How mainstream has Anime become since the past decade?

N64Controller · Feb 21, 2021

It's just great in general because it means more dubs, more quality subs (not done by people who just started learning japanese and act like they know the language). However how it "became" mainstream kinda depends on where you live. I know a bunch of people from France who quite literally grew up with anime surrounding them because France was such a big consumer of mangas/anime ever since the 1970s. Lots of mangas/anime have been mainstream since then there, some of it quite literally being household names.

I'm glad anime reached that point in other countries because it just means more work for talented VAs in many languages + there's lots of amazing stories to tell, and cool worlds to discover.

Dekuman · Feb 21, 2021

The kids/teens who grew up with Naruto/DBZ etc in the early 2000s are now parents or adults, and some still consume it. Add in the new kid/youth audience and I think the market is a bit larger than it was 20 years ago when it seemed like Anime was ascendant.

I recall there was a bit of a bubble in the 2000s when anime growth exploded in the first half of the 2000s then collapsed in the late 2000s leading to some consolidation in the industry, but the market still grew over that period.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a lapsed anime fan. I got tired of Naruto style kid shows that tend to drag things out too long with filler episodes. But enjoyed lots of slice of life and supernatural/iseki type anime shows. So i probably have some catching up to do.

purseowner · Feb 21, 2021

American dubbing culture has rendered it so, and the concept of anime that is mainstream is very much filtered through that lens.

soulmatic · Feb 21, 2021

HStallion said:
Just wait for Kamala to do the Naruto run.

😄😱☠️
She's gonna pull a Kelly Oubre right behind Joey B at one of these gatherings.

red13th · Feb 21, 2021

HStallion said:
Just wait for Kamala to do the Naruto run.

Too late, Bolsonaro already did it.

Deleted member 29280 · Feb 21, 2021

Dennis8K said:
I feel like only a few anime shows is mainstream at a time.

Right now, One Piece, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball and maybe JoJo.

The rest is either obscure niche or directly frowned upon due to their loli fanservice bullshit.

Yeah I think this is it. Its only the really big series that are "mainstream." Kinda of like Metallica being super mainstream but only metalheads know and care about every other obscure thrash metal band from the 80s

Aka it's just like everything else

convo · Feb 21, 2021

Watching anime on TV in germany was easy in the 2000s and what's changed is that it became easier to keep up with currently airing shows in japan, simulcasting made a lot of things easier and people can discuss and react to stuff in real time on twitter. Human being have been born and grown up in this enviroment of easy access, don't even need to learn how to torrent stuff to be up to date.

SilentPanda · Feb 21, 2021

Mainstream here in Taiwan

Kaohsiung Rail train have their mascot that they use on train and public service and have done collab with Vocaloid

Our CDC uses them in public service announcement too

Taiwan CDC's personified disease illustrations go viral in US [Up, Dec 01: added in more disease concept] News

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/10/25/2003745769 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4036514 Taiwan CDC official Facebook where the comissioned art is released as a fake cover with other tip along with more detail in the facebook post. https://www.facebook.com/TWCDC...

www.resetera.com

And Mazu a sea goddess and outside her temple in Taipei(The biggest in Taiwan)
Also used in Taipei government PSA and has appeared in game and comic.

Antrax · Feb 21, 2021

Imperial Bishop said:
The medium itself is mainstream. There are so many western shows that do some kinda parody of the anime art style

There are very, very few individual anime that are mainstream.

This is fair I think

Zero315 said:
I feel like we wouldn't have seen stuff like this a decade ago

Also Megan:

I'ma make him ea- me out while I'm watchin' anime (anime)
Pu- like a Wild Fox, lookin' for a Sasuke (ayy, yeah)

NaruSasu confirmed mainstream

Parch · Feb 21, 2021

There's fair amount of regional niche. That doesn't make it universally mainstream.
Posters with anime avatars call it mainstream. Everybody else ignores threads about anime.

convo · Feb 21, 2021

Parch said:
There's fair amount of regional niche. That doesn't make it universally mainstream.
Posters with anime avatars call it mainstream. Everybody else ignores threads about anime.

I'd say it's also an age thing, people over 40 aren't going to look for new stuff.

Zero315 · Feb 21, 2021

There's a Goku balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade

Parch · Feb 21, 2021

Imperial Bishop said:
There are very, very few individual anime that are mainstream.

