Let’s say you want to watch one of the newest anime simulcasts, what do you do? For many people that means its time to fire up their web browser and head to sites like Crunchyroll or Funimation. But soon there will be easy low cost solutions to get you out of your computer chair and on to your couch.
In November, D-Link will launch the Boxee Box, a small, low power sipping box that will easily bring online video content to your television. If you currently use Boxee, you already know that Crunchyroll has an application that allows you to watch anything they offer via their website minus the hassle of actually visiting their website. The navigation is built around the fact that you are using a remote instead of a keyboard and mouse. Right now the only way to watch Crunchyroll provided content on your TV is via a PC hooked up to your TV or a hacked Apple TV, both which can be tricky for the average person to setup.
The upcoming Boxee Box TV isn’t the only device coming to the market either. Google recently announced their plans to do a set top box and integrate their software into the next generation of TVs. No more will you need a dedicated computer or have several different boxes that all use power when not in use. It will be as simple as plugging the TV in hooking up an Ethernet cord or configuring your TV to use your existing wireless connection.
We do have some anime choices currently available already. Funimation offers various shows for download-to-own via the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Along with TiVo the fore mentioned platforms can also connect to Netflix, allowing you to stream all kinds of different shows including anime. The problem remains that we’ve been given so much more to watch by Funimation, Crunchyroll, and the rest that we are only given a small slice of the total offering. It is great that we can watch some, but I want to easily be able to watch everything given to me and not have to be at the mercy of Netflix.
That is where these new set top boxes come in, Crunchyroll has already established themselves by building a Boxee app, and when the Boxee Box launches they will be there ready for you to enjoy all that they have to offer. But what about the rest? Funimation has a great foundation laid--they offer a lot of their catalog online and even have gone so far to offer shows via Hulu. If that wasn’t enough they are also simulcasting shows that are currently airing in Japan! Funimation is serious about offering new and exciting shows via their online video channel and is taking the fight directly to Crunchyroll.
Anime fans have shown that when given a legal method of watching anime, free or not, that they will watch it. All the sites mentioned in this article wouldn’t still be online if that wasn’t the case. Obviously the time, energy, and costs associated with building sites and getting content online is worth it to both the animation studios and the distribution companies. The final key is coming into place. a cheap, easy-to-use way to deliver video content into the living room is almost here, all they need to do is take the next step. As anime fans, we need to let the companies know we want their content on more than just a website. We need to let them know that we support them in what they're doing, and that all the time and effort hasn’t been in vain.
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