Hulu May Be Stripping Its Anime Library Ahead Of Live TV Service

Hulu's anime library has been shrinking, and according to a new report, it'll be losing a bunch of older anime content on June 1. Reportedly hundreds of anime episodes and shows will be disappearing at the start of next month, with publishers eventually being left offering scare content in relation to what subscribers once enjoyed. Highly popular and recent shows, though, will apparently be staying put.

The info comes from Anime News Network, where it is claimed that Bandai Visual, Aniplex, TMS Entertainment, Toei Animation, and more will all have content being dropped from the Hulu library. Supposedly "a good 2/3" of Anime Networks' and Sentai Filmworks' shows are being dropped, and that a "huge number" of Funimation's shows will be disappearing.

Assuming it's true, this leaves anime fans with less than a week of Hulu's library to enjoy before a massive purge takes place. Some speculate that Hulu's dropping so many anime shows from its library in order to shift focus toward its potentially more fruitful and strenuous undertakings, namely the upcoming live TV service that was recently confirmed.

It certainly is possible that Hulu doesn't see any point in keeping such a massive library of content for what is essentially a niche viewer base. The company hasn't many any comments on the matter either way, though, and we'll have to wait a few days to see whether the June 1 anime-pocalyse indeed comes true.

SOURCE: Anime News Network