Best Places to Binge Anime for Free

Anime continues to be big business as the medium gains traction in countless countries. While streaming services such as Netflix, MAX, Amazon Prime, and a number of others are adding more anime series and movies to their libraries, there are plenty of online outlets that offer some of the biggest anime franchises for free. Looking out for our readers who are big anime fans, we here at ComicBook.com compiled some of the biggest streaming services and platforms that offer anime for free.

Anime has seen a major surge in popularity over the years, pushed by the internet and giving fans in the West the opportunity to sometimes watch series and films at the same time as viewers in Japan. During the coronavirus pandemic, the sale of anime and manga specifically skyrocketed as many fans in quarantine were looking for entertainment to pass the time. Shockingly enough, the high sales for anime and manga have stayed at this high level following the quarantines, proving that the demand is there when it comes to consuming anime and manga stories across the board.

YouTube

While this is a bit of a cheat considering how massive Youtube is, there are more than a few options when it comes to being able to stream free, legal anime on the platform. Viz Media for example is a major player, offering hundreds of free episodes for the likes of Naruto, Inuyasha, Death Note, Hunter x Hunter, and many other series. Bandai Namco Filmworks is another great option for folks that are looking to dive into the Gundam series, as the Youtube channel for the company has quite a few Gundam anime shows in its playlist. There are countless channels offering a variety of anime on Youtube and it’s there for the taking.

Tubi 

Much like Youtube, Tubi offers a wide variety of options when it comes to streaming anime for free, though with the caveat that you will have to dive through advertisements to binge your favorite series. While having some major series such as Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, and Yu-Gi-Oh, it also has some surprising entries such as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ghost In The Shell, and Digimon Adventure to name a few. 

Retro Crush

Retro Crush is a free streaming platform that takes the opportunity to celebrate more classic anime franchises. While it does have some stalwart series including Yu-Gi-Oh and Hajime no Ippo, the platform also houses anime classics including Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, City Hunter, Bubblegum Crisis, and more. The streaming service also has some big anime movies under its belt including Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie, Robot Carnival, and Black Jack The Movie to name a few.

Pluto TV

Pluto TV gives anime fans some big choices when it comes to how they consume series and/or movies. While it offers an “On-Demand” service that you can use to bing series such as One Piece, Naruto, and Inuyasha, it also has entire channels dedicated to anime and specific anime properties. If you want to roll the dice and watch a random episode of One Piece for example, there is a One Piece channel available to do so. 

Crunchyroll 

Potentially the king of the hill, Crunchyroll has countless anime series that anime fans can watch if you don’t mind advertisements. While there are some simulcast series that can only be viewed via premium tiers to the subscription service, Crunchyroll offers the first three episodes of said franchises to stream for free.