What is Funimation?
Funimation is an on-demand video streaming service for all things anime. It provides exclusive access to several popular titles such as Dragon Ball. Its content library features a mixture of new anime shows and classic titles that may appeal to people looking for the nostalgia of shows they watched when they were growing up.
The anime specialist service is packed with intriguing sounding shows built around wild and wonderful themes, from entire civilizations being turned into stone to alien teachers observing the Earth. Funimation also includes the fastest updates on dubbed anime, which could be a big draw for some.
The service offers three paid memberships. There is also a free service that features a limited amount of ad-supported content. There are two month-to-month plans available. Its most expensive offering is only available as an annual subscription.
Funimation is more than simply a video streaming service — it also hosts a blog and forum and provides access to a range of online games. There is even a store through which users can purchase DVDs and merchandise.
Funimation plans and pricing
| Funimation Premium | Funimation Premium Plus | Funimation Premium Ultra | |
| Price | $5.99/mo. | $7.99/mo. | $99.99/mo. |
| Free trial length | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days |
| Number of TV shows + films | 950 titles and 25,000 episodes | 950 titles and 25,000 episodes | 950 titles and 25,000 episodes |
| Original content available | No | No | No |
| Offline downloads | No | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming quality | 1080p/720p HD | 1080p/720p HD | 1080p/720p HD |
| Simultaneous streams | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Annual anniversary gift | No | No | Yes |
| 2 free rentals per year | No | No | Yes |
Funimation supported devices
Funimation is available across mobile phones and tablets, as well as a range of televisions, gaming consoles, and streaming devices that enable access to the service’s app.
Devices that are compatible with Funimation include:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Amazon Kindle
- Android phones and tablets
- Apple iOS phones and tablets
- Apple TV
- Google Chromecast
- LG and Samsung Smart TVs
- PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4
- Roku
- Windows phones and tablets
- Xbox 360 and Xbox One
What to watch on Funimation
Funimation’s content is organized into the following categories:
- Action/Adventure
- Comedy
- Drama
- Fan Service
- Fantasy
- Horror
- Psychological
- Romance
- Sci-Fi
- Shoujo
- Shounen
- Slice of Life
The main attraction of Funimation’s content library is Dragon Ball — a media franchise founded in 1984. The series follows the adventures of Goku as he battles villains and searches for seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls. The service also features follow-up series Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Z Kai.
Additional favorites on Funimation include Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which focuses on a group’s quest for the Philosopher’s Stone, Satoshi Kon’s legendary thought-provoking thriller Paranoia Agent, and Tokyo Ghoul, in which a youngster leads a team of humans with ghoul powers.
Top-rated shows on the service also include Assassination Classroom, which focuses on Class E’s assignment to kill their teacher before the end of the school year, How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Left, about a girl who joins a gym to lift weights and counter her love for food, and the self-explanatory That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime.
Funimation also features a nice selection of classic anime shows. This includes Akira, which follows a biker in Neo-Tokyo intent on revenge against society, a tale of four young wizards forming a bond stronger than magic in Fairy Tail, the story of a minor god Noregami, and Overlord, which is about a veteran player in a massive online role-playing game.
Funimation makes it easy for viewers to find new shows to watch via a dropdown menu at the top of its homepage. This includes a What’s New section that displays the latest releases available on the service. The Discover section is another useful tool for finding new content. The Recommended tab shows users titles related to their previous viewing history. There is also a Trending tab, which presents social updates about Funimation shows.
Users can make show selections based on how they feel through Funimation’s Moods page. Viewers can also browse categories such as classic anime, doom and gloom, family-friendly anime, high school hijinks, tearjerkers, and underrated gems.
Funimation features
Funimation provides two simultaneous streams through its Premium service, which can be extended to five by upgrading to Premium Plus or Premium Plus Ultra. However, the service does not enable users to create multiple profiles per account. Downloading shows to mobile devices is only available with the service’s two upper tiers, and the amount of content users can download depends on the storage space available on their phone or tablet.
Most of Funimation’s content is rated PG-14, so not suitable for young children. However, users can limit access by turning on the mature content restriction in their account.
The service presents content in an appealing grid format with images of shows, that, when hovered over, are replaced by a synopsis, a rating, and the option to add the title to My Queue.
In addition to its anime selections, Funimation also provides several games based on popular shows such as Attack on Titan: Assault, Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail’s Journey, and Tokyo Ghoul. It also has an online shop through which users can purchase action figures, collectibles, DVDs, toys, and games related to popular anime characters and shows. Premium Plus members get free shipping on store orders over $20.
The final cut
Funimation is a great resource for anime lovers, providing a good range of shows as well as additional content like blogs, a forum, and games. The service enables viewers to watch more than 600 anime series, from popular classic shows to horror offerings. Keep in mind that Funimation’s catalog is largely limited to dubbed anime and Dragon Ball. Viewers can experience the service for themselves by signing up for Funimation’s free 14-day trial.