Hey, wanna watch some anime?
Good, because there's a lot of it out there
and lots of options to watch it with,
many of those options are of, shall we say,
dubious legal merit, so we're gonna skip those
and stick with the services
that definitely will not load malware
onto every device you own.
Let's dive in.
(upbeat music)
Now, as we're getting started, don't forget
that we're doing a big giveaway right now
for a 55 inch 4K smart TV, so hit the description below
and check out the link there for that.
Also, big shout out to r/anime,
the subreddit was a big help
as I was getting started researching this one.
For this video, I want to to think of this
as anime streaming 101.
If you're new to this topic, you'll learn a thing or two,
if you're not, if you're already a master streamer of anime,
then you'll probably know most of this stuff,
but I want you to stick around and check out the advise
that I'm giving, and then hit comments below when we're done
to dispense any additional wisdom you might have.
Now first up are the services
you probably already have honestly, Hulu and Netflix.
Just like with the rest of its content library,
Netflix's anime strategy seems to be
to get the rights to a well known property
to get you in the door, and then keep you there
with some quality originals as well.
In this case, Netflix is the exclusive streaming home
of Neon Genesis Evangelion,
and their originals now include things
like Seven Deadly Sins and Knights of Sidonia, pretty good.
Similarly, Hulu's library might not be as deep
as some of the more specialized streaming services
that we're gonna get to, but it's still got
a surprising amount, especially after the deal they struck
with Funimation last December,
so now Hulu's got its own anime section,
and it's the only place you'll find
the immensely popular Cowboy Bebop, and on top of all that,
with both of these services, they come with,
well, Hulu and Netflix.
Like I said, you probably already have these,
so you can take advantage of some good anime
while you're at it, and if you don't have them,
you can get Hulu for 5.99
if you want to deal with commercials, if you don't,
it's 11.99, and Netflix does have an 8.99 plan,
but that's standard def, nobody wants this,
so get the HD plan for 12.99.
- If Hulu and Netflix are for the casual fan,
then Funimation is for the more serious anime obsessive.
It's more narrowly focused for anime fans,
it's got a deeper library than Hulu,
tons of Dragon Ball content for instance,
plus you get simulcast, so you don't have to wait around
for the next season of Fire Force to drop
before you can watch it with everybody else.
It's available on every major streaming device,
and so you won't have a problem finding a place to watch it,
there's a free ad-supported version that you can go with,
or you can go the 5.99 Premium route,
this gives you ad-free access to the full library,
plus two simultaneous streams.
If you go for the 7.99 Premium Plus plan,
then you get five simultaneous streams, and in that case,
you get to download your content to watch on the go.
Crunchyroll is similar to Funimation in that
it's geared towards serious anime devotees,
it's slightly different though in that,
while both services provide both subbed and dubbed shows,
Funimation holds a lot of exclusive rights
to dubbed content while Crunchyroll
is more of a destination for subbed stuff,
plus Crunchyroll has got some top-tier exclusives as well,
like A Place Further than the Universe, and Laid-Back Camp.
Now, there is a lot of free stuff
that is ad-supported of course,
or you can 7.99 a month for the Crunchyroll Premium,
obviously that strips out the ads,
you only get one simultaneous stream for that though,
9.99 a month though is gonna get you Crunchroll Premium
plus VRV Premium, and that brings us to VRV.
VRV, similarly to Crunchyroll, is owned by Otter Media,
which in turn is owned by WarnerMedia,
this will be important a little later in the video.
Now VRV has it's own library of originals like HarmonQuest,
its kind of hybrid animated show,
but the real appeal for VRV
comes in the collection of properties,
they've got Crunchyroll, and Mondo, and HIDIVE,
and Rooster Teeth, and Boomerang, and lots more,
so for 9.99 a month for VRV premium,
you're pulling in a whole bunch of stuff,
including that Crunchyroll content.
So, that leaves us with the question of what you should get.
Well, if you dabble in anime, then Hulu and Netflix
might be quite good enough, they are good,
but if you're an anime addict,
or if you suspect you might become one,
then you can get VRV for 10 bucks, Funimation for six bucks,
that's 16 bucks a month for more anime
than you could ever possibly consume
if you're also a functioning
and contributing member of society.
- And one last note, this is about HBO Max,
we've talked about the coming rollout of HBO Max,
and we're not sure how this gonna shake out for anime fans
because Crunchyroll has been listed
as part of the content lineup for HBO Max,
parent company AT&T owns both so that makes sense,
but it also owns VRV, so will the rest of VRV's content
also be available on HBO Max,
will Crunchyroll ever be an HBO Max exclusive?
As of now, we don't know the answer to these questions
or how this is all gonna fit together,
so we're gonna have to keep an eye on it.
Hey everybody, thanks for watching!
Give this video a like and or a dislike,
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Thanks for watching everybody, we'll see you next time!