Random Topic: Round-Up of Winter 2016's Legal Anime UK Streaming List

The Spring 2016 season is literally around the corner and announcements for that season are going up slowly (so far all confirmed titles are UK compatible which is excellent). The Winter 2016 season has been handled much better than usual so here's the list of titles that were made accessible for the UK (and also Ireland).

This post will cover titles added from December 2015 to February 2016 (March additions will be part of the Spring 2016 post).

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is still the main service to go if you live outside North America and they did a really good job for picking up a lot of the shows this season. Pretty much every major show that Funimation haven't licensed ended up with Crunchyroll.

The following titles available for simulcast include:

 - Active Raid (Kidou Kyoushuushitsu Dai Hakkei)

 - AOKANA: Four Rhythm Across the Blue (Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm)

 - BBK/BRNK (Bubuki Buranki)

 - Durarara!!x2 Ketsu

 - Erased (Boku dake ga Inai Machi)

 - Fairy Tail Zero

 - Garakowa -Restore the World- (Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai)

 - Gate: Fire Dragon Arc (Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri - Enryuu-hen)

 - KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world! (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!)

 - Landlord is in Puberty! (Ooya-san wa Shishunki!)

 - Lupin the Third Part IV

 - Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara.

 - Myriad Colors Phantom World (Musaigen no Phantom World)

 - Noblesse: Awakening

 - Nurse Witch KOMUGI R (Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R)

 - Ojisan and Marshmallow (Ojisan to Marshmallow)

 - Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation

 - Please tell me! GALKO-chan (Oshiete! Galko-chan)

 - Schwarzesmarken

 - Sekkou Boys

 - She and Her Cat -Everything Flows- (Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows)

 - Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

 - Tabi Machi Late Show

 - Teekyu 7

 - This Boy is a Professional Wizard (Kono Danshi, Mahou ga Oshigoto Desu.)

 - Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 3rd Season (Yami Shibai 3rd Season)

The following catalogue titles made available include:

 - Case Closed (Detective Conan)

 - Flames of Recca

 - Free! Eternal Summer English Dub

 - Fushigi Yugi

 - Fushigi Yugi OVA Series 1

 - Fushigi Yugi OVA Series 2

 - Fushigi Yugi: Eikoden

 - Ghost Stories

 - Lododol OVA

 - Wagnaria!!3 1-Hour Special Finale

Like the previous season, there were a few more catalogue titles added to the service but Discotek Media only had the North American rights to them.

Daisuki

Daisuki stepped up this season with some Funimation titles UK accessible in addition to a few other Aniplex titles that were also added.

The following titles available for simulcast include:

 - Dagashi Kashi

 - Erased (Boku dake ga Inai Machi)

 - GOD EATER: Episodes 10-13

 - Haruchika: Haruta & Chika (Haruchika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru)

 - Luck & Logic

 - Pandora in the Crimson Shell (Koukaku no Pandora)

 - Prince of Stride: Alternative

The following catalogue titles made available include:

 - JK Meshi!

The following titles delisted:
 - Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation

 - The iDOLM@STER

Viewster

Viewster had put anime on the backlog due to their focus on the Omakase subscription service but now that's getting discontinued there are still a couple more titles added to the service.

The following titles available for simulcast include:

 - Snow White with the Red Hair (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime) Season 2

The following catalogue titles made available include:

 - Saint Beast: Seijuu Kourin-hen Season 1

 - Saint Beast: Seijuu Kourin-hen Season 2

Animax UK

The wrath of Animax still continues. Funimation once again provided them with more of their titles for simulcast, thankfully FunimationNow is going to be a thing.

The following titles available for simulcast include:

 - Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) Season 2

 - Dagashi Kashi

 - Dimension W

 - Divine Gate

 - Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Hai to Gensou no Grimgar)

 - Haruchika: Haruta & Chika (Haruchika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru)

 - Pandora in the Crimson Shell (Koukaku no Pandora)

 - Prince of Stride: Alternative

Nothing got removed... yet.

