Using this guide, you will learn to download and watch all your favorite anime via torrenting.

Just keep in mind that I'm an idiot, so results may vary. This guide is non-exhaustive. I made this in under an hour, so you'll need to experiment a bit on your own to really get a feel for it.

OKAY!! So, to torrent anime, you need two things: a torrent program, and then the actual torrents themselves.





Download qBittorrent here, it's my personal choice for torrenting:
https://qbittorrent.org/download.php

And you can use the website Nyaa, my personal choice for finding anime torrents:
https://nyaa.si



With Nyaa open, you can type in the name of the anime you're looking for, and use the dropdown in the top right to also filter results. In most cases, you'll probably want "english translated anime".

One of the most important things when torrenting are the seeders and leechers. You can also think of this as uploaders (seeds) and downloaders (leechers) for the most part.

Every seed is someone who has downloaded the full file and is at 100%, exclusively uploading to others. Leechers are those who are still downloading the file, under 100%.

Leechers are usually also simultaneously uploading to other leechers as they download, since torrents download file data out of order (non-sequentially).

If a file has no seeds, then you will never be able to fully download that anime episode. You will only be able to download as much as the leecher with the highest percentage of the completed file (probably). But anime is most usually pretty good about this, at least when episodes are still new.

For older series, you usually have to download a batch torrent if you want good DL speeds. A batch torrent is one that contains a whole season of anime or a whole series. But don't fret if you only want a single episode. When you download the torrent and open it in the program, you can check/unckeck specific episodes you want to download.





So once you have qbittorrent downloaded, if you find a good torrent that has the anime eps you want to download, you would click the lil download button and then double click the torrent file once it's downloaded in order to open it in qbittorrent.

The torrent file is different and separate from the actual anime file. The torrent will tell the Torrent Program what file it is you're looking for and figure out whoever else has the file currently active in their Torrent Programs to upload to you.



So, if I click the magnet link, I get this popup in Firefox. It asks me to choose the application I want to use to open the magnet file. qbittorrent is highlighted, then I click open link.

qbittorrent opens, asking me to add the anime episode to download. Here is where you can check/uncheck individual episodes if you're downloading a batch file.

And there you go, the file is downloading. You can see the progress, your full list of what's downloading/seeding, ETAs, etc. Whole lotta stuff goin on here.

If you look to the right of the progress bar, you can also see your connections. In the example image, I am connected to 44 seeds (out of the total possible number in parentheses), meaning 44 people with that anime episode 100% downloaded are uploading the file to me. I'm also connected to peers like me who are also downloading but incomplete.

Once the download reaches 100%, you can watch your anime episode. Congrats!!



Keep in mind once the file is done, you will become a seed and still be uploading. Generally, it's good practice to check your ratio before you stop seeding an anime episode.

Ratio is how much you downloaded vs uploaded. you generally want a ratio of at least 1.0, meaning you helped upload as much as you downloaded, like paying it forward, but you don't have to. If you just want the file, you can then remove the file from qbittorrent without deleting the anime file, and all download/upload activity will stop.

Torrenting can use a lot of resources and a lot of internet speed, so try to plan ahead.

Finally, I thought it may be a good point to mention: Seeding/uploading files is probably what can get you in trouble with your ISP. From what I know, ISPs get angy for distributing, not so much downloading. And even then, the most I've heard will happen is the ISP will send a letter asking you to stop, potentially listing the file in question. It may help to use a VPN for this, as apparently it can stop the ISP from seeing exactly what file is being uploaded/downloaded, therefore they can take no action. Do your own research!