Amazon will now let you access Crunchyroll’s anime library right from Prime Video

If you’re a Prime Video subscriber, beginning today, you can start streaming Crunchyroll, the popular anime service, right from inside the Prime Video app. The companies have announced a global distribution agreement that allows Amazon to offer Crunchyroll as one of its Prime Video Channels. Prime Video Channels are optional add-on services that come at an extra monthly cost. But there’s a convenience aspect in that Amazon handles all billing, and more importantly, you can watch these channels directly inside Prime Video without having to hop between numerous entertainment apps.

In the case of Crunchyroll, that’s a good thing, as its app available for smart TV and set-top platforms can be buggy and annoying to navigate. Now, you can skip the app and pick between the service’s Fan and Mega Fan subscriptions, “both of which allow customers to stream the entire Crunchyroll library ad-free, while enjoying new episodes shortly after release in Japan.” Mega Fan includes further perks like offline downloads “with additional non-video benefits to be added shortly.” The Fan tier costs $7.99, which is the same price you’d pay Crunchyroll for a standalone subscription. A seven-day free trial is available for customers new to the anime service.

Crunchyroll is coming to Prime Video Channels today in the US and will be available in Canada, Sweden, and the UK by the end of the week. Amazon says additional territories will follow throughout 2024. The service is home to what it claims is the world’s largest streaming library of anime, which consists of over 24,000 hours, 46,000 episodes, and more than 1,300 series and films.

Other Prime Video Channels include Max, Paramount Plus, Starz, Cinemax, MGM Plus, and more. Apple offers a similar add-on subscription model with Apple TV Channels, which all stream from within the Apple TV app. But Crunchyroll is not among Apple’s selection, and neither is Max, for that matter.