Funimation has just announced a rebrand of their anime streaming service which will now be called, FunimationNow, and… doesn’t appear to be all that different from their current service. Right now there are a “bunch of cool new features” that are promised to come later in the year but right now the main focus appears to be on an upcoming modern web experience and a refresh of all of the Funimation apps in February 2016 on iOS, Android, and Kindle as well brand new apps for Apple TV and Kindle Fire TV in addition to the launch of a Windows 10 Universal app.
The Funimation Xbox 360 and Xbox One apps will also be getting an update in May (a whole four months away) in addition to the PS3 and PS4 apps. Advanced search filters will be implemented then as well.
Funimation has offered a streaming service for their licenced anime series for several years now and just launched an app for Xbox One in mid-2015. It’s unclear why the service is being rebranded in such a way however with the popularity of other streaming services which also stream anime series and films such as Netflix (which is now available in almost every country around the world) this could be an attempt to keep their brand relevant and interesting for their demographic. A more direct competitor is Crunchyroll which is available in many more regions than Funimation (which is currently North America only) and offers an extremely large library of anime and manga series in addition to a growing selection of Asian dramas for a relatively cheap monthly plan.
Have you ever considered paying extra for an anime-specific streaming service or do you tend to stick to Netflix, Hulu, or one of the many other more general options? Let us know in the comments below.
