Notes

"Anime" Subscription Services Ranked:

1. Funimation - Oh, kay. Let's get one thing out of the way, the ranking for Funimation may not even matter, as Crunchyroll is their priority, but I'll rank it anyway. At it's core, it's not bad. Funimation does a relatively good job streaming content. Its library isn't as "DIVERSE" as Crunchyrolls, in fact, it's pretty weak, but I still think it was a good service. The library focuses on getting big names, while offering smaller names. It treats itself as the, "Big Wig" service, the service you'd go for to see the big names like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan. Fittingly so, considering many of these shows have better versions on Funimation with Uncut releases and Dub + Sub versions. I say, "It treats itself as the, "Big Wig" service", because the service doesn't encourage exploration, and the service focuses on promoting popular shows. While it does promote shows in the season, most other services do that, it's not really something new. The one thing that gets people, not the pricing, but the interfaces. There are four different interfaces. A TV Ui, A Tablet Ui, A Website Ui, and a Phone Ui. With different versions depending on the platform and even the version.

Android TV (Google TV), Roku TV, Fire TV, and Apple TV all share the same User Interface, with other platforms doing something different. Sony introduces a new Ui for select Smart TV platforms. Including consoles (PS4 & PS5, Xbox One, S and X, and Nintendo Switch) and VIZIO Smart TVs. The user interface isn't universally available, and Sony kinda gave up on introducing the UI to other platforms despite creating pages for them (androidtv.funimationapps.com - Android TV App) and even planning a WebOS Version (webos.funimationapps.com). Those other four platforms I mentioned haven't yet got the UI, and might never will.

Mobile also had a tricky road. As Sony introduced a new UI for smartphones and tablets. Only on the App Store. Only on iPads and iPhones. No announcement of any Android version in sight, and the Android version is still different from the iOS release. Every version is different, heck, the website is also completely different. So, problems throughout.

The Android and Android TV versions of Funimation support Google TV Functionality, including show listings and Google website listings, but no continue watching functionality or Google Assistant Functionality.

The Apple TV versions of Funimation support Apple TV technology including show listings.

The pricing isn't bad, through, I'm not a big fan of the numerous pricing plans, with one of the statements not being true.

- You can access the service for free with ads (You need an account for most of it). There are a few limits to this. First, you sit through ads, Second, you only get access to simulcast episodes two weeks after they come out, Third, You get access to the weakest version possible. Usually Japanese Simulcast, but sometimes English Simulcast. With that version being the only version that's accessible. Lastly, select shows (and entire seasons of shos) are completely unwatchable without a premium subscription like Chronicles of The Going Home Club or Zombie Land Saga Season 2. USUALLY because of either restrictions or certain versions being the only version accessible.

- For 6.99/month (59.99/year) you can get Premium. Which removes ads, allows different versions of a show to be watched, allows you to keep up with Simulcast cuts, and allows you to watch on 2 devices at the same time. It DOESN'T however allow you to download shows to watch offline.

- For 7.99/month (79.99/year) you can get Premium Plus. Basically the same shtick as Premium, but you can watch on multiple platforms and you can download shows to watch offline. With fan-only things thrown in there.

- For 99.99/year you can get Premium Plus Ultra (I hate the name), which includes only fan-likable things. Also offering the chance of getting a free "thing". I say thing becuase not even Sony is offering it. So, it's something that you can't get.

To be honest, not too bad, could be better, but I'll accept it for what it is. For 6.99/month you get big names, small names, with some variety here and there. Though, I still think the service could do a better job at offering recommendations. - 7/10

2. Crunchyroll - I love Crunchyroll, it's probably my favorite anime streaming service. Crunchyroll is a service that used to support piracy with uploads, but they started to get more official overtime and Crunchyroll now licenses shows akin to Funimation. Crunchyroll and Funimation used to have a partnership where Funimation would put some of its content on Crunchyroll, but it was revoked after 2019, but now it's kinda back but even better. Now, before I review Crunchyroll, let's talk about the Funimation event going on right now.

On March 1st, it was announced Funimation would be planning a #BIGMOVE to Crunchyroll. Putting 80% of Funimation's library and making it available on the platform. The way they're handling this is kinda weird in my opinion. Instead of dumping a ton of the content at once, or daily, or even offering multiple varieties of shows throughout the day, they choose one day and a select amount of shows. Neil stated popular shows would be first, then the "overwhelming majority" of Funimation's library would be appearing eventually. It's frustrating, but whatever. I just wish they handled this in a more cooler way. Like offering different varieties of shows on specific days or adding new shows daily, but hey, you can't always get what you want.

