The popularity of Anime has increased a lot in the last decade. It is equally popular in the west as it is in the east. Anime is the Japanese term for animation. Outside Japan, it is seen as a Japanese style animation that is known for its unique colorful graphics, vibrant colors, and fantastical themes.
Anime can be found everywhere from TV to theaters and nowadays also on Anime streaming websites and services.
People love the way Anime deliver a variety of content on almost everything. They have romance, comedy, and the most praised one, thriller.
Anime are an expert in growing suspense, plot twists, cliff hangers, and basically, everything which keeps the viewer on its toes. So, it’s pretty clear why Amines are so popular around the globe.
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Anime, the colorful and often emotionally intense world of Japanese animated content, has captivated audiences worldwide. As the demand for anime has soared, so has the number of websites offering anime streaming.
In this comprehensive article, we delve into the origins, safety concerns, and the free accessibility of anime websites.
What is Anime Websites?
Anime websites are online platforms where viewers can stream or download anime series and movies. These websites offer a variety of genres, ranging from action and adventure to romance, horror, and slice of life. Some popular anime websites include Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Anime-Planet, among others.
You Should Use a VPN When Watching Anime Online
You will know that the legal status of online streaming websites is questionable at best. What makes the situation worse is that most Anime shows are not licensed outside of Japan.
Therefore, it is advised to get a secure VPN service like NordVPN to get a Japanese IP address before streaming Animes on Japanese websites. To do that,
Step 1: Visit the NordVPN website.
Step 2: Sign up, then choose a suitable plan and Create an account.
Step 3: Select “payment mode“.
Step 4: Download the NordVPN client and launch it.
Step 5: Set a secure VPN connection to a Japanese NordVPN server.
21 Best Anime Streaming Sites to Watch Anime Online
If you love watching Anime but at the same time don’t want to pay for it, then you might well be on a journey of finding Anime websites that you can stream for free. Guess what? We have made the journey a lot easier by providing you the list of 21 best Anime streaming sites to watch Anime online.
1. Netflix
Netflix is one of the best Anime streaming sites online and is, therefore, on the top of this list. But you know Netflix is not a free website. It is totally legal, with amazing features. It has a gigantic collection of Anime series and Movies.
It provides Anime series in both subbed and dubbed versions. Netflix has proper menus for separating different categories of each show. It also has a strong web version along with a Windows 8 App, iOS app, and Android app. Premium membership of Netflix will give you access to a lot more content, including Netflix originals, Movies, TV shows, etc.
2. Hulu
Hulu is a unique name for an Anime website. However, it is easy to remember and pronounce. This site provides Anime movies and series of different genres in HD quality. Along with Anime sereis, this website also provides more variety of content like Hulu’s originals, Movies, and Sitcoms.
Another cool thing is that it is also available on mobile. This site has few negative points as well. Firstly this site is not free, but the membership price is quite affordable, which is somewhere around $7.99 per month. Secondly, it is also not available in all countries.
3. KissAnime.ru
KissAnime.ru is just another best Anime websites online. This site is completely free. You don’t have to apply for a premium membership for accessing any content. It has a high-quality server, which gives an excellent response immediately.
KissAnime.ru has a huge collection of all Animes. It the classic old ones as well as the new ones. Also, all the episodes are subbed and dubbed in English. So, there is no communication issue.
This website also has a bookmarking feature on episodes from which you want to continue watching the series. For using this feature, you will have to register yourself on this site, but don’t worry, it is not paid.
4. Tubi TV
This viral site provides a collection of Anime, TV shows, and movies. The video quality of the videos on this website is much better than most of the other Anime websites. Although it has a limited collection of Animes. They don’t offer some well-known or famous Animes, but the shows provided are still good.
The website has a clean interface topped with a dark-themed UI. The website allows sorting and filtering of content based on title or genre; also, it is easy to use. Tubi TV uses Ads but not too much to ruin your experience.
5. Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is a legal Anime website. It provides an option for a premium membership with much more content, but still, you can watch many episodes for free without it. You will have to compromise with the quality of videos in the free one as it is available in not more than 480p.
Also, free episodes will be accompanied by three ad breaks. But it won’t make much difference as you can still watch series like Naruto for free on this site. Apart from that, they have proper servers without almost any lag.
6. JustDubs
JustDubs is also one of the most popular online Anime websites for watching the latest Anime TV series and movies for free. Not only that, but you can also download your favorite Anime TV series and movies for free. You can find Animes of different genres like horror, drama, comedy, romance, thriller and more.
