These days, it's easier to get into anime than ever. The days of having to go on seedy torrent sites to illegally download anime is something most anime fans of the current generation probably don't even know how to do, and spending $20-30 for a DVD of 3-5 episodes likely sounds insane to anyone newly introduced to the hobby.
With streaming services like Crunchyroll, RetroCrush, HiDive, Funimation, and more available, people can watch whatever anime they want with ease. But is streaming a perfect solution? Certainly, it feels like with the streaming future having become the streaming present that it's the best option, but are there any downsides to the way most fans consume anime today?
10 Harsh Realities: The Rights Might Change
The very nature of streaming means the viewer doesn’t own a copy of the show for themselves. So occasionally when the rights of a show changes in Japan or the West, that can often mean big changes. A series the viewer hasn’t gotten around to might no longer be available on a given service. That can mean it’s available on a different service, or it’s not available to legally watch anywhere anymore.
9 Perks: Simulcasting Lets You Watch New Episodes ASAP
There’s nothing better than knowing what time one’s favorite episode of an anime is coming out and being able to watch it shortly afterwards. In the past, fans would have to wait months for a series to actually finish if they wanted to watch it legally. Despite paying obscene amounts of money for just a few episodes, that didn’t really speed up the process unless it was a really popular show. These days, simulcasting makes waiting longer than a day after the episode airs ridiculous.
8 Harsh Realities: You're Buying More Than One Service
Currently, there are four different major services that have anime on them in large amounts. There’s Funimation, which gets all the major shonen series that fans want to see. There’s Crunchyroll, which gets some of every genre of series from comedy to action. There’s HiDive, which has a lot of the more niche series fans fall in love with.
And then there’s Netflix, who have carved out quite the niche for themselves and these days will sneak off with a random exclusive people want without anyone noticing. And while Funimation and Crunchyroll are bound to combine soon, that’s still three services if one wants to see everything.
7 Perks: It's Cheaper Than Buying Series
It’s true that these days fans are expected to pay multiple streaming services to keep up with all their favorite series every season. But at best that might lead to fans paying $30 a month on multiple services. These days, it costs that much to buy a single series on Blu-Ray or DVD. Imagine trying to keep up with multiple series a month and paying $30 per show. The viewer does own it forever, but that’s still a large cost to maintain every year, and could easily get into the hundreds for people who like a lot of series.
6 Harsh Realities: Your Favorite Service Could Vanish
It’s unlikely these days but still possible. The internet gets faster every year, and what’s around today could be a memory tomorrow. For instance, at the moment, Bandai-Namco’s GundamINFO YouTube channel has multiple Gundam series available to watch for free.
What if Bandai-Namco starts their own service and begins charging for those shows? Just like that, something people got access to for free costs is costing them money. Or a service that was working suddenly falls apart, like VRV which currently only has Crunchyroll after losing HiDive—will that come back valiantly or will Crunchyroll swallow up every other service?
5 Perks: There's Always Something New To Watch
People who buy anime series will eventually watch everything they own and wind up having to re-watch some older series. Unless they’re constantly spending money on new series, there’s just no way around it. But people who stream instead will always have some new show they can get into because streaming services are constantly adding new shows. It’s impossible to keep up with the volume of shows being added to keep these services competitive.
4 Harsh Realities: Sometimes You're Reading Yellow Subs
It’s an unfortunate fact of an anime fan's life that at some point they're going to have to read yellow subs. Yellow subs are a bane to everyone’s existence—they look bad on screen and hurt the eyes.
But older series used yellow-text subs instead of the superior white (or even the fun colors of the fansub era), and that’s something that’s not changing. It’s far too expensive to re-typeset those series, meaning fans everywhere are stuck with subs the same color as lemonade.
3 Perks: Even Older Series Aren't Hard To Find
When people think of anime, many usually think of whatever the new popular show is. But some anime fans enjoy checking out older series, and not just those popular shows from the 2000s or popular '90s shonen series. No, many fans like checking out the anime movies and mecha series of the '80s. With streaming, it’s easier to track shows like this down as they find their way to streaming services like RetroCrush for long-time fans to have a chance to enjoy them.
2 Harsh Realities: You Have To Tolerate Untranslated Songs
This depends more on the series than anything else. By now most anime fans have fallen in love with the music of their favorite shows as much as they have the series. Even without understanding the lyrics, the vibe and energy of the music is still something every fan has picked up on. But fans looking for translated lyrics of the songs they enjoy so much can forget it. Occasionally a series might get a translation for the openings and endings, but almost none of them bother to translate some of the insert songs that appear during a series’ most important moments.
1 Perks: Fans Get To Support Their Favorite Series
The best part about streaming services aside from being able to watch the shows is the knowledge that people are supporting what they love. Too often in the past, fans fell in love with shows that didn’t go far because they didn’t have enough popularity to keep them going. These days, it’s easier for shows to keep going because fans are able to show their support day one, so shows like One-Punch Man and other popular series can get the second (and hopefully third) season they deserve.
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