The Anime Network

Yep, surprise surprise the US only streaming service will actually be providing UK support (well it's not much but it sounds like they'll expand it in the future).

The following titles available for simulcast include:

 - Gate: Fire Dragon Arc (Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri - Enryuu-hen)

 - Girls Beyond the Wasteland (Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu)

 - Norn9: Norn+Nonet

 - Nurse Witch KOMUGI R (Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R)

 - Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation

 - Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle

The following catalogue titles made available include:

 - Gate Season 1

 - Haikyu!!

 - Haikyu!! Second Season

There's also pre-existing titles available since before the website redesign including Angelic Layer, Elfen Lied, Lunar Legend Tsukihime and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. I don't really recommend The Anime Network because the titles require a subscription and 95% of the catalogue are for US only.

Netflix

Netflix once again adds more anime to the UK catalogue. Many thanks to Aniplex (and I guess Kaze) for making that happen. However a lot of Pokemon and a couple Anime Limited titles got removed as a result of the deal expiring.

The following catalogue titles made available include:

 - Aldnoah.Zero

 - Black Lagoon

 - Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail

 - Case Closed (Detective Conan)

 - Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Season 1

 - Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works

 - Glitter Force (Smile PrettyCure)

 - Gunslinger Girl

 - Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-

 - Little Witch Academia

 - Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade

 - Tenkai Knights

 - Pokemon XY

 - Pokemon: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

 - Rurouni Kenshin
 - Your lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso)

The following titles delisted:

 - Gurren Lagann (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

 - Kill la Kill

 - Pokémon Black & White

 - Pokémon: Black: Victini and Reshiram

 - Pokémon: Genesect and the Legend Awakened

 - Pokemon: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice

 - Pokémon: White: Victini and Zekrom

 - Robotech: Love, Live, Alive

 - Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

Netflix also have acquired the rights to Ajin: Demi-Human which will be available in April.

That's pretty much it for the Winter season. Funimation have announced a bunch of titles for the UK line-up but I'll save that for the next season list. This season has been very good but we did miss out on a few titles like the new One Piece OVA and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt. Nevertheless the UK is finally getting more and more accessible shows and that matters.

As for the shows I had watched this season? Well I saw a couple actually.

Durarara!! is finally over (and I'm sad it's gone). Durarara!!x2 Ketsu, the third and final part of Season 2 has ended on a fantasic note. The series may have had some pacing issues but the story and characters, especially Mikado, gets even better as the season draws closer to its conclusion. The show received a simuldub with the same cast as Season 1 so do check it out if you're a dub only fan (also check out Season 1 because that's also a lot of fun to watch).

Erased was pretty solid for its first half but stuttered with some problem on the second half. The show in general is worth the watch but there are a lot of issues related to the story, villain and the final two episodes.

God Eater returns with its four final episodes after a massive delay due to production and schedule issues. Overall the show was alright, it got me invested in the source material (the anime is based on the video game series of the same name) and the animation is really nice. The story ends on a mixed note but it's not terrible.

While this show started in the Autumn season, Lupin the Third Part IV is excellent. The show gives a lot of nostalgia to fans and it's even accessible to newcomers who have never seen the franchise before. I definitely recommend this show to everyone and I hear an English dub is already in progress so if you are a dub only fan look out for that (and it's also using most of the Lupin Part II dub cast).

Myriad Color Phantom World is not your typical Kyoto Animation show as this is vastly different and way more fanservice related than the usual. It's alright but it's certainly not the worst of the season. All of the characters are fun to watch though, including Reina.

There are two more from this season that I plan to watch after this post; Konosuba (aka explosions) and Gate Season 2. Ajin I'll check out when it hits Netflix while the titles licensed by Funi I'll have a look once the service hits the UK. That's it from me and I'll cover the Spring line-up sometime in the future.