JustDubs site allows you to browse through a large media library and also provides high-quality Anime videos. The videos are also subbed and dubbed to make the communication uninterrupted. The only negative point is that this site could be banned in some countries for providing Anime content for free.
7. Yahoo View
You can watch Anime online on Yahoo View free of cost. This site provides a huge variety of Anime series as well as Anime movies. The video quality is also pretty good. TV shows are also neatly categorized into different genres to select easily.
Another plus point about this site is that it has no ads at all, so no need to put those Ad-blockers before streaming online. This Anime website has Anime series like Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop, One Punch Man, and even Death Note.
8. Viewster
This site also provides Anime series and movies, but this website is more popular for offering simple movies or non-Anime movies. It has a good collection of Anime series and Anime movies, but the content is not the latest and is a bit old. This site is good for beginners in Anime streaming sites.
It provides English subtitles for all episodes, and it rarely displays any ads. You can stream movies by genre as it is easy to browse by scrolling them through the homepage. This site is also available on mobile as an app. Also, it offers Anime collections from different countries. Lastly, this website is totally legal and free.
9. Crackle
Many Anime watching users would be familiar with this website. This site is owned by Sony (Therefore, its legal), and it offers some decent content for free. The quantity of Anime series is less in here, but the quality in which it offers videos is fantastic.
Apart from Anime content, it also offers TV shows and non-Anime movies for free. The website is also free from ads for uninterrupted streaming. The only negative part of this site is that it is not available in all countries.
10. Chia-Anime
This website is probably the best Anime streaming sites online. Nearly all your favorite Anime series are available here. It makes this website one of the top-most Anime Websites for watching Anime.
Since it’s a Japanese Anime website, the audio won’t be in English, but almost all the episodes are English subbed. All the series have proper titles of episodes for proper arrangement in the playlist for better use.
Also, this website has fewer pop-up ads as compared to other websites. This site also provides manga comics, Anime movies, and Anime soundtracks. Usually, good Anime streaming sites like Chia-Anime have two players who run online. So, you can easily switch to the other one in case you face difficulties in the first one.
11. AnimeBam
With a vast database, you can find all types of Anime series on AnimeBam. This site is perfect for beginners as it is well sorted due to its simple interface and has a wide availability and options for different genres of Anime.
All the videos are available in HD. Another benefit of this site is it is user-friendly. For instance, you can easily differentiate between series, which are dubbed and which aren’t as all dubbed series are marked with a green label.
12. GOGOAnime
On GOGOAnime, you can watch Anime online for free. What makes this site different is that it has seven servers to choose from. This gives the user many options and makes the streaming experience perfect. This site also gives an option to download the full episode only if you remain on the default server named VIDSTREAMING.
GOGOAnime also provides a decent collection of Anime movies. In case you feel like talking about your opinion and views about Anime to someone who also likes Anime, then you can do that too on this site. This site has a chat room specifically for this purpose so that you can interact with the Anime watching community.
13. Anime-Planet
Anime-Planet is one of popular Anime websites for providing a huge variety of Anime movies. This is one of the best Anime streaming sites due to its partnerships with some widely used video streaming sites, and that is why Anime-Planet is also a legal website. This site also doesn’t have many ads as compared to other free Anime websites.
This site has a feature called “My List,” in which you will get a list of Anime series based on the type of content you have watched on the site. It is just like the recommended videos feature you come across on YouTube.
14. AnimeFreak
AnimeFreak site is included in this list of best Anime websites because of its daily updates about new Anime series and manga comics. This site is more like a personal blog as it contains a lot of information. This site is very informative.
If you start using this daily, then you will find yourself updated all the time about Anime content. In the beginning, you may find it difficult to understand all the information and tiny tags on the website. But eventually, you will get used to it.
15. Ani.me
Ani.me is a new Anime website on the internet. What makes it part of this list is that this site has all the licensed U.S Anime movies. It also contains a new Anime series. The site is well-designed with an attractive playback window.
The site is well organized with sorted shows, which helps in finding different episodes. You will encounter zero ads in between streaming videos on this site. To make the experience better, it also allows searching your favorite shows through a search tab. It can also be filtered according to the latest or popular Anime series. The only flaw in this website is that it isn’t available in all countries.
16. Anilinkz
Anilinkz is just another online Anime watching site that provides content for free. The only difference is that it offers only the ongoing Anime series. However, the site is user-friendly and looks amazing. Any updated video is shown as a thumbnail on the homepage, so you will know when your show gets the new episode.
