Wakanim

Wakanim SAS is a French entertainment company, which runs the video-on-demand streaming service of the same name that specialises in the online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series. It is also the first company to offer videos for download without digital rights management on anime series in Europe.[2]

Wakanim
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
Founded27 February 2009 (2009-02-27)[1]
Founder
  • Olivier Cervantès,
  • Ludovic Alcala,
  • Jonathan Fontaine
Headquarters
Tourcoing
,
France
Key people
Olivier Cervantes (President)[1]
ProductsAnime
Revenue€713,600 (2013[1])
OwnerSony (Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan joint ownership)
Number of employees
6 to 9 (2018[1])
ParentFunimation Global Group
Websitewww.wakanim.tv

History

Wakanim was founded on 27 February 2009,[1] and broadcast its first series in October 2010, The World God Only Knows.[3]

In October 2013, Wakanim began expanding overseas, with the service extended to the United Kingdom in partnership with British distributor Anime Limited.[4][5][6] Wakanim UK was later discontinued in 2014, with Space Dandy being the final title simulcasted in the region.[7]

In July 2014, Wakanim announced a new service called Wakanim Music which is about Asian music news and would offer music streaming.[8] It was launched in February 2015[9] but the service is no longer available.

In March 2015, Aniplex became the company's main shareholder, allowing for Aniplex to enter the French market, and strengthen its European presence.[10][11] From 2017, Wakanim began expanding internationally. In June 2017, Wakanim established an English-subtitled version for the Nordic countries.[12] In September 2017, Wakanim announced that it would be available for the German-speaking regions with subtitles and dubs in cooperation with the AkibaPass service.[13][14] In January 2018, Wakanim further expanded by launching a Russian service for Russian-speaking countries and regions.[15][16] In April 2020, Wakanim expanded its English language service to the Netherlands, with select titles from Wakanim Nordic's catalogue being made available.[17]

In October 2016, Wakanim offered their first simultaneous French dub with Drifters, in partnership with the French television channel J-One.[18][19]

On 24 September 2019, Aniplex and Sony Pictures Television announced that they were consolidating their international anime streaming businesses, with a new joint venture, Funimation Global Group, LLC., with Funimation general manager Colin Decker leading the joint venture. The joint venture would operate under Funimation's branding, and allow Funimation to acquire and distribute titles with Aniplex subsidiaries Wakanim, Madman Anime Group and AnimeLab. The first title under the joint venture, Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia, would receive a 30-day exclusivity on FunimationNow, AnimeLab and Wakanim, and provide Funimation exclusive rights to the English dub for one year.[20] Following the merger, Wakanim began offering Funimation SimulDubs in its English language service.[21]

Features

The videos are DRM protected which the playback takes place via a proprietary HTML5 player called JW-Player version 8.11.8 (as of February 2020).[22] In June 2015, they announced a revamp version of their website which in October they started to use the new HTML 5 player instead of Flash.[23][24] Wakanim also have apps for Xbox One,[25] PlayStation 4, Windows 10, Apple TV,[26] Amazon Fire TV, iOS and Android platforms.[27] The iOS and Android versions have an offline mode, in which it is possible to download videos and watch them later without internet access.[28]

Availability

Subscription

When Wakanim's service was launched, the accessible episodes of series were broadcast in simulcast with Japan on the Internet, in paid mode (by streaming or download without DRM) and at the same time free of charge for seven days (streaming or download with DRM) after the first broadcast. In March 2016, Wakanim offered access to its catalog with a monthly subscription.[29]

In June 2017, they changed the way their different offers work.[30] The episodes of the new series are broadcast in simulcast with Japan and are reserved for accounts with a subscription, called "VIP members", during the week following their broadcast.[30] The episodes are offered with the best possible quality (up to 4K) and without ads, and after a week, free members can access it with SD quality (480p) and some ads.[30] The old series are available for everyone but with a quality that varies according to the type of account, up to 4K and without ads for VIP members and in SD (480p) with ads for free members.[30]

In September 2018, they started to offer three-monthly and annually subscription.[31]

Area served

Wakanim offers series and films which are geographically restricted according to the selected language:[32]

