And the official statement says absolutely nothing of value.
Summary:
- Many anime episodes have been leaked before the official release on Crunchyroll.
- The source of the leaks is probably Puerto Rico Comic Con.
- Fans don’t think Crunchyroll will suffer that much from the leaks.
The Spring 2024 anime season started with a very odd occurrence. A couple of the first episodes were leaked before they were officially released on Crunchyroll — and before they even aired in Japan.
While leakers have always been around, this is one of the biggest leaks in recent times. Nine anime episodes have already been leaked, including Sound! Euphonium (Hibike! Euphonium) and KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!) — some of the most popular sequels this season.
In fact, both of them have already posted the second episodes — despite neither even airing Episode 1 in Japan. This is a reason for concern, according to some fans. Crunchyroll, which is the source of the leaks, released an official statement — but fans are not exactly satisfied with it.
Source of the Leaks
Crunchyroll doesn’t mention the source of the leaks. That said, it is already pretty obvious. While at first, it was thought to be SakuraCon in Seattle, some of the further leaks proved that notion wrong.
The actual source is likely to be the Puerto Rico Comic Con, which was held at the same time — the end of March. All the leaked anime pre-aired there, and it’s likely that a staff member (or even a con visitor) got illegal access to the files and posted them on anime piracy websites.
What Do Fans Think?
The statement Crunchyroll put out says practically nothing of value. They are aware of the leaks and are investigating them. Fans believe that nothing will come out of the investigation, as a lot of the con staff members are volunteers, and these things are generally very hard to track.
Most fans don’t really feel bad about the leaks. Crunchyroll has been notorious for underpaying its staff, including translators — and if a staff member employed by Crunchyroll was involved in the leaks, then they probably did it out of spite for being underpaid.
Still, fans are concerned that this might result in harsher punishment for Crunchyroll employees — and some worry that the service will receive less anime because of this incident. The last part is unlikely, though, as Crunchyroll is definitely the biggest streaming service out there.
Source: Animenewsnetwork.com