Crunchyroll’s Latest Anime Exit Exposes One of Streaming’s Biggest Problems
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Image via Crunchyroll
Published Oct 7, 2026, 9:21 PM EDT
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.
Crunchyrollis home to some of the biggest anime series on the planet, including Demon Slayerand Solo Leveling. On the one hand, a streaming service dedicated entirely to anime is a brilliant choice, especially as anime has surged in popularity over the years. On the other hand, Crunchyroll has faced criticism for certain decisions, whether it's restricting the sale of physical media to certain membership tiers or outright removing series without warning. One major removal reveals a major flaw in Crunchyroll's approach to streaming anime, underscoring that the service is no longer the premier source for anime it once was.
The removed series is Akame ga Kill!, based on the mangaby Takahiro and Tetsuya Tashiro. Akame ga Kill! begins when protagonist Tatsumi sets out with his friends to become an adventurer so he can help his village thrive. Things take a dark turn when Tatsumi is taken in by nobles who intend to torture and kill him, until he's saved by the mysterious group of assassins known as Night's Raid. Tatsumi joins Night's Raid, fighting a corrupt government while learning that an assassin's life is constantly fraught with danger. Akame ga Kill! remains an immensely popular anime, yet its removal from Crunchyroll makesit increasingly hard to watch.
‘Akame ga Kill!’ Highlights How Streaming Can Cut Off Anime Access
Image via White Fox
What makes Akame ga Kill!'s removal from Crunchyroll stand out is that Crunchyroll was the last streaming service that featured the entire series. It was originally on Prime Video, Netflix, and HiDIVE, but now the only way fans can get the anime is to buy the complete collection on Blu-ray, which is fairly expensive. By removing these series, streamers are creating a barrier for fans who want to watch classic anime, since most households have switched to streaming services. That barrier is about to get even higher, now that Hulu is folding into Disney+ and Skydance is announcing plans to merge HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single service.
Licensing is another issue. Whenever Crunchyroll picks up an anime series, it also picks up the license to air that series on its platform. If it ever wanted to renew the license to air Akame ga Kill!, it could, but the streamer has increasingly letlicenses run out on certain series. Anime including Black Lagoon, Claymore, and Food Wars have been removed from Crunchyroll's ranks over the years, leaving fans immensely disappointed. The kicker is that, unlike Netflix or Prime Video, Crunchyroll doesn't warn viewers when a series becomes unavailable. That means a series you've fallen in love with or rediscovered could disappear at any moment — which doesn't seem like a great way to bring in new fans.
'Akame ga Kill!' Kicked off a Trend That Crunchyroll Still Relies On
Though Akame ga Kill! might not be the first anime to be removed from Crunchyroll's library, its removal still marks a profound shift. The series helped kick off the "dark shōnen" trend, where a series often keeps the over-the-top premises and fight scenes that define shōnen anime like Dragon Ball Zwhile taking a darker turn. Night Raid not only fights battles where they shed buckets of blood, but members of the group also start dying in unexpected ways due to their Teigu, weapons forged from the bodies of mythical beasts. Even the opening narration feels far different from other anime:
"As long as there is human nature, so too must there be malice. As long as there is malice, so too must there be evil. Evil beyond salvation. For those who don't wield a sword, these vile demons are silenced in the darkness by a group of elite assassins."
Shows like Jujutsu Kaisenand Chainsaw Manmight not be as popular as they are if Akame ga Kill! hadn't aired. Given that a large part of Crunchyroll's popularity comes from dark shōnen shows, removing Akame ga Kill! feels even more short-sighted. A new generation of anime fans will either have to splurge on the Blu-ray or hope it hits another streamer, which doesn't feel fair in the long run.
Image via Crunchyroll
Image via White Fox
English (US) ·