We know you’re paying to stream Re:Zero and Dorohedoro right now, but why not supplement your watchlist this week?
Kourtnee Jackson Senior Editor
Kourtnee covers TV streaming services and home entertainment. She previously worked as an entertainment reporter at Showbiz Cheat Sheet, where she wrote about film, television, music, celebrities and streaming platforms.
Credentials
- Though Kourtnee hasn’t won any journalism awards yet, she’s been a Netflix streaming subscriber since 2012 and knows the magic of its hidden codes.
It’s Anime Day, the unofficial fan-led celebration that falls right in with the spring anime season.
Paying for streaming subscriptions is worth it right now for shows like Re:Zero and Witch Atelier, but free anime is the move, too. Sorry, friends — this isn’t the place where we’ll point you to bootleg anime, despite price hikes on services like Crunchyroll. What we can do, however, is highlight the streaming platforms that give you free content. In this case, FAST options are the way to go.
Classics like One Piece, Sailor Moon and Hunter x Hunter are on the menu, but there’s plenty more to stream — even newer titles — if you head to the right spot. Anime movies, series and forgotten cult favorites are waiting to be found on the platforms we’re sharing below, where you can stream live channels or watch on demand with just a few clicks.
Samsung TV Plus: 24/7 anime
On Samsung TV Plus, there is a batch of FAST channels, including It’s Anime, which launched in July 2025 and streams anime around the clock. You’ll find titles like My Deer Friend Nokotan, Hell’s Teacher and Umamusume: Cinderella Gray. Free channels for Crunchyroll, RetroCrush and Anime x HiDive stream all day and night, and you can also tune in for series such as Hunter x Hunter on the Anime All Day channel. The catch? Though it’s free, you need a Samsung device to stream, and this option is available only to viewers in the US and Canada.
Hoopla
Hoopla isn’t a FAST service, but it’s a digital platform that gives you access to TV shows, manga, movies, music and more content via public libraries. Anime fans will find a broad collection of more than 400 films, TV episodes and books in honor of Anime Day, with titles such as The Apothecary Diaries, One Piece and Pokemon: The First Movie among your choices. Look into getting a BingePass for RetroCrush or Pokemon to stream for a week. Check with your local library to see if it offers Hoopla, and you just need a library card to use it.
Pluto TV
We told you about Pluto TV’s massive anime rollout in May 2025, which added live channels like Anime All Day and a bank of on-demand titles. Get into nonstop anime by watching the free streaming service’s new-ish channels: Anime x HiDive, Anime Comedy, Inuyasha (yes, a dedicated channel), Pluto TV Anime Movies and Kids Anime. There are 13 seasons of One Piece available on demand, but if you channel surf, you can check out Bleach, Naruto, Speed Racer, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Bakugan and so much more. New in 2026? A full-fledged Boruto channel.
Viz Media on YouTube
You probably already know there are a lot of channels on YouTube that offer full anime episodes, but Viz Media is a giant in the game as a publisher and distributor. With that in mind, its YouTube channel should be a go-to for a treasure chest of content like episodes of Ranma 1/2, Black Torch and Naruto. There’s even a curated playlist of anime movies. Hit Viz’s playlist section to dive into series and anime films.
Tubi
If you haven’t spent any time on Tubi yet, perhaps it’s a good time to give it a try. There are 200 anime titles for you to choose from, including City Hunter, Black Jack, Digimon Adventure, Yu-Gi-Oh and Paprika. For those of you who prefer dubbed anime, there’s plenty to stream among Tubi’s crop of retro and newer titles.
Stream free Crunchyroll, RetroCrush and HiDive live anime channels
It’s fairly easily to slide over to a free or paid subscription streaming service to watch anime, but what if there’s a specific live channel you’d like to peruse? We mentioned Anime x HiDive, an offshoot of the AMC-owned HiDive streaming service. It’s an anime live TV streaming channel you can find on Plex, Sling Freestream and the aforementioned Pluto TV. But, there’s more.
Pop over to the RetroCrush channel, which is part of a suite of free live channels available on Philo, Fubo, Vizio WatchFree Plus, Samsung TV Plus, TCL Plus and Sling Freestream. Here, you can watch stuff like Ninja Robots, City Hunter, Future Boy Conan and Lupin the Third.
Crunchyroll launched its FAST channel in 2023, and anime fans can tune in on Vizio’s WatchFree Plus, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, LG Channels or Sling Freestream to binge titles like Black Clover and Shadows House.
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