MAL-Sync for Chrome

There's a lot of anime out there, and if there's a thing that anime fans specifically like, it's keeping track of their library: what they've seen, and what they want to see, most importantly. That applies for manga as well, and thanks to a few passionate people, several websites to track, share, and discuss anime and manga were created.

Thanks to this community aspect, tracking your anime, getting into a new series, or finding like-minded people is now easier than before. MAL-Sync for Chrome aims to help users with the tracking aspect: it integrates with any of your accounts on those communities, and automatically updates your profile whenever you watch a new episode. Of course, there's much more to it than just that.

Maintaining your anime watching activity on AniList or MyAnimeList is a simple enough process, but if you don't wish to bother constantly updating your profile each time you see a new episode, this extension can be of great use. Upon authenticating with a token, your activity will be retrieved and presented within the extension's interface, which can be pulled up anytime. Besides supporting AniList and MyAnimeList, the tool also offers Simkl and Kitsu integration, so users from those platforms will be able to enjoy this one without a problem.

Aside from being able to see the anime you're currently watching, and update your activity directly through the extension, you'll also be provided with a few links to stream your favorite anime. There's a search bar in the interface, too, so you'll be able to navigate to any series of interest, add it to your account, and start watching it within a few seconds. Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Funimation are some of the official supported streaming mirrors, but unofficial ones, such as 9Anime, Animepahe, and so on, will also be displayed. More sources can be configured in the Settings menu.

Perhaps the highlight feature here is the ability to automatically update your anime activity on your favorite platform. Once you start an episode, the extension will display a message, asking you to confirm the action. The same happens when finishing an episode, as the extension will require you to confirm that you've completed the episode. The pop-ups are very unintrusive, and shouldn't obstruct anything at all.

More advanced users will appreciate the numerous settings they can configure. From how tracking functions, to creating custom themes, to changing the video player behavior, there's quite a bit of complexity here. Given how well the add-on works from the off, however, additional configurations are just that — additional, thus optional.

MAL-Sync for Chrome may not be a necessary extension, but it is nice to have. If the goal of extensions is to make certain tasks easier to manage, then it's quite clear that MAL-Sync is an achiever.