I assume the viewership numbers confirm this. Individual opinion and anecdotal evidence doesn't make something mainstream.

Siggy-P · Feb 21, 2021

Certain individual anime are super mainstream, even beyond. The vast majority really isn't though.

HStallion · Feb 21, 2021

Anime is like fantasy fiction. It's very popular to the point of ubiquity but most people have only watched GoT and maybe The Lord of The Rings and aren't out there reading Brandon Sanderson's latest release or getting into playing D&D.

convo · Feb 21, 2021

There's also the distinction of manga, when the Demon Slayer manga can sell over 80 million copies in a single year for a single franchise where as comics would salivate at one 1000ths of those sales for their entire industry, one can see that comics are mostly exploited for being IPs the bigger companies can sell with other media. The non-english speaking world is not to be ignored in that matter.
Obviously far fewer people watch stuff weekly or seasonally, binging media seems to be the mainstream thing according to twitter and netflix i suppose but i have not been interacting with real people so i don't really know.

Patapuf · Feb 21, 2021

Parch said:
There's fair amount of regional niche. That doesn't make it universally mainstream.
Posters with anime avatars call it mainstream. Everybody else ignores threads about anime.

I mean, it's not like there's a particularily defined threshold until something is called "mainstream".

"gaming" is mainstream and there's still only like, 4-5 franchises i'd say a majority recognise. And even then that's highly dependent on who and which age-group you ask.

Conversely you have something as universally known as superhero comics being kind of niche if we go by sales.

If we count watching non-japanse animation as "mainstream" , i don't think anime as a whole is that far behind nowadays.

HStallion said:
Anime is like fantasy fiction. It's very popular to the point of ubiquity but most people have only watched GoT and maybe The Lord of The Rings and aren't out there reading Brandon Sanderson's latest release or getting into playing D&D.

That's certainly true but isn't that kind of everything these days? There's a handful of super popular properties and everything else gets sorted into niches.

HStallion · Feb 21, 2021

Patapuf said:
That's certainly true but isn't that kind of everything these days? There's a handful of super popular properties and everything else gets sorted into niches.

It was more a comment to those going,"Only one or two series are really well known to the general public".

Parch · Feb 21, 2021

Patapuf said:
Conversely you have something as universally known as superhero comics being kind of niche if we go by sales.

If we count watching non-japanse animation as "mainstream" , i don't think anime as a whole is that far behind nowadays.

Superhero comics have gone waay beyond comic sales. There have been many popular TV shows, both animated and live action. Marvel and DC have been making billions from dozens of movies for decades. It's a hugely successful genre globally and not niche.

To say that anime is not that far behind is a real stretch. The viewership numbers and monetary success really isn't even close.

Patapuf · Feb 21, 2021

Parch said:
Superhero comics have gone waay beyond comic sales. There have been many popular TV shows, both animated and live action. Marvel and DC have been making billions from dozens of movies for decades. It's a hugely successful genre globally and not niche.

To say that anime is not that far behind is a real stretch. The viewership numbers and monetary success really isn't even close.

I compared anime to "regular" cartoons, not Marvel/DC movies. That's indeed not even close.

Superhero characters are super popular. The comics.... are pretty niche. And yet i'd still argue reading comics in general is "mainstream".

Admiral Woofington · Feb 21, 2021

It's mainstream enough that in a group of relatively hip young people you could probably find 1 or 2 people, if not more, who watch Dragon Ball Z or My Hero Academia or a number of other big name Shonen action titles and aren't afraid to hide it anymore because it's become big enough with pop culture you can be more comfortable about it.

And that for me is awesome. Being able to talk with coworkers about recent anime we are watching is not something I take for granted.

HStallion · Feb 21, 2021

Parch said:
Superhero comics have gone waay beyond comic sales. There have been many popular TV shows, both animated and live action. Marvel and DC have been making billions from dozens of movies for decades. It's a hugely successful genre globally and not niche.

To say that anime is not that far behind is a real stretch. The viewership numbers and monetary success really isn't even close.

Superhero comics are a fading thing these days. Manga is far more popular in general especially with how easy it is to access them through legitimate means.

hiredhand · Feb 21, 2021

John Doe said:
I also think what is flummoxing people is social media and I don't blame ya all. Social media is what the WWE uses to convince business execs that they're still hip and trending. If 100,000 Attack on Titan fans tweet about a new episode and get it trending on Twitter, you have to remember, that's just 100k people.

