“People’s lives don’t end when they die; it ends when they lose faith.” – Itachi Uchiha (Naruto). What can we say about anime? It’s just too over-the-top, and we mean that in a good way. If you are an anime lover, you know how amazing it is to see the stories, the character development, and the bond that the characters create between them. The most exciting part of any anime is the action. Action is one of the important components of most anime. The action is what keeps us interested; seeing our favorite character fight evil, throwing hundreds of punches in seconds while shouting some of the best quotes, is something everyone should see for themselves. But for a lot of people, finding a website or channel to watch their favorite anime is quite tricky.
We know there are tons of websites online that have listed animes which you can watch, but with those websites come ads, and we are not talking about just one ad; we are talking about plenty of ads at each corner of the screen, making the experience frustrating. But don’t fret; in this article, we are going to provide you with some of the best websites and methods to watch anime online without getting distracted by the constant ad pop-ups and fearing malicious activities, which is something quite common on the internet nowadays. By the time you are done reading this blog, Senpai is undoubtedly going to be impressed by your knowledge of Anime.
What Is Anime? [Definition]
For a long time, Anime was only available to die-hard fans that were willing to collect the VHS tapes of their favourite Anime and watch them on their TV screens—or sit down in front of their TV each day and watch the Anime when it was being aired. But those days are gone now, thanks to two things: the first is the internet; the second is expanded licensing, which has brought more and more anime series in front of a global audience. Anime is now more popular than ever, not only in Japan, but also in the United States, India, England, and other countries. But which animation can you actually consider as Anime? Does it have to be in Japanese to be called an anime? Well, we are going to answer what can be said to be a magical world of anime and what can’t be.
First things first, the most basic form of anime is called animation. A number of people think that Anime is the abbreviation of the word Animation. But in truth, the name anime came from how people write “Animation Cartoons” in Japanese. For a Japanese viewer, an anime is any cartoon, no matter if it was created in Japan or not. So even our beloved Scobby Dobyy Doo is also an anime for Japanese people because that’s how they pronounce the cartoon in their language.
But for others, anime basically means an animated cartoon, which is specifically made in Japan. Or in some other cases, any animation show which works with the same signature style of animation that we used to see in Japanese animation shows such as Naruto, DragonballZ, and others.
The Japanese animation has vibrant colors, dramatic panning, and they come with characteristic facial expressions that bring depth to both the characters and the storyline as well.
If we look at the global audience, anime is classified as a niche form of entertainment, especially when it comes to the adult demographics. On the other hand, in Japan, anime is a pretty common form of entertainment, even for adults and the elderly. That’s because, in Japan, there is a multitude of content that is available for a viewer to see.
Each genre has tons of titles, so if you are someone who is interested in watching drama instead of action, you can find those too. Also, there are romance, historical fiction, horror, and comedy anime which are pretty popular in Japan as well. As a result, any animation film that adheres to the concept and 2D style of Japanese animation can be classified as anime.
Why Watching Anime Is Different Than Watching Cartoons?
Now, this is a million-dollar question, and whenever you are with your friends, they might tease you if you watch cartoons if you are an anime lover. There is a big difference between anime and cartoons, so the next time your friend teases you, saying you are still a kid who watches cartoons, then our comparison written below should be your weapon of choice to end their teasing once and for all.
Anime
- Anime is a type of Japanese film and television series that can be seen in a variety of mediums. You may watch them on television, stream them online, or buy them on DVD.
- We can easily see that anime has more facial expressions than even the most aesthetically appealing cartoons when it comes to visual components. As a result, they are closer to reality than cartoons. A lot of characters, on the other hand, have huge eyes and smaller mouths to make them appear more appealing.
- The main theme of an anime revolves around the real-life issues which the main character has to deal with. This gives the story human emotion, making it feel more natural to the audience.
- The length of an anime is around 20 to 25 minutes, with intros and outros included. But if we look at the anime movie side of things, their average reel time is around 90 minutes or so.
- The origin country of the anime was Japan.
Cartoon
- Cartoons are said to be a 2D illustration of visual art; there is no doubt that we have moved on from this definition, and now most of the cartoons are using 3D Animation to make them look as authentic as possible.
- But in a cartoon, the drawing is non-realistic or semi-realistic depending on the theme of the cartoon. There could be animals speaking in the English language in a cartoon, which is something you might not find common in an anime.
