Legal Streaming 2017: Q2 Spring season | Stream Wars: The Amazon Strikes Back

Equally, having everything on one service is bad for anime, it reduces competition and effectively lets CR pay whatever they want for titles. As well as reducing incentive for them to improve. (Since the CR/Funi hookup, their servers have crapped out, they tried to cut bitrates, it's hard to deny they aren't trying to use their monopoly to worsen their service.)

As bad as it may be for us, a more competitive Amazon is good for anime as a whole.
Yeah, you can set your watch on CR crapping out within moments of DBS going live every Saturday night.
I would support Amazon doing this if they took anime seriously enough to do it properly. It's at least better than Animax.

However, £79 per year (plus a premium in the US) is hugely overpriced for what might be one show per season at best a person actually wants to see. All it does is make Crunchyroll seem even better value. I could afford it if I wanted, but I could just spend that £79 on something else - and that's what I'll be doing until they get their act together. If it had worked the way I thought the anime service in the US was going to work, I might seriously have subscribed.

What would be the absolute best for customers would be companies putting their shows on both services and letting the quality of the service compete for viewers, not locking things away as exclusives to benefit distributors and distributors alone.

R
What makes it even worse value is that US Crunchyroll subscribers now also get access to Funimation through the new VRV service at no additional cost.
 
You can now pay monthly, it's £6 a month and everything Amazon has UK rights for should just be available on standard Prime for us. (We don't have channels, so it won't be locked up behind their additional service.)

£6 per month is still effectively the cost of a local box set just for 0-1 shows even if I cherrypick seasons as closely as I can; so far the only thing they have had I wanted to see was Scum's Wish (I bought the physical manga instead for now after milking a free Prime trial to confirm I wanted to see it one day). A 'soft' launch without grabby exclusives would come across so much better. Their player isn't very good at all for me, but the full weight of Amazon's development department could make something really good in time.

I hope the channels fail horribly in the US in their current incarnation so by the time they limp across the pond we get something a lot better. They have to do better for countries in which Prime shipping doesn't exist, anyway.

(My boss always thinks everyone in the world has Prime too. It seems to be a peculiar blind spot for some people.)

R
 
£6 per month is still effectively the cost of a local box set just for 0-1 shows even if I cherrypick seasons as closely as I can; so far the only thing they have had I wanted to see was Scum's Wish (I bought the physical manga instead for now after milking a free Prime trial to confirm I wanted to see it one day). A 'soft' launch without grabby exclusives would come across so much better. Their player isn't very good at all for me, but the full weight of Amazon's development department could make something really good in time.

I hope the channels fail horribly in the US in their current incarnation so by the time they limp across the pond we get something a lot better. They have to do better for countries in which Prime shipping doesn't exist, anyway.

(My boss always thinks everyone in the world has Prime too. It seems to be a peculiar blind spot for some people.)

R

I'm not a Prime subscriber myself, I'm personally upset they have The Atom.

But, I'm going to be honest and say I'd be a lot more sympathetic to the "Screw Amazon" viewpoint, if I genuinely felt Crunchyroll still cared. It's quite clear they don't. Last night, Miles tweeted about how if CR's servers went down at the weekend we could just use VRV. Except we can't, it's US only. So CR knows it's servers are awful and simply doesn't care. (In fact, they may be doing it deliberately to force people onto VRV.) Which to me perfectly illustrates how obnoxious CR's attitude towards it's customer base is. Miles may as well have tweeted 'Sorry non-US customers, we don't care if you can't access the content you pay for'.

I'm sorry, but CR doesn't deserve it's monopoly. So I'm struggling to care.
 
I'm a prime subscriber, mostly for next day/same day deliveries, amazon music and I also use the amazon prime video app on my TV. Plenty of good TV shows, and now anime, to justify my continued subscription.

