For First Timers

For First Timers "How to download anime", and similar questions, answered here

Introduction to Forums

New to forums? Want to avoid stepping on people's toes and looking stupid? We highly recommend you read this first.

The guide may be a little outdated, but it holds true in spirit and principle. Make your own mental edits for modern terms and trends.

Introduction to Bittorrent

New to Bittorrent? Or perhaps your first time watching a fansub? This section answers your questions and serves as your initiation into the fansub and Bittorrent community.

What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files?

Check out Brian's Bittorrent FAQ and Guide.

How do I watch the files I download?

Visit this page and have a look around. The CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack) is the simplest codec pack available on the internet, and the simplest codec pack to set up. Out of the box, it is practically guaranteed to play anything that you throw at it (from our site, of course). If you have any problems, please look here for possible solutions. If you can't find one, you may either post in the forums asking for help or use the Help Form.

Where can I learn more about codecs/anime/manga/Japanese culture?

Google and Wikipedia are your friends.
For specific information on Japanese animations, there are 3 main resources: AniDB, AnimeNewsNetwork (ANN), and AnimeNFO. Each site offers unique information on any given title.
For specific information on manga, there's MangaUpdates and AnimeNewsNetwork (ANN).

Downloading

How do I download files from the internet?

There are generally 4 ways to download anime online: from IRC, Bittorrent trackers, Direct links, and eDonkey network(aka Ed2k network).

1. To download using IRC, you need an IRC client. A quick guide to downloading using IRC can be found here and here.
2. To download via Bittorent, you need a torrent file and Bittorrent client.
3. To download using Direct links, there are two methods:
   1. Using the direct link to the file itself that is hosted on private server(service usually paid by the person who provides the links).
   2. Using links to download from file hosting service, mostly free for both, who provides the links and the downloader.
4. To download using Ed2k network, you will need Ed2k links and Ed2k client.

Where do I download from?

The following are typically the main sources to download from:

1. Downloading torrent files:
   1. Public trackers (i.e. TT) or torrent aggregators (i.e. AnimeSuki)
   2. Private trackers and semi-private trackers (such as BakaBT; membership accounts required)
2. Distro IRC bots, which you can usually find in the fansub group's IRC channel (if you don't know where, you can find information on AniDB)
3. To get the direct links you will need to look for them yourself either by using google, or participating on Internet forums that provide these links.
4. To get Ed2k links you can search for them using the Ed2k client search function, or by using search engines such as emugle.

(More information needed)

Downloading from BakaBT:

BakaBT is a semi-private bittorrent tracker which only use bittorrent protocol for downloading files. In simple, the site only provide you with small file called "torrent" (size 0-100KB), and this file contains the metadata about the files to be downloaded and tracker information, and this file(torrent) can be opened with any bittorrent client (such as utorrent), then you can choose the location of the download and the files to downloaded (if you don't want to download the whole torrent).

Seeding

I've finished downloading the files, so how do I seed back?

Once your download has completed, most clients will continue to run the torrent in seeding mode until the ratio is 1:1. If this is not the case, try some of these steps:

1. Simply press Start on your torrent again. Some clients might stop torrents that have finished downloading.
2. Check your client's settings regarding how much a torrent should be seeded to before stopping. Your settings may be preventing seeding.
   1. e.g., uTorrent's 'Torrent Properties' dialogue box for each torrent has an adjustable ratio target. It automatically stops the torrent when you hit the target ratio or seeding time.

If you have removed the torrent from your torrent client but still have the downloaded files on your disk, read on to learn how to re-seed the files.

Re-seeding Downloaded Files with Different Clients

Azureus

If you have downloaded something but removed it from Azureus and wish to seed it again, follow these steps:

Please Note: You must re-download the .torrent file.

  1. Go to Azureus > File > Open > Torrent File...
  2. Select the .torrent file for the data from its location on your hard drive
  3. Select the location where the file you want to seed is stored
  4. Wait for Azureus to finish checking the file. When it does, the file will move automatically 
     from the download window into the seeding window 

If the torrent does not move into the seeding window on its own: Right-click on newly created entry in the download window of the My Torrents view. Select Force Re-check. The value in the 'Done' column will count from 0% to 100%. Upon reaching 100%, the file will be moved to the seeding list on the bottom of the My Torrents tab.

If you do not have the original .torrent file but the original data, try this:

  1. Download the file again
  2. Azureus will check it out
  3. Azureus will move it to the seeding list (the process is very quick) 

(taken from Azureus wiki)

uTorrent 1.6.0 -1.8.3

1. Go to the torrent page and download the .torrent file again (make sure you're logged in before downloading, if not the tracker URL will be incorrect).
2. Open the .torrent file in uTorrent, but do not start it yet (uncheck the "Start Torrent" checkbox). [Image:Add Torrent dialog window in uTorrent (with "Start Torrent" unchecked).]
3. Click on the ". . ." button at the end of the directory name display, and browse to the folder where the files are.
4. In Windows Explorer, make sure the filenames in the folder match the filenames in the torrent filelist.
   1. If some/all of the filenames do not match, uTorrent allows you to relocate them, so as to avoid renaming. [Image:Relocate files in uTorrent.]
5. Click "Ok" in the Add Torrent dialog box. The torrent should now appear in your torrent window in stopped state.
6. Right-click on it, and select "Force recheck". uTorrent will now scan the selected folder for matching files, so if the files are the same and still have the same filenames you should see the progress bar start filling up. [Image:Force the torrent to recheck the downloaded files.]
7. Let it scan until it says "Stopped" under the Status column. Then press "Start" to start the torrent proper.
   1. If the files are 100% verified it should say "Seeding" under the Status column.
   2. If there are missing files, or some of the pieces did not hash properly, uTorrent will download the missing pieces before putting the torrent in Seeding status.
8. You're done! Now just let the torrent sit and seed.

