In the middle of streaming, HiAnime users suddenly received a loading issue and subsequently could no longer access the pirating site. Without warning, the website showed nothing but the following words of goodbye on March 13, 2026.
It’s time to say goodbye. And thank you for a wonderful journey with great moments.
The simple white text on a black screen sent anime communities on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) into a spiral of panic and confusion as this follows the latest string of piracy stie takedowns. Though, this isn’t the first time the site made it to the top of online news. Last October, the heavily frequented piracy site was listed as a “Priority Notorious Linking and Streaming Sites” in the Motion Picture’s Association’s request for public comment.
In February 2026 alone, SimilarWeb estimates around 153M+ visits to HiAnime, placing it above the browser visit rank to legal platforms such as Paramount Plus and Tubi TV. According to the same source, the site drew in 244M+ visits in August 2025, which was double Crunchyroll’s browser (mobile and desktop) traffic in that same month. That level of visitor traffic is one of the reasons why it was caught in the crosshairs of US regulators in 2025. Despite being on a watch list, there was little confidence that the site would be taken down for good since it has dodged that fate for years.
Yet, there’s been no official confirmation from operators, whether through Discord or Reddit, of the reason behind this takedown. Online speculation often echo the common theory of a DMCA notice, but nothing has been made official. Further confusion around the situation began as mods of the HiAnimeZone subreddit tried to reassure users that the site will be back up, potentially. As of today, there’s been no updates but the message remains pinned as an announcement. Users claim the site’s current message is similar to ones shown on other anime piracy sites that eventually came back later.