That being said, I now have subs to Amazon, Netflix and Crunchyroll, the latter is what I have been doing most of my viewing on, Netflix is kept for Better Call Saul and because I allow my mates family to use it because they're great to me. It all adds up to around £20 a month....
 
Amazon Prime | New Addition (Region Confirmation Revealed) [Simulcast]

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Atom: The Beginning
As announced a while back, Amazon Prime will be streaming the series exclusively to their platform. Sentai Filmworks have also acquired the rights to distribute the show.

Crunchyroll | New Addition with Region Confirmation Later [Simulcast]


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Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor (Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records)
While the show was announced for VRV, info has been revealed that the show will also be part of Crunchyroll (and perhaps Funimation). Regions will be revealed later.

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Attack on Titan [Season 2]
Crunchyroll will be streaming the second season, and while North America is confirmed for now, more territories will be revealed later. The first season is available for the US, Canada, UK & Ireland. Funimation have already confirmed plans to simuldub & simulcast the show on their streaming service for US, Canada, UK & Ireland.

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SukaSuka: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? (Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?)
While the show was announced for VRV, info has been revealed that the show will also be part of Crunchyroll (and perhaps Funimation). Regions will be revealed later. There's also a PV with a nice song.
 
Amazon Prime | Potential New Addition [Simulcast]

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Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
Looks like Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul will be streaming on Amazon Prime in Japan. Whether it turns out this way for English Prime services is to be known.
 
Amazon Prime | New Addition (Region Confirmation Revealed) [Simulcast]

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Atom: The Beginning
As announced a while back, Amazon Prime will be streaming the series exclusively to their platform. Sentai Filmworks have also acquired the rights to distribute the show.

Oh look another show I can cross off my list to watch. Gotta wonder what the head honchos over at Sentai are thinking about all this negative backlash.

Crunchyroll | New Addition with Region Confirmation Later [Simulcast]

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Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor (Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records)
While the show was announced for VRV, info has been revealed that the show will also be part of Crunchyroll (and perhaps Funimation). Regions will be revealed later.


sukasuka-vol-1.jpg


SukaSuka: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? (Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?)
While the show was announced for VRV, info has been revealed that the show will also be part of Crunchyroll (and perhaps Funimation). Regions will be revealed later. There's also a PV with a nice song.


Announcing these two titles like this just seems like a way for them to give VRV some free advertising / exposure.


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Attack on Titan [Season 2]
Crunchyroll will be streaming the second season, and while North America is confirmed for now, more territories will be revealed later. The first season is available for the US, Canada, UK & Ireland. Funimation have already confirmed plans to simuldub & simulcast the show on their streaming service for US, Canada, UK & Ireland.


I don't recall them confirming it, do you have a source on that? (I live in the US and not the UK at the moment, It's possible I've just ignored it completely due to territories being irrelevant for me at the moment).


Amazon Prime | Potential New Addition [Simulcast]

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Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
Looks like Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul will be streaming on Amazon Prime in Japan. Whether it turns out this way for English Prime services is to be known.

pls no
 
I don't recall them confirming it, do you have a source on that? (I live in the US and not the UK at the moment, It's possible I've just ignored it completely due to territories being irrelevant for me at the moment).

Sure:
At the moment, we only have North America confirmed for regions, and info on start date and times are yet to be revealed, but expect even more details and developments soon. In the meantime, please make a note of it: Attack on Titan Season Two is coming!
Note the 'at the moment' part for folks in the non-US side of things, basically they just got the info so the rest will be finalised before simulcast begins.
 
Here is a round-up of every title for Amazon thus far:
  • Atom: The Beginning - Anime Strike
  • Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA
  • Re:Creators - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA
  • Saekano Flat - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA however it is NoitaminA so chances are Yes
  • Sakura Quest - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA
  • Sword Oratoria: Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side - Anime Strike
Meanwhile over on Netflix thus far:
  • BLAME!
  • Fate/Apocrypha - airs during Summer 2017 season
  • ID-0
 
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Sure:

Note the 'at the moment' part for folks in the non-US side of things, basically they just got the info so the rest will be finalised before simulcast begins.