Onto the service itself, it's fairly similar to Funimation, you don't need an account to watch, but you should to save progress in episodes and add shows to your watchlist. The pricing is slightly higher than Funimations. In fact, in comparison to the others, it's by far the most expensive for the cheapest plan.

- You can watch for free without an account, however you'll be subjected to ads, can't save video progress, can't get recommendations, nor can add shows to your watchlist.

- You can watch for free with an account, however, you'll have some drawbacks, including ads, but you can save video progress, view recommendatons and add shows to your watchlist. You can't see new episodes of simulcast shows until two weeks after air, and select shows (mostly the Funimation library and some "Home Video"/Dub Versions) are inaccessible entirely for free viewers.

- For 7.99/month, you can get Fan. The cheapest of the bunch. You can access Simulcast versions of shows an hour after Japan, you don't have to deal with ads, you can access all shows (except select regional versions of shows, mostly Russia), watch on one device (TOTALLY worth promoting), access to Crunchyroll's Manga library, and the ability to get Crunchyroll premium for the Crunchyroll channel on VRV.

- For 9.99/month, you can get Mega Fan. In addition to the aforementioned, you can view shows on multiple screens, the ability to download shows and movies to watch offline, and select bonuses.

- For 14.99/month, you can get Super Mega Fan, in addtion to the aformentioned, this is more of a "fan-based" plan. It offers more fan-centric rewards, and discounts on select products on the Crunchyroll Store.

None of the plans can be purchased yearly, but you can get gift cards to get yearly payments if you want to.

The library is diverse. Ranging from classics to more modern shows. Prior to Sony's acquisition, Crunchyroll was receiving Aniplex shows that were licensed. If Aniplex were to get it, Funimation and Crunchyroll would. Still, Crunchyroll also offers more rare gems, classic shows, and even some originals (albeit, not many good originals). I like the library, it offers plenty of shows to appeal to everybody, and what benefits it even more is the user interface.

Crunchyroll's old user interface was bad, nothing more. The new UI is pretty sweet. I like the mobile UI a lot. There ae four different versions of the UI, Tablet, Smartphone, Website, and TV UIs.

Most of them rock in my opinion. Especially the phone applications. I love the use of a show's cover for the featured show. With the ability to scroll down to see roster selections. Below the Top Picks is the continue watching and below that is your watchlist. This is set up pretty nicely, and the other rosters are really great. the lineup does an excellent job listing shows and being genre-centric. The other sections, My List, Brose, Simulcast and Settings are really cool too. With most of the apps following the same format. Regardless of the platform in question.

The website did get an overhual in 2021. Mid 2021 with a beta. The beta was exclusive to Crunchyroll Premium subscribers for a bit, but overtime became accessible to more people and later that same year, the beta became the norm for Crunchyroll users (at least those that have signed in). The new website focuses more on the "Streaming" aspect of Crunchyroll. The original site focused on articles, (adverts), communication, and streaming. It's generally mixed to say the least, but I think it's alright. The only issue I had was the inability to use custom profile pictures and the huge focus on streaming does negate the other features.

The mobile apps were generally the same until 2020 (at least mid) when the app's overhaul came to fruition. It's better than the original, and I still like this UI.

The app has been released overtime to platforms. Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku TV.
For Mobile, there's Android and iOS.
For Consoles, they released them on consoles from the Seventh Generation onwards.
With the Consoles that are still supported including the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X + S, & recently the Nintendo Switch.
Outdated consoles include basically all 7th gen consoles. Including Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U. (was there a 3DS app?)

The Android and Android TV versions support Google TV functionality. Including show listings and continue watching. But no Google website functionality nor Google Assistant Functionality.

The Nintendo Switch version is the only version I know of that uses the TV User Interface that allows downloading shows and movies for Mega Fan and Super Mega Fan subscribers.

The only issue people had was with the Roku TV version signing out users after a while. Unlike other versions that either don't sign users in or sign out users after a longer period of time.

So, Crunchyroll, I love it. The service's library is pretty well done, the prices are acceptable, and the apps are fantastically done. Though, I have a feeling the prices may rise in the future, Crunchyroll is definitely a must-have for Anime fans. - 9/10

3. HIDIVE - HIDIVE is a weird service for me. On one hand, it has good content, but it needs improvement. Especially in the UI department. HIDIVE is operated by Sentai Filmworks (which was recently acquired by AMC Networks), and is the youngest of the three. It's only been around for five years while the other services have been around for much longer. The service leans a lot more heavily on Sentai Filmwork's library, including it's shows, OVAs and films. These would usually be liscenced to companies like Amazon, Hulu, Crunchyroll and Funimation, but with HIDIVE, they are offering those shows, and a large majority of Sentai's library.

