Funimation – Review 2020 – PCMag Asia
“Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” That’s what South Korean Bong Joon-ho said during his Golden Globes acceptance speech after his social satire, Parasite won Best Foreign Language Film. If that’s a barrier you’re unable to overcome, you can still enjoy some foreign media thanks to dubbing, which replaces the original voices with new performances in your native language. Funimation is one video streaming service that offers exactly that—for hundreds of anime shows.
Anime fans have argued over subs vs. dubs since the beginning of time. Subs are easier to produce and offer a less compromised version of the original vision. But dubs are easier to watch, and with the right actors and a respectful script, the integrity of the source material can easily be maintained. It’s an argument we’re not going to solve today, and the good news is that anime streaming services give you the freedom to make your own choice. While Crunchyroll specializes in subs, Funimation is the home for dubs. That focus makes it a smaller home overall, though.
What Can You Watch on Funimation?
Before even entering the anime streaming game, Funimation was a major player in the world of anime dub production. In 2016, Crunchyroll and Funimation entered a pact where Crunchyroll would focus on subs and Funimation would focus on dubs in an effort to bolster both service’s licensing libraries. This agreement is no longer in effect, but its spirit lives on.
On Funimation, you can watch over 600 shows, and nearly all of them are dubbed. I’m not talking about embarrassing censored Saturday Morning Cartoon dubs. For instance, you can watch Afro Samurai starring Sam Jackson in all of his profane glory. Other top shows include Attack on Titan, Yuri!!! on Ice, Bayonetta: Bloody Fate, Cowboy Bebop, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia, and all the Dragon Ball you could want.
There’s a lot to watch, but Crunchyroll’s library of 1,200 shows is literally twice as large. That disparity makes sense considering dubbing is a more time-consuming and costlier process than subbing. Crunchyroll offers Simulcasts, which are streaming versions of shows available soon after their Japanese premiere. Funimation does them one better with SimulDubs, which are also available in the same time frame, despite the more time-intensive process of adding dubs. It’s an impressive turnaround. Still, in terms of sheer numbers, Funimation comes up short.
Other video streaming services have notable advantages. Hulu shares some shows with Funimation, including Cardcaptor Sakura and Yu Yu Hakusho. It also has plenty of network TV shows and original content for non-anime fans, such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Devs. Unlike Funimation, Netflix boasts original anime series such as Cannon Busters, Castlevania, and Devilman Crybaby. It also has quite the crown jewel of classic dubs with its exclusive version of legendary series Neon Genesis Evangelion. This is all in addition to Netflix’s acclaimed non-anime originals, including Bojack Horseman, Love is Blind, and Stranger Things.
If part of Funimation’s appeal to you is watching cartoons in English, check out VRV. That service bundles Crunchyroll; American cartoons from Nickelodeon and Boomerang; and channels from Rooster Teeth, Mondo, and more. Meanwhile, DC Universe features some of the best superhero cartoons, such as Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Teen Titans. For Marvel content (as well as Star Wars, Pixar, and other Disney-owned properties), Disney+ has a robust library of family-friendly shows, animated and otherwise.
Pricing and Platforms
You can watch a limited amount of Funimation’s library in 1080p for free with ads. For the full experience, you’ll need to subscribe to one of three subscription plans. In addition to the entire library of subs and dubs, Premium provides two simultaneous streams for $5.99 per month. Premium Plus offers five simultaneous streams and a host of bonus features such as offline viewing, shopping deals, and special events for $7.99 per month. For $99 per year, Premium Plus Ultra gives you all perks of the Premium Plus tier in addition to free shipping, two free rentals per year, and an anniversary gift. The two-week free trial is generous compared to the one-week free trials I’ve seen elsewhere.
Several features included in Premium Plus, but not Premium, are features Crunchyroll doesn’t have at all in its sole $7.99 paid plan. Offline downloads on mobile devices is one example. Funimation’s prices put it in line with broader streaming services such as CBS All Access ($5.99), Apple TV+ ($4.99), Netflix ($8.99), Hulu with ads ($5.99), DC Universe $7.99), VRV ($9.99), Disney+ ($6.99), and Amazon Prime Video ($8.99). Many of these services offer various, higher-priced plans with more features, too.
As for platforms, no matter what you pay, Funimation is available on Android, iOS, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, smart TVs from LG and Samsung, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Aside from Hulu, streaming services remain strangely absent on Nintendo Switch.
Funimation on the Web
Funimation’s web interface is a breeze to browse. For instance, generous, uncluttered white space makes the shows stand out. Each show’s page features links to other episodes, user reviews, and items from that specific show on the shop. This level of storefront integration reminds me of CBS All Access, but here it makes more sense, considering how important merchandise is to anime fandom. The shopping cart is one of four main icons alongside search, queue, and account. So, if you are a fan of Akira, it’s easy enough to search for the movie, add the stream to your queue, and put the Blu-ray in your cart (or your wishlist, if you’re in debt after buying all those Goku figurines).