References
  1. "Wakanim". Societe.com (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. Romain Heuillard (4 October 2013). "Wakanim : téléchargement définitif en HD et sans DRM" [Wakanim: Permanent download in HD and DRM-free]. AnimeLand (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. Olivier (6 December 2011). "Un simulcast gratuit !" [A free simulcast!]. Clubic (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  4. Olivier (4 October 2013). "WAKANIM s'étend au Royaume-Uni" [WAKANIM expands to the UK]. AnimeLand (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  5. Andrew Osmond (22 October 2013). "U.K. Wakanim Website Now Online (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  6. Andrew Osmond (2013). "DIGITAL & SIMULCASTING ON YOUR TERMS – WAKANIM.CO.UK". All the Anime. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  7. "Wakanim.tv UK". wakanim.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  8. "Wakanim lance un service musical" [Wakanim launches a music service]. Manga-news (in French). 3 July 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  9. "Lancement de la plateforme Wakanim Music" [Wakanim Music platform launched]. Manga-news (in French). 2 February 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  10. Reith Saji (24 April 2015). "La célèbre maison de production japonaise Aniplex investit dans Wakanim.tv" [The famous Japanese production company Aniplex invests in Wakanim.tv]. Adala-News.fr (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  11. Red-bushi (24 April 2015). "Aniplex investit dans le développement de la société Wakanim" [Aniplex invests in the development of company Wakanim]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  12. "Wakanim to Launch Anime Streaming Services in the Nordic Region July 1st 2017". Anime News Network. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  13. Robin Hirsch (21 September 2017). "VoD-Plattform Wakanim startet in Deutschland" [VoD platform Wakanim starts in Germany]. Anime2You.de (in German). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  14. Robin Hirsch (26 September 2017). "Weitere Details zur neuen VoD-Plattform Wakanim" [More details about the new VoD platform Wakanim]. Anime2You.de (in German). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  15. "Онлайн-сервис Wakanim приходит в Россию" [Wakanim online service comes to Russia]. kg-portal.ru (in Russian). 21 September 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  16. Burak Dogan (6 January 2018). "Wakanim startet in Russland + Interview mit Evgenia Medvedeva" [Wakanim starts in Russia + interview with Evgenia Medvedeva]. Anime2You.de (in German). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  17. Wakanim Nordic [@WakanimEU] (14 April 2020). "🚨 Warning for the Netherlands: Wakanim is now available in your country! This Spring, enjoy your series live from Japan with our selection of brand-new simulcasts" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Twitter.
  18. Bruno De la Cruz (17 October 2016). "J-One et l'idée Simuldub pour Drifters" [J-One and the Simuldub idea for Drifters]. AnimeLand (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  19. Red-bushi (6 October 2016). "Doublage simultané sur la série Drifters !" [Simultaneous dubbing on the Drifters series!]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  20. Spangler, Todd (24 September 2019). "Sony Merges Anime Streaming Businesses Under Funimation-Led Joint Venture (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  21. Wakanim Nordic [@WakanimEU] (29 January 2020). "🗣️🇬🇧 Simuldubs are coming to Wakanim Nordics for VIP Subscribers! Enjoy new, fully English-voiced episodes from selected ongoing shows, every Friday at 5 pm GMT!" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Twitter.
  22. "JW Player Javascript". Wakanim.tv (in French). 24 February 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  23. Hugo_ (25 June 2015). "Wakanim Version 2 dévoilé lors du Wakanim Live #5 le 26 juin à 18H" [Wakanim Version 2 unveiled at Wakanim Live #5 on June 26 at 6 p.m.]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  24. Pering (7 October 2015). "Le lecteur Wakanim passe en HTML 5 !" [The Wakanim player goes to HTML 5!]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  25. *Lilly* (21 December 2016). "L'application Xbox est arrivée" [The Xbox app is here]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  26. Taison (23 July 2018). "Wakanim maintenant disponible sur Apple TV !" [Wakanim now available on Apple TV!]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  27. Wakadmin (15 December 2016). "De nouvelles applications iOS et Android chez Wakanim" [New iOS and Android apps from Wakanim]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  28. ameheut (12 September 2019). "Regardez vos anime hors-ligne sur iOS et Android !" [Watch your anime offline on iOS and Android!]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  29. "Wakanim s'ouvre au visionnage par abonnement" [Wakanim opens to subscription viewing]. Mangamag.fr (in French). 9 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  30. *Lilly* (24 April 2015). "Nos offres évoluent !" [Our offers are evolving!]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  31. Taison (12 September 2018). "Wakanim présente ses nouvelles offres d'abonnement, en collaboration spécial avec Sony® !" [Wakanim presents its new subscription offers, in special collaboration with Sony®!]. Wakanim.tv (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  32. "ЧАСТО ЗАДАВАЕМЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ | О WAKANIM | В каких странах доступен сервис Wakanim?" [FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS | About WAKANIM | In which countries is Wakanim available?]. wakanim.tv (in Russian). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
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