One day anime watchers noticed that the much-used comment section on both Crunchyroll’s website and app had mysteriously disappeared. Only a small statement was released from the streaming service, leaving users with more questions. So what was the last straw that broke the Crunchyroll comment section?
Why Did Crunchyroll Disable Comments?
Crunchyroll has left a notice in their Support & Customer Service section stating the following, “At Crunchyroll, we prioritize creating a safe and respectful community environment. To maintain this standard, we are removing all existing user-generated content, including comments, across all our platforms and experiences.” In short, negative comments were increasing, dragging down the user experience and creating an unsafe environment for users.
Negative comments, especially made by internet trolls, are not a new phenomenon within the anime community. However, some speculate that the increase in hostility is due to the rise of certain content that has been frequently released as of late.
Those in the community, like TikTok user Spitefullypink, believe that the comment section was disabled due to the increase of homophobic comments on the recently released queer anime shows being released. More BL (boys love) and GL (girls love) have been released thanks to the massive success of shows like Given, Cherry Magic, and Bloom into You.
This season introduced Twilight out of Focus, another anticipated BL that had a successful release. However, the show was review bombed by users spamming the comment section with homophobic remarks and criticism with the intention of ruining the show’s success. It was soon after the influx of harmful comments that Reddit user Taotes noticed the comment section was gone.
There is a correlation between the homophobic hate in the comments and the disappearance of the comment section. Combined this with Crunchyroll’s statement and you can understand exactly what happened. It’s good to see that Crunchyroll has done something to protect its marginalized user base but unfortunate that the comment section was taken away.
While we will no longer be able to leave comments, the ability to rate a show through stars is still available on Crunchyroll. So make sure to continue rating the shows you like.
The disabling of the comment section isn’t the only thing Crunchyroll has done recently. Find out why Crunchyroll has increased their subscription price.
