Post by LuciferIX on Jul 17, 2012 1:04:45 GMT -8
Okay everyone, this thread was originally thought up by Anthoneey a while back but I figured I might as well make it. The core of this thread is to find out where and how you can watch the various anime series that catch your attention in the Favorite Anime Thread. Alternatively you could visit a site such as MyAnimeList.net or Anime News Network to find the anime you want. MyAnimeList also gives the subbers for an anime and their rating from viewers, this can come in handy if you are looking at which group to get your anime from.
All methods mentioned in here, except for buying the DVDs and the internet connection itself, are completely free of charge.
It is also far easier to find anime with subtitles (subs) for free compared to ones that have been translated into English or another language (dubs). This comes primarily from copyright laws. Subbing is usually done by groups who do the work so that others can enjoy the anime and the only fee they charge is to ask for donations to keep their servers running and nothing more, thus bypassing the laws stating that they can't use others' material to make a profit. Dubbing on the other hand is almost always done by large corporations. They then also copyright the title in their respective countries which limits it's availability as a free option.
Outside of physical sources such as DVDs and watching TV there are two primary ways of watching anime, streaming and downloading.
----
Streaming
Streaming seems to be the more popular option of the forum's members. For those that don't know, streaming is simply watching the anime live using the internet, much like a YouTube video.
The advantages to streaming over downloading are as follows:
The disadvantages:
The two pictures are on the same monitor, so it's expanded to the same resolution (1920x1200). Although photobucket naturally downsized the pics the difference is quite clear. This is a scene from Clannad ~After Story~ and the first one is in a full 1080p resolution (1920x1080) while I can't find the exact resolution the second is in.
Downloaded High Quality:
Streaming:
Downloaded High Quality:
Streaming:
I'll try to keep this section updated as sites are mentioned. People can mention more when they find them but I only know of one.
----
Downloading
This is my preferred method of acquiring anime. As it sounds it involves downloading the series off the internet and putting it onto your computer's hard drive.
The main advantages to downloading are as follows:
The disadvantages are like I mentioned in the streaming area:
No matter how you choose to download you'll need a media player capable of playing the video. There are three main options, and it usually comes down to personal preference.
[/a]
[/li][li]Media Player Classic (MPC) - An all purpose player that I use as my backup while many use as their primary. As previously stated, I chose this as my secondary because of the way it interacts with my computer but overall there is very little difference between this and VLC. Note: Anthoneey has mentioned that with the proper modifications this is superior to VLC, which I have heard from friends as well, but I haven't tested this as of yet.
[/li][li]Windows Media Player - This is the default media player on most Windows operating systems. While this should be able to play everything I usually don't like its interface and I don't think its codexes can play the quality subbed anime that most groups nowadays put out.
[/li][/ul]
When it comes to downloading there are three ways of going about it.
The first is Direct Download (DDL). This is what most people think of when they hear the term "download". You download the entire file in one piece and your browser is the intermediate between the file and your computer. This is generally the worst way of going about it. While the max speed is limited by your ISP, the bigger reason is that most groups don't want to host the file for the download. Along with that is the fact that many of the DDL devoted sites will cap you at a specific speed or number of downloads without paying to get a premium account
Second is downloading via an IRC client (XDCC). I have very little experience with this so I can't give much reliable information of it except that this is popular with subbing groups. I believe that it is simply a way to get the files to utilize the torrent download (see below), but I'm not sure.
Finally is downloading using torrents, which is my preferred method. Torrents work differently than a DDL. Firstly is that the data is chopped up into pieces and grouped that way. Your torrent client will then download these pieces separately and put them together for the finished product. Second, and the reason that this is preferred by subbing groups, is that the host client that distributes the files are the other people that downloaded the file before you and so there is no dedicated server that holds the files.
The main problem with this is that the people who have the whole file (known as seeds) have to be connected to the internet to provide the data to the people downloading (known as leechers). The more seeds a torrent has the healthier it is and the faster the download, the less seeds the less likely you'll get the faster downloads. For me the speed sometimes fluctuates depending on who I'm connected to, while other times it can be very steady, but I can experience dl speeds from 10kb/s all the way to 2MB/s. It all depends on who you are connected to and how many.
First thing to do is get a bittorrent client. It is named as such from the original client, BitTorrent. But nowadays there are other options. Generally there is no real difference between the clients, they all communicate with each other so a person with uTorrent can still get data from a seed using Azureus. Each probably has different options of viewing or controlling your torrents so it all comes down to personal preference.
