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Funimation and Anime Network offer YouTube rentals
by Colette Bennett, 01/28/2010
Funimation and Anime Network offer YouTube rentals photo

Ah, anime piracy, one of the hottest debates Japanese culture fans can have. I know that some people choose not to pirate what they watch, though (or buy it once it's licensed), and bless them -- they're keeping the business going and all that jazz.

If you happen to be in their numbers, you may be interested to know that non-pirates now have the option of purchasing shows to watch directly through YouTube from companies such as Funimation and Anime Network. According to ANN, Anime Network is offering episodes of shows such as Tears to Tiara, Destiny of the Shrine Maiden and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie, while Funimation has stuff like Spice and Wolf and Bamboo Blade up for grabs.

Funimation's titles are 99 cents an episode and you can watch them for up to 24 hours, while Anime Network's will cost you $1.99 for shows and $3.99 for movies (but these are available to you for up to seven days). Is this a service you would consider using?





(10) COMMENTS



luluko

considering you can buy videos on iTunes for $1.99 and keep them forever, I doubt I'll be seduced into paying 99 cents for something I can only watch for 24 hours.
 
kamanashi

I never was a big fan of the digital rental stuff because say your internet messes up while watching it, you have to quit and you might not be able to watch it. Or, with youtube, it is randomly doing maintenance and during those periods, I experience slower speeds. But then again, I don't like renting anime that much anyways since I would much rather just buy it.
 
BGFUSAB

I was gonna say, this would be a great deal if the prince point for temporarily renting then weren't so close to the price point for permanently buying episodes. You could pay Funimation 99 cents to watch something in the next 24 hours or you could pay them 1 dollar more and get to watch it for at long as you like.
 
MorpheusDreamweaver

If Funimation or Anime Network wanted to put up their full catalog of shows and charge me a monthly subscription fee, I'd consider it.

I don't like the YouTube rental model -- it's not a good deal for the consumer. I'd rather take my chances getting the discs from Netflix or spend the extra money to buy the DVDs.
 
Xelotath

I prefer a website like crunchyroll with a monthly fee, it's much cheaper. I subscribed to the trial and I love it so far, the only downside is the low number of shows. Still, it's a small price to pay compared to rentals and you can watch the episodes when you want.
 
lyfeforce

I think it's a good idea for those who want to give a new show a shot, but I'm not really keen on pay-per-rent stuff when Netflix and similar services do the "watch isntantly" thing so you can watch as much as you like.
 
ittoujuu

Would I pay 99 cents an episode for a digital download or rental? I tend to watch a large share of what I watch only once, so yeah, that's workable. Would I pay any money at all for a YouTube-quality stream? Balderdash. That's like paying money to watch a baseball game through a knothole in the fence.
 
gwjunkie

@ittoujuu: Well put. Youtube is either slow or bad quality for me, and sometimes even both. There are far better alternatives.

I'll stick with *shameless notapirate advertising* Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix (once I have consistent income), and the occasional DVD purchase from RightStuf (again, income).

 
Baka Tensai

Rentals?

The answer is:

 
vedicardi

Nothing worth watching so far

fuck you spice and wolf.
 



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