List of 4 places to rent anime online.
As an anime fan in the US the biggest problem is finding anime. Sure we all have our favorite little shops, but the small local stores usually don’t have much selection. Where do you go to find a large selection of anime? Online. You don’t have to download fansubs, you can rent anime online. Here are 4 places to rent anime online, with a few pros and cons for each.
- Netflix.
- Pros
- Cons
- Blockbuster.
- Pros
- Cons
- Rent Anime.
- Pros
- Cons
- Anime Takeout.
- Pros
- Cons
Netflix is one of, if not the, oldest online movie rental company. A lot of people already have accounts and are very happy renting movies from them. They have a pretty good selection. They carry classic anime, popular titles and some lesser known stuff.
Around 1,500 animated titles to choose from.
You can rent non-anime movies too.
Established. They’ve been around for a while.
They offer a free trial.
Not all of their 1,500 animated titles are anime. Anime is mixed in with other animated titles.
No brick and mortar stores. It’s online only.
You may be more familiar with their local stores. They’ve been offering online rental for a couple of years now. Lately they’ve been promoting their online rentals a bit more. They’ve been renting movies for a while now, so they know what they’re doing.
Brick and mortar stores. You can take your online rentals back to a Blockbuster store and get another one there.
Lots of anime titles. They have new and old anime. The oldest anime I found was Gigantor, from 1963.
Like Netflix, you can rent non-anime. Just in case you need a break.
Free trial available.
The biggest con is the web site. It’s been vastly improved, but it’s still a bit tough to negotiate.
Family oriented. If you’re looking for hentai, you won’t find it here. Even some ecchi titles can’t be found at Blockbuster.
Even though they rent games, they’re not included in the movie rental. You have to sign up for game rental and pay more.
If you only want to rent anime, this is a good choice. They’re run by AnimeNation, a reputable anime store and distributor.
Huge selection since they only rent anime. You should be able to find just about any anime title you want.
Adult anime fans can find ecchi and hentai there.
The online rental site for AnimeNation, an established and trusted online anime store. AnimeNation has been around since 1995.
Free Trial.
Online only, no brick and mortar stores.
The site looks good, but it can be hard to find the information you’re looking for.
I’m not very familiar with Anime Takeout. I’ve included them here for one reason. The also offer manga rental for an extra fee. Manga can be expensive, so a manga rental option could save you some money.
For a better idea of Anime Takeout check the customer reviews at DVD Rental Review.
You can rent anime and manga.
Lots of titles.
Renting manga almost doubles the subscription price.
No matter what plan you sign up for, you can only have 2 manga out at a time. The only way to rent more than 2 manga at a time is to sign up for another account.
Slow shipping and returns.
No hentai for adult anime fans.
No free trial.
Poor to non-existent customer service.
The winner is…
I’d have to say for anime only rentals, RentAnime is the clear choice. If you want to rent some non-anime from time to time, I’d go with Blockbuster for the ability to return DVDs to the store instead of mailing them in.
It might be worth keeping an eye on AnimeTakeout. If they get their act together, then having manga rentals could be a very strong selling point
anime, manga, list, 4, four, list of 4, list of four, rental, rent, rent anime, rent manga, rent online, rent anime online, rent manga online, anime rental, online anime, online anime rental, Netflix, Blockbuster, RentAnime, Rent Anime, AnimeNation, Anime Nation, AnimeTakeout, Anime Takeout, DVD rental, online rental,
September 27th, 2007 at 4:21 am
[...] like is Galaxy Angel. I am so glad I didn’t buy that anime. Seriously, get an account to rent anime online. You’ll be glad you did when you rent an anime that you’re sure you’ll love, only [...]
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:02 am
[...] say this is an anime you should check out. If you’re not into weird anime, rent it. You might be [...]
November 6th, 2007 at 2:33 am
[...] like based on the TV shows they might be missing soon. Now would be a good time to sign up for an anime rental plan. If you don’t already have one that is. Medical Drama Like shows like House or ER? Then [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 7:29 am
[...] Majin is worth a rental at the very least. It’s got a darn good story and some cool action. I like horror and [...]
December 21st, 2007 at 3:14 am
[...] should, they’re worth talking about. So I’m going to add some of his movies to my anime rental list. Some of them I’ll be watching again, but I’m looking forward to [...]
January 4th, 2008 at 7:09 am
[...] live in Canada, where I think it’s on G4, you’ll probably need to find a good place to rent anime to see [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:58 am
[...] is a rental. This is an anime that you’ll need to check out before buying it. It’s a decent anime, [...]
May 13th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
[...] Online Review by Jason I did a post that talked about places to rent anime online. Since then I’ve used 2 of those services. Here is a short review of one service based on my [...]
May 14th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
[...] Review by Jason Online anime rental seems like the perfect option, at least for the fans that don’t want to download illegal [...]