For those of you that don’t read Anime News Network, here’s some interesting news you might have missed so far.
Naruto to Start Paid and Free Streaming
Starting in January Naruto will air on Crunchyroll about 1 hour after the airing in Japan. According to the ANN report, the Crunchyroll 1 hour delay will be a monthly subscription. However, Crunchyroll will be making available a free stream 7 days after broadcast to compete with other video sites, like Hulu, that will be streaming the episode.
I have a few questions though.
How much will the Crunchyroll subscription cost?
Will there be any other anime included in the subscription price, or will we need to subscribe to each title separately when more are made available?
Will there be more titles available for this type of subscription plan?
Will there be other perks for the paid subscribers?
I’m sure I could think of plenty more, but these are the questions that seem to be the most important.
My Thoughts
It’s about time. Sure Hulu has a currently running anime in Shikabane Hime, but that’s for a mature audience and it isn’t nearly as popular as Naruto. If anything can get the subscription service off the ground it will be Naruto. It’s insanely popular, and 1 hour after the original show in Japan is an insane turnaround time. I really doubt fansubbers could compete with that.
I really think this could work. I’ve talked about a similar setup in the past as a way to stop piracy and increase profits for anime companies. Naruto is a great anime to kickstart something like that. It’s probably the most popular anime,at least in the U.S.A., since DBZ.
The only problem I foresee is the battle between streaming sites when others start up subscription plans. That’s not entirely bad though. When services compete, the consumer wins.
Looks like next year will be a very interesting time to be an anime fan online.
Anime, News, Online, Free, Streaming, Naruto, DBZ, Shikabane Hime, Crunchyroll, Hulu