After Crunchyroll Removal, This Former Funimation Hit Is Impossible to Stream

One former Funimation hit is now impossible to stream legally after it was suddenly removed from Crunchyroll this month. Crunchyroll has one of the largest exclusive anime libraries of any streaming service, and part of that has been because the streamer has gotten even bigger over the last few years. The biggest jump of which came when Crunchyroll joined forces with the former Funimation, and united both of their anime libraries together. This meant that fans were able to check out these shows all in one place for the first time, but it seems there have been some hiccups when it comes to the licenses.

Death Parade was one such series that started out as a Funimation exclusive release, but was one of the many titles that had shifted over to Crunchyroll when the two companies had combined. Unfortunately as of earlier this month, Death Parade has since been removed by Crunchyroll and is no longer available to stream anywhere legally due to the expired license. This one does sting a bit more considering it has been held in high regard by fans as one of the standout anime of its generation.

Death Parade Has Been Removed By Crunchyroll

After Claymore was suddenly found to be removed from Crunchyroll’s streaming service earlier this month, fans also noticed that Death Parade has been quietly removed from the service as well. Because while the show itself is still listed with the streaming service when you look it up, none of the episodes are available. If you try to seek it out through other services like Prime Video, it fully notes that the show is no longer available due to expired licenses. It might be available outside of the United States, but domestic anime fans are out of luck.

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Death Parade was an original anime produced by Madhouse (the same studio behind hits like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End), and runs for only 12 episodes. It’s a rather small series in the grand scheme of anime’s history, but it made a huge impact with fans despite only being around for a short time. It tells a complete story with a beginning, middle and end, so it’s not like fans had been left on a cliffhanger with it either. But now it’s going to be tough for interested fans to revisit it or watch it for the first time.

Should Fans Be Worried About Crunchyroll?

With these removals of classic anime shows, there might be a concern about Crunchyroll’s library. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of new shows the streamer adds each season, but it does mean that these classic shows are going to be tougher to watch if they are no longer with the services that previously hosted them exclusively. It’s unfortunately a practice fans of other streaming services like HBO Max and Hulu have some experience with as licenses for certain shows do run their course.

It’s not all doom and gloom for shows like Death Parade, however, as it’s not impossible for the streamer to relicense these series that had been removed. For now, it’s just a matter of waiting for it to potentially happen as now it’s impossible to stream the classic show legally without buying it digitally outright.

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