The HiAnime Situation is Crazy

Article at a glance:
Piracy is a service problem, not a pricing problem, and the anime industry is one of the best examples of this.
Taking down sites like HiAnime isn’t going to stop piracy, it never has, and it never will.
The lack of a single, fairly priced legal alternative is the real issue, and until that changes, nothing else will.

Look, I will never fault someone for protecting their IPs or their money. It is well within their rights to do so. What I do take issue with is the fact that they provide no good alternative when they take something down. The Gabe Newell quote from 2009 STILL rings true, and it will always be true. “Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem.” It is even truer in the case of anime and manga than in terms of games. There is a reason why sites like HiAnime end up amassing such a large user base.

I think I’ve spoken on this topic once before as well, when the MangaDex crackdown happened. So here are my thoughts on the whole HiAnime situation and piracy in general. So let’s get started.

The Future of HiAnime

I will not be naming any alternatives here, of course. But the HiAnime team has said that they will be back soon. Do keep in mind that they do not have an official IG account. If you want authentic and fresh information, I encourage you to join their Discord server. Do not believe everything you see elsewhere. As I said previously, though, people will find more ways. This is just a temporary setback.

Lack of Legal Alternatives

And all this brings me back to the fact that we really don’t have that many legal options when it comes to watching anime, especially if you want uncensored versions of shows. Not everyone buys Blu-ray disks like the Japanese do, and even then, those Blu-ray releases are well after the initial run of the show.

Many people would point to services like Crunchyroll. But the thing is, having a Crunchyroll sub does not get you access to every anime! To watch every anime you might be interested in can take like 3 to 4 different subscriptions (Netflix, Disney+, etc) and frankly, that’s just too much to ask. If it were just 1 subscription that gave you access to all anime, and it was priced fairly, more people would be willing to pay for it.

CR used to be a piracy site as well, by the way.

And here’s the thing: when Crunchyroll was still priced fairly and had a lot of shows, piracy did go down. Another example is music; almost no one pirates music these days because paying for Spotify is just more convenient. And the music industry comparison is very accurate because at some point, every major label DID want their own streaming platform.

But as things stand with anime, you can’t even watch all of Pokémon without needing 2-3 different subscriptions, and that’s just unfair. That is why sites like HiAnime have so many users. It isn’t about being free; the convenience of having all anime at a single place is just that much better than having to pay for and switch between 3 streaming services. Because when legal means are done right, they get a TON of support. Just like the Muse group, for example.

That is all for now

Don’t misconstrue me, I am not advocating for piracy by any means. I am just explaining why piracy is so common and indeed usually the preferred method to watch anime for a lot of people. Is it right? No, it is not. But the problem of piracy goes far deeper than just not wanting to pay for stuff. As Lord Gaben said, it is a service issue. With that said, I will take my leave here. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. See ya!

Also, our Anime podcast made it into a top 100 list by FeedSpot! Check out the details here!