You may have heard of PEN15, which is quickly becoming a popular show on Hulu. Described as “middle school as it really happened,” it prompted Hulu to quickly renew the series for the second season – which is expected to start airing in September 2020.
Yes, you’ll want to watch PEN15, but you can’t do it from all around the world; except if you have a VPN. Which is what this article is all about. But first, let’s explain PEN15 for the uninitiated…
What’s PEN15 all about?
PEN15 is a cringe comedy TV series that premiered on February 8, 2019, on Hulu. The series stars Erskine and Konkle, who also serve as executive producers alongside Zvibleman, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Becky Sloviter, Marc Provissiero, Brooke Pobjoy, Debbie Liebling, and Gabe Liedman.
Described as “middle school as it really happened,” in the series – Erskine and Konkle play versions of themselves as 13-year-old outcasts in the year 2000, surrounded by actual 13-year-olds, where “the best day of your life can turn into your worst with the stroke of a gel pen.”
PEN15 main cast and characters include:
- Maya Erskine as Maya Ishii-Peters, a shy and sensitive Japanese-American seventh-grader who is best friends with Anna and is primarily raised by her mother. She can be immature at times, but she makes friends with her class clown behavior.
- Anna Konkle as Anna Kone, Maya’s best friend who also has to deal with her family divorcing. Anna is the school’s best singer and often copes with her home life with music. More mature than Maya, Anna is also more likely to give in to peer pressure.
- Mutsuko Erskine as Yuki Ishii-Peters, Maya’s stern but caring mother.
- Richard Karn as Fred Peters, Maya’s musician father who is often gone touring with his band.
- Taylor Nichols as Curtis Kone, Anna’s father, whom she occasionally finds sleeping on the couch after a fight with his wife.
- Melora Walters as Kathy Kone, Anna’s mother, whose New Age spirituality and high-strung personality clash with her husband.
- Taj Cross as Sam, a low-level antagonist of both leads who develops a crush on Maya.
- Dallas Liu as Shuji Ishii-Peters, Maya’s older brother and sometimes defender, who tries to be cool and is often seen smoking cannabis outside school.
On Rotten Tomatoes, PEN15 holds a “Certified Fresh” 94% approval rating with an average rating of 8.15 out of 10 based on 31 reviews. “Viewers willing to suspend their disbelief will find much to enjoy in PEN15, wherein Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle reprise their adolescent selves — stirring up plenty of yucks and pathos amidst the farce,” the website’s critical consensus reads. Metacritic on its end assigned the series a score of 82 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating “universal acclaim”.
In May 2019, Hulu renewed the series for a second season, which will premiere on September 18, 2020.
How to watch PEN15 online in the US?
If you can access Hulu, you can watch PEN15. It’s that simple.
A Hulu subscription will let you watch all shows on its network — and there are some really good ones — from all kinds of devices and on all popular platforms.
The problem starts when you want to travel to other countries and would like to keep watching PEN15, or any other show on Hulu. Then, you’ll need a VPN in order to trick Hulu’s servers into thinking that you’re in the U.S. whereas in reality – you could be on the other side of the planet. Which is what the next section is all about…
How to watch PEN15 from all around the world?
As we have briefly noted above, you’ll need a VPN in order to access Hulu and watch PEN15 from anywhere. Then, you can just connect to a US-based server and access Hulu’s website — or fire-up Hulu’s app — for all the shows, PEN15 being just one of them.
A valid Hulu subscription is still required in order to access the service. If you’re not an American, the easiest way to buy it is by using a Hulu gift card. In order to get one, we suggest checking out MyGiftCardSUPPLY where you can find gift cards for virtually all popular streaming services.
Once that part is done and you have a working Hulu account, you are free to consume as much content as you can from any place in the world where you can get a decent Internet connection.
Get a VPN for more than PEN15…
Aside from letting you watch PEN15 and access Hulu from everywhere, a good VPN will also let you do other things. For instance, you will get to anonymously surf the web so that the likes of Google and Facebook, as well as government agencies, can’t track your online activity.
In addition to Hulu, you will also be able to access other streaming services such as US Netflix, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and so on. Furthermore, a VPN will encrypt all your online data, thus shielding you from hackers and spies.
A VPN app can be installed on your computer and other devices, with the best services also coming with the router support so you could protect your entire network. This in turn will also add an additional security level to devices such as smart TV, gaming consoles and streaming boxes.
Yes, we think everyone should have a VPN these days. And if you’re into streaming services, we suggest you start by checking our list of Best VPNs for Streaming and take it from there. We’re sure you’ll find some service for your unique needs from that page.