- The characters in the cartoon have different features from the rest of their body to make them look funnier. Thus, it makes them appear artificial and a bit far away from reality.
- A cartoon used to be a model which was a part of a painting or a study, but now they are more often than usual used for depicting humor and satire.
- Cartoons don’t have deep story plots, and they are made with one objective to make people laugh when they watch them. So there’s no drama and gritty one-liners involved.
- A cartoon’s length could be 5 minutes long to even 1 hour. But a cartoon movie will have the same average runtime of 90 minutes.
- The cartoon concept originated in the US.
Top 10 Websites where you can Watch Anime Online in 2022
So now you know the difference between an anime and a cartoon. Now let’s move on to the next part of this blog, which is to solve your problem of finding a website to watch anime online. The list provided below will ensure that you get to enjoy both old-school anime and new releases. Also, you can watch the anime with subbed audio or listen to the original audio with subtitles. The choice is yours, and on most of the websites, you will find this feature.
1. 9anime.to
Starting the list with one of the most popular online streaming platforms for anime is 9anime.to. This website is committed to providing its visitors with a large collection of anime that they may binge-watch whenever they want. The first thing you’ll notice when you visit the website is how appealing and sleek the UI is. The colour palette will create the impression that this website is designed specifically for anime fans, and that it is also available for free.
Furthermore, if you are unable to locate your favourite anime in the category-based list, you can easily search for it using the search bar. All thanks to the user-friendly search and navigation bar. All of the titles on this website are presented in alphabetical order. So if your favourite anime begins with the letters “Y,” “W,” and so on, you can scroll down the page.
When it comes to updating the list of the latest episodes and anime releases, you don’t have to wait too long. The new episode will come to the website within a week. Once the episode is aired in Japan, you can find it here on the website after 2 to 3 days and even in a much shorter time. The only issue we were able to find on the website during our usage was the slow loading time. But that could be due to so much load on the server they are using.
But if we ignore the slow loading time, there is nothing much to nitpick about this website. It is perfect for those people who want to watch anime for free with no worries about ads popping out now and then to ruin the viewing experience. This website is available in all major regions around the globe.
2. Gogoanime.io
This website can be accessed anywhere in the world, so no need to worry about not being able to watch your Anime when you travel to some other country. According to our experience, this is the best website in terms of organizing the list of Anime. It has thousands of Anime along with manga series, and if you are looking to watch anime movies, then you don’t have to go anywhere else. The clips and episodes are all accompanied by English subtitles.
However, some of the most recent episodes are available even without subtitles. As a result, it may be difficult to watch them. One of the best aspects of this website, on the other hand, is that you can download the episodes for free. Yes, there is no need to pay anything, and all of your favorite episodes will be saved on your hard drive, where you can watch them whenever you want, even if you don’t have internet access.
3. AnimeDao
AnimeDao is ranked third on our list of the best websites to watch anime online because it has an excellent user interface that makes searching and navigation easy. In addition, if you enjoy some episodes, you can download them for free without having to pay any fees to the website. The website’s search engine is quite powerful, and it employs AI to interpret what you are looking for. As a result, you can specify whether you want an anime series in English or native Japanese.
Also, once you’ve found the anime you want to watch, you can bookmark it, and whenever a new episode of that anime series is added to the website, you’ll be notified.
Also, it is the first website on our list that allows both dark and light themes so that users can change it according to their preference.
4. Crunchyroll
We are sure you have heard about this one whenever you are having a conversation with your friend about which website is best to watch Anime online. Crunchyroll is available to watch in more than 180 countries, and new countries are being added each month. If you are thinking about watching a famous anime, then Crunchyroll is the best place to watch it as you are going to find the episodes in English and in native Japanese along with the subtitles to enhance the viewing experience.
Furthermore, the website categorises its anime so that you can search for them based on factors such as genre, popularity, and even season. Similarly, the website provides non-native Japanese people with access to Japanese dramas and other series that are broadcast in Japan. The interface is simple to use, and you can easily find all of your favourite anime in the list. However, before you begin using it, keep one thing in mind. While watching an anime episode on Crunchyroll’s free version, you will be subjected to advertisements. These advertisements are not everywhere, and they do not detract from the experience, but it is something you should be aware of ahead of time. For watching the anime ad-free, you need to pay the premium account fee.
