Image Source: Tubi TV.com
Have you heard of Tubi TV? Well, if you’re an anime fan you may want to get familiar with it. This free, streaming, online television network has been operating since April of 2014, but just recently made some pretty big waves in the anime community by obtaining all 366 episodes of Bleach, earlier this month. It’s worth noting that the version they’re airing is the original Japanese dub with English subtitles, and you do have to watch some ads, but the entire channel is completely free.
Image Still of Tubi TV Website
Bleach isn’t the only anime series on Tubi TV either. A quick perusal of their programming list reveals about 75 different titles, including series like Death Note, Persona 4, Hunter x Hunter, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, and Naruto, alongside feature films like Gunbuster 2, Millennium Actress, Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie, and JIN-ROH. Much of this content results from a partnering Tubi TV has undergone with VIZ Media; one of the larger anime and manga license holders in the world.
This is a really interesting move for Tubi TV to make. While the anime streaming market isn’t exactly overcrowded, Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Funimation already have a rather large presence in it. All of those services require a paid subscription but compensate for that with a lack of advertising. Are viewers willing to turn to Tubi TV’s free streaming and sit through advertisements? We’ll have to watch and see in the upcoming months if this partnership with VIZ Media proves profitable for the network.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Tubi TV Official Website
