In the latest Answerman column at ANN, the question was posed about what’s going on with the first season of the Free! anime series, noting what was said at the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention during the FUNimation industry panel. While little has been said since then, Justin Sevakis has taken the question and expanded on it a bit more with a few details that are kind of known, but in some ways haven’t really been put down as simply and outright as this before.
At AWA this year, during the FUNimation Industry panel, someone asked about the likelihood of them licensing the first season of FREE!, which they already have the rights to the second season for. The answer given was that Crunchyroll had the rights to the series and that prevented a release, as they were the only ones that could do that. Crunchyroll, to my limited knowledge, has only physically released one anime (5 Centimeters per Second). Why would CR, a streaming service, hold the “home video rights” to a series that it was not going to release?
I was unaware that this was now public knowledge. Okay then. Yes, Crunchyroll has the home video rights to FREE! Some licensors do not like to break up individual pieces of rights to a show — if you want to license it, you have to license EVERYTHING. No streaming without home video, and vice versa. It’s a way for them to cut down on paperwork — smaller outfits simply don’t have time to deliver masters and negotiate contracts and go over approvals multiple times with different companies for the same territory.
And so, Crunchyroll is now stuck with home video rights to this, and a small handful of other shows. What they’ll do with those rights is anyone’s guess — maybe they’ll sell them off, maybe they’ll try to do a release themselves. But releasing DVDs and Blu-rays are a lot of work, and their previous path to distribution (via Bandai Entertainment) no longer exists, so they’ll have to start from scratch. I don’t think they’ll just sit on the home video rights to this show; they’re too valuable. The only thing I don’t see happening is them giving the rights to Funimation. Those two will likely not work well together.
We can only wait and see what will happen. I just hope that both seasons get (well) dubbed, and with the same cast.
With home video releases not being Crunchyroll’s thing, and having no partner to work with when it comes to this, it certainly leaves fans in an interesting place in wondering how it will get resolved. As Justin says, for a title like Free!, it will get resolved. But more interestingly I think is the question of what other titles Crunchyroll may have the home video license for due to the streaming side that aren’t being exercised.
[Source: ANN]
I really do not see why FUNimation and Crunchyroll will not work out. FUNimation seems like a reliable company.
I really hope something works out because I really since about close to a year have wanted to see Free! Iwatobi Swim Club on home video. It is an anime series would get in a heart beat either in Limited Edition or a bare bones Standard Edition release. That is just how much I love a series like Free! which includes Iwatobi and Eternal Summer.