Forum - View topicBest (legal streaming) anime website?
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timmy7596
Posts: 12 |
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I watch anime only and I usually watch Neon alley and Crunchyroll. Are there anything better than these or do you guys think these are two of the best places.
[EDIT: Adjusted your thread name to make it more appropriate for what you're apparently actually talking about. - Key] |
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Beized
 Posts: 129 |
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Crunchyroll's pretty much the champion of legal streaming, though Funimation and The Anime Network usually license and stream a couple shows each season as well, and are worth keeping tabs on. And if your not just after the new stuff Funimation has most of their older shows available for streaming, a lot of them for free.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Crunchyroll is the best I've come across. Plus, if you subscribe, you can stream anime to your PS3 -- the player is pretty stable now -- and XBox360 (dunno how it functions on that one). No commericals, too.
I've subscribed from CR for a long time, and I don't mind doing that at all. Netflix is also a decent place to stream anime, and there stuff is mainly dubbed, too (unlike CR). I mostly ignore Funimation and Hulu: Hulu has ads, very annoying ads, which you cannot avoid or erase. So, only if I'm *really* desperate to see a series will I ever watch anything on Hulu. |
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swienke
 Posts: 245 |
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Huh, I have the opposite opinion. Hulu is pretty much the only streaming service I'll use and I find that the commercials are generally less annoying and less frequent than anything on TV. Crunchyroll, on the other hand, has some of the loudest and most obnoxious advertisements I've come across and it has an annoying habit of making my browser crash for no apparent reason. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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If you're a paid subscriber, then you don't get any ads on CR. I don't. On Hulu, it doesn't matter if you pay or not, you still get them. I prefer no commericals. Also, I don't have problems with my browser crashing, and now that I stream to my PS3, I don't even have to worry about that: I can watch it on my 1080P TV instead. |
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jsc315
 Posts: 925 |
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Funimation also has some free and paid options.
I just don't like that you have to pay per device but then you do not have to pay again unless you wan't the elite service as well. For example you can pay $10 for the iphone, Roku, or Android app and you get access to a ton of funimation anime with ads but still gives you access to most of there shows. With the elite monthly service you get access to all the dubs that are available plus in HD as well as no commercials. Netflix is ok for anime but 90% of it is Funimation and rarely updates, at least with the streaming side of things that is. I love netflix but anime is lacking. Hulu has a large amount of anime and always bringing in newer and older titles. Yes, it does have ads, but honestly it does not bother me as I don't watch TV and 90 seconds is more then fair for free. I would not pay for Hulu unless you plan on streaming it to a device a lot and watching a lot of anime, otherwise it's useless. Crunchyroll is probably my favorite of all the services and have used it the most. It has the majority of streaming newer anime TV shows out there. They even have a decent collection of back catalog of older shows too. (I'm slowly watching Galaxy Express 999) Also, when you pay for you subscription you can stream to just about any device you can think of at this point now. Though I do believe you can still watch shows for free on any device just with commercials, just newer shows are one week behind. Overall I pay for crunchyroll as it is well worth it for me and have a free membership at Funimation and watch what isn't on Crunchyroll over there. I think this is the best combination. |
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Arkov
 Posts: 120 |
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I'M GOING. TOO. THE AQUARIUM. I tend to just turn the volume down and browse forums when the ads come on though, and they never last more than 30 seconds. Much more tolerable than TV. |
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Guren Alchemist4
 Posts: 347 |
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As other have said already, Cruchyroll is pretty much the best site. Subscription is pretty cheap if you want commercial free HD streaming, but even their free option isn't too bad. The commercials tend to be pretty short. It also gives me a reason to hook up my PS3 besides using it to play blu-rays and dvd's.
I also subscribed to Funimation fairly recently. It's quite good although it seems to go down sometimes for maintenance without any warning. They can at least inform us when that will happen through their twitter feed. |
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Ian K
 Posts: 250 |
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I like Hulu just because it has the widest selection on the net. Crunchyroll stuff, Funimation stuff, Sentai stuff, even some Bandai stuff (Like Jin Roh and Wolf's Rain) that are OOP. And while the adds are annoying, it works better for me than any other free service (except for Youtube, which has a lot of Funimation's back catalog).
