Aiks, accidentally published this post without an intro. Anyway, here’s an anime direct download forum with quite a large selection of rare completed anime.

They are all in .rmvb though (I think), so non-.rmvb lovers will have to look elsewhere.

1. Future-Anime.com

• Speed: Average
• Forum Posts Required to Access Downloads: None
• Forum Posts Required Per Download: 1 post (i.e. 2 points deducted per episode, and 2 points given per post made). However, note that anime movies have higher point requirements due to their size (5-10 points per movie, hence 2.5-5 posts required per movie).
• Content: 9 ongoing (e.g. .hack\\Roots, Ergo Proxy, etc.) and 39 completed (e.g. Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu, Gokusen, etc.) anime series, plus 6 movies (e.g. Noiseman Sound Insect, Initial D Stage 3, etc.)
• Update Frequency: Unknown
• Video Format: .rmvb (LQ to MQ)
• Note: Free registration required (e-mail confirmation required). To download files, you have to “pay” a certain number of points (2 points per episode, 5-10 points per movie). Points can be gained by making forum posts (2 points per post). You are given 6 free points (i.e. 3 downloads) when you sign up. Episodes are also compressed into .rar files, so you’ll have to uncompress them using software like WinRar. Premium membership available (faster downloads, user requests, etc.), but it is strictly optional.

Here’s another forum where its members share links to anime hosted on free file hosts (Megaupload seems to be the primary choice at Instant Anime) - much like Animenoobs and Shareparadise.

It is, however, much smaller if compared to similar sites/forums elsewhere. Nevertheless, you might be able to find some hidden gems over there:

1) Instant Anime

• Megaupload (Free File Host) Speed: Average
• Free File Host Content: ~15 completed (e.g. Chobits, Rurouni Kenshin, Major, etc.) anime series, as well as 2 OVAs and 5 movies.
• Update Frequency: Average
• Video Format: .avi (HQ), .ogm (HQ)
• Note: Free registration required (e-mail confirmation not required), but forum posting is not required to access their downloads section. The site only uses free file hosts, i.e. they do not have their own media server (or rather, they used to, but it has been closed down indefinitely).

These are the anime direct download sites/forums and XDCC bots featured here in the past few weeks (in chronological order). So, it’s much larger than the usual weekly wrap-up.

1. HSB Site - Temporary Anime Direct Downloads
2. AnimeSkn - #AnimeSkn Public XDCC Bot
3. Flying-Panda.net - Anime Direct Downloads Site
4. OtakuTalk - An Update
5. Inuyasha’s Forest - Anime Direct Downloads Forum
6. Anime Seal Network - Anime Direct Download Site
7. TriniTaku - .rmvb Anime Direct Download Forum
8. Anime Eden - Anime Direct Download Site
9. Oz-Anime.com - Anime Direct Download Site
10. Sushi Bar Network - An Update
11. AnimeA - Anime Direct Download Site/Forum

For more anime DDL sites, you can check out the previous wrap-up.

Edit: Accidentally typed June 2 rather than July 2. Thanks to Jon for pointing out my uh… slight blurness.

Just like Oz-Anime, AnimeA serves anime episodes through two channels: Its own media server and free file hosts.

While downloads hosted on free file hosts are completely hassle-free, AnimeA requires you to garner points for every download on its own media server. Interestingly, there are three distinct methods you can use to accumulate those points, rather than just forum posting (and therefore, the site/forum label).

One way is the conventional forum posting method, where you get 1 media server download for every two (one) post. The second way is to add free file host links to their database. For every link you add, you get 1 download on their media server. The last, but definitely not least method is to send traffic to AnimeA. This ingenious creation rewards you with one download for every 5 unique visitors (per 24 hours) you send to AnimeA (they have to click a personalised link which will be automatically generated for you when you want it).

This does mean, however, that it will be necessary to mark links to the site with an indicator that it is an “affiliate”-style link - just like how bloggers practicing affiliate marketing should mark their links with something like (aff) for products they are promoting. Of course, I could be thinking too much, so let’s jump straight to the real stuff:

1) AnimeA (aff until I get 1 download to test server speeds and whether or not this system actually works) (aff removed)

• Media Server Speed: Unknown, but should be updated soon. Quite Fast
• Media Server Content: 11 completed anime series (e.g. Elfen Lied, Gokusen, Kiddy Grade, Love Love, etc.)
• Free File Host Content: Around 135 anime series (e.g. Azumanga Daioh, Ayashi no Ceres, etc.) and movies (e.g. Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust, etc.).
• Update Frequency: Low (for Media Server) or Frequent (for Free File Hosts)
• Video Format: .avi (HQ) or .rmvb (LQ to MQ)
• Note: Free registration required to access media server, but hassle-free for anime on free file hosts. Points also have to be earnt in order to download from the media server, but you have three ways to do this. One: Two One forum post for 1 download. Two: Add 1 free file host link for 1 download. Three: Send 5 visitors for 1 download. Please note that this only applies for the anime on their media server, not on free file hosts.