Official BitTorrent 6

1. Go to the torrent page and download the .torrent file again (make sure you're logged in before downloading, if not the tracker URL will be incorrect).
2. Open the .torrent file in BitTorrent, but do not start it yet (uncheck the "Start Torrent" checkbox).
3. Click on the ". . ." button at the end of the directory name display, and browse to the folder where the files are.
4. In Windows Explorer, make sure the filenames in the folder match the filenames in the torrent filelist.
   1. If some/all of the filenames do not match, BitTorrent allows you to relocate them, so as to avoid renaming.
      1. In the files tab right click the file and select relocate.
      2. Browse to the original file, select it and click save.
      3. Repeat the process for all files that have different names.
5. Click "Ok" in the Add Torrent dialog box. The torrent should now appear in your torrent window in stopped state.
6. Right-click on it, and select "Force recheck". BitTorrent will now scan the selected folder for matching files, so if the files are the same and still have the same filenames you should see the progress bar start filling up.
7. Let it scan until it says "Stopped" under the Status column. Then press "Start" to start the torrent proper.
   1. If the files are 100% verified it should say "Seeding" under the Status column.
   2. If there are missing files, or some of the pieces did not hash properly, BitTorrent will download the missing pieces before putting the torrent in Seeding status.
8. You're done! Now just let the torrent sit and seed.

Transmission 1.7x

For users of Mac OS X (possibly other OS's as well):

1. Navigate to Preferences > Transfers, and make sure "Display 'adding transfer' options window" is checked.
2. Open the torrent with Transmission. The Add window should pop up, with options for which files to download, destination, etc.
3. Click "Verify Local Data", and if your anime is still in the folder Transmission downloads to, it should update everything to 100% complete.
4. After this, simply click Add, and it should immediately start seeding.

Managing Your Ratio

Throttle your download

If you're a first-time BakaBT user with not-many files for seeding, it is likely that you will start off by downloading some torrents. More astute users would have noticed that many of our torrents have a very high seeder:leecher ratio, which means it will be quite hard for you to seed back quickly. What do you do then?

The easiest way to manage this would be to throttle your download bandwidth. Your ratio is calculated by amount uploaded divided by amount downloaded, so the slower you download, the slower your ratio drops (do the math). Unless the torrent has enough leechers on it that you can upload at a decent speed, we advise you to make sure you don't kill your ratio too quickly yet.

Prioritize your download

While downloading big files, usually longer series and OVAs, it is always a good idea to set individual file download priority. That way you will be a partial seeder even while leeching and there is a bigger chance that another peer will connect and request packets from you rather then the seeder.

This can easily be achieved in most common recommended clients by choosing the files tab and setting download priority to high, normal or low. Some clients may have 3-6 priority levels.

Fixing Your Ratio

I got warned, I have no files so I can't seed or download. Woe is me

BakaBT is not the only source of downloadable anime. Try the sources listed above. You'll be surprised at how much stuff is available outside of BakaBT. Download something that's recent and in demand, and seed it here to fix your ratio. You can organize the browse list by leechers to see what is in demand. Downloading the files for offers that will be granted soon and seeding those is also a good way to fix your ratio.

Wow, that's too much trouble for me, I don't think I'm quite cut out for that

While we're not quite financially in the red, a little economic boost is always welcome. It's a simple idea; you donate money, and in return, you get more uploaded data on your tracker statistics. Donations are open at the start of the month, and are closed when the server cost for the next month has been covered.

Note that donations are handled manually, so you'll get the bonus points whenever we get round to it.

Currently we only accept donations through Paypal.

Oh dear, I'm going to have to sell my house, car and dog to have enough to fix my ratio. Anything cheaper and faster?

You might want to try a seedbox service. Not much will be said about them here, but if you ask the right people they might point you in the right direction. Or see below for PFCorner's seedbox offer.

PFCorner

PFCorner is offering BakaBT users a cheap, hassle-free seedbox service. See this forum post or the PFCorner wiki page for more information.

All those options are too pricey or would take too long, can't you just unwarn me if I ask nicely?

No.

Can I just delete my account and start all over again then?

No.

See also: I don't want my account anymore. Can you delete it?

Being An Astute Seeder

There's some of us who love seeding just for the sake of seeding, and there's those of us who love seeding just to make sure nothing goes unseeded (leave no torrent behind!). Then there's some of us who are aiming for the Top 10. Here's some tips on getting your ratio up quickly:

The Offers Page

The Offers page shows torrents which are pending approval. Hang out there long enough and you'll see which torrents are likely to be granted soon. Quickly get the files (which are usually available from the fansub group's distro tracker or IRC bots), sit in tight and wait for the torrent to be approved. If you start early on the torrent, you are more likely to get more uploaded.

Of course, this only works if you are a Power User; non-power users will have to wait for the end of the swarm period.

Bonus Torrents

The exchange rate for bonus points isn't that high, but if your bandwidth speed is low then you will want to use everything at your disposal, especially bonus torrents. There are some old torrents that are perpetually seeder-starved. Browse the torrent list and sort by the number of seeders (or just filter for bonus torrents), pick some that have few seeders and one or two leechers if not more. Keep them seeding!

The trick to this is to keep those torrents going, the bonus status may drop depending on the number and ratio of seeders, but as they say, a watched pot never boils. Pick about 10-12 of these seeder-starved torrents, and just keep them going for as long as possible. Don't pick too many (unless you're a seeder who likes to keep these torrents seeded, which is a different story), otherwise you might spend too much bandwidth on bittorrent protocol overhead.