5. Kissanime.ru
Many anime fans have been streaming their favourite anime from Kissanime, and the website has unquestionably met their expectations. Without a doubt, it has the most fans all over the world and is highly regarded by anime fans. People who watch anime on Kissanime do not need to visit any other website to watch anime series because everything is available on this site. You also get a different resolution for each episode, and you can change the resolution based on your network’s data pack.
Through this anime website, a user will be able to obtain both the dubbed and the original version of the audio. In terms of providing users with the ability to download episodes, it misses its mark because it requires users to first register to the website to download an episode.
6. Funimation
If there is another website that has brought a lot of anime series online for a wider audience after the above listed top 5 anime-watching websites, it has to be Funimation. Even before the company shifted its focus and became an excellent anime streaming platform, it was associated with some of the best anime series, including Dragon Ball Z, Beyblade, and Pokemon, and assisted them in becoming popular in the west.
This website currently has over 13000 hours of anime streaming video available, all of which is original content. The interface on this website is zany, allowing users to go anywhere they want on the website in a matter of seconds. All the anime titles that are available on this website are categorized appropriately so that no one will be lost during their search.
The speed at which you get to stream the video from this website is genuinely incredible; thus, no issues with the buffering of the content. If you are looking for the latest anime to watch online, this is your best shot to watch them as they air in Japan. Now let’s talk about the pricing; being such a high-value website in the streaming business, you are surely not going to get its services for free. The one-month subscription will cost around $5.99 a month, and for an annual subscription, you need to pay around $99.99.
7. Gogoanime
When a website is so enthusiastic as to put 2 “go” in their website’s official name, you know it’s worth checking out. This website is more than often linked to anime movies as the list of anime movies present on this website is massive in comparison to other streaming platforms. You can also search for anime by day, week, or even by month. If there is an anime that is being aired in Japan, you are definitely going to find it here with no problem. Both old and new anime series can be found here. All the latest anime series and episodes find their way to this website in no time and get organised conveniently according to alphabetical order. If you look at the list of anime, you will see which anime is popular right now and why.
Besides this, one of the reasons why we like this website so much is that, even though it is entirely free, it doesn’t bombard its users with ads every now and then. The only issue we were able to nitpick is the slow loading speed, which can be sometimes really annoying. But if you have a high-speed internet connection, the slow speed can be subdued quickly.
8. TubiTV
If you are looking to watch more than just anime, then TubiTV is the solution you should be looking for. It has an extensive gallery of content that also includes anime. The main benefit of using this website is that it is entirely free of charge. The website gets its income from the ads which it displays to the user, but there is no annoying adware present on the website. You can even watch anime on your smartphone using this website, and it will automatically adjust the resolution of the video according to your screen.
If you are just into anime, then the library will seem a bit small, but it still has all the iconic and famous anime shows that are present on everyone’s watch list. Some of the famous anime that you can watch on this website are Attack on Titans, Naruto, and others.
9. Kissanime
One of the first things you will love about Kissanime is that it is available across the globe. This website is available even in those countries where websites like these are banned. Apart from this, you can search for your favorite anime from the list of categories such as sci-fi, action, romance, and others. Also, you can choose the video quality in which you want to watch the anime, and the streaming quality ranges from 240p to 1080p. Moreover, most of the anime that are present on this website come with English subtitles. So it will be easier for you to understand.
10. Netflix
Last on our list is the most famous streaming service available worldwide. Netflix might come to you as a surprise in our list of the best anime streaming platforms. But type “Anime” in its search bar, and you will be amazed to see the long list of anime series which are available to you. From anime movies to series, you are going to find it all in there. Also, in some regions, Netflix is providing regional languages for anime movies, so it’s a great way to showcase the power of anime to your friends and family. You don’t need to pay anything extra to watch anime on Netflix, and its mobile application allows you to stream your favorites anytime, anywhere.
Conclusion
So, we’ve come to an end, but your journey to watching anime begins here. We have to say it, and right now is the best time to be an anime fan because there are so many deals taking place that aim to bring the anime world online and to a global audience. Anyone with an internet connection can now enjoy anime and watch their favorite series without using any kind of sensor. If we had to pick a favorite website to watch anime from this list, we would go with 9anime for free viewing, and we would recommend Crunchyroll for paid or subscription viewing.