The App that is the Land of Plenty, that You Probably Already Have, try YouTube
Cost as of May 2023: App is Free with ads, YouTube Premium without ads starts at $11.99/month
There is sooooo much anime on YouTube! Crunchyroll alone has five different channels of content and a special channel with just dubbed content with first episodes that proves to be great for those who want to try a new series via the dubbed version. Viz has whole playlists of hundreds of subbed anime episodes of such series such as Sailor Moon, Death Note, and Hunter x Hunter.
While there are plenty of films from the realm of anime that you can rent or buy like Mirai and Weathering With You (these films can be found already included in the subscription of other apps like Netflix and HBO Max), there are several free gems like Tokyo Godfathers and Ghost in the Shell. YouTube is generally a great place to also check out bonus content and trailers from official channels as well as all the user created content about anime that includes video essays, video reviews, and the like.
Some great titles to find on this Streaming app: Tokyo Godfathers, Revolutionary Girl Utena, the Sailor Moon and Inuyasha films for sure
Longstanding Trust and Adoration for Animation with Consideration for Anime, try Adult Swim.
Cost as of May 2023: [The app is free! Cost varies when using different streaming apps or cable hookups]
Let me set the stage and just say that Adult Swim is so incredibly loved by myself and my fellow Generic Millennials for providing such great entertainment years ago. Eventually, this included anime like that of my beloved Cowboy Bebop. Adult Swim really added to the animated offering for those of us who wanted more and who wanted something weird and imaginative. Some of my favorites from that era include The Boondocks and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Adult Swim has survived and thrived. It has embraced streaming, promoting, and encouraging fan made content like the Adult Swim bumps, the always brilliant Adult Swim Festivals, and even saving shows from other networks like Tuca & Bertie from Netflix.
Way-back when Crunchyroll partnered with Adult Swim to add more anime offerings to the channel and the app, it proved to be a great addition to the already increasing lineup of content. This is how I watched the beginning of Fena: Pirate Princess and where I had been obsessively checking back in for Uzumaki. The Toonami block keeps anime in rotation like One Piece Saturdays so this is never not a streaming platform where anime is scarce.
Some great titles to find on this Streaming app: Older faves like Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, and Housing Complex C
A Bonus App If You Already Enjoy Amazon Prime Video, try Freevee.
Cost as of May 2023: Free with ads!
So apparently, Freevee used to be IMDb TV. It is a streaming video service with thousands of premium movies and TV shows. It is ad-supported like such apps that I’ve covered before in the guide like Tubi and Pluto TV below. The great news is that if you already have Prime Video, you can watch content from Freevee straight through the Prime Video app with ease. The bad news is while there is plenty of anime on here, there is little rhyme or reason to how it is categorized.
Seriously, there is a Gintama film (Gintama: The Very Final) in the action and adventure films section. The thriller section on the app has Zombie-Loan next to a live-action adaptation Moby Dick that is not anime. To be honest, I can’t make much sense of it. I will say that the animated category boasts an impressive lot of content. While most of it appears to be geared towards younger audiences, it contains an interesting mix of animated films from around the world and some interesting gems from other eras of animation like Gulliver’s Travels (1939), The Point (1971) and the Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1986).
Some great titles to find on this Streaming app: Fuse: Memoirs of The Hunter Girl, Penguin Highway, and the newer Digimon films
If You’re Looking for a Surprising, yet Accessible Collection, try Pluto TV:
Cost as of May 2023: Free with ads!
According to this piece here, Pluto TV, a free streaming service has amassed about 79 million monthly users since the start of 2023. Once, I started poking around on the app I realized that it does not have any sort of original content; it’s running strictly reruns of TV Shows, movies, and previously aired sports games. I can see why it is deemed one of the more popular free alternatives to cable TV. Pluto TV seems to function like Tubi in the way that you have an app that is free with ads, but Pluto TV appears to also have Live TV. In their on-demand offerings, there is a gaming and app category where I scrolled around and found the anime goods.
Pluto TV’s gaming and anime on demand also features nearly twenty Spanish dubbed series including Monster Rancher, Super Agent Cobra, and Naruto. I am interested in the app’s small but interesting RetroCrush Presents Collection which has more Saint Seiya and City Hunter than I know what to do with. Imagine my awe at finding Rose of Versailles, subtitled of course–on here and immediately started watching. I also found the rest of the anime section not lacking: not one, not two, but three Sound! Euphonium films that recap the anime seasons and two Satoshi Kon films (Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfather), and the Utena film, that I’ve never seen! Ultra-Man, Super Sentai, and Kamen Rider fans are also in for a treat as there is a separate category on the app via the on-demand.
Some great titles to find on this Streaming app: Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier, Lupin the 3rd: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Pop Team Epic
Here’s part two of our 2023 Streaming Guide to Watch Anime! Part one is here! There’s more ground to cover with more streaming apps in the game. Stay tuned as we continue to cover a handful of more streaming platforms where anime is to be found! Check out all the other anime features and reviews here on the site! Also, I have to say that I am writing this guide as a U.S. based viewer, check with your country/region’s availability when it comes to this apps and their offerings! Happy watching!
Cover image via Crunchyroll
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