This website also has playback windows to discuss the current episode; thus, building an interactive community. This site, too, has few disadvantages, and firstly, it has loads of ads, so you will have to be careful, or else you will prompt the ads; secondly, this site doesn’t show the old classic Anime; it shows only the ongoing Anime.
17. Animenova
Animenova is the best Anime streaming site based on the amount of content. This site has an enormous database of Animes with an alphabetical drop-down menu, because of which it is also called the dictionary of Anime. It has a large collection of latest Anime episodes.
This site is perfect for Anime addicts, but it could be difficult to use for beginners due to huge content. This site uses text links in place of images or videos. Also, you can make many accounts on this site as there is no limit. However, finding a particular Anime series could be a little bit hectic as this site doesn’t have a search bar for it.
18. Soul-Anime
This Anime site has all the popular series like Naruto, Fairy Tale, Bleach, etc. in one place. You can also find some latest Anime series here. The home page is also user-friendly as it provides easy navigation of all the Anime series.
The site uses image links for better searching of a particular episode. You can also find a “random Anime” button, which recommends Anime suggested by the website. The only negative point is it doesn’t have those Anime series that are already over.
19. MasterAni.me
MasterAni.me is a free Anime streaming website. It provides unlimited access to Anime movies and Anime series. You can find Anime of different genres in HD quality with Japanese and English language subtitles.
This site is good for those who don’t want to get premium memberships on online Anime streaming sites. However, this site gives a lot of ads in between episodes.
20. 9Anime
9Anime provides online free Anime. This site has a whole catalog of Anime shows, which makes it fascinating. You can find Anime of different genres like action, Parody, Yaoi, and Dementia. 9Anime site has a fantastic loading speed.
It also provides videos in HD. You won’t have to go through any formality of making an account on this site even for accessing it for free. It contains a lot of different servers. Therefore, you can easily switch to different ones in case of any difficulties but still be aware of on click ads.
21. Animeheaven.eu
Animeheaven.eu has an eye-catching layout. It has loads of Anime series included with dubbed and subbed versions. Also, it offers Anime movies. You can easily find all the latest episodes of the ongoing Anime shows.
The series is properly organized with the genre, number of episodes, and release time of special series. You can filter the trending Anime easily on this site. Like Soul-Anime and Anilinkz, you can also find a chat room to interact with others about your favorite shows.
Who is the Founder of Anime Websites?
The founders of anime websites are as diverse as the sites themselves. For example:
- Crunchyroll was founded by Kun Gao and his associates in 2006.
- Funimation was founded by Gen Fukunaga in 1994.
- Anime-Planet was created by Kimi, also known as sothis, in 2000.
These founders have various backgrounds and motivations, but they all share a common goal: to provide a platform for anime fans to enjoy their favorite content.
Is Anime Websites Safe?
The safety of an anime website largely depends on its legitimacy and how it sources its content.
- Legitimate Services: Websites like Crunchyroll and Funimation are completely legal and safe to use. They have partnerships with anime creators and offer paid subscription models.
- Questionable Services: Some anime websites operate in a legal gray area, offering anime content without proper licensing. These sites may have intrusive ads, pop-ups, or even malware, making them less safe to use.
Therefore, it’s crucial to use well-known and reputable anime streaming services to ensure your online safety.
Is Anime Websites Free?
The issue of cost varies among different anime websites:
- Subscription-Based: Platforms like Crunchyroll and Funimation offer some free content but primarily operate on a subscription model. Paid subscriptions provide ad-free experiences and access to premium content.
- Freemium Services: Some websites like Anime-Planet offer both free and premium content. Free content is usually ad-supported.
- Completely Free: There are websites that offer anime content for free, but they often come with safety and ethical concerns, as mentioned earlier.
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Summing Up
There are many Anime streaming sites which you can stream for free. Some of them might be legal, some maybe not. But the sites which we have recommended in this article are entirely legitimate Anime websites.
You can stream it for free. We got some sites that offer content for free. Some may require premium memberships for good content. It is up to you to choose which one will work for you. Whichever site it would be, you won’t be disappointed by your choice.
Anime websites come in various shapes and sizes, each with their own founders, safety standards, and payment models. While it’s tempting to opt for free services, they often come with safety and ethical concerns. Always make an informed decision, balancing cost against safety and legality, to make the most out of your anime-watching experience.
