of over 600 shows while Crunchyroll has managed to surpass it with nearly 900 to call its own. Crunchyroll currently has nearly 35 million online members while Funimation is trailing behind, working its way to that high number. Certainly, Funimation’s recent business dealings with Hulu will help in that regard.

Regardless, the rivalry between the two is light hearted but will certainly continue as new anime series are released and fought over.

Which do you prefer, Funimation or Crunchyroll? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to chat all things comics and anime.