After you install your choice of client you then have to find the torrent files. The first way is to go to the group's site directly and download it from them. This is usually the best way but it's time intensive and you need to know who did the series that you want so it's usually only done by the more experienced downloaders. Though in the end there is usually no difference between the same file found on their site compared to the one found on a torrent hosting site.
The recommended way is to use a torrent search engine. There are several out there so you can be choosy to find the one that you like. Either one you choose keep these two facts in mind. First is to check the comments that people make about the torrent. Virtually every torrent you can figure out if it's safe just from that. Second is to check the files that are included in the torrent. Be very hesitant about a file that contains an executable file (.exe). Pretty much every anime torrent should be consisting of only video files (.mkv, .avi, .mp4, etc) and maybe a text file mentioning the group or torrent site. Exe files can contain the programs that are harmful to your computer. Though even taking these precautions you should always have a virus scanner on your computer and general protection against malware and trojans. And remember that most programs like these require you to open it, so most of the time even if you download it via a torrent client it's still inactive and thus can be deleted with no damage to your computer.
Torrentz.eu - This is a site designed to search several torrent host sites for whatever you want, not just anime. Though you need to be a little more careful as you search. After you type in what you want you need to pick a site that hosts the torrent and download it from them. I generally prefer The Pirate Bay or KickAssTorrents, because of the traffic unsafe files are found and removed faster but as long as you use the tips I mentioned above there should be few problems.
Nyaa.eu - This is a torrent search engine devoted to anime and manga. This is probably the best area to go when first deciding to download anime. The site color codes the torrents telling you which are personal picks from the site's staff and completely safe with good quality, if it is confirmed safe by the staff and members, if it is unconfirmed whether it is safe or not, and finally if there is something wrong with the file. Try to pick one of the already confirmed ones but don't be too afraid to pick one of the neutral ones. No matter which you choose always go through the two tips I mentioned.
BakaBT.me - This requires an account so I'll look into it later today.
AnimeByt.es - This also requires an account so I'll look into it later.
The torrent file itself is surprisingly small, as it only contains information for the bittorrent client to connect with the seeds and other leachers, and will take virtually no time to download. The client should start the download automatically and you can choose the options you want like downloading certain files or the like before starting. Once you start the client will do the rest and place the new files when you indicate in the client's options. Though even if you see the files in that location you can't watch it until the client says that all 100% of that file has been downloaded. Remember, the client downloads everything in pieces so you may only have bits and portions of the episode available.
I suggest that you leave the client open and participate as a seed at least until you have given as much data as you downloaded, if not longer. You can see this buy changing the options the bittorrent client shows you on its main screen. Torrents survive on other torrents and if everyone simply stopped seeding as soon as the download finished the entire community would collapse and this great resource would be lost.
----
Hope that this helps all of you that were wondering how to find access to anime. If you have questions, comments, or anything that you wish to add feel free to mention them. This thread is devoted to just that fact.
I also want to mention as a bit of a disclaimer that downloading illegal material is against the law and I am not held responsible for what you choose to download. As Japan's copyright laws hold virtually no sway in other countries, essentially all of the subbed anime is completely legal, while any dubbed anime you choose to download is usually violating the copyright laws of your country.
All methods mentioned in here, except for buying the DVDs and the internet connection itself, are completely free of charge.
It is also far easier to find anime with subtitles (subs) for free compared to ones that have been translated into English or another language (dubs). This comes primarily from copyright laws. Subbing is usually done by groups who do the work so that others can enjoy the anime and the only fee they charge is to ask for donations to keep their servers running and nothing more, thus bypassing the laws stating that they can't use others' material to make a profit. Dubbing on the other hand is almost always done by large corporations. They then also copyright the title in their respective countries which limits it's availability as a free option.
Outside of physical sources such as DVDs and watching TV there are two primary ways of watching anime, streaming and downloading.
----
Streaming
Streaming seems to be the more popular option of the forum's members. For those that don't know, streaming is simply watching the anime live using the internet, much like a YouTube video.
The advantages to streaming over downloading are as follows:
- First is that it's generally faster because you only have to wait for your internet connection to load the video as you watch it.
- You also don't have to worry about storing the videos on your hard drive.
The disadvantages:
- They biggest comes mainly in having a reliable internet connection. It gets even worse with the increase in quality of the video. You have to worry about buffering while watching and having the video pause mid-way, possibly multiple times.
