Anime fans have never had so many legitimate streaming options to choose from. Between Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix and their competitors, these services bring the bulk of new shows to the world, along with an array of older titles. To break into this booming market, you need a niche.
One option is to serve up classic shows that the major streamers haven’t touched — that’s the Retrocrush way. New player Animelog is taking a similar path. The platform, launched this month as a Youtube channel, will offer library titles with an explicit focus on family audiences.
The initiative carries weight because it has the backing of major Japanese animation producers, including Toei Animation, Nippon Animation, Shin-Ei Animation, and Tezuka Productions (founded by anime and manga luminary Osamu Tezuka). The idea, as a press release makes clear, is to consolidate the companies’ online offerings, heretofore scattered across their individual Youtube channels, into a single, far broader platform.