Starting an
It’s no different to how people wanna start:
- Social media companies.
- Search engines.
- Real estate..
And all other kinds of things with a high barrier to entry. That barrier being a BIG financial one, more than anything else.
But…..
Starting an anime streaming business is different

With an
- Buy licenses.
- Spend tons of money.
- High upfront costs.
- Design the website.
- Attract the customers.
And all that good stuff, the same way
But actually that’s not the entire truth. The reality is starting an
You’re not forced to go through the front door, there’s a backdoor as well.
It’s really the only way to start a legal
Some will take what I’m about to say as me promoting it, but it’s really pointing out the facts and reality of the situation. And to show how broken the
How to start a legal anime streaming business:
1. Create an anime pirate site
That’s right. The only way to start an
Not politically correct, is it? But it’s the brutal truth. And no amount of preaching the so called greater good can change it.
Not all
Bilibili, the Chinese
Founded by Xu Yiin 2009, the name comes from a play on Mikoto Misaka’s nickname in Railgun.
Fans could upload stolen
2 years prior (2018) they went public, which lead to them going legal and putting the days of piracy behind them.
They have over 31 million registered users.
manga, obviously.
The site was so massive during the time it was a pirate, that even pirate bay was small in comparison. And even Hollywood
It wasn’t until 2019 that they decided to be “good Samaritans” and go the legal route instead of, as they say, hurt the industry.
“The massively popular
manga comic scanlation platformManga Rock is shutting down. Its Google Play store app has been removed and according to a published timeline the iOS version and site will follow. The site’s operators say that they now realize how much damage piracy does. They are committed to relaunching as an authorized service, MR Comics, in the near future.” – Torrent Freak
Crunchyroll started out this way, too. The founders started the site as a deliberate pirate.
This was even before KissAnime came into the picture. It probably inspired KissAnime.
Fans could upload
In 2005-2007 you can only imagine how necessary the site was, even if it rubbed people like Anime News Network the wrong way.
No legal
That encouraged them to go legal after so much criticism and pressure. And that’s partly why they’re #1 in
It’s why they got a foothold in the business at all, given the high upfront costs.
It’s a history I can’t imagine the CR founders were proud of because they’ve never confronted it out loud in the open.
Related: Crunchyroll Vs Funimation: Which One To Choose, And Should You Use BOTH?
2. Write the cheque
“Everybody wants to be a boss, but nobody wants to write the cheque.” – Unknown
If you’re not putting up your own money, you can forget it. The
You either put up the money, and have the money to spare in large amounts to pay for:
- Licenses.
- Content.
- Branding.
- Marketing.
Or you start an
You can also call it the “necessary evil” option.
Even if you can do the money part, the piracy solution is cheaper anyway. And it guarantees traffic within the week, never mind a month.
So many
The demand is always high, even for new pirate sites that may or may not go legal.
How much the average anime license costs
“anime is decidedly more complicated than just being able to pay for it.” – Anime News Network
The barrier to entry for a legal
It’s not a poor man’s business let’s put it that way, meaning you can’t start a legal
This only proves the point even more, and is ironically responsible for piracy since so many
No company will buy a boat load of
That’s true for NEW shows airing each season as well.
For these reasons,
Don’t hold your breath waiting.
–
Recommended Next:
How To Make Money From An Anime Blog (Or Website) And Turn It Into A Business