As for paid services, the only one I've used is Netflix. It works quite well, but its selection is currently pretty limited (mainly Funi stuff) and it's all dubs. One of these days I'll get around to trying a trial membership for Crunchyroll. I don't think I'll pay for Funimation or Anime Network stream, simply because if I like their shows enough I'd rather buy 'em. |
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3898 Location: New York state. |
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Would very likely say Crunchyroll. They regularly get the most titles to simulcast each season and they have a nice load of older titles to look into as well, some of them even legally licensed from other American distributors like Bandai. They have plenty of options for you to stream with video quality and devices, even including game consoles if you get a paid subscription.
Hulu has the widest selection of anime, but you get stuck with commercials at points during viewing of a video. From what I understand, the commercials are even around if you get a paid subscription with them which is a low point in my eyes. Funimation has dub and sub options for their titles (including uncut episodes with a paid subscription) and are known to have quite a number of titles available online considering they are the biggest distributor here in the states. They're probably not the best option to stick with if you have a slow Internet connection like DSL or wireless as episodes I've streamed from their site tend to take quite a bit of time to stream fully with my 3G connection. Netflix has a decent number of titles to stream and flexible options with video quality and the means you can stream such as game consoles, computer and cell phone. As others have mentioned though, many of their offerings for streaming are dubs and they don't get updated too often. |
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rheiders
 Posts: 1137 Location: Colorful Colorado :) |
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I would definitely say Crunchyroll is the best service I've used. Membership isn't that expensive, and if you're okay with ads their free service ain't bad either. They have a huge catalog and regularly get most of the new shows for each season. Their player is also the best I've come across for streaming anime, as far as quality goes.
Funimation is pretty good as far as selection--they have most of their licensed shows up for free viewing. They have both dub and sub, though usually if you want access to the full series in dub you have to pay for a premium membership. Also, their player is a bit finicky and the quality isn't great. Hulu has a lot of titles available from various companies, but you do have to sit through the ads. However, I don't think the ads are that annoying and it's easy to just ignore them and do something else for the 90 seconds or whatever that they last. I don't have Netflix so I can't say anything about that. |
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JustinGallimore
 Posts: 77 |
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Another legal streaming service is crackle, it seems to be left out in these type of discussions. Its free with ad supported content and they anime selection is unique compared to netflix I suggest everyone give it a try.
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EricJ
 Posts: 876 |
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Crackle just added a PS3 app (most streaming looks better on a PS3, since they're used to handling/smoothing hi-speed visuals and net connections), and even there, it's pretty much 90% Funimation, with a little "WTF?--Never heard of it!" thrown in. Only watch it for the few good exclusives they have, ie. Valkyria Chronicles subbed. the Animax Nodame Contabile English dub (which isn't too bad  ), and the only other place to watch GE999 for free. (All with commercial interruption.)
Otherwise, you're going to get Funimation anywhere you go, so it's just a question of who's got the better-looking streams. If it's airing on Netflix, and you've got the subscription/app, it's easier to watch there. If Funi ever comes out with a PS3 app, that'll probably change, but for now, they seem to be only interested in mobile. |
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A Mystery
 Posts: 1887 Location: Netherlands |
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I'm biased, because Crunchyroll is the only streaming site I can use in my country (as far as I know). Most streaming sites only cater to the USA and/or some other English speaking countries. Though for some odd reason, I can watch the first season of Spice and Wolf on Youtube from Funimation.
I read Netflix is expanding to more countries, including Sweden, South America and Denmark. |
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RGaspar
 Posts: 239 |
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I'm biased as well, Crunchyroll is the only one I could try...and I was really happy with it. While the selection of titles is pretty limited outside the US (In the States is amazing!), the video quality and the sounds are solid. You don't need a fast internet speed to enjoy 720p video with Crunchy. Now, I couldn't stream 1080p steadily with my 3Gbs. I guess that at the end of the day, it depends on the shows you'd like to watch, and the legal availability of streaming sites, of course  .
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