VIZ Media has removed free versions of Hulu-embedded videos of anime episodes from their website. Instead, the website now just redirects users to other streaming platforms such as Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, and Netflix.
VIZ previously offered free streams of several of their licensed titles through Hulu. Reasoning for the removal of the videos has yet to be stated although there was talk of VIZ restructuring the revenue budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this could have been part of that plan. Despite the pandemic, VIZ Media reported that sales were beyond expectations.
VIZ Media is under the corporate umbrella of Japanese manga publisher Shueisha and distributes some of their most-popular series to North American audiences such as Naruto, Boruto, Bleach, One-Punch Man, Hunter x Hunter, Death Note, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and many others.
