Did you know that you can watch a whole bunch of Japanese series - not just anime, but also J-dramas - with English subtitles, even though they were only released in Japan? And some of them are completely free! Here you'll find all the methods for watching them and making them understandable! The best part? It also works for Japanese-only YouTubers and more!
How to watch Japanese series in English
Fake a location in Japan
You can also use the features described here with videos you can watch normally. For example, with Japanese YouTubers! But if you want access to Japan-exclusive series, you'll need to use a little trick!
You have to make streaming services think you're in Japan! Only then will they show you the country's content. For this, you need a VPN. The principle is simple: you essentially connect to a PC in Japan. It receives the streaming services' content and forwards it to you.
I recommend ProtonVPN for this! There are numerous VPN providers out there, but many companies are shady. A particularly secure option is ProtonVPN. It's a non-profit organization founded by former CERN employees and headquartered in Switzerland.
Using it is incredibly simple:
- Create an account with ProtonVPN*
- Download the app (Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, Mac)
- Log in with your account
- Select Japan and press "Connect"
Note: You can already use ProtonVPN for free. However, it will connect you to a random country. To specifically connect to Japan, you need a subscription. But it's worth it, because a Japan VPN has many benefits that go beyond streaming!
How to get English subtitles
Now you can overcome the language barrier! Especially with YouTubers or Japan-exclusive series, there are no English subtitles available. But nowadays you can solve this problem thanks to AI! There are various methods for this:
The Early Access version of Migaku lets you create particularly good subtitles in English on YouTube. And not just in the browser on PC, but soon on iOS and Android too! This means your next favorite YouTuber could be Japanese - without you needing to know the language!
In combination with the official anime channels on YouTube, this is extremely powerful and gives you a large and constantly changing repertoire of series!
- Create an account at Migaku
- You need to use at least the Early Access tier and download the corresponding app/extension
- Then open a YouTube video
- Click on the magic wand in the bar at the top of the screen
- Select the subtitle language and click the upper "Generate" button
- Then disable the display of the original subtitles if you don't want to learn Japanese
Automatic subtitles with Google Chrome
- Click on the three dots in the top right - Settings - Accessibility
- Select "Subtitles"
- Enable "Live Captions"
- Click on "Manage languages" - "Add language"
- Add "English" and "Japanese"
- Click on the arrow next to "Preferred subtitle language" and select "English"
Automatic subtitles with LLPlayer
- Download the LLPlayer and extract it
- Start LLPlayer as Administrator
- Right-click on "LLPlayer.exe" - "Run as administrator"
- Click on the gear icon in the bottom bar
- Open the ASR menu
- Optional: Select "faster-whisper" under "Whisper Engine" and click "Download Engine"
- Now select a model under "Whisper Model" and click "Download Model"
- Quality varies depending on the model. Better models require more storage space. If the translations aren't good enough for you, try a different model!
- Then open the "Translate" menu and set "Translation" to "English"
- Under "Translation Engine" select "GoogleV1"
- You can also use other services like AI models, which provide significantly better translations. However, you'll need to set those up yourself and some require a paid API key.
- Now open your browser and copy the link to a video
- Right-click in LLPlayer and select "Open from URL"
- Next, click on the first CC in the bottom bar and select "ASR"
- LLPlayer will now generate the subtitles. This may take a moment.
- Click CC again and click on "Auto Translate"
- LLPlayer will now process again and the subtitles will be translated
Keep in mind: The quality of translations varies and errors may occur more frequently. However, it's usually sufficient to understand anime, J-dramas, and similar videos.
What about Android and iOS? On smartphones, there's currently no method to automatically generate translated subtitles for Japanese series. However, this is coming soon. Android and iOS both already have live subtitle features including translation, but they currently only work for English. More languages are expected to be added in the future.
Streaming: Where to Find Exclusive Anime, J-Dramas, and More
Now you just need the series themselves. And some of them are already available completely for free! Here I'll show you a range of websites where you can find series, movies, and more that you normally can only watch in Japan!
Streaming-Services für japanese Shows
With the classic streaming services, you now get a different selection. These include:
- Amazon Prime
- Special channels: Amazon Prime also has numerous sub-channels that require an extra fee. Then you can watch true Japanese classics like Abarenbou Shogun.
- Netflix
- Disney+
- Hulu
Free Anime on Youtube
This way you can even watch anime completely legally and for free! Many providers upload older episodes to YouTube exclusively for Japan. Some of the relevant channels are:
- フル☆アニメTV: Kodansha's channel. They're known for series like Attack on Titan and Fairy Tail.
- ジャンプチャンネル: Shonen Jump offers titles like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Demon Slayer.
- Visual Arts Japan: Visual Arts is known for Clannad, among others.
- 東映アニメーションミュージアムチャンネル: Toei Animation's classics include series like Digimon and Kinnikuman.
- 【アニメ】名探偵コナン公式: Here you'll find many episodes of Detective Conan!
- ポケモン公式YouTubeチャンネル: The official Pokémon channel offers not only free episodes but also full short films.
- TMSアニメ公式チャンネル【アニメ制作60周年】: Films like Akira and Lupin the 3rd were released under TMS.
- 手塚プロダクション公式チャンネル: You may know Tezuka Productions from series like Black Jack.
- 「KING AMUSEMENT CREATIVE」公式チャンネル: King Amusement is another major anime provider.
Most episodes are only available for a limited time. But in return, big names are often featured. Hits like Digimon and Gundam have already appeared in my playlist!
My insider tip: Combine this with the Migaku app*! With its features, you can actually use the series to learn Japanese!
J-Drama and Anime with official subtitles
If you value professionally created subtitles, the selection is somewhat smaller. However, you'll often have to rely on English subtitles, but you won't need a VPN anymore.
Official and free: My insider tip is the JFF Theatre, the official streaming site of the Japan Foundation. There you'll find regularly changing J-dramas and anime that you can watch completely for free. This way you can keep discovering new series and films that you would never have found otherwise!
Classic streaming services: But even on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and similar platforms, you'll find plenty of works directly from Japan without a VPN, and they already come with subtitles!
Everything you need to know about creating subtitles
The best results came from the Early Access version of Migaku. I also found it the most convenient to use. It can create subtitles for videos* that don't have any and then automatically translate them to English. This works on PC so far, with Android and iOS coming soon.
That depends on the platform and the method. It's possible that not every combination works.
To access regional content, you need a VPN with a Japanese server*. Connect to a server in Japan so that streaming services think you're located there.
The quality of translations can vary and errors may occur. However, the quality is usually sufficient to understand the content. In testing, Migaku delivered the best results.
The JFF Theatre, the official streaming site of the Japan Foundation, offers regularly changing J-dramas and anime for free with subtitles. Many Japanese titles with subtitles are also available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+.
The Migaku app will soon have this feature on iOS and Android as well. For automatic subtitling directly in the operating system, there is currently no solution for Japanese yet, but they are in development.
