I’m a big fan of physical media. I believe in owning Blu-rays and games that I love, putting them on a shelf, and grabbing them whenever I want to experience them again. I’ve got hundreds of Nintendo and PlayStation games, plus plenty of 4K Blu-rays, too. However, one of the biggest cornerstones of my physical media collection is anime Blu-rays. I’ve got all my favorites, including Attack on Titan, Gurren Lagann, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Re:ZERO, and much more. In recent years, I haven’t built up my collection much, and a large reason for this is because of one company: Sony. If you’re familiar with the anime world, you’re likely aware of the fact that Sony owns Crunchyroll, Aniplex, and has made major investments in companies such as Kadokawa. While this alone wouldn’t normally have a major effect on physical media, one piece of Sony’s anime business has become especially frustrating for physical media collectors: the Crunchyroll Store.
The more time goes on, the more I continue to mourn the loss of RightStufAnime. What was once a brilliant storefront containing great deals, a seemingly endless catalog, top-of-the-line shipping practices, and generally just customer-first practices has been diminished into the Crunchyroll Store, following Sony’s acquisition of RightStuf in 2022. The Crunchyroll Store started alright, but as time has gone on, it has removed and stripped away almost everything that RightStuf did to put physical media first. As we sit here in 2026, I have serious concerns that this incredibly important part of the anime industry will ever get the respect it deserves under Sony.
The Crunchyroll Store Barely Has Any Product
At least for the first few years of the Crunchyroll Store, inventory was never really an issue (at least in my experience). I could always browse the catalog as I did on RightStuf, with clear descriptions of whether an item was in stock or on backorder. However, things have drastically changed over the last few months. Now, the store is basically empty. You can search for some of the most popular series out there, and often, there’s no Blu-rays listed, completely gone, off the store.
Frieren was one of the clearest examples of this, but it seems like a Backorder has been pseudo-dropped for July. Great, but what does that do for series like Vinland Saga, which has ZERO listings for Season 2 Blu-rays and only three manga volumes? What about one of the biggest Shonen Jump series of all time, Bleach, having just a few Blu-rays and manga volumes, with more clothing than physical media? I’m not sure what the reason behind such limited offerings is, but truly, it’s baffling. This is the case for almost any series you can think of, with more clothing available than anything. I find it incredibly hard to believe that anime fans shopping at the Crunchyroll Store are searching for clothing rather than a manga volume or Blu-ray set of their favorite series.
Many fans online have tried to pinpoint the reason behind these changes, with some discovering that Crunchyroll’s warehouse operations are likely shifting away from the former RightStuf facility in Iowa. Whatever the cause, the customer-facing result has been frustrating. Backorders for hundreds of products were canceled without a clear explanation; my long-awaited Gurren Lagann Archives backorder was a victim of this. There is speculation that Crunchyroll is planning to liquidate its entire inventory and shut down operations for the store, and if this is the case, the result feels like the slow dismantling of what made RightStuf so beloved in the first place. Even worse, the store could now function as a place focused on strange clothing and other things that no user of RightStuf ever cared for. Whatever the case may be, customers deserve transparency. Crunchyroll promised “to enrich the shopping experience for the anime community” with the RightStuf integration. It has done anything but that.
Beyond hundreds of anime and manga no longer being purchasable, there’s also the factor of price. You see, Crunchyroll is still releasing new Blu-ray sets. Season 3 of Re:Zero is coming this Summer (even though you can only buy TWO light novels on the store, of course), plus the first cour of Dr. STONE Science Future. However, as exciting as it is to see new Blu-ray sets hit the market, it’s hard to be thrilled when these Crunchyroll-distributed releases are marked at $69.99 and $79.99, respectively. Crunchyroll gives a special “discount” to all users that brings the price down, generally ~20% or so from MSRP, but you’re still paying over $60 per Blu-ray.
