Crunchyroll is arguably the biggest streaming platform for the beloved anime, manga, and dorama. Sadly, not every country has access to this blissful platform. South America, most parts of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and diverse parts of Europe are blocked from accessing Crunchyroll.
What happens if you’re an anime or manga lover who wants to access Crunchyroll but can’t due to regional restriction? Read on to find out how the site blocks its content, why several countries don’t have access to Crunchyroll, and what you can do to stream on Crunchyroll even if your country is among those that are under restriction.
How Does Crunchyroll Block Its Content In Some Countries?
Crunchyroll uses geo-restrictions to stop countries that aren’t under its licensing spectrum to view or stream its content. When people from those no-access countries or regions try to view and stream Crunchyroll, the site’s crawlers view the visitors’ IP addresses to know if they’re from a licensed region and then deny access if they’re not.
The streaming site also notes the IP address so the next time that same IP address tries to log in again, it’d still read denied access. The response could range from ‘content not available in your country’ to ‘Geo-restriction applies,’ down to an altogether blank page.
How To Bypass The Block Or Ban
Crunchyroll is fabulous so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that most anime, manga, and dorama lovers want to stream content on it. But what do you do when you’re in a no-access region? By using Crunchyroll VPN, you can bypass the restrictions. Even more, VPN will help protect you from some web threats.
When you use a VPN server, your physical location and IP address become invisible to the internet. This means that the site crawlers won’t notice you even when you access the site. It also means that even outside the normal Crunchyroll regions, you can still stream content without any stress.
Take note that to guarantee entry into the site, you should always use powerful VPN servers. This is because some low-quality VPNs might not be able to beat the strong coverage and protection system of the Crunchyroll site.
Why Crunchyroll Is Blocked In Some Countries
There are different reasons why Crunchyroll is blocked or restricted in several countries, and some of which are not caused by the streaming platform.
Here are some of the reasons why Crunchyroll is blocked in some countries and regions:
Country/Region’s Own Dedicated Streaming Services
Some countries already have their own dedicated streaming services that serve their entertainment needs. Countries like these try as much as possible to eliminate external competing streaming services. Why? They want the revenue to go to home-based businesses and companies rather than a foreign brand.
Australia, the UK, China, Germany, and even France have their own indigenous streaming platforms that serve them. Since Crunchyroll sees that their enterprise isn’t welcomed in those countries, they blocked their content from being viewed in the said countries.
Lack Of Government Licensing To Exist Legally In Some Countries
Crunchyroll blocks its content from being accessed in some countries due to their policies, regulations, and, of course, lack of legal licensing. Without the government or the governmental agency on entertainment matters licensing the streaming site to operate in a country, they can’t run there. Since they’re not licensed or legalized for streaming in those countries, Crunchyroll can’t gain revenues there, too.
Knowing that they can’t make a profit from these regions, they block their content and then focus on other regions where they’re licensed. This same issue also affects some other top gaming brands.
Lack Of Substantial Streaming Base (Audience)
It’s one thing for the government to be cooperative, it’s another thing for there to be a decent number of Crunchyroll streamers. The operators might restrict/block a country if it’s small and has only a few or no Crunchyroll streamers.
This is because operating in a country where there are no substantial viewers might not be a good investment for the company. Hence, they just block the region altogether.
Economic State Of The Some Countries (Low Revenue)
Even though Crunchyroll seeks to give its users and streamers ultimate entertainment, the fact is that it’s still for profit-making. Since revenue matters to this streaming site, they can’t afford to take it to regions where the economic situation is unstable and unpleasant to businesses.
For instance, some countries in Africa are dealing with high-level currency devaluations. This means that the revenue from those countries would be low when converted to Dollar.
It would seem as if the streaming site gave the country usage rights for free because the profit would be low if any. Hence, the company may prefer not to have the platform in those countries rather than lose money.
Conclusion
Crunchyroll is currently trying to expand its outreach to become licensed in many more countries. But until then, if you reside in a country outside the licensed regions, you should make use of a VPN.
Even if Crunchyroll isn’t banned or blocked in your country, VPN will still help you stay safe and bypass other restrictions that Crunchyroll might have placed on your regional streaming.
