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Tony Tony Chopper in the One Piece anime
Screenshot Via Crunchyroll

What Happened To Aniwave? Explained

It’s always better for fans to use legal services to watch anime. However, everyone’s situation is different, and for one reason or another, that may not be an option for some people. That’s why services like AniWave are so important to the anime community. But what happened to it?

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Why Was AniWave Shut Down?

Eren talking to his dad in Attack on Titan as part of an article about what happened to AniWave.
Screenshot via Crunchyroll

On the morning of August 27, 2024, anime fans hoping to watch their shows for free were met with a message on AniWave’s website, informing them the platform was no longer available.

“You know, it has been a long journey since Aniwave (9Anime) first appeared,” the statement read. “Creating better products that provide an improved user experience and fostering competition to drive the market to enhance products is something we are very happy about. Now that everything has improvedā€¦ it is also time for us to say goodbye…It is difficult to part with something we have invested so much effort and passion into, but it is something we need to do. Thank you for standing by and supporting us throughout this time!”

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In addition to the heartfelt remarks, AniWave’s creators told their supporters how they want them to move on. “If possible, please use legal paid services,” they said. “It’s something we should do to show our respect for creators and content producers.” They closed out by posting the music video for Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again,” the iconic song that played at the end of Furious 7.

As for why AniWave went down, it appears that copyright issues are catching up with a lot of pirate sites following WEBTOON Entertainment’s recent SEC filing. AnimeSuge posted the same message, including the music video, which is leading many to speculate that they were owned by the same people and they want to avoid any legal issues. However, without a definitive statement from AniWave and its owners, it’s impossible to know why the site went down out of the blue.

And that’s what happened to AniWave.


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Jackson Hayes
Jackson Hayes is an Associate Editor at The Escapist. Starting his writing career in 2017, he quickly rose the ranks and became an editor. He's spent the last six years working at outlets such as CBR, Heroic Hollywood and Full Circle Cinema, where he's covered various sports games, Call of Duty, the MCU, and other major properties. You can follow him on Twitter @jacksonhayes67