Forum - View topicAmazon Prime Video - Worst Streaming Platform Ever?
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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I really am fit to be tied. I am a Canadian Amazon Prime customer. The ONLY reason I purchased an Amazon Prime membership was to get access to anime playing on the AP platform. In Canada, we cannot subscribe to Anime Strike but it doesn't really matter because "most" shows offered on AS are available through the regular Canadian AP membership.
I joined back in July and I have consistently had the same two problems: 1) new episodes don't always drop on the day they are supposed to be available, and even worse, 2) frequently when they do drop, there are no English subtitles available. Just to give you one example, for me, neither the first episode nor the third episode of Girls' Last Tour has English subtitles (or any other language for that matter). In frustration, I phoned AP to talk with somebody and sure enough they are aware of the problem and are "working on it" with absolutely no idea when the problem will be fixed. I'm just trying to guage if other people are having the problem with annoying frequency too. So AP and AS customers please weigh in regardless of what country you are from and let me know: 1) do new episodes generally appear on the day they are supposed to or do you have to wait and 2) do you find episodes missing subtitles? Naturally, the person I dealt with could give me zero insight into what might be causing the lack of subtitle problem. I know it's not browser related because I have the same issue on Firefox and Chrome. I wonder if it has to do with computer and/or operating system. I have a MacBook Air with OS X El Capitan version 10.11.6 |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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When Strike first launched in the US, Amazon did not reliably release episodes on a simulcast basis the way Crunchyroll does. Some of us complained in the reviews area, and I haven't seen that problem since August. I can confirm that Girls' Last Tour episode three is available today in my Strike account with subtitles. Yesterday's release of Inayushiki episode two is there, too, but I haven't watched either yet. I just checked this using Google Chrome on Ubuntu Linux 14.04. I can also watch Strike with the Amazon apps on my Android phone, my PS3, and my LG TV. I remained annoyed that I can't use Chromecast with the Android app, because Amazon refuses to support the main competitor to its Fire TV brand. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Thanks for weighing in, Yuna49. Since you made no mention of it, can I assume that missing subtitles have not been an issue with you?
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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Sorry, I forgot to mention that. No, the subtitles appear on all devices in the usual Amazon black box with white subs. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7983 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Got Anime Strike around same time as you, I'm from the US. It's not completely bad, unless I try to watch it through my BD player's Amazon Prime ap, which has a really annoying interface and sometimes randomly forgets to add the subtitle track so it gave me raw episodes-forcing me to quit and reload the episode. I have to watch it via Amazon's website via my laptop connected to my TV for the best experience. (I already did this for Crunchyroll and Funimation stuff anyway)
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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Amazon appears to be running late on this week's episode of Girls' Last Tour. It's been telecast in Japan since there are raws available out there in the "ether."
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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As if to taunt me, the new episode of Girls' Last Tour is there for me ... without subtitles, of course. Out of the first four episodes, they've only managed to provide english subtitles once.
eta: subtitles have shown up. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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I am going to move this to the General Anime section. Doesn't really fit in the Retail section. Plus others, who might have the same issue, might see and comment in the more widely used Anime section.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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I don't mind the thread being here and you could be right that it will actually be more visible. I disagree that it doesn't belong in the Retail thread. It is a paid service and I'm questioning its value considering the money I paid for it. I think that makes it a Retail issue. But like I say, I'm happy to have the thread remain here.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18185 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Amazon has occasionally had problems in the U.S., too, with subtitles not always being available right away when the episode debuts. I know this happened at least once during the Preview Guide, and it wasn't a device issue since I was getting the same result on both my TV's app and my laptop. This problem has occasionally occurred in earlier seasons, too; I distinctly remember that Rage of Bahamut - Virgin Soul was impacted by it on at least two occasions. In each case the subtitles have showed up a few hours later.
Amazon is also occasionally very flaky on getting episodes out on schedule; their shortcomings on this are more frequent than for either Funi or CR. For instance, the last two episodes of Inuyashiki have both been late; episode 2 didn't show up until early Friday EDT and episode 3 wasn't available until Thursday evening, while its first episode came out early Thursday afternoon. The way Amazon can take 10-12 seconds for the full HD quality to kick in when starting an episode is also annoying but a more minor inconvenience. Amazon's service has its flaws, but it's at least workable. I've definitely encountered worse. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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@ Key - so far I have not experienced the "delay in HD kicking in" issue. *knocks on wood*. In my case, the delay in getting subtitles can last more than a few hours. It can last days. It was useful to hear that you determined it was not a device issue. That was my suspicion since I know that these issues don't affect everybody at the same time or the same way. I assumed the difference was device based, but I guess not.
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Darkmagick
Subscriber Posts: 463 |
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From what I've heard, the episodes seem to be uploaded separately to each country's Prime, so even if an episode is working properly on US Prime, it might not be on Canada Prime. If you encounter an episode without subtitles, I'd recommend contacting Sentai instead of Amazon - they have a much more vested interest in making sure these episodes work, since anime is their sole business avenue, and they're much more responsive on social media. (Assuming it's one of the Sentai shows on there - if Amazon's licensed it directly, then who knows.)
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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@ Darkmagick - the fact that episodes are uploaded separately to each country's Prime certainly explains variance in results, but one thing I haven't been able to determine yet is if there is variance in results within the same country. For example, have all my fellow Canadian Prime users had the same problem with Girls' Last Tour where three of the first four episodes were dropped initially without subs? I dunno.
The unhelpful AP person I talked to could only tell me that AP was working on the issue, but he couldn't explain what the issue was or when it might be fixed. From my own personal experience, the missing subtitle issue has been going on since last July and we are now almost in November so God knows when - or if - they'll ever get this sorted out. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9839 Location: Virginia |
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I suspect that we (and Amazon) badly underestimate and take for granted just how much expertise, work and resources Crunchyroll and Funimation put into simulcasts. I gather that in addition to anime Amazon has a substantial streaming business, which makes this a very minor sideshow for them. Sort of like being Jojo the dogfaced boy at the far end of the sideshow while the main effort goes to the three ring circus elsewhere.
At least Netflix waiting until after the season is over gets to spend the time necessary to get the stream correct, or do they have major problems also? |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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As of yet, I haven't experienced any problems with Netflix, but then again, I haven't streamed a ton of anime through them. I realize I am very much a non-technical person and therefore it's hard to grasp what the source of the subtitle difficulty can be. It's 2017 and AP doesn't have the technical ability to make sure that its subtitles are dependably part of a video before it drops? It just seems so bizarre.
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