The web player itself is also one of the prettier ones I’ve tested. It’s expansive with few distractions and lets you turn off the lights for easier viewing. You can skip forward or back ten seconds. Settings include adjusting the resolution up to 1080p, turning on subtitles, and switching between language options, such as the simulcast version or uncut version. There aren’t many options for customizing subtitles, perhaps another consequence of the focus on dubs. Playback was smooth over my home Wi-Fi network (at 60Mbps download speeds). Like the show page, each episode page also lets you leave ratings and comments, follow the show and add it to your queue, watch related material, and share links on social media.
As far as raw content, Funimation doesn’t have much else to offer beyond its shows. Its community features aren’t as in-depth as what I saw on DC Universe. Like Crunchyroll, it has a few browser games, but unlike Crunchyroll, it doesn’t offer a manga reader. So aside from the Shop tab, Funimation’s three other menu tabs (What’s New, Discover, Shows) are all basically only useful when you’re searching for shows.
Fortunately, instead of feeling redundant, these different options give users lots of power when searching, a great thing to have when it comes to content as impenetrable as anime. You can query for new releases and see the calendar for not just upcoming shows, but also for products and events, too. The Discover tab shows personalized recommendations and what’s trending on the platform. I especially enjoyed the Moods recommendations, which groups shows into specific themes as granular as those categories you occasionally see on Netflix. If you’re in the mood for Doom and Gloom, check out Black Butler and Casshern Sins. If you just want to see what’s popular, what’s dubbed, or everything all at once, you can do that, too.
Funimation on Mobile
Funimation’s mobile interface is as impressive as its web counterpart. The slick menu transitions felt like an extension of iOS 13 on the iPhone 11 I used for testing. On mobile, the highlighted sections beyond the home screen are My Queue, All Shows, SimulDub, and Genres. Pages for each show have the same options for following and sharing as they do on the web. Surprisingly, there’s no way to access the store through the mobile app. We suspect embedding the store in the app itself might allow Apple and Google to take a cut of sales that Funimation doesn’t want to give up. But DC Universe’s app at least includes a link to a separate shopping web page.
When it comes to the viewing experience, I have no issues with Funimation. An unobtrusive overlay allows you to tweak settings, browse episodes, and learn more information about what you’re watching without having to pause the show. Unlike Crunchyroll, Funimation supports offline downloads on mobile, albeit exclusively at its Premium Plus price tiers.
Accessibility and Parental Controls
Anime is so sketchy that some parental control apps can specifically prevent kids from watching it. With Funimation, parents can restrict mature content in the account preferences section. Blocking the content altogether is a stronger system than Crunchyroll’s, which only filters mature shows and manga. But both services lack robust parental control features such as whitelisting or allowing for different user profiles with different settings.
Account preferences is also where you adjust various accessibility options. For instance, you can set the default language to Japanese or English, as well as turn off annoying auto-playing content. Settings for the size, color, and transparency of backgrounds and subtitle text are also available and can improve the viewing experience.
Funimation and VPN
One of the many reasons why VPNs are a great online privacy tool is that they let you spoof your actual geographic location online. However, that’s also why many streaming services, such as Netflix, block them.
Anime fans should already be used to skirting international licensing laws to see what they want. So, they should rest easy knowing I experienced no issues using Funimation with a VPN. I tested streaming on a Windows device connected to ProtonVPN servers in Denmark and Canada. However, as the battle between streaming services and VPNs continues, Funimation may find a way to detect and block VPN traffic in the future.
Hit The Dub
If you prefer to watch your anime dubbed, you’re probably going to get some dirty looks from subs purists. But there’s no reason to feel ashamed about your own choices when consuming media. Relaxing and watching anime the same way you would watch any other domestic show, absorbing the action instead of reading the screen, is perfectly valid. If that’s what you want, Funimation is absolutely the anime streaming service for you.
However, dubbed anime fans are a niche within a niche when it comes to audiences. We haven’t yet named an Editors’ Choice in this category, but if a large library of dubs isn’t a priority for you, Funimation’s limitations hurt a lot more. Crunchyroll has a slightly uglier design and some missing mobile features, but it has twice as many shows and a manga library for good measure. Plus, Crunchyroll is just one of many channels bundled in VRV.
Assuming you’re interested in more than just anime, our general streaming service Editors’ Choice remains Netflix for its rich features and quality original shows. Hulu and YouTube TV are the Editors’ Choice for live TV streaming because they offer plenty of channels at an affordable price.