On December 2, 2024, Crunchyroll announced that the first 206 episodes of One Piece will be available to stream free of cost, while the rest of the anime will be under the streaming service's premium membership. The entire anime was initially available for free, the reason for which could be to motivate more viewers to watch anime 'legally' and encourage them to start Eiichiro Oda's masterpiece while it is still on a hiatus.
However, fans have taken a controversial decision after this announcement. Many claimed that would not be paying the subscription costs as they wanted to stay 'pirates' their entire lives (hinting that they would keep watching anime through pirated sites). Jokes aside, this might not be so positive for the series' overall sales and its reputation.
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.
One Piece fans claim to keep using piracy sites instead of Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll announced that they will be taking the 'free' option off from the One Piece anime series and making it partially free. The first 206 episodes (between the East Blue arc and Sky Island arc) will remain free but the rest of the arcs will need a premium subscription to access.
Moreover, the anime streaming service also released dates on which each arc will be removed from the 'free' option. The change will be implemented in three phases with the arcs between Water Seven and Fisherman Island being removed from the free option on December 23, 2024, the ones between Punk Hazard and Whole Cake Island on January 20, 2025, and the ones between Reverie and Egghead on February 17, 2025.
While the reasons behind this announcement are yet to be revealed, it could be a marketing scheme to get as many One Piece fans as possible to get the Crunchyroll Premium Subscription. This might not be a bad option, considering that the series' new episodes are uploaded a few minutes after their airing in Japan.
Unfortunately, the series' fans took this in a very 'controversial' manner. Just like the series (which consists of pirates), the fans claimed to remain 'pirates' by accessing the anime through piracy sites, instead of paying for the subscriptions.
Reaction from the fans
The fans didn't take this invitation from Crunchyroll with much seriousness as the majority claimed to pirate Toei Animation's series and become the 'King of the Pirates,' just as Luffy did. However, some fans didn't hold their thoughts back and called out the streaming service for being greedy.
One particular reason why fans wanted to pirate the series was because the streaming service removed the option to comment on its platform. This might be a sign that the fans appreciated people's opinions on the series and used them as a standard to either start or skip a series. All-in-all, the fans left humorous comments and mocked the streaming service.
"Cool...... Im just gonna pirate it" a fan said
"This is just greedy what the hell lmfao" another fan said
"This AND removing the comments? Damn, y'all are making it really easy to unsubscribe" another one said
"The anime about pirates is about to be the most pirated again" another fan claimed
Final thoughts
The saddest spectacle in this scenario was how hardly any fan showcased the motivation to appreciate the latest move from the streaming service. Yes, removing the option to comment might be too much for some fans but piracy might one day lead to the demise of the anime industry. So, please opt to watch anime, or any other form of media, through legal and authorized sites.
Related Links
- Why One Piece not receiving Crunchyroll Anime of the Year 2024 is controversial
- One Piece wins Best Continuing Series once again at Crunchyroll Anime Awards
- Crunchyroll hosts One Piece 25th anniversary concert