How can we watch anime together if we live in different places?

Either press play together on a call, screen share (which often shows a black screen on paid services because of DRM), or use a browser sync extension so each of you plays the episode on your own account while play, pause and skips stay in step.

Do we both need a subscription to watch anime together?

With a sync extension, yes: each of you plays the episode yourself, so you each need access to it, and the show has to be available in both your countries.

Can one of us watch subbed and the other dubbed?

With a sync extension, usually yes. Each person picks audio and subtitles on their own player; only the position in the episode is kept in step. Dubs can run a little differently, so agree before a big scene.

Guide · Anime

How to watch anime together online, from two different places

Anime is made for watching with someone: the reveals, the openings you both skip or both refuse to skip, the episode that ends on a cliff at 1 a.m. Here are the four ways people do it from different places, and what each one is like on a real night.

1. A countdown on a call

Both open the same episode, get on a call, and press play on three. Free, and it works on TVs and phones. A 24-minute episode holds up fine; a binge doesn't, because every pause, ad or buffering spinner needs a new countdown.

2. Screen sharing (and why it goes black)

One of you plays the show and shares the screen on Discord, Zoom or Meet. Many paid streaming services protect video with DRM, so the other person often gets a black screen with sound. On services that don't block it, the picture arrives compressed and can stutter on a slow connection. More on that in why streaming goes black on Discord.

3. YouTube through Discord

Discord's Watch Together activity plays YouTube videos for everyone in a voice channel. Some licensed anime is on YouTube: official channels post clips, trailers and, in some countries, full episodes. It's a nice fit for a group of friends and a short watch, but it only plays YouTube. Our YouTube guide covers the other ways.

4. A sync extension: each of you plays your own copy

Each of you plays the episode on your own account, at full quality, and a browser extension keeps play, pause and skips together. Teleparty, Herae and others work this way. For all of them, each of you needs access to the show, and it must be available in both your countries.

Herae for anime nights: Herae syncs the video player in the page rather than a fixed list of services, with a video call beside the episode and a link your person can join from. More than half of the nights people watch on Herae are on sites other than Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and YouTube. Honest note: we haven't run our own tests on Crunchyroll yet. If you try it there and anything slips, tell us at support@herae.app; we read every message. On Netflix and YouTube it's tested.

Tips for anime nights

Sub or dub is your own choice. With a sync extension each player keeps its own audio and subtitles; only the position is shared. Dubs can be timed a little differently, so if one of you reads and one listens, agree on it before a big scene.
Decide on openings first. If one of you skips the intro and the other doesn't, a sync tool will pull you both to the same place. Agree before the opening plays.
Check the region before you plan. Anime catalogues differ a lot by country. Open the show on both sides first; no tool can add a show to a country that doesn't have it.
Binge nights: start each new episode together rather than letting autoplay run on one side only.
Find a watch buddy. No one to watch with? Herae can introduce you to people who love the same shows (adults only, both say yes first). See how to find someone to watch with.

Try Herae for your next anime night

Install it, open the episode, and send your person a link. Your first two movie nights are free, however long they run. Needs Chrome on a computer.

Add to Chrome — free

Questions people ask

Can we watch anime together on our phones?

Only with a countdown or a service's own feature. Sync extensions, Herae included, need Chrome on a computer.

Do both of us need a subscription?

With a sync extension, yes. Each of you plays your own copy.

Can we watch in different countries?

Only shows available in both countries.

What about services that had their own group watch?

Some ended it: Disney+ removed GroupWatch in September 2023, and Prime Video ended Watch Party in April 2024 (what works on Prime now).

GroupWatch's end as stated in Disney+'s help centre, 18 September 2023. We make Herae.