Streaming Mad? Sony’s Newly Acquired Funimation Solves Every

Sony’s Newly Acquired Funimation Solves Everything

There’s over 12 hours of sunlight during the summer, and you spent every single one of them scrolling endlessly through links. While others attempted to get the most out of the season by planning trips and sipping beers, you sat in front of your laptop on the search for your white whale: a working link of Death Note with English dubs.

Tired, demeaned, and a little bit thirsty, you eventually found that obscure link only to cry out in frustration when you realize its uploader lied when it was recorded in 1080p and confused English with Russian. Sound familiar? If you spend more time searching for the anime show you love than actually watching it, then the latest Sony acquisition will make your year.

On July 31, for a cool $143 million, Sony Pictures Television Networks bought a 95% stake in Funimation. The remaining 5% share remains with the founder, Gen Fukunaga.

Funimation is known for its long-standing licensing and distribution of anime series to American audiences. For 23-years, Funimation produced subtitled versions of popular shows like Dragon Ball Z, Digimon, One Piece, and Cowboy Bebop, becoming the largest dubbed streaming catalogue in the world. Said catalogue exceeds 10,000 hours of viewing content.

Now it joins ANIMAX and Kids Station as part of Sony’s latest attempts at entering the streaming market. Andy Kaplan, Sony Pictures Television President says of the deal:

“Around the world, Sony's networks have been major players in the anime space for nearly two decades, and in more recent years we have rapidly increased our networks' over-the-top and digital offerings to consumers. With the acquisition of Funimation, the combined IP of ANIMAX, KIDS STATION and Funimation allows us to deliver the best anime to fans across all screens and platforms."

With the addition of Funimation’s 400+ titles, Sony can now go head to head with other streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. This acquisition comes in the nick of time, as Netflix just announced it has plans to bring Ghost in the Shell to its audiences. What will prove to be a great business decision for Sony comes as a huge advantage for you.

A Funimation streaming app will launch on the PlayStation Store sometime this year. With a few taps at your DualShock, you’ll access their immense catalogue of titles. Compared to scouring the web for illegal downloads and streams, this app promises to be a lot easier. You won’t be a slave to uploaders, so you can spend your time the way you want.

This is all well and good if you have a PS4, but if you don’t, it’s time to look at your budget and your options. In addition to the undetermined cost of the streaming service, you’ll need to get a PlayStation if you expect to capitalize on Sony’s deal.

When things are tight, a used PS4 can do the trick. Though it may not have the same fresh-from-the-box smell or shiny gleam, it will do the job. And you can always cover up any cosmetic damages that lowered its asking price with a PS4 skin made by dbrand. As the boss of vinyl, dbrand is known by people all over the world as the best provider of skins, decals, and wraps. Their catalogue of exclusive vinyl designs is tailor-cut for the gadget in question to offer the best coverage and protection. Made to measure in an ultra-cool design, your custom PS4 skins from dbrand can make any used console look new again.

Equipped with a stylish skin, your new-to-you PlayStation will look like it always belonged next to your TV. More importantly, it will act as your ambassador to the latest and greatest Japanese animated series. Once you download the app, you’ll find every series you could ever hope to watch and more.