Rakuten Viki - Free Tier [/]
Jan 27 2025
Rakuten Viki is a streaming service for Asian movies and tv shows which relies on community translations. They have a free tier (limited selection with ads, 480p), standard tier ($8/month no ads, 720p), and plus tier ($12, 50% more content than standard, 1080p). I've been using the free tier for a month.
In terms of video quality 480p is not great watching on my 10" iPad screen. You can have good 480p video with the right compression but I guess Viki uses a lesser compressor with lower bit rates. Start/stop responsiveness is average for streaming (Netflix being the best). Controls don't show up for about 20 seconds at start so you have to watch a bit of the beginning of a video.
Ads are fairly standard. They tend not to play on my older iPad so the main video stops for a minute and then continues. In general more ads than Prime Video free tier.
Translations are very good, often translating pertinent text that's on screen (like signage) and sometimes adding a bit of commentary (e.g. why are some references relevant to Asian viewers).
Content is fine even on free tier. I've found entertaining shows and movies. I like that the browse interface labels free/standard/plus content so even though you can't filter for just free content it's still easy to find.
Overall given I currently love Asian romance movies and tv shows this is a service to keep around though maybe 4th on the list (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Viki) because of the video quality.
In terms of video quality 480p is not great watching on my 10" iPad screen. You can have good 480p video with the right compression but I guess Viki uses a lesser compressor with lower bit rates. Start/stop responsiveness is average for streaming (Netflix being the best). Controls don't show up for about 20 seconds at start so you have to watch a bit of the beginning of a video.
Ads are fairly standard. They tend not to play on my older iPad so the main video stops for a minute and then continues. In general more ads than Prime Video free tier.
Translations are very good, often translating pertinent text that's on screen (like signage) and sometimes adding a bit of commentary (e.g. why are some references relevant to Asian viewers).
Content is fine even on free tier. I've found entertaining shows and movies. I like that the browse interface labels free/standard/plus content so even though you can't filter for just free content it's still easy to find.
Overall given I currently love Asian romance movies and tv shows this is a service to keep around though maybe 4th on the list (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Viki) because of the video quality.