It’s a dilemma that almost everyone knows. On the one hand, there’s a wholegalaxy of anime out there you want to watch. On the other hand, you’re on atight budget and can’t afford that new 26-episode season box set.
Thankfully, we live in an era where there’s more anime legally available fora lot less than there ever used to be. It’s easier than ever to get caught upwith the latest shows, or even watch new shows just out from Japan, withoutbreaking either the law or your budget.
Here’s several ways to satisfy your anime needs, all either free orcheap.
A whole slew of sites have spring up that stream anime for free, withoccasional commercial interruptions. The FUNimation site is a perfectexample, along with Hulu (whichserves as a host for many of their shows). CrunchyRoll has both a free, ad-supportedtier and a paid version which removes commercials, gives you early access tomany new shows, and lets you watch in HD as well—all for about $8 a month. Bothof those sites also have many shows not released on DVD in the U.S., oftensimulcast with their original appearance in Japan.
On-demand services like Amazon let you rent by theepisode or the season, and so are best for individual titles like movies thatmight not be available through other means.More »
Obviously this includes NetFlix, whichhas long been the leader in the U.S. for renting DVDs by mail. As of late,they’re aggressively expanding into online streaming as a future market, and nowhave a streaming-only plan that’s about $8 a month as well.
NetFlix’s rental stock varies widely—especially with anime, since somesmaller labels hold off on adding a title to NetFlix as a way to allow the titleto sell through retail channels first. But they’re also adding a great manyanime titles through their streaming service, many in HD as well. More »
Depending on where you live, your local library system may well have a goodselection of anime titles. Check the online catalog, and see if your libraryparticipates in an inter-library loan system with others in your county orstate. It may take a few days to get the titles you want, but it costs younothing (unless you return them late!), and libraries are getting savvier aboutstocking anime—much as they have been with manga.
If you don’t know of one in your area, go start one! Both FUNimation andRight Stuf have their own anime-club support organizations: Operation Anime and the Anime Clubs SupportProgram. Operation Anime even has its own detailed starter kit that tells you most everything you need to know to get a club up and running.Friends can bring titles from their own libraries, and you can even get titlesfree for the club’s library.More »
Thankfully, we live in an era where there’s more anime legally available fora lot less than there ever used to be. It’s easier than ever to get caught upwith the latest shows, or even watch new shows just out from Japan, withoutbreaking either the law or your budget.
Here’s several ways to satisfy your anime needs, all either free orcheap.
1. Online streaming / video-on-demand
A whole slew of sites have spring up that stream anime for free, withoccasional commercial interruptions. The FUNimation site is a perfectexample, along with Hulu (whichserves as a host for many of their shows). CrunchyRoll has both a free, ad-supportedtier and a paid version which removes commercials, gives you early access tomany new shows, and lets you watch in HD as well—all for about $8 a month. Bothof those sites also have many shows not released on DVD in the U.S., oftensimulcast with their original appearance in Japan.
On-demand services like Amazon let you rent by theepisode or the season, and so are best for individual titles like movies thatmight not be available through other means.More »
2. Rental services
Obviously this includes NetFlix, whichhas long been the leader in the U.S. for renting DVDs by mail. As of late,they’re aggressively expanding into online streaming as a future market, and nowhave a streaming-only plan that’s about $8 a month as well.
NetFlix’s rental stock varies widely—especially with anime, since somesmaller labels hold off on adding a title to NetFlix as a way to allow the titleto sell through retail channels first. But they’re also adding a great manyanime titles through their streaming service, many in HD as well. More »
3. Libraries
Depending on where you live, your local library system may well have a goodselection of anime titles. Check the online catalog, and see if your libraryparticipates in an inter-library loan system with others in your county orstate. It may take a few days to get the titles you want, but it costs younothing (unless you return them late!), and libraries are getting savvier aboutstocking anime—much as they have been with manga.
4. Anime Clubs
If you don’t know of one in your area, go start one! Both FUNimation andRight Stuf have their own anime-club support organizations: Operation Anime and the Anime Clubs SupportProgram. Operation Anime even has its own detailed starter kit that tells you most everything you need to know to get a club up and running.Friends can bring titles from their own libraries, and you can even get titlesfree for the club’s library.More »