The Best Anime Streaming Services for You

Anime streaming has grown significantly in popularity around the world for awhile now, in fact it’s even having streaming giants fight for distribution rights to some of its biggest titles. This has caused many people to become more aware of anime these past few years. Along with the growing dub industry its allowed it to be more accessible internationally.

Hulu

Hulu has supposedly lost their deal with Funimation once it was announced that the service was going to merge into Crunchyroll’s library, however, its library is still going strong with only a portion of its library gone. The service seems to be renewing most of the series itself now, additionally its also been adding some simulcast anime like Spy x Family, Bleach TYBW, and Chainsaw man unlike Netflix( U.S version).

Hulu may not have Crunchyroll’s massive anime library but it still provides enough, especially if you’re in the U.S and haven’t subscribed to any anime services yet. For the people new to anime or on a budget with their subscriptions, having already a service like Hulu is perfect. While being able to keep your other favorite content of movies and shows to watch, you’ll also get a good amount of anime to come with it.

Amazon Prime

Amazon has quite the large library already, though when it comes to anime it doesn’t offer as much as others do. It only has a few exclusive anime like grand blue, after the rain, Wotakoi, boarding school Juliet, and the Evangelion rebuild movies. Other than those exclusive titles, you can mostly find their other anime in services much cheaper or better than prime video.

If you already own prime video but are still looking for a better anime library, I’d suggest switching to a service like Netflix or Hulu depending on your country. Unless you are only looking for specific titles exclusive to prime, then going with a free trial or sailing the seas might be your best option.

HBO Max

HBO max has by far the least amount of anime featured in its library, especially after being affected by the deal between Crunchyroll and Funimation. With only holding rights to the studio Ghibli films, it doesn’t hold much value as a place to stream anime anymore. It’s quite sad to see since HBO max has by far the best UI and ad supported plan out there.

If you’re only looking for anime and you don’t already have HBO max then I’d leave it at that. It still has some good animation shows like Rick n Morty and the adult swim shows, however for what were covering for, HBO max just falls short.

Netflix

Netflix has been one of the top services behind the two big anime only platforms as far as their catalogue goes, it’s been bringing in more original and simulcast anime. The most popular ones being Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Great Pretender, Komi can’t communicate, and the Kakegurui series.

Netflix has the great advantage of having a great dub cast behind its anime, which tops the most of the dubs at Crunchyroll or HIDIVE. Great Pretender and Dorohedoro are great examples of excellent dubbing, though that is thanks to the remarkable union studios. Its also great for people who are just getting into anime and don’t want to commit to a platform like Crunchyroll right away.

Funimation

Funimation brings in one of the best UI’s compared to the other anime services, as well as for anyone interested in more dub content. However, now that Crunchyroll has started to merge Funimation’s library with its own, there will be more dubs and new original anime added. It may seem like going for Crunchyroll is the better choice, yet there’s still some differences that can sway you.

For starters, the price is significantly cheaper from Crunchyroll’s mega and ultimate fan plans, additionally the premium plus plan has almost all that the ultimate of Crunchyroll offers. All except for a few differences of course. Those differences being the new simulcast that airs every season, additionally the digital manga that comes with the ultimate fan plan. Realistically getting Funimation now isn’t a good option, unless you really can’t stand Crunchyroll’s UI, either way this service won’t be around much longer.

HIDIVE

HIDIVE has by far the best dub library out of all the streaming services out right now, adding some really good anime and have it dubbed by Sentai’s Filmworks studio. Not even Crunchyroll has the dubbed titles that are in Hidive, other than Hulu who has a similar library. However, dub isn’t the only feature that makes Hidive attractive; the simulcast they air every season offers some great titles as well as their mature content.

HIDIVE’S price is also a major selling point as it’s stayed consistent for awhile, they even provide a 30 day trial for newcomers. Although, there is one area where Hidive suffers and that is its UI, it’s not great especially in mobile and consoles. The desktop version works better but it still needs some work, apart from that though its definitely worth it especially if you’ve stuck through Crunchyroll’s UI.

Crunchyroll

Apart from Crunchyroll’s terrible UI its by far the best one to go for if you’re looking for the most and best anime. It’s also having Funimation merge with its library bringing even more dub, as well as exclusive anime which were from there. Crunchyroll also offers simulcasts every season which air one hour after airing in japan, these usually feature the biggest titles of the year.

Pricing wise it isn’t too bad compared to others, especially since it doesn’t have an ad supported plan even with its cheapest one. Additionally, with how much its dubbing mostly each of its new simulcast, this service is well worth it if you can add it to your subscription list.

Conclusion

Overall most of these services offer a pretty good library selection of anime, either for beginners or people ready to jump all the way in. Personally if you’re looking for a great place to binge I’d pick either Netflix or Funimation, since both of their UI’s are perfect for seamless binging. If you want all the newest and biggest titles then go for Crunchyroll, or even Hidive who has started to bring in more competition. Comment below what platform suits you and why, this may help some people who are still on the fence about what to choose.