AniWave should not be confused with Aniwave (anime convention).
| AniWave | |
| Type: | File streaming |
| Registration: | Optional |
| Language: | English |
| Launch Date: | 2016 |
| Current Status: | Offline |
AniWave (also Aniwave, formerly, 9anime[1] [2]) was an anime-focused file streaming website that hosted links and embedded videos, allowing users to stream or download movies and TV shows illegally for free.
The website was related to a chain of similar websites known as FMovies and had connections to individuals or operations in Vietnam.[3]
The website was initially known as 9anime. It was founded in 2016 and in 2023 rebranded itself to AniWave. (Some fake clones using the same name have been reported to appear in the aftermath of this). It had several domains, most recently it used a .to domain associated with the Kingdom of Tonga.[4]
The site has been targeted by copyright enforcement organizations such as Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment several times, including in 2022 and in 2023.
It went offline on 27 August 2024, together with several related websites.[5] [6] [7] On 29 August 2024, Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment confirmed that they had assisted the Vietnamese police in shutting down the site and many other connected sites including FMovies.[8]
The website was widely popular. In October 2020 TorrentFreak called it "a major player in anime piracy" with over 39 million visits per month.[9] In May 2023 TorrentFreak described it as a "piracy behemoth" with 214 million visits a month and "huge, successful, and a prime target" for copyright enforcement.[10] In August that year it described the website as "one of the world's largest piracy sites" and "one of... anime piracy juggernauts" although quoting a smaller number of monthly visits (110 million). In 2023 its .to domain was ranked #164 globally, with over 30% of that traffic coming from the United States. A year later, it reported that "it serviced a mind-blowing 170 million visits a month".
The Tech Report referred to the site as "one of the world's most visited movie streaming websites" and praised the website for being free (including ad-free), its width of coverage, as well as various useful features (such as a list of favorites and watchlists), noting that it however lacks options to download content and a dedicated mobile app.[11] Dataconomy called it "a significant player in the anime streaming space". The Escapist noted that it was "important to the anime community", particularly as legal services are not available to everyone. Distractify noted that the site's closure "has left [anime] fans reeling", as legal services suffer from "increasing prices and somewhat limited range of [content]".