Just a few years back, we saw most Blu-ray releases listed for $40-50, and now we’re at $80 MSRP. I’m not here to complain about the price of Aniplex Blu-ray sets, as those have been priced much higher than other sets for years. However, we’re even seeing new releases for Aniplex rise in price – Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus is listed for $111.98, with a $139.99 MSRP. You can buy the Season 1 Blu-ray set for $127.98, which contains Season 1 plus Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl. (but again, don’t worry about buying any light novels for the series since the store has none). It’s a shame these are Crunchyroll Exclusive.
Thankfully, Crunchyroll Store isn’t the only storefront that carries anime Blu-rays. One of the most popular happens to be Amazon, a name everyone knows. Considering how bare Crunchyroll’s store is, it’s hilarious to find Amazon acting as the savior of anime Blu-rays for the time being. There are constantly deals on various Blu-rays from popular and niche series, and in all honesty, I could easily find almost any Blu-ray, anime, or manga I wanted. However, I hate relying on Amazon because you never know how products will be packaged. I used to rely on RightStuf to ship my anime physical media, and even the Crunchyroll Store for a while, as there was quality, worry-free shipping that assured items would arrive in pristine condition. This defined RightStuf as a storefront, and with Crunchyroll, it’s not a guarantee anymore. Anime collectors need clear availability, reliable packaging, predictable preorders, complete catalogs, and backorder transparency. Right now, it’s impossible to get that anywhere.
Overall, it’s incredibly frustrating to see what was once the premier storefront for all things anime devolve into a shell of its former self. I can’t even get excited about sales anymore, as those are a far cry from the ones seen with RightStuf. While things look bleak with Crunchyroll, there is hope for the future with other distributors.
There Is A Future for Physical Media
Not all hope for anime physical media is lost. GKIDS, best known for its releases of Studio Ghibli classics, has slowly ramped up distribution more and more over the last two years, and it’s a trend that I hope to see continued going forward. GKIDS handled DANDADAN Season 1 last year, with Season 2 out this year. These releases were priced at $34.99 for the standard edition, which is a MAJOR shift from the $79.99 MSRP that we see Crunchyroll asking for the same 12 episodes. What’s further is the offering of Collector’s Editions, priced at $64.99 MSRP. Isn’t it wild that you can buy TWO standard copies or a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for less than the price of just one Blu-ray distributed by Crunchyroll?
Even when not considering the price, GKIDS’ standard releases are better than Crunchyroll’s, as these almost always contain bonus features that you normally never find on CR Blu-rays. GKIDS just revealed a Blu-ray of Witch Watch Season 1 this week, bringing all 25 episodes for $39.99! There’s a bonus documentary and director/cast interviews included, too. It’s interesting as well how this series just ended in October 2025 and is already receiving a full Blu-ray release, whereas with Crunchyroll, we’d be getting the first 12 or 13 episodes for $69.99 or higher.
If there’s anything to take away from this, more support needs to be put towards distributors like Sentai and GKIDS, especially. Great things are happening at GKIDS beyond Blu-ray pricing, with quality releases packed with extras for fans, 4K releases for films, and more. GKIDS has also made an incredible effort to bring movies to the big screen each month, with Whisper of the Heart even showing up in IMAX restored in April. I can only hope that we see more and more anime series move to GKIDS for distribution in the years to come.
Considering the sad state of the Crunchyroll Store, Sony and Crunchyroll don’t seem to have any care in the world for physical media fans. It’s such a whiplash and far cry from what we had with RightStuf, and I think anyone could have seen this coming, despite the promises Crunchyroll made with the acquisition. I canceled my Crunchyroll subscription for the first time since subscribing in 2018 after the price hike announcement, and looking at how the business is run, I don’t plan on returning anytime soon. All I can hope is that transparency is brought forth about the strange nature of the Crunchyroll Store, and more care is put towards physical media moving forward. Fans deserve better, customers deserve better, and the anime themselves deserve better than being treated like an afterthought.