The problem comes into play when you look at the library and UI and realize that, in comparison to Crunchyroll and Funimation, HIDIVE simply doesn't have a lot to work with. Or at first they didn't. Nobody really knew the service existed until they added themselves to VRV and it wasn't until they pulled themselves off in October 1st of 2021. This was probably due to Funimation owner Sony acquiring Crunchyroll (which also owns VRV).

HIDIVE is the cheapest of the three, only costing $4.99/month (44.99/year). Which (excluding yearly plans, which, are still cheaper) is two dollars less than Funimation's cheapest plan, and three dollars less than Crunchyroll's cheapest plan.

After looking into HIDIVE, it's still in its early years, and not much has improved. The UI is a mess, and it's mostly different for each platform, with each platform offering different features.

HIDIVE's Android and Android TV apps don't allow account creation.
HIDIVE's Apple applications (iOS, Apple TV, iPadOS) don't allow TV-MA or R content to be viewed.
HIDIVE's website has a bunch of features NONE of the apps don't even have.
HIDIVE only has one console app, and that's on Xbox One (also on Series X and S technically)
HIDIVE's Android TV application has a better (and worse) player than the mobile apps.
HIDIVE's Phone and Tablet apps are more horrific then the Smart TV and the Website combined.
It goes on and on.

For smart TVs, HIDIVE's on Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku TV.
For mobile, HIDIVE's on Android and iOS
For consoles, HIDIVE's only on Xbox One and Xbox Series S + X
and the website is accessible on browsers.

None of the apps have any unique feature on most platforms unless you count solutions to problems only available on SOME platforms and not others. Like account creation (iOS) and Mature Rated Content (Android).

The UI does have three different versions, Mobile, TV, and Website. ALL three of them have unique UIs, and most are garbage. The worst one is the mobile UI. Using a scroll wheel to swipe left and right to see options. With some of the worst functionality possible. You can only see three options at a time, and there isn't even a settings page.

I made an entire video explaining the problem's with HIDIVE's UI, but to say the least, it's not great. The content's not that bad, though.

Sentai Filmworks does license some shows and made them watchable on Crunchyroll, Funimation, or other platforms. Like
- KAGI-NADO on Funimation & Crunchyroll
- Clannad on Hulu
- Grimoire of Zero on Prime Video

And HIDIVE is supposed to be the home of Sentai Filmworks licensed content, similar to a Disney+ or HBO Max or Peacock or Paramount+ or BET+ or Boomerang or Noggin, and that is what I, and I'm pretty sure other people, see it as. Just Sentai's version of Funimation (The "Netflix" of Anime) and Crunchyroll (MY "Netflix" of Anime, but also Hulu).

The introduction was weird and basically launched with no fanfare in early access, then when it started to get attention, the problems showed.

The UI for almost ALL versions of HIDIVE isn't great, and when they pulled out of VRV, they needed to fix the problems with the service, which they haven't. The UI's still a mess, the content feels so limited (especially simulcast shows), and the service feels incomplete.

Pricing is...fine, I guess. It's the cheapest of all the options. 4.99/month, no ads, a bunch of content, "Home Video" releases, and a bunch of new anime at a fair price. Some of the shows on that platform are actually tempting. I like some of the smaller stuff like Momokuri, Kanamemo, Yuyushiki, Kinmoza, Engaged to the Unidentified and others. My problem is, most of the shows I mentioned were accessible on Crunchyroll, until they were either pulled off or were only available in certain regions of the world. Which was what Sentai Filmworks used to do.

Unlike Crunchyroll, HIDIVE doesn't have a library of good, well-known, subscription-selling shows, and the shows Sentai licenses are usually more nicher shows that most companies wouldn't even kill to get. Which is why they resulted in taking stuff for themselves, which was even worse.

Teasing Master Takagi-san went from three platforms and to this day still doesn't have the complete series on HIDIVE. Just the third season, which, I think was a bad move. It feels like HIDIVE is more interested offering a good amount of obscure shows, and not more modern, well-known shows.

Crunchyroll is the definitve platform because it offers a bunch of content from years and years and classic to modern stuff, with big names and small names everywhere.
Funimation is the place for people that know what they want, and is expecting to watch most of that well-known stuff with new and obscure shows being less of a focus for Funimation.
HIDIVE feels like a shell of the previous two which, while cheaper, offers a less than ideal UI, you don't get a bunch of well known shows, only a bunch of obscure ones with the oddball TV show here and there, and a few exclusives that the competition wouldn't carry even if they could.

I'm glad HIDIVE exists, it offers competition in a way that is DESPERATELY needed especially with what Sony's doing with Crunchyroll and Funimation. Bringing Funimation over to Crunchyroll, and Crunchyroll recieving the majority of the Spring 2022 season, with more than HALF of the season being on the platform. Out of 78 shows, HIDIVE has only (officially) licensed 4.