- There is also usually also a smaller selection of anime that are available, though for the casual watcher this isn't as great because they usually focus on the well known series and those are the ones most likely to be streamed.
- Because of size issues, the quality of anime that is streamed is generally of a poor quality compared to the material that has been downloaded. The reason for this is once again because of server space, higher quality takes up more space and thus more server space needed to stream the different series.
The two pictures are on the same monitor, so it's expanded to the same resolution (1920x1200). Although photobucket naturally downsized the pics the difference is quite clear. This is a scene from Clannad ~After Story~ and the first one is in a full 1080p resolution (1920x1080) while I can't find the exact resolution the second is in.
Downloaded High Quality:
Streaming:
Downloaded High Quality:
Streaming:
I'll try to keep this section updated as sites are mentioned. People can mention more when they find them but I only know of one.
- AnimeFreak.tv - All of the series that they have are at least subbed in English using the original Japanese audio and some are dubbed in their English audio.
- Crunchyroll.com - Don't know much about it but it seems to have a good selection with some in high quality, but it looks like it's a pay site with a limited free section. Most of it does seem to be in Japanese with English subs though.
- Anilinkz - Just found it, not sure atm of how it compares.
----
Downloading
This is my preferred method of acquiring anime. As it sounds it involves downloading the series off the internet and putting it onto your computer's hard drive.
The main advantages to downloading are as follows:
- Primarily is that you don't have to worry about buffering and getting annoyed at the pauses in the middle of the video.
- If you are able to store them on your hard drive then you also have instant access to them at any time and can switch between episodes much faster compared to streaming when trying to find a scene that you wanted to find.
- The quality of the downloads are usually much higher than that of streaming, if only for the reason of server space. Free sites especially don't want to have to pay for the extra space needed to store high quality videos.
- Finally you can also watch the episodes when you don't have an internet connection, which can be a big plus for those with laptops.
The disadvantages are like I mentioned in the streaming area:
- The biggest disadvantage is the time it takes to initially download the series and the speed can vary greatly. This can be partially circumvented though by letting the download go while you're asleep, at work, at school, etc.
- The other main disadvantage is if you plan on storing the anime they can eat up space real fast, especially if you prefer the high quality videos. The best way to minimize this is to buy external (or internal) hard drives. 1TB holds an impressive amount of data and usually can run for around $75-100US. Otherwise you simply have to delete the files after you are done with them.
- If done incorrectly a big problem can be viruses, malware, or trojans. But as long as you are actively aware of what you're downloading there shouldn't be a problem. I'll also later include a general list of things to look out for when downloading.
- Finally is a problem that is shared with streaming depends on your computer's video card, the higher the quality of the video the harder it is for the computer to run it smoothly. Usually this amounts to the video pausing and pixelating slightly as it catches up. Normally this isn't a problem because most current computers can run video without a problem and you can always just find a quality that you can run.
No matter how you choose to download you'll need a media player capable of playing the video. There are three main options, and it usually comes down to personal preference.
[/a]
[/li][li]Media Player Classic (MPC) - An all purpose player that I use as my backup while many use as their primary. As previously stated, I chose this as my secondary because of the way it interacts with my computer but overall there is very little difference between this and VLC. Note: Anthoneey has mentioned that with the proper modifications this is superior to VLC, which I have heard from friends as well, but I haven't tested this as of yet.
[/li][li]Windows Media Player - This is the default media player on most Windows operating systems. While this should be able to play everything I usually don't like its interface and I don't think its codexes can play the quality subbed anime that most groups nowadays put out.
[/li][/ul]
When it comes to downloading there are three ways of going about it.
The first is Direct Download (DDL). This is what most people think of when they hear the term "download". You download the entire file in one piece and your browser is the intermediate between the file and your computer. This is generally the worst way of going about it. While the max speed is limited by your ISP, the bigger reason is that most groups don't want to host the file for the download. Along with that is the fact that many of the DDL devoted sites will cap you at a specific speed or number of downloads without paying to get a premium account
Second is downloading via an IRC client (XDCC). I have very little experience with this so I can't give much reliable information of it except that this is popular with subbing groups. I believe that it is simply a way to get the files to utilize the torrent download (see below), but I'm not sure.
Finally is downloading using torrents, which is my preferred method. Torrents work differently than a DDL. Firstly is that the data is chopped up into pieces and grouped that way. Your torrent client will then download these pieces separately and put them together for the finished product. Second, and the reason that this is preferred by subbing groups, is that the host client that distributes the files are the other people that downloaded the file before you and so there is no dedicated server that holds the files.
