What happened to Aniwave? Explained

For those who couldn’t afford subscription-based streaming platforms, Aniwave was a lifesaver. Of course, this site came with legal and safety risks, but many still chose to use it for their anime-viewing needs.

The piracy website first gained popularity as 9anime in 2016, it became many people’s go-to platform due to its wide variety of anime titles. In late 2023, the site went through a rebrand as a result of DMCA issues, and so, Aniwave came into existence. Unfortunately for its users, the new domain didn’t last too long, though. On Aug. 26, some folks started being met with an error message when trying to access the platform, and later, a message written by the Aniwave team, saying goodbye.

Why is Aniwave gone and will it come back?

We don’t know what the future holds for Aniwave, but considering the message left by its team, it seems like this is really the end. Why, though? What happened? Well, the site disappeared without a proper explanation, but it’s not hard to guess why. This situation was likely brought about by legal issues, something that has always haunted unofficial streaming sites.

Aniwave’s termination came at a particularly tumultuous time for illegal anime, manga, and webtoon platforms. On Aug. 21, for example, it was made public that Webtoon Entertainment would be seeking legal action against over 170 piracy websites, as per Torrent Freak. Thanks to this wave, most folks assume that the Aniwave team is trying to get ahead of the game by shutting it down. While it’s undoubtedly the right thing to do, this leaves a lot of people fumbling for other options — if that’s your case, check out the 10 best (legal) anime streaming sites out there. You might find one that suits your needs.