The Future of Anime

As shown by the growth of official online subbed streaming anime, anime companies are listening to the complaints of the fan-subbers and providing anime to the international audience cheaper and faster than ever before. Many of them have monetization plans that should earn a decent amount if they get enough traffic online. As technology improves in the future, the streaming quality of anime should improve, even for free subs.

One thing that companies could try in the future are subscription services or pay-per-download for digital copies of the anime files. These could be offered at higher quality or with special features, but distributing online could help save costs and may be more attractive than DVD. Just like with the iTunes store and digital music sales, anime could consider a similar model for on-the-go watching.

But, until that time, if you like an anime series, you really should buy the DVD because that is the best way to show direct support for the animators and artists that produced the anime you watch. Otherwise, there might not be a future for anime at all.