FunimationNow

 

I know I’m a bit behind, but still.

UK anime fans, rejoice! We can now access Funimation licensed anime!

When it comes to streaming, we here in the UK seem to have drawn the short straw. We have less content on Netflix, can’t view some anime titles on Crunchyroll due to licensing restrictions, and who the hell uses Amazon’s streaming? Seriously, who?

Now, Funimation seems to have taken pity on us and has finally made a UK streaming service, FunimationNow. And yes, I have already created an account.

The app is available for phones and Amazon Kindle Fire tablets. It should be available soon (or so they say) for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Windows 10. Later this year the app will be accessible on PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

However, on the Play Store there are thousands of complaints from people complaining that they can’t create an account and near constant crashes. Doesn’t sound good.

That might have been a bit harsh though, considering that FunimationNow is still in beta. There is still quite a bit of work to do, apparently. The site and app were launched on the 7th of April and since then they have been working out some kinks in the system.

In terms of titles, as you might have guessed, you are limited by which account you choose. There is a wide selection to chose from, but to watch anime like Hetalia you need an All Access account which is £6.99 per month. That goes for most dubbed anime. Sub master race, you might be onto something. Funimation is famous for their dubs, but I can’t afford to cough up £6.99 per month.

Me being the cheap student that I am, I picked the basic account. I get 30 days without ads but I can already tell where they are going to be. When the 30 days are up it’s going to be really annoying, I can already tell.

I can’t really complain too much and I know that this just sounds like me whining, after all that is how legal streaming works. Still, I had hoped it would have been a bit cheaper. After all, Crunchyroll’s premium account that lets you access all of their anime and manga is £4.99 per month.

So, what is it like overall? Well, I have no room to download it onto my phone so I have been using the website. Overall it runs alright, but there are constant pauses that only last a few seconds, and I suspect that’s where the ads are going to be. It sucks when I find an anime I really want to watch, only to get a black screen that states “TO VIEW THIS YOU NEED AN ALL ACCESS ACCOUNT”. The joys of being broke.

Keep in mind, though, that this is a beta, so it will improve over time.