Black Lagoon, one of the most celebrated action anime of the 2000s, is no longer available to stream legally anywhere online. Crunchyroll quietly removed the series from its library several days ago, and no other platform has picked it up.
According to Screen Rant, the removal is particularly striking because it happened on the series' 20th anniversary, and because Crunchyroll had been the only platform streaming Black Lagoon following its acquisition of Funimation. With that license now expired, viewers have no legal means of watching the show.
Crunchyroll did not make a public announcement about the removal. The reason the platform allowed the license to lapse is unclear.
Produced by Madhouse, Black Lagoon originally aired in 2006. The series follows a group of mercenaries operating out of the fictional Southeast Asian city of Roanapur and became known for its kinetic animation, sharp action sequences and its English dub, which earned a strong following over two decades. Screen Rant described the series as what would happen if Quentin Tarantino made an anime, noting that it still holds up 20 years after its release.
The loss is part of a broader pattern at streaming platforms. Crunchyroll, like its competitors, has periodically allowed licenses for older titles to expire, sometimes without warning. In recent years, Netflix and Prime Video have also secured high-profile anime titles ahead of Crunchyroll, putting additional pressure on the platform's back catalog.
For fans of older anime, Crunchyroll has long been a reliable archive alongside its seasonal simulcast offerings. The Black Lagoon situation points to the fragility of that archive, particularly for titles that have not been acquired for physical home media releases that remain in wide circulation.