The post title might actually be a wee bit misleading since most of the posts I’ve titled with “Anime Direct Download Forum” have concerned direct download sites that have a minimum forum post requirement before allowing you to download.

In TriniTaku’s case, its admins have decided to scrap the minimum post requirement, as well as the free registration requirement until further notice. So, this means TriniTaku is now completely hassle-free.

Better enjoy it for now since I’m not sure how long this will last.

1. TriniTaku

• Speed: Quite Fast
• Posts Required to Access Downloads: 30 posts.
• Content: About 40 ongoing (e.g. Air Gear, Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy, etc.) and completed (e.g. Mai-Otome, Fate-Stay Night, Karin, etc.) anime series.
• Update Frequency: Above Average
• Video Format: .rmvb (LQ to MQ)
• Note: Hassle-free site, i.e. no registration or forum posting required to access downloads. Only donators get .avi (HQ) downloads, the rest get re-encoded .rmvb files which still look pretty good.
• Warning: Not completely kid-safe since TriniTaku also provides hentai anime and manga. But they are placed under a separate section, so it should be okay.

Despite its name, Inuyasha’s Forest provides more than just Inuyasha. And ironically, while it seems to provide about 100 different anime series and movies, it does not serve the Inuyasha anime series, but only the movies.

Please also note that there’s a lot of uncertainty about the “facts” I’m about to list here since I can’t seem to find much info without making the required 30 forum posts to gain download access. For example, I’m not sure whether Inuyasha’s Forest has their own media server or not since there are no solid hints towards either answer.

1. Inuyasha’s Forest

• Speed: Unknown (Didn’t want to take the time to make 30 non-spam forum posts just to get download access…)
• Posts Required to Access Downloads: 30 posts.
• Content: About 100 complete anime series and movies (e.g. Air, Berserk, Blue Seed, etc.)
• Update Frequency: Unknown
• Video Format: .rmvb [LQ to MQ] and .avi [HQ] (not exactly sure, based on some forum comments only)
• Note: Requires free registration and 30 non-spam forum posts to access downloads. Uses free file hosts for many of the anime series provided.

P.S: If you happen to be a member or admin of Inuyasha’s Forest, I would be grateful if you clarified some of the stuff I’m unclear of. Thanks in advance.

We’ve seen OtakuTalk before, but at that time, I failed to answer a couple of the standard review criteria, e.g. speed or actual content, since I didn’t have the time to post in their forums to gain download access.

Luckily, John - one of the admins there - gave me temporary access to try out OtakuTalk’s direct downloads, and here are the results:

1. OtakuTalk

• Speed: Quite Fast
• Posts Required to Access Downloads: 10 posts.
• Content: Most recent episode from 5 ongoing anime series (e.g. Tsubasa Chronicle 2nd Season, Naruto, Bleach, etc.), and recent manga chapters from Naruto and Bleach.
• Update Frequency: Frequent
• Video Format: .avi (HQ)
• Note: Requires free registration and 10 non-spam forum posts to access downloads. Ad-free.

Animenoobs is a forum most similar to Shareparadise, and perhaps a little like Anime DESU, in that all these sites aggregate anime direct download links on free file hosts, e.g. Megaupload, Sendspace, and Gigagone.

While Anime DESU is primarily admin-updated, Animenoobs is like Shareparadise in that both admin and members upload stuff, gain points for uploading, and later, access download links uploaded by other members using those points. BTW, this system is already active on Shareparadise, but Animenoobs has yet to implement the system (though they will very soon).

I’m sure many won’t even bother with such sites simply because there’s tons of hassle-free anime direct download sites out there, that have their own media servers rather than use free file hosts that generally have poor speeds.

But for those who are looking for a series located only with community sites such as these, or have Megaupload Premium, sites like Animenoobs might come in handy.

1) Animenoobs

• Speed: Not Available (site uses a variety of free file hosts, so evaluating speed is impossible)
• Content: 19 anime series (e.g. Bleach, TOKKO, One Piece, etc.), plus some hentai.
• Update Frequency: Frequent
• Video Format: .rmvb (LQ to MQ) or .avi (HQ)
• Note: Hassle-free site, i.e. no registration or forum posting required to access downloads. But the site does not have its own media server, and thus exclusively uses free file hosts.
• Special Note: Hentai episodes have also been uploaded by Animenoobs members. So, the site is not kid-safe.

P.S.: Yep, I’ve given such an intro on such community sites before, but it wasn’t very complete. So, for the sake of new visitors, I’m repeating it. The next time another site like this is featured, I’ll link to this post instead of repeating this stuff all over again.