:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month's Fifth Anniversary!!

HD's "Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month": Sinking its teeth into legally-free and -low-cost anime since 2009!

A little over five years to the day, "Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month" first began on October 28, 2009 with manglobe's dark comedy short, TRIP TREK. Since then, somewhere between 70 to 100+ titles have been spotlighted (depending on how you count the batch entries), with the most recent being this month's selections of PSYCHO-PASS 2 and Your lie in April (which is a really fine show, thus far), part of HardDoor's commemoration of noitaminA's 10th anniversary.

Since choosing a title like TRIP TREK, I normally like to pick a work that is befitting of the Halloween season for each anniversary. Since neither noitaminA series falls under that category, I would like to point you towards one that not only works quite well with the holiday, but also ties in to both noted anniversaries.

:anime: Free/Low Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: NANA

NANA

Official Sites: Japanese, English
Additional Links: NANA Franchise Official Site, ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video [Free {Streaming}]: Neon Alley, Hulu
Video [Pay {Download-to-Own}]: iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Xbox Video

A funny thing happened on the way to coming up with September's (belatedly-posted) Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick. First, the original intended pick, Char's Counterattack--I discovered--was set to expire by the end of the month, not leaving a whole lot of time for anyone to really watch it. Then I turned to a few alternative picks I had in mind, only to find that I would rather save those particular ones for later time. With personal matters to attend to on top of that, I was in something of an extended bind.

In the midst of this, however, something dawned on me: "Have I ever showcased NANA?" Sure enough, nearly five years after doing these, I never, ever have. Well, that changes here, as one of the finest anime ever made is September's (retroactive) selection!!

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon

Official Sites: Japanese, English
Additional Links: ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video (Free {Streaming}): Hulu, Neon Alley
Video (Pay {Download-to-Own}): iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, PlayStation/Sony Entertainment Network, Xbox Video

(As you may have noticed with the Picks over the past year or so, I have been experimenting with the show info format above, though I am closing down on a final one here. I will be trying to include more DtO links, as well as posting links to aggregates like Neon Alley, Aniplex Channel, Anime News Network, and Toonzaki. As much as I dislike listing sites that just show embedded video from other venues (i.e. Hulu, YouTube) or a collection of them from a company's catalogs, some of them have interactive social features and communities, so I will provide links there for those interested in striking up a conversation with other fellow viewers.)

This was one of the titles leftover from last month's intended anniversary special, where I was going to post one Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick for each week, but alas, life and other matters got in the way. I decided to shift some of the celebrations to this month, instead, so we'll be kicking off with one of the most no-brainer and mention-worthy titles to come around recently.

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn)

Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn)

Official Sites: Japanese, English
Additional Links: ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video: PlayStation/Sony Entertainment Network, Xbox Video, DAISUKI

For the most part, the vast majority HardDoor's Free/Low-Cost Anime Picks are free, primarily because I like to choose titles that are as easily accessible and with as little upfront "risk" as possible. However, there are rare instances where there is no real viable (and, *cough*, legal) way of viewing a particular one without having to pay for it. When that is the case, you hope that work happens to be worth the price of admission.

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Mystery Meat AniMe

*Hey, look! It's a Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick not at the end of a month!*

I have highlighted many anime for each month since Oct. 2009 and normally, I would list the anime's name in the title. But for craps-and-giggles' sake, I want to change the pace a little, so let's play that little game where you reach your hand in the bag and guess what the object is!!

The rules are simple: I'll give you a very vague description of the anime and the website(s) where it is listed at. The URL is simple enough that all you need to do is enter the anime's title (if you can guess it correctly…) at the end of the site's address (if you can guess that, too) to get to it (i.e. "www.crunchyroll.com/kill-la-kill", and make sure to use hyphens where/if there are spaces). And to be an extra pain-in-the-butt and even more in spirit of the game, everything is in "invisible text", so you'll have to highlight the text in order to see it. :D So, without further ado, click below and have some fun!

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: La maison en petits cubes

La maison en petits cubes

Official Site: Japanese
Additional Links: ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video: Crunchyroll (Subscribers only)

For a while, I had planned on spotlighting the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short Film, La maison en petits cubes (Tsumiki no Ie), as this month's Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick, as the 2014 Academy Awards are this weekend. Unexpected, however, were the nominations of Hayao Miyazaki's final(?) film, The Wind Rises, and Shuhei Morita's Possessions for Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short, respectively, which makes this selection all the more timely.