Crunchyroll Is Missing Out Big on One-Punch Man Season 3

There’s no doubting that Crunchyroll is the biggest destination for anime in America, but many are scratching their heads over the streaming service’s inability to acquire the most popular anime of the Winter 2025 season.

Crunchyroll is home to some of the best anime series of all time. For them to miss this anime, however, calls into question how long they’ll reign supreme as the best streaming site around. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime are acquiring more amazing exclusives, putting some serious pressure on the Sony-owned service.

One-Punch Man is both one of the biggest excitements and let-downs in anime, but despite its flaws, it’s still regarded as the most anticipated anime of the season. Currently, Crunchyroll doesn’t have the series on their site for viewers in America, creating one of the biggest mysteries of the year.

Crunchyroll Is the Premier Destination for Anime in America

For the Past Five Years, Crunchyroll Has Reigned Supreme

There has never been a better time to be an anime fan. It’s an art form that has gained a serious amount of popularity in the West over the past two decades, with the past five years seeing an explosion in its growth. Series like Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, and Jujutsu Kaisen have cemented anime as a hugely popular form of entertainment in America.

In the age of streaming services, when it comes to anime, one rules over all: Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll has the best, most diverse library of top-tier anime out there. While sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime have a myriad of amazing choices, they have nothing on Crunchyroll.

Crunchyroll has been the best for a while, and the site’s top fantasy series proves that anime is only going to get better from here. Crunchyroll has amazing subtitling, is affordable, easily accessible, shareable, and has some of the best modern and old-school anime out there.

Disney+ and Netflix Are Gaining on It

Other Streaming Services Are Catching Up

About a decade ago, there weren’t too many ways to watch anime in America. Crunchyroll was beginning to make a name for itself as the premier destination, and no other streaming service had any anime whatsoever outside of major, mainstream hits like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Naruto.

Now that Crunchyroll has shown how lucrative anime can be, especially through Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’s monumental success, other corporations are willing to invest in anime. Streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ have started to create concise catalogs filled with solid anime, putting some pressure on Crunchyroll’s crown.

Amazon Prime, Hulu (which will soon be absorbed by Disney+), and more are creating their own anime catalogs as well. Crunchyroll’s massive success might be its downfall, as they’ve inadvertently paved the way for other companies to come in and take part of their market share.

Even though these competitors are nipping at Crunchyroll’s heels, the streaming platform still has almost every major series out there. Every season, fans can expect to find the most sought-after series on Crunchyroll, but this season, one major franchise is nowhere to be seen.

One-Punch Man, Despite its Flaws, Is Number One

One-Punch Man Is the Biggest Anime of Winter 2025

One-Punch Man is regarded as the most highly anticipated anime series of the Winter 2025 season, garnering almost twice the amount of watches through MyAnimeList.com. One-Punch Man is a relatively controversial series, and despite the contention surrounding it, thousands of anime fans couldn’t wait to see Saitama back in action.

One-Punch Man is marred by issues off-screen. J.C. Staff, the studio that animated the second season of the franchise, has regrettably returned to animate the third season as well. Few people are surprised that the third season’s premiere was poorly animated, making many wonder why J.C. Staff got the green light in the first place.

Despite the shortcomings of both the second and third seasons of the series, One-Punch Man is still seen as a masterpiece to many. It’s one of the few series that can both subvert the shōnen genre and exist within it, showing how deeply it understands the shōnen genre itself.

Why Doesn’t Crunchyroll Have One-Punch Man in America?

Why Doesn’t The Biggest Streaming Service Have the Biggest Series?

Even though J.C. Staff is letting fans down through lackluster animation, One-Punch Man is still the biggest name in anime at the moment. As the biggest streaming service in anime, why doesn’t Crunchyroll have access to this series in America?

It’s a frustrating omission for the subscribers of the streaming service, as they have to head to Disney+ to see Saitama’s return to the screen. Crunchyroll has rarely missed out on the top five most popular anime series of any given season, and to miss out on the biggest one is a huge flop.

One-Punch Man isn’t without its flaws, but it would take a lot more than poor animation for fans to give up on this series. It’s one of the few franchises that had the potential to dethrone Solo Leveling, and with a different animation studio behind it, it just might’ve.

Crunchyroll Might Not Be Number One for Long

Netflix Is Pouring Money into Acquiring Anime Exclusives

While Crunchyroll is currently number one in the anime game in America, that might not be the case for long. Crunchyroll has a ton of great series, but Netflix is picking up steam, looking to usurp them soon. No other streaming site has better exclusives than Netflix either, showing how serious Netflix is about investing in anime.

Netflix, inarguably, has the best anime exclusives around. Netflix has a range of great anime series too, from the best romance series like Blue Box and Romantic Killer to unbelievably hardcore action series like Baki and Kengan Ashura.

Now that Crunchyroll has shown just how profitable anime can be, other companies are more than willing to invest. Crunchyroll might have become their own worst enemy in this regard, and it’s their own success that has given other companies the reassurance to put sizable amounts of money into anime.

Crunchyroll getting dethroned is a net negative for anime fans. While competition is usually good in business, more streaming services competing for major anime franchises means fans will have to subscribe to multiple services to see their favorite series.

It’s hard to predict exactly what will happen with the future of anime, but there are a couple of signs. Anime is bigger than ever, and it looks like it’ll get bigger from here. With its exponential growth in popularity, many streaming services will want exlusive rights, meaning Crunchyroll might not be the top-tier destination it used to be.