- I Quit Heroing!
- The Demon Girl Next Door Season 2 - (Would've gone to HIDIVE regardless because they have Season 1)
- Onipan!
- Ya Boy Kongming! (Thanks MyAnimeList for shoving advertisements of this show in my face)

Out of 38, almost 40 or 50 Crunchyroll shows, all of which are apart of the Spring 2022 Season.

HIDIVE needs some quality and quantity. Because while it has some quality shows, many of them are not well known, and the quantity is also an issue, as they aren't one for getting a ton of shows. The UI's a mess, the price, while reasonable, isn't really worth getting, and, overall, it's missing an audience. I'm kinda frustrated to give the ONLY CRUNCHYROLL competitor a low score, but the cons for me just outweigh the pros, and because they aren't showing much, well... - 6/10

So let's recap and these three- BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Let's talk about the rejects.

4. Anime Network - Why does this service still exist? No, seriously, I thought they killed it off.

This service needs explanation. Anime Network used to be a streaming service, the earliest version of HIDIVE a person could ask for and was basically HIDIVE but even less. The online aspect (Anime Network Online) of the service was shut down around HIDIVE's launch largely because the service wasn't needed now that HIDIVE exists. Plus it was cheaper and offered more of Sentai Filmworks's library.

Now, while Anime Network Online was shut down, Anime Network (the name) is STILL used today for cable companies like Xfinity, which still carry Anime Network for some weird reason...It's about as pointless and overpriced as I expected...and actually makes HIDIVE look like an incredible service.

For 7.99/month (two dollars more than HIDIVE, and the same price as Crunchyroll, a better service), Anime Network is similar to Cinemax or Showtime. It's more cable-y. The service has a few shows and movies and these shows and movies rotate every month with new or the same stuff. It's absolutely pointless because HIDIVE exists.

Even weirder is that this service is only accessible on the cable network you paid for it on. If you paid for Anime Network on Xfinity, you can ONLY access it on Xfinity, and usually the cable version of a TV show is far worse, and, yep, that's pretty much what I'm saying here.

The versions of Anime Network shows avaliable are Simulcast cuts of shows. No Uncut, Home Video releases. So, watching a show like Why The Hell are You Here, Teacher is going to be even more painful then watching the show on Crunchyroll.

For 7.99/month, it's inexcusably unnecessary.

- Anime Network Cable doesn't offer anything that isn't on HIDIVE
- Anime Network Cable can't be accessed anywhere other than the cable provider you paid for it on
- Anime Network Cable won't give you a free HIDIVE subscription. Despite HIDIVE being better and costing less than this
- Anime Network Cable offers even less shows to choose from then HIDIVE
- Anime Network Online is shut down, so, why is the CABLE version still available?
- Anime Network Cable is HIDIVE, but worse and more expensive then it.

This is gonna feel GOOD. - 4/10

5. VRV - VRV was really good back then, but no it feels pointless.

Another service that fell victim to the great Crunchyroll Crush of March 2021. VRV was absolutely good back in the day. The service offered a variety of channels, from different companies, and it only costed 9.99/month to get premium and access it all. Then companies, like birds, started to fly away.

Shudder left VRV later on, that service would then sprout into what would be included in AMC+.
Then Nicksplat, which sprouted into Paramount+.
Then Curiosity Stream, which would become independant.
Then Funimation left the service and was replaced with HIDIVE.
Then Boomerang, which would KINDA be integrated into HBO Max.

By 2020, only 5 services remained. Out of all of these, only one of them wasn't owned by WarnerMedia.

- Crunchyroll
- HIDIVE
- Mondo
- Rooster Teeth
- VRV Select

These would be sustained until Sony announced plans to acquire Crunchyroll in 2020. A year later, Crunchyroll was officially acquired by Sony. Merged into the Sony Group, and once that happened, because of HIDIVE's not-so-pleasant relationship with Sony and Funimation, HIDIVE removed itself after September 31, 2021. Leading to only four channels, with only one of them mattering to people.

When HIDIVE removed itself, VRV basically became pointless. At least with HIDIVE on the platform, VRV could still be a "Buy 1 Get 5 (2 you care about) Free" deal, but at that point, just getting a Funimation, HIDIVE and Crunchyroll subscription separately would be better.

Later on, Rooster Teeth removed itself, and to this day, the only channels that are available are:

- Crunchyroll
- Mondo
- VRV Select

And then, it happened. Funimation announced VRV and Funimation would be dissolving, and Crunchyroll would be the new home for Funimation and Wakamin content. Effectively, and silently, killing off VRV.

So, while VRV could've gotten an 8/10, because it's so pointless, I'm giving it a... - Pointless/10