Hey so I tried using Plex for a server, and sure it's amazing and works but running a PC 24/7 is very costly and like you mentioned the Hard Drives do cost quite a bit. I also don't have much space to store hundreds of TV Shows and Movies sadly. The reason I want to go Digital is due to space as well as giving myself the possibility of travelling with all my Tech without having to leave servers and stuff online at home.
Sure paying the same price as a TV Show or Movie in Physical is annoying but from what I have seen through Apple is there Movies that are 4k are actually still in the normal bluray price, if that. I can see what you mean about the Funimation & Crunchyroll stuff TBH knowing they are merging and they aren't supporting peoples purchase is a dick move TBH. The only other option I have is probably piracy or streaming services (I don't like streaming services), I like to get money to the creators of the film / show as much as possible and I feel this might be one of the only ways than buying random merch that I won't like / use.
Thanks for the thoughts though as I will have to make a plan for if companies pull there content from Apple, hopefully Apple has made a plan to support those purchases in some sort of way or something, Maybe there's a place to look at that information.