Giant Step Forward for Anime Industry
Early this week I finally decided to check out this place I kept reading about on the anime news sites that is offering legitimate fan subs you can watch on-line. www.crunchyroll.com
Their big boast is that they have the newest episodes of Naruto within one hour of them airing in Japan. Pretty impressive (and something I have been complaining about them not doing all along) but I'm not so interested in Naruto that it would really matter to me.
Now, here's the kicker. They don't just have Naruto. They also have Skip Beat (great manga which I have been reading since this Fall), Tower of Druaga, Eyesheild 21, Pretty Cure, Gintama, Shugo Chara, and a slew of domestic titles like Chrono Crusade, Kalido Star, Last Exile, and many more American licensed and unlicensed titles.
Ok, NOW I am interested. This is a completely legal web site, with permission to show these titles from their Japanese companies or the respective American companies. This is REALLY impressive. Its all streamed, so I am a little bummed there is no download feature (I would be happy to pay per episode prices for downloads of certain series). But despite that I feel this is a fantastic step in the right direction for the industry.
They are already offering titles I thought would never see the light of day over here, 1970s Captain Harlock anyone? And I couldn't be more thrilled. Its all free, if you want it to be. All you have to do is put up with some ads (they weren't any big deal from what I saw, just a few seconds). If you feel so inclined to pay for the service you do get some nice perks for very little money.
The big number one reason I saw to invest in this was to SUPPORT THE MARKET. A year's subscription came out to be $5 a month. Big deal. How much would it cost to rent a couple of anime a month? Or purchase a DVD? How about in high def? Also, if you subscribe you get 480p and 720p options on a lot of the newer titles. This was the number two reason for me to want to invest right behind "supporting the market".
Subscribers also get bonus points to spend on their avatar (a la Gaia on-line style), a spiffy little star next to their name that lets everyone know they subscribe, and another important feature, no advertisments.
I checked out the quality on the 40" high def TV. It looked great (at least the shows presented in 720). The only thing I notice (which I assume is because of the streaming) is a little bit of a choppiness with fast moving scenes or when the scene pans across. It isn't enough to really be a big deal, especially for $5 a month for all the anime I can watch.
I can't wait to see what else they will be bringing out soon. Good Witch of the West? Sonic Soldier Borgman (PLEASE!)? Maybe we will get a simulcast of the new Fullmetal Alchemist in April (oh PLEASE, PLEASE!!!).
This really does excite me. It's a win/win for the fans and the industry with the possibilites being "the sky's the limit". Pay-per downloads, classics, simulcasts, high def, maybe they will even expand to soundtracks.
Excuse me now, I have to go catch up on Skip Beat and Neo Angelique before the new episodes come out.
Their big boast is that they have the newest episodes of Naruto within one hour of them airing in Japan. Pretty impressive (and something I have been complaining about them not doing all along) but I'm not so interested in Naruto that it would really matter to me.
Now, here's the kicker. They don't just have Naruto. They also have Skip Beat (great manga which I have been reading since this Fall), Tower of Druaga, Eyesheild 21, Pretty Cure, Gintama, Shugo Chara, and a slew of domestic titles like Chrono Crusade, Kalido Star, Last Exile, and many more American licensed and unlicensed titles.
Ok, NOW I am interested. This is a completely legal web site, with permission to show these titles from their Japanese companies or the respective American companies. This is REALLY impressive. Its all streamed, so I am a little bummed there is no download feature (I would be happy to pay per episode prices for downloads of certain series). But despite that I feel this is a fantastic step in the right direction for the industry.
They are already offering titles I thought would never see the light of day over here, 1970s Captain Harlock anyone? And I couldn't be more thrilled. Its all free, if you want it to be. All you have to do is put up with some ads (they weren't any big deal from what I saw, just a few seconds). If you feel so inclined to pay for the service you do get some nice perks for very little money.
The big number one reason I saw to invest in this was to SUPPORT THE MARKET. A year's subscription came out to be $5 a month. Big deal. How much would it cost to rent a couple of anime a month? Or purchase a DVD? How about in high def? Also, if you subscribe you get 480p and 720p options on a lot of the newer titles. This was the number two reason for me to want to invest right behind "supporting the market".
Subscribers also get bonus points to spend on their avatar (a la Gaia on-line style), a spiffy little star next to their name that lets everyone know they subscribe, and another important feature, no advertisments.
I checked out the quality on the 40" high def TV. It looked great (at least the shows presented in 720). The only thing I notice (which I assume is because of the streaming) is a little bit of a choppiness with fast moving scenes or when the scene pans across. It isn't enough to really be a big deal, especially for $5 a month for all the anime I can watch.
I can't wait to see what else they will be bringing out soon. Good Witch of the West? Sonic Soldier Borgman (PLEASE!)? Maybe we will get a simulcast of the new Fullmetal Alchemist in April (oh PLEASE, PLEASE!!!).
This really does excite me. It's a win/win for the fans and the industry with the possibilites being "the sky's the limit". Pay-per downloads, classics, simulcasts, high def, maybe they will even expand to soundtracks.
Excuse me now, I have to go catch up on Skip Beat and Neo Angelique before the new episodes come out.