AnimeLane is an extensive site devoted solely to anime, with a few Asian films thrown in. They certainly cater to their niche market well, though the website is not quite up to the standards of Netflix and the market leaders.
They list an impressive 29 genres, with some like Hentai, Asian Movies, Kaiji (rubber suit), Video Game Related, etc. They also have a basic and an advanced search engine--the latter allowing for searches within genres, by certain studios, as well as by actor and director.
The actual title data is a bit basic, but probably enough to make your mind up. There's a picture of the box cover, a short synopsis, then list by studio, genre, director, language, year, and running time. One thing we do like, they let you know when new titles will come in, and you can send these pre-release items to your wishlist.
One major benefit is as a member, you can purchase any used anime title from AnimeLane for a full 25% off retail price, or a new title for 15% off, or a hentai-related game for 30% off. That alone is reason to sign up if you're a fan.
AnimeLane is based in San Francisco, and state that most DVDs will take 3-5 days to arrive, but shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the East Coast can take longer. Each DVD is enclosed in a plastic sleeve, inside a styrofoam pouch for extra security.
To aid speeding things up, they have an excellent Self Return function; just log in and click that you've sent your discs back, and Anime Lane will send you the next lot without waiting for the first lot to arrive. The maximum number of DVDs you can have out is twice your plan limit. If your plan is the 2 out at a time, you can have 2 movies in Self Return and 2 movies outstanding for a total of 4.
There are some additional features we haven't touched on, like bonuses for referring friends, ability to request new products they don't yet stock, polls on things like which anime fighting style is best, and new critic reviews to browse.
Prices: AnimeLane have an extensive array of unlimited rental tariffs, starting at 2 discs out for $15.99 per month, 4 discs for $ 26.99, 6 discs for $38.99, 8 discs for $49.99, 10 discs for $59.99, and 12 discs for $69.99.
They do not offer a free trial, but AnimeLane do reduce the first month by about a third, ie, for the 2 disc plan, it drops from $14.99 to $9.99 for the first month only, etc. There are some additional extra, like on the 10 disc plan, they will give you one free anime DVD title free, and if you go for the whopping 12 disc plan, they give you two free titles. You can also purchase six or twelve month gift subscriptions.
Good choice for anime niche renters, but the website leaves a bit to be desired.
DVD Rental Basics