Watching anime evolved from a hobby to a de-stresser for me in recent years and I'd even taken a break from it for a while. When I found I needed that relaxing moment as part of my day again, I decided to try out a streaming service I hadn't before that would work on my Roku T.V. I was surprised to find that the FUNimation app had a wide variety of shows spanning time, genre, and levels of obscurity. There were so many titles from just the last few years I'd never heard of or seen posts about online that turned out to be golden experiences. Looking to get back in the groove of a daily night-cap of watching shows and not being too picky on what type, I scrolled the entire FUNimation streaming catalog and made a list of anything that sounded remotely interesting to at least try an episode on. Of course, this kind of approach isn't for everybody, but I'm glad I did it as I continue encountering not only good laughs and great characters but some real works of writing and visual art, as well.

FUNimation has a lot of titles with both English Dub and original Japanese voice options. Watching shows in dub back-to-back means that I sometimes keep encountering the same FUNimation voice actors across series, however it's turned out to be a fun experience. It's nice to recognize a familiar actor and hear them in different roles. For some series, like some of the idol series I follow, I personally want to hear the Japanese voices I was already familiar with and the quality switching to Japanese is still great. On the topic of quality, the video quality has been wonderful, even when using my phone or the computer, and there's options to change the video quality level. Their interface on the Roku app is easy to use and to pick up where you left off on. I have no complaints on their variety and size of catalogs of titles and their price is comparative to other anime streaming services. FUNimation has been around since 1994 and I personally remember a lot of their dubs from the 2010s. It's clear they've continued to grow and all of the dubs I've watched since subscribing to them a month ago have been skillful.

While the best decision for a streaming service does depend on what your preferences are and everyone's going to enjoy different things in different ways, FUNimation may still be worth a try! They have a 14 day free-trial on their website and it's easy to cancel if need be (which I know always makes me feel better about trying free trials). You can also see a list of all the devices they're compatible with by scrolling down on the front page of their site. Try them out if you're a fan of SimulCast and SimulDub, being able to download to your device for offline viewing, or are looking for a new catalog with variety!