I saw the ANN and CR article but hadn't bothered reading them, thanks for clearing that up.

Also worth mentioning after checking FUNi's YouTube channel on the latest AoT trailers and interviews they've been putting up, looks like most of them seem to be region locked for US, Canada, UK and Ireland.
 
I saw the ANN and CR article but hadn't bothered reading them, thanks for clearing that up.

Also worth mentioning after checking FUNi's YouTube channel on the latest AoT trailers and interviews they've been putting up, looks like most of them seem to be region locked for US, Canada, UK and Ireland.

Yeah I'm going to assume the regions for Season 2 on Crunchyroll will be the exact same as the first - UK/IE & US/CA. It'll suck for most but I'm sure other companies will have it, like France has Wakanim on behalf of @anime (Anime Limited France).
 
Crunchyroll | Anime is now on Steam

Crunchyroll's own titles are now available to buy over on Steam, here's the list:

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91 Days
13 episodes = £3.51 on sale, £10.27
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Ace Attorney
24 episodes = £6.48 on sale, £18.96
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Alderamin on the Sky
13 episodes = £3.51 on sale, £10.27
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Berserk [Season 1]
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Bungo Stray Dogs
Season 1: 12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
Season 2: 10 episodes = £3.90 on sale, £7.90
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Izetta: The Last Witch
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Joker Game
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress [Season 1]
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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KanColle (Kantai Collection)
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Mob Psycho 100
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Nanbaka [Season 1]
13 episodes = £3.51 on sale, £10.27
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Orange
13 episodes = £3.79 on sale, £11.07
1 episode (double length) = 79p on sale, £1.59
1 episode (single length) = 39p on sale, 79p

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ReLIFE
13 episodes = £3.51 on sale, £10.27
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-

25 episodes = £7.03 on sale, £20.55
1 episode (double length) = 79p on sale, £1.59
1 episode (single length) = 39p on sale, 79p

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Taboo Tattoo
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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The Testament of Sister New Devil
Season 1: 12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
Season 2: 10 episodes = £3.90 on sale, £7.90
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p


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Twin Star Exorcist
50 episodes = £13.50 on sale, £39.50
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p

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Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
12 episodes = £3.24 on sale, £9.48
1 episode = 39p on sale, 79p
 
For people interested in the steam streams.
  • You cannot download the anime
  • Bitrate is pretty much the same as CR
  • Steam's versions are either over-saturated, or have a weird blue filter.
 
Here is a round-up of every title for Amazon thus far:
  • Atom: The Beginning - Anime Strike
  • Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA
  • Re:Creators - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA
  • Saekano Flat - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA however it is NoitaminA so chances are Yes
  • Sakura Quest - Exclusive in Japan, International TBA
  • Sword Oratoria: Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side - Anime Strike
The Last Post echoes in the distance, honouring the sacrifices of the fallen...
 
Funny how we went from no Gundam to stream other than the currently airing series, and now we've got Gundam coming out of our backsides. Not that I'm complaining, mind!
 
Amazon Prime | New Addition with Region Confirmation Later [Simulcast]

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Sagrada Reset (Sakurada Reset)
The new anime series from director Shinya Kawatsura (Kokoro Connect) and studio David Production (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) has been acquired by Sentai Filmworks. The distributor has confirmed simulcast plans for Amazon Prime's Anime Strike service in North America. Regions are unknown for everywhere else.
 
Amazon Prime | New Addition with Region Confirmation Later [Simulcast]

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Armed Girl's Machiavellism (Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism)
The latest anime from studio Silver Link has been acquired by Sentai Filmworks. The distributor has confirmed simulcast plans for Amazon Prime's Anime Strike service in North America. Regions are unknown for everywhere else.
 
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