RASEN Inc., a company based in Nagoya, added live co-viewing to its RASENWATCH service on October 25, 2026. The feature automatically syncs an anime watch-along on YouTube Live with the playback of each viewer’s own streaming service. It is free for both broadcasters and listeners. The company’s press release uses a stream by the VTuber Himeno Ekopi as its example image.
At a glance
- Service: RASENWATCH, an anime co-viewing service by RASEN Inc. (Nagoya, Aichi)
- New feature: live co-viewing on YouTube Live, launched October 25, 2026
- Price: basic features and live co-viewing are free; a premium plan costs 550 yen per month including tax
- Broadcasters: PC with Google Chrome; Netflix, Prime Video, U-NEXT, d Anime Store and DMM TV are supported
- Listeners: Chrome on PC, or the RASENWATCH app on iPhone and iPad
- Not yet available: an Android version and additional services such as ABEMA are planned
What was announced
Before this update, RASENWATCH could sync playback automatically only for archived videos. The new feature extends this to live broadcasts. Watch-alongs, in which a streamer plays an anime from a streaming service and chats with viewers, are a common format for VTubers and other streamers. The difficulty is that each viewer must press play at the same moment as the streamer, and delays, pauses and YouTube ads can break the timing.
The broadcaster installs a Chrome extension, signs in with a Google account and verifies ownership of the YouTube channel once. After that, the broadcaster opens the streaming window and a timer window, adds the timer to the stream through OBS or similar software, and shares the listener URL. The timer shown on the stream carries a QR code. Each listener’s extension or app reads it to correct for the delay of the stream.
Listeners then follow the broadcaster’s scene, including pauses, rewinds and episode changes. A listener may use a different streaming service from the broadcaster, and differences in opening-credit length are adjusted automatically. When an ad plays on either side, playback pauses and sync resumes afterward. Broadcasters can register a scheduled YouTube stream in advance, and a test-broadcast mode is available.
Platform support
Broadcasters need a PC with Google Chrome. Listeners on PC use Chrome with the same five services. On iPhone and iPad, listeners use the RASENWATCH app with Prime Video, U-NEXT and DMM TV; for d Anime Store and Netflix, the app supports simultaneous playback only. Each person still needs their own subscription to the streaming service. RASENWATCH does not supply anime content.
Listeners can also find live co-viewing sessions on the RASENWATCH top page, which the company suggests may help streamers reach new viewers.
What it means for overseas viewers
The service and its press release are in Japanese, and the supported streaming services are mainly those used in Japan, with Netflix and Prime Video the two that are also widely used abroad. Which titles can be synced depends on each service’s catalog in the viewer’s country, which RASEN has not described. Overseas fans who watch Japanese VTubers’ watch-alongs should treat the feature as relevant mainly when a streamer chooses to use it and the title is available in their region.
What we don’t know yet
- Whether the service is usable outside Japan and which regional catalogs work
- The release date of the Android version and of ABEMA support
- Which VTubers and streamers will adopt the feature
- How the sync performs on streams with heavy delay
Sources
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Reviewed by WVR Inoue on October 30, 2026. See our editorial standards.
