shinji wrote:

Looking back at 2008, Crunchyroll has come such a long way. When I started this website two years ago, my goal was to share anime and Asian videos with my friends and make them fans. I never thought it would grow to be one of the biggest Asian entertainment sites touching MILLIONS of ppl everyday (and that's all thanks to you guys!) I've met so many great ppl on CR and I bump into a lot of ppl that discovered anime through CR and that always motivates me to make CR better.

Going into 2009, CR is going through some more changes. I know that change can be little frustrating sometimes, but I promise that we're doing everything we can to make the site better. Sometimes it's not very obvious the reason behind some things, but there are good reasons that I'll try to share. Ever since I realized CR's potential, I wanted it to be a place where everyone benefited including fans and creators. But it's taken a lot of time and work to reach out to the publishers to show them what CR has to offer and I've always respected their work if they requested it be removed. I know this has been frustrating for some of you, but it's been necessary for CR to continue and to build stronger relationships with the publishers to release their work directly onto CR. We now have over 25 publisher partners putting content up and we'll have over 130 titles come January! =D

We've made a lot of progress working with the publishers with some great shows coming in January (like Naruto Shippuden!! and many more), but there's still more to do! And much of the user-uploaded fansubs have been holding us back because it doesn't have the creator's permission So for CR to really break through and stay around forever, we are going to have to stop user uploads and take down any unauthorized uploads. This means that only official publishers will be able to upload. But it also means that the videos will be uploaded very quickly, the video quality will be great, and the creators will make money so they can support themselves to make more new stuff. So your support of CR by joining the Anime Membership, you'll be helping the anime industry survive This way, we'll be able to get a lot more good shows on CR.

I know this is a big change, but I ask for your patience and faith in CR as I work to bring all the great shows here first! I truly believe this is the right thing to do so that eventually CR will be the only place you need to go to And you guys will all be part of the Crunchyroll revolution! I'll have a lot more announcements to make in the upcoming weeks (and btw, we're not ignoring the dramas either . But please check out the Anime Membership offering – this will give you earlier access and HD quality streams! I have a feeling that 2009 is going to be a great year and a great milestone for CR. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!