Crunchyroll Store Removes Physical Anime and Manga Products

Sony-owned anime streaming platform Crunchyroll has quietly removed most physical reading material and discs from its digital shopfront. The catalog reduction follows a July update that restricted store access only to Mega and Ultimate Fan tier subscribers, sparking frustration across social media from collectors and regular shoppers.

As of Aug. 19, the Crunchyroll Store no longer carries manga, light novels, manhwa, or danmei. The Home Entertainment section still lists some DVDs and Blu-rays, but the inventory has dropped to 387 items. Instead of offering a broad library of physical releases, the platform is prioritizing merchandise and limited retail events. That pivot matches the official statement issued during the July subscription rollout, where the company said, “The new store captures the excitement of convention-exclusive merchandise: collectibles, curated drops, and limited-release products inspired by the anime series you love.”

Shifting Retail Strategy and Fan Frustrations

The changes have drawn heavy criticism from anime fans, with many drawing parallels to Sony phasing out physical editions of video games. Sony acquired Funimation in 2017 and purchased Crunchyroll in 2021 before merging the two brands. In 2022, Crunchyroll bought longtime anime distributor and e-commerce vendor Right Stuf, fully folding the retailer into the main Crunchyroll Store by 2023.

Physical books and discs remain central to anime fandom. Digital manga platforms such as Shueisha’s Manga Plus and Kodansha’s K-Manga split series across different apps, often requiring separate subscriptions, microtransactions, or token purchases to read full runs. Because of that fragmentation, physical volumes remain the preferred format for readers building permanent collections.

Many customers argue that Crunchyroll has spent the past three years unwinding Right Stuf’s original retail model, making physical copies harder to buy while steering consumers toward streaming. The storefront still features select exclusive physical editions, including The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 Blu-ray SteelBook release. Crunchyroll has not issued a statement regarding the latest removals, leaving open the chance that the missing print releases could return once store updates conclude.

Source: Polygon