Kara Dennison
June 26, 2025 
On the one hand, it’s great that anime is available on so many streaming services. From anime-specific platforms like Crunchyroll and HIDIVE to mainstream venues like Netflix, anime is more available than it’s ever been. The bad new is, every streaming service means a separate subscription. Even if you group services under an umbrella like Roku or Amazon Prime, it adds up. So we’re always on board for free anime when it’s available. And fortunately, there is some!
While It’s Anime powered by REMOW does offer its series through streaming platforms for ease of searching, lots of titles are also streaming free on YouTube. Outlets like Amazon Prime will always be your best bet, since episodes can come and go. But there are (at the time of this writing) several series you can watch right on their channel! Some are done; others are releasing over time. Where will you start?
TASOKARE HOTEL
Our love for the anime adaptation of TASOKARE HOTEL is not something we keep quiet. The story stated as a mobile game, equal parts escape room and Ace Attorney. Since then, it has become a single-season series, and one of many free anime available on the It’s Anime channel. The series follows a girl named Neko through a strange world between life and death. As she tries to learn more about how she ended up at this otherworldly hotel, she helps people like herself make peace with their passing or realize that they still have some life left to live. And all is well until a killer arrives on the hotel’s doorstep and refuses to leave.
Like many other titles on the channel, TASOKARE HOTEL only has a few full episodes up individually. But at the time of publication, a nearly five-hour stream replay lets you rewatch all 12 episodes in full!
My Deer Friend Nokotan
Need something a little lighter? Why not enjoy that one brainrot anime all your friends keep posting gifs from? Calling My Deer Friend Nokotan a weird show is an understatement. It’s got that sort of early-to-mid-2000s Weird Gag Anime vibe. Think Dai Mahou Touge or Puni Puni Poemy, but with way more deer. You’ll know pretty quickly if this bizarre offering is your cup of tea. And even if it isn’t, the opening theme will embed itself in your brain forever.
It’s also another totally free anime available (for now, at least) as a streaming marathon. Think you can handle this show all in one go? Make sure you’ve packed plenty of deer crackers if you brave this one?
KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops
Seeing the 1996 anime adaptation of KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops was not on our bingo cards this year. Or any year, for that matter. This series, and its manga, tends to fall under the same category as Sazae-san and Chibi Maruko-chan. They’re well-known in Japan, but (save for a run of about 30 episodes for Chibi Maruko-chan) unlikely to get licensed in North America. And yet, KochiKame is here, with a new (to us) episode uploaded once a week.
The series follows the misadventures of Kankichi Ryotsu, a.k.a. Ryo-chan, and his fellow offers at a police box in front of Kameari Park. With nearly 400 episodes to its name, there will be plenty to look forward to!
