I give Crunchyroll a lot of shit (deservingly so) but if there’s one thing I can give them and other streaming services credit for is they actually release TV anime in a reasonable time. Simulcasts (and more recently simuldubs) have become the backbone of the Western community with how they enable us to take part in real-time conversations regarding the shows we love. It’s great, and I’ll give them the credit for getting that kind of thing set up.
So can someone explain to me why the distribution for anime films is still so goddamn awful? Movies that see Western releases see them months after the Japanese air date and often in extremely limited capacities. I live have the displeasure of not living in or near a major US metro (or basically just LA or NYC) so any screening I do get my theater is usually only the really popular names (Demon Slayer, JJK, etc.) and often in extremely limited capacity. Even after that’s run its course, it still takes months to years before its released online (for when I’m a busy man and have to prioritize life over being a consoomer). The problem is so bad, that for years the Crunchyroll Awards excluded films from their awards because of disconnects between Eastern and Western film releases. Don’t ask me why they started doing it again other than to cash in on the *Demon Slayer* hype.
Call me an entitled zoomer that doesn’t remember “the olden days”, but this release method just seems baffling to me. It feels needlessly antiquated and kills hype for movies. Nothing kills the mood faster than people posting *Suzume* reviews, but having to wait until 2026 when someone decides to finally dump it somewhere I can watch it. Like, that new Concierge film from Production I.G. looks really nice… can’t wait to finally see it in 2030.
I don’t know. There has to be a better way right? Surely, even if demand isn’t enough for a full theatrical release, some streaming service can buy the rights, right? Even for theatrical releases, it shouldn’t be too long before you offload the rights to a site, right? I know the answer is probably “money” but there has to be more to it, right? Right?
Edit: I should probably clarify that while I think it’s fine if films want to have theatrical runs, I don’t get why the wait is as long once that run has ended. Theoretically, once the film is being sold on BD it can hit the streaming sites, and that timeframe itself can’t possibly be that long out of necessity.
Also, I feel like there could be a way where sites like Crunchyroll get a deal where you can rent the movie for a limited time at the cost of a standard ticket. I know this model has been tried before for full releases, but if that’s the only way to reach certain markets, then not trying it feels like just throwing money away.
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