TCGF Donghua Masterpost: How to Watch Legally!~
āØFirst things to know:āØ
There are two places to watch: the official Bilibili App/Website, or Bilibili's YouTube Channel.
Episodes are going to be simulcast, with hard-coded English subtitles on launch!
Both are paid services, if you want to watch on-release as it airs. Price varies per region.
You can also watch for free on YouTube two weeks after an episode airs live. You will not be able to watch for free on Bilibili except for ep1.
The YouTube channel will only have free episodes for a limited time, so if you are watching for free, do not dally! They will be locked behind a paid sub after some time, too.
IMPORTANT: The TGCF donghua on YouTube is region-locked. (Unavailable countries: North/Central/South America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia.) But if you are affected, you can use a VPN. Just pay for the sub and then use VPN.
ALTERNATIVELY: Everyone can watch on the Bilibili website, as it has no region locks! You can pay on the website via PayPal!
The Bilibili app itself is region-locked, but Android users can easily use an APK (and pay with GooglePay) to circumvent this. iOS users are best off sticking to the website only, but some counties may allow the app to be downloaded (just check first).
You will need a Bilibili account if you're going to use the Bilibili App/Website. But it's not difficult to make (guide will be linked below), and if you have one for the TGCF manhua, you can just use that one.
āØ"Bilibili or YouTube?"āØ
Short answer: Bilibili is better overall, especially the website. But there are pros and cons of each, so you can decide for yourself.
Pros of YouTube:
Easy to navigate for English speakers
Straightforward to subscribe, via Google/Apple Pay, or PayPal
Cons of YouTube:
Region-locked for many countries
Require a VPN if so
Subscription is more expensive in certain regions
Pros of Bilibili:
Website is not region-locked, no VPN required
Can use PayPal to pay for sub via website, or GooglePay/Apple Pay via mobile app
Subscription is cheaper
Cons of Bilibili:
Little confusing to navigate if you don't know Chinese
App is region-locked on Google Play/Apple App Store, and iOS users cannot download APK to get around this unlike Android users (but everyone can still use website!!!)
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ā ļøPlease expand the following visual guides, as tumblr heavily compresses them for your dash.ā ļø
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āØYouTube GuideāØ
Important Notices:
The paid subscriptions are just channel-based.
YouTube has tiered subscriptions. "MBBM lv2" is the tier you want, in order to watch both episodes 1 & 2 on launch (October 31st). "MBBM lv1" will only have access to episode 1, thus putting them one week behind the lv2 viewers.
Go to: "youtube [.] com/channel/UCQFy MGc60N MCd6H Ck0ZPA" (remove spaces and brackets)
How to subscribe on YouTube:
If you are from one of the region-locked countries, you can use a VPN after purchasing the subscription. If you don't have a paid VPN, you can use a free one like ProtonVPN (suggested by many fans, who have verified it works with the 2nd PV, as that is currently region-locked too).
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āØBilibili Website GuideāØ
Important Notices:
You will need a Bilibili account. If you have one for the manhua, for example, you can just use those same credentials. If you need to make a new account, please see the end of this post for a link on how to make one.
There are no tiers for the Bilibili subscription; it's just one flat price.
You can choose to buy the 3 month subscription, which will allot you 93 days--more than enough for the airing of the donghua. You can also pay monthly if you wish. (There are other lengths too, but you likely do not need/want them.)
Go to: "Bilibili [.] com" (remove spaces and brackets)
How to subscribe on the Bilibili Website:
Be sure to follow the 天å®čµē¦ page on Bilibili afterwards!~
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āØBilibili App GuideāØ
Important Notices:
If the app is region-locked in your country (most likely is), please download the APK via APKPure!!!!!!! There are two versions of the app, and the one from the Bilibili home page is not the one you want because it requires AliPay/WeChat Pay/etc, all of which require Chinese credentials.
Due to the probable need of using an APK to get it, using the app is only easy for Android users! If iOS users are able to download the correct version of the app, however, the guide is much the same.
I have a guide on how to know which app is the right one, if needed. See below this section.
How to subscribe on the Bilibili app:
Once you pay on the app, you'll be able to watch anywhere!
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If you need to make a new Bilibili account, check out the instructions on this reddit post: "reddit [.] com/r/FinalGearEN/comments/di6tme/bilibili_account_registration_guide/" (remove spaces an brackets)
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ā¼ļøDifferences between Bilibili Apps:ā¼ļø
I'm not sure if the alternative version of the app works with PayPal in other regions, but it didn't give me the option when I tried, even when I logged in. Thus, my guess is no, and that only the website offers PayPal, but the "correct" version of the app offers via Google Play.
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āØ"When should I pay?"āØ
Probably a few days before the donghua releases would get you the most bang for your buck. If you are paying via Bilibili and doing the 3 month sub (93 days), you can pay basically anytime between now and October 31st and have enough days left on your sub for all 11 episodes. (Unless there is a random mid-season break, but I doubt that.)
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Hope this helps! If you have questions, feel free to send in an ask!
And sorry for the ugliness of these images. Graphic design is not my passion as you can see.... š
