This article will look at how to download Niconico videos with higher quality.
Niconico is Japan's largest original video-hosting platform where cover multiple channels including anime, games, entertainment, cuisine, music, nature, and more. It let users easily watch popular anime like Naruto, Dragon ball, Pokémon, etc. as well as upload, and share own video clips. But the site often comes with low image quality and frequent lags during crowded hours. To solve it, you'd better download from Niconico with the best Nicovideo downloaders.
Cisdem Video Converter is a safe and powerful Niconico video downloader for Mac. Not only does it allow you to download videos from Niconico but from YouTube, Bilibili, AcFun, Chrunchyroll, Twitch, Vimeo, Hulu, and more. It also has the ability to download any Japanese drama, anime, music, OST, and movies.
The downloaded Nico Nico videos are able to be converted and saved in other formats for the purpose of watching on iPhone, iPad, LG TV, Sony TV, Panasonic TV, Android phones, iPod, etc.
Cisdem best Niconico video downloader for Mac:
Step 1. Download the app on your system. Launch it once the installation process is complete.
Step 2. Visit Niconico website on your browser and copy the URL of the video that you desire to download.
You can copy the URL from the white bar at the top of the browser. Or right click on the video and select the first option.
Step 3. Download Niconico videos on Mac.
Return to Cisdem Video Converter, and go to the "download" interface by clicking the button.
Paste the copied video address to the blank box at the bottom, and then click on the icon.
Pro tip: The software support batch Nicovideo download. You can continue to add other video links to it for download.
Step 4. Convert Niconico to MP3, FLAC, WAV, etc. (optional)
After downloading, you will get Nico Nico videos in MP4 format. If you intend to convert them to different kinds of media formats, you can:
1. Hit the icon to open the folder where store the downloaded Nicovideos.
2. Drag and drop videos to the "convert" interface.
3. Open the format drop-down box and choose the outputs.
4. Click the icon placed in the bottom right corner.
Houlo Video Downloader is ideal for avid Nicovideo fans who want to save Nicovideo content for offline viewing on Windows. It's a lightweight and easy-to-use program that enables you to download Nicovideo and Nicosound in bulk. It also works with other 100+ websites, such as YouTube, Ustream.tv, LiveStream, FC2 Video, Rutube, Billboard, Watchbox, SchoolTube, and so on. You can set the max simultaneous download tasks.
This Windows Nicovideo downloader offer several output formats, including AVI, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MP4, 3GP, MOV, MP3, and MKV.
Keepv.id is a free web service to download Niconico videos online. It includes more websites (200+), including YouTube, Twitter, Mixcloud, DVTV, Pear Video, Voot, YouNow, Vidme, Nowness, etc. Although the tool grabs all resolutions of a Niconico video and saves video within a few steps, it's merely able to download Nicovideo to MP4 format.
Awesome NicoNico Downloader is a Niconico video downloader for Chrome powered by fbion.com. The tool lets you download video, thumbnail, avatar from Nicovideo, and copy the video tags and owner id. As a multilingual extension, you are able to change it panel to a language you are familiar with.
However, it can merely download Nicovideo to TS format (no audio format options), which makes it incompatible with many portable devices. Plus, sometimes, I failed to save videos in my tests.
Meidia Download Helper is a well-known Firefox add-on that's designed to download from Nicovideo, Facebook, VK, Dailymotion, SoundCloud, Tiktok, Twitch, Youku, OKru, etc.
Based on my test, it only empowers me to download Nicovideo playlist to M3U8 or extract MP3 audio from Nicovideo.
Like the Chrome plug-in, there are no particularly useful add-ons for Nicovideo download on Firefox. They all have various shortcomings. Awesome NicoNico Downloader also has the Firefox version. You can have it a try.
Many video downloaders like Nukabira, Kode, VidMate, etc. on Android have geographic restrictions and do not allow you to open the Nicovideo website using its built-in browser. But iTubeGo YouTube Downloader for Android is such one that can work well with Nicovideo.
Don't be fooled by the name. Actually, it's also a decent Nico Nico video downloader for Android. The app makes it easy to save Nicovideo to MP4, MP3, AAC, and M4A. You can download multiple videos from Nicovideo at the same time.
Niconico, previously called Nico Nico Douga (ニコニコ動画), is designed to provide interesting Japanese video content. Its anime, computer games and pop music are widely loved by otaku. The biggest feature of Niconico is that it can publish real-time barrage (コメント机能, danmu, bullet comments). That means your comments responding to the events in the video will also be seen by viewers.
To download the original Nico video, in addition to use a great Niconico downloader, another condition needs to be met as well. Upgrade to premium member or download video from Nicovideo at low peak.
Niconico carries out low-quality economy mode to save the line bandwidth, which lead to a low bit rate videos and sounds. Only VIP members can watch high image quality all the day, even during congestion. If general members want to get high-quality playback, you have to avoid peak periods (e.g. 10:00 - 22:00, holiday, weekend) to enjoy and download videos.
I must emphasize that you can’t download paid Nico Nico videos. These videos are protected by copyright. Even if you are a premium member, you can only download JASRAC trust songs and the time-shift data of your own live user broadcast program.
Of course, you can! Some experienced Reddit users recommend download Niconico videos and playlists with the help of youtube-dl.
But…
You might just receive a 403-error message - ”JSON metadata file not found“. Not to mention that most of the general users don't have the knowledge to make youtube-dl work.
By reaching this line, you should have learned how to download Niconico videos on Mac/Windows/Android. I will always recommend the professional Nicovideo downloaders such as Cisdem Video Converter, which can download & convert hundreds of Nico Nico videos and preserve the quality. I am not very satisfied with the Chrome and Firefox plugins. They have many bugs during my tests.
Peter has always had great enthusiasm for writing, programming and web development. He likes writing about software and technology, his works are featured on some tech blogs or forums like Tom's Hardware, CNET, etc.