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Anime Network, Funimation Launch YouTube Video Rentals

The Anime Network video-on-demand service and the North American distributor Funimation have both launched video rentals on the YouTube website. With this new service, the rental price and the rental duration of each video is up to the discretion of the original distributor, and users pay for the rentals through a Google Checkout account. The YouTube rental service is currently only available in the US. The Anime Network is offering its titles at US$1.99 per episode, or US$3.99 for features and movies, and the rentals are available for seven days. Funimation is offering its titles at US$0.99 per episode, and rentals are available for 24 hours.

The Anime Network is currently offering the following anime and live-action titles:

• Burn Up! OAV
• Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
• Destiny of the Shrine Maiden
• Legends of the Dark King: A Fist of the North Star Story
• Tears to Tiara
• UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie (Series 1, 2 & Specials)
• 2009 Lost Memories
• Conduct Zero
• Guns & Talks
• Jail Breakers
• Jungle Juice
• Marrying the Mafia
• No Blood No Tears
• Yesterday

Funimation is currently offering the following titles for rental:

• Sands of Destruction episodes 3-13
• El Cazador de la Bruja episodes 5-26
• Bamboo Blade episodes 5-26
• Spice and Wolf episodes 3-13

The first episodes of each of the Funimation titles are available for free, and each title is being streamed in English. Subtitled episodes of these titles are still free to watch on YouTube if available.

Viz Media also announced today that the first episode of Naoki Urasawa's Monster anime is available on the Playstation Network for free from January 26 through February 9. The episode will also be available in the Playstation Network Home Theater from January 28 through February 4.

Thanks to SXAniMedia for the news tip.