Madman Interactive has just unveiled AnimeLab, an anime-dedicated streaming service. It’s in beta, but it’s available now.
The service will be able to stream both stored anime and simulcasts directly from Japan to either Australia or New Zealand, and is already mobile and tablet ready. For an unspecified launch period, the service will actually be free — just load it up and test it out on titles like Attack on Titan.
It looks pretty easy to jump into right now. Just provide some basic information, and start watching. It doesn’t even require email authentification. Looks like now’s the time to get caught up on all those titles your friends keep telling you about.
Check out AnimeLab here.
Comments
21 responses to “Madman AnimeLab: Australian/NZ Anime Streaming Service With Free Trial”
Does this mean the free streaming on their site will eventually move to paid ?
Yes. Though that time hasn’t been determined yet. But it’ll give notice before that happens.
Ah cool thanks 🙂
I’d imagine they’ll copy the successful Crunchyroll approach, where paid members get access to archived stuff and also to new episode streams the instant they appear, where non-paying viewers get a limited selection of older content and the newest episodes appear on a 1-2 week delay.
While i love Madman (seeing as they release anime over here at relatively low prices compared to other countries) they need more shows if they want me to pay.
Crunchyroll is still way better, but it’s still missing some shows in Australia, if Madman pick up the rights to simulcast them here then i’ll pay for this as well…
Also Date a Live 2 is about 6 episodes in at the moment, and this only has the first two episodes available, they need to be more up to date, once again Crunchyroll puts up their episodes as soon as they are released in japan.
So overall, great idea, they just need more content and need to be quicker on releases.
Where are you buying your Madman titles from? Because I don’t see paying $60 for a half season of a show “cheap” when I can import the whole series from America for the same price including shipping.
I’m all for this system, however it’ll be locked to whatever series Madman has under their licenses. Unfortunately it means it gives Madman their “big bad bully” position back in the anime market. No one company should have the ability to control the market as much as they do. (biggest problem being that they pick up a lot of series each year for no other reason than to make sure others can’t get them)
I’d ask you the same thing, where are you getting yours from? Aniplex have a huge hold over america, and they charge ridiculous prices, hell they are selling the 90 minute Persona 3 movie for $80 over there.
and i haven’t paid over $40 for a half season, hell i got all of Gurren Lagann for less than that, i usually only buy stuff directly from them at conventions though, so that might affect it.
and they’ve always had that lockdown, hence why even though Crunchyroll is showing some shows in america, they can’t show them here because of licensing…
I will admit that when Madman is at conventions, they are usually very affordable.
As for where I buy outside of conventions… I import via friends in both America and Japan. I get good prices and it cuts shipping by half in a lot of cases
Damn you!
Aniplex has only gotten into the game relatively recently and I don’t think there’s as much as you make it out to be (eg. http://www.aniplexusa.com/titles/). There’s a lot titles owned by other companies like Funimation. Over the many years of importing from Rightstuf I’ve always found it to be a lot cheaper through them, especially if you bought a bunch of stuff to make the most of shipping (eg. during sales).
Just for an example, I bought the two parts of FMA brotherhood for a total of around $80 USD excluding shipping. Madman has split them into 4 sets for a total of about $200 AUD
Where do you import from out of curiosity?
It pays to have friends in other countries.
I have a few friends who use RightStuf. You’ll need a region free or US locked player though for most of the stuff.
Hanabee is slowly becoming a decent competitor to Madman. Their selection is often a good complement to Madman’s tendency to go for the mainstream titles.
I usually get a whole series for about $50
Agh, geez man. Your comments are so self contradicting its funny. So you like the idea of the Service, but am unhappy with the product? Even though you know it’s a beta? Like WTF?
It’s a freaking beta! & you don’t have to pay a cent to enjoy it…
just because it’s a good idea doesn’t mean it’s been executed well.
Their are better services then this that are doing the same thing, sure it’s a beta now and it’s free, but what’s it gonna be like when i have to pay for it? They’ve said nothing on how long it’s gonna take them to get series straight from Japan, so if it continues to be the same as it is now in the beta then i’m not going to pay for it, if they improve the service then i will use it.
Do you understand me now?
You can get away from Crunchyroll’s region locking with a VPN. Win-win if you already use something like Netflix. I’ve been watching Attack on Titan on CR for a while now
Instant access doesn’t work, you need to submit your email first. This is what is said on the page – AnimeLab is exclusive to Australia and New Zealand.
Enter your email & we’ll let you know when AnimeLab is available in your country.
It needs to be on apple tv or consoles like crunchy roll.
Jo jo and hunter x hunter better not start getting region blocked because of this
offering HD is a step up from their current model. Good to see them trying to improve things.