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by echelon 261 days ago
It might take a few more decades, but Google will ultimately win the streaming wars.

I'll be shocked if anime isn't available on YouTube.

You can also interpret that as I'll be shocked if AI doesn't result in every mangaka becoming their own small studio and distributing via YouTube.

4 comments

> I'll be shocked if anime isn't available on YouTube.

In 2002 it was and I really liked it then.

YouTube was founded in 2005, is this a typo?
I think you’re right for certain use cases. When I want to watch a specific movie, you can pull it up and rent it super easy on YouTube.

No fuss. It’s basically a 1-click operation. $2.99 or whatever to watch your movie in good quality.

There are some anime that are simulcast on YouTube. Watanare was one of them during the summer 2025 season.

https://youtu.be/wyyXL__Awlk

I'll be shocked if they're able to get noticed above the tide of slop and industrially automated bogus copyright claims.
Discovery has always been a problem.

You can look to the past to see what this might look like in the future:

- Publishing in the digital publishing era.

- Indie Gaming in the Steam Greenlight era.

- Indie music in the digital recording / DAW era.

- Trying to make it as an actor or musician in general.

- YouTuber careers vs. "YouTube poop"

- Trying to make it as a streamer / influencer

Novelty, self-promo, luck, preparation, right place/right time, likeability -- there are lots of things that can come together to make it work. But it's still a lot of work.