The main problem with this is that the people who have the whole file (known as seeds) have to be connected to the internet to provide the data to the people downloading (known as leechers). The more seeds a torrent has the healthier it is and the faster the download, the less seeds the less likely you'll get the faster downloads. For me the speed sometimes fluctuates depending on who I'm connected to, while other times it can be very steady, but I can experience dl speeds from 10kb/s all the way to 2MB/s. It all depends on who you are connected to and how many.
First thing to do is get a bittorrent client. It is named as such from the original client, BitTorrent. But nowadays there are other options. Generally there is no real difference between the clients, they all communicate with each other so a person with uTorrent can still get data from a seed using Azureus. Each probably has different options of viewing or controlling your torrents so it all comes down to personal preference.
- uTorrent - This is the one I use and have been for at least the last 5 years, supposedly the client itself is smaller than the others but they're all virtually negligible in size.
- Azureus/Vuze - This is the other one I see the most of. I've never used it so I really can't say much.
- BitTorrent - The original torrent client. I haven't used this in years so my image of it is probably outdated as it has probably changed dramatically to look more like uTorrent but I can't say for sure.
After you install your choice of client you then have to find the torrent files. The first way is to go to the group's site directly and download it from them. This is usually the best way but it's time intensive and you need to know who did the series that you want so it's usually only done by the more experienced downloaders. Though in the end there is usually no difference between the same file found on their site compared to the one found on a torrent hosting site.
The recommended way is to use a torrent search engine. There are several out there so you can be choosy to find the one that you like. Either one you choose keep these two facts in mind. First is to check the comments that people make about the torrent. Virtually every torrent you can figure out if it's safe just from that. Second is to check the files that are included in the torrent. Be very hesitant about a file that contains an executable file (.exe). Pretty much every anime torrent should be consisting of only video files (.mkv, .avi, .mp4, etc) and maybe a text file mentioning the group or torrent site. Exe files can contain the programs that are harmful to your computer. Though even taking these precautions you should always have a virus scanner on your computer and general protection against malware and trojans. And remember that most programs like these require you to open it, so most of the time even if you download it via a torrent client it's still inactive and thus can be deleted with no damage to your computer.
Torrentz.eu - This is a site designed to search several torrent host sites for whatever you want, not just anime. Though you need to be a little more careful as you search. After you type in what you want you need to pick a site that hosts the torrent and download it from them. I generally prefer The Pirate Bay or KickAssTorrents, because of the traffic unsafe files are found and removed faster but as long as you use the tips I mentioned above there should be few problems.
Nyaa.eu - This is a torrent search engine devoted to anime and manga. This is probably the best area to go when first deciding to download anime. The site color codes the torrents telling you which are personal picks from the site's staff and completely safe with good quality, if it is confirmed safe by the staff and members, if it is unconfirmed whether it is safe or not, and finally if there is something wrong with the file. Try to pick one of the already confirmed ones but don't be too afraid to pick one of the neutral ones. No matter which you choose always go through the two tips I mentioned.
BakaBT.me - This requires an account so I'll look into it later today.
AnimeByt.es - This also requires an account so I'll look into it later.
The torrent file itself is surprisingly small, as it only contains information for the bittorrent client to connect with the seeds and other leachers, and will take virtually no time to download. The client should start the download automatically and you can choose the options you want like downloading certain files or the like before starting. Once you start the client will do the rest and place the new files when you indicate in the client's options. Though even if you see the files in that location you can't watch it until the client says that all 100% of that file has been downloaded. Remember, the client downloads everything in pieces so you may only have bits and portions of the episode available.
I suggest that you leave the client open and participate as a seed at least until you have given as much data as you downloaded, if not longer. You can see this buy changing the options the bittorrent client shows you on its main screen. Torrents survive on other torrents and if everyone simply stopped seeding as soon as the download finished the entire community would collapse and this great resource would be lost.
----
Hope that this helps all of you that were wondering how to find access to anime. If you have questions, comments, or anything that you wish to add feel free to mention them. This thread is devoted to just that fact.
I also want to mention as a bit of a disclaimer that downloading illegal material is against the law and I am not held responsible for what you choose to download. As Japan's copyright laws hold virtually no sway in other countries, essentially all of the subbed anime is completely legal, while any dubbed anime you choose to download is usually violating the copyright laws of your country.
