February ends with yet another heartbreak for anime watchers as the well-known anime streaming platform, Aniwatch, goes down.
The ad-free and user-friendly platform was like a dream come true for all of us, and was head and shoulders ahead of most of the other sites.
This makes us wonder what might have happened to take such a bold step, and if it will ever return.
Aniwatch has shut down its streaming platform with a lengthy announcement explaining to us how the site “has reached its limits.”
The official announcement states that the site was facing money problems and a few small server outages, placing them in a position where they can no longer provide the service.
Just a month back, they tried closing their registrations to deal with this issue, but it wasn’t of much use.
The staff members aim to make the most out of this indefinite hiatus by figuring out things, and are currently working on an export feature.
1. Why Not Resort to Ads or Donations to Maintain the Costs?
Some may think that Aniwatch with ads is better than no Aniwatch at all. But that’s not a solution that the staff will resort to since the data privacy of their customers comes first.
Moreover, they believe that the purpose of creating Aniwatch was not to fill the greed of privacy intruding companies.
In mid-February the company asked for some financial help from its customers, and the fact that the site shut down weeks after meeting their donation goals makes me feel a little suspicious.
Then again, donations cannot be considered as a permanent solution since its very unlikely to raise 1000 dollars every month from people who are explicitly trying to get services for free.
It seems that the staff are searching for a long-term solution.
2. Will Aniwatch Ever Return?
The announcement assures us that Aniwatch’s closure is not a definite decision, and the fact that they are working on an export feature makes us hope that it may return.
More information will be revealed in the weeks to come, but I don’t think it will be coming back any time soon. All we can do is to give the staff the time to reconsider their decision, and come up with a solution that’s best for the community.
At the end of the day, its nothing but piracy of anime content. But I am sure if they come up with a paid and legal subscription service, many fans will be willing to pay for it.
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