This. Something being popular or highly visible online doesn't necessarily mean it's mainstream.

Anime is still a very separate niche at least among adults. At least where I'm from, it's very much a binary thing either you are into anime or not. There are very few casual fans compared to stuff like sport, music or gaming.

floridaguy954 · Feb 21, 2021

Vermillion said:
Let's see here... we have major pop stars and celebrities talking about it and referencing it, shows are reaching literal record numbers while sales are going nuts.

Just because someone's personal group doesn't know about anime doesn't mean that other people haven't. It's objectively more mainstream.

Agreed.

These companies are making fucking bank on anime lately.

There are viable, financial reasons why companies like Neflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll are investing tons of money into there anime portfolios.

KillerMan91 · Feb 21, 2021

The rise of streaming services has really helped its popularity. I have several friends that in the past didn't really watch any anime(well i guess Pokemon and maybe DBZ as a kid) but have started to watch anime because of Netflix etc. and now ask recommendations from me as they know I watch more lol.

mikeys_legendary · Feb 21, 2021

It's mainstream.

Individual shows may not be but Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online and My Hero Academia are popular enough that many people can recognize the apparel.

It's very popular with the under 25 crowd, moderately popular with people from 25 to around 30ish and it just tapers off after that.

jph139 · Feb 21, 2021

I'm under the impression less, but I don't really interact with "average" people under the age of 30 so I honestly have no idea.

I think anime is something that's benefitted tremendously from the fractured media landscape we're currently in, where very little is TRULY mainstream. People say that Game of Thrones was the last 100% "mass market" piece of media, and I kind of buy that. Outside of 10+ year old holdovers (Marvel, Fast & Furious, some network shows like Law & Order) new content tends to be aimed at one of many competing niches, particularly stuff aimed at people under 30. They all have stuff that breaks through to other bubbles, that's recognizable to people outside of the in-group, but not enough to permanently shift things.

lunarworks · Feb 21, 2021

Vonocourt said:
Yeesh, don't need to hear another fogie story about renting Ninja Scroll on VHS.

I rode my bike 15km to borrow terrible quality fansubs from a seedy comic shop.

Cantaim · Feb 21, 2021

Mechaplum said:
Last year during covid I lectured a huge class (200+)of college freshmen online. Decided to include a Jojo reference in the quiz for one week and the entire chat went nuts.

A class of 200+ individuals with great taste based on their reaction I'd say.

Sadsic · Feb 21, 2021

Feels like it's more supported by non Japanese corporations at a business level but no more popular than it was in say 2005 at least in the us - the audience for it has not grown at all seems like

Lua · Feb 21, 2021

You guys have to realize that, when i could use the subway before the world got locked, every single day i would find someone different watching either naruto or my hero academia on their phones. Its not like, marvel movies level of mainstream, but among people under 30 it is pretty normal.

Shonen stuff so far, tho. Shojo and other genres are still not that popular all things considered.

Parch · Feb 21, 2021

IMO, if it's only popular by people under 30, then that by definition is something that is NOT mainstream, just niche.

TickleMeElbow · Feb 21, 2021

John Doe said:
Threads like this always amuse me. I feel like the premise is implying that anime wasn't mainstream over a decade ago. When Pokemon, DBZ, Naruto and Bleach dominated TV.

Here's the thing ya all, anime as a medium isn't mainstream. Certain anime shows like AoT and MHA however are mainstream. See the difference? In much the same way how the medieval fantasy genre isn't mainstream but GOT and LOTR are. To take this analogy further, sports are mainstream because there isn't one particular sport that people watch and ignore all others. Sitcoms were mainstream in the 90s because there wasn't just one popular family sitcom, there were dozens across various networks.

I think people confuse the popularity of one work set in a particular genre and want to shout from the rooftops that their favourite "nerd" activity is now loved and accepted by all. No, people just like that one show, like how everyone and their mother watched Pokemon/DBZ yet wouldn't know what Evangelion was

Even if only one anime is popular at a time, but it happens every year for decades, then I don't see how that medium isn't mainstream? If every generation can look back and remember an anime they watched, and recognize that it's anime, then "anime" as a medium is in the mainstream consciousness is it not?

Also how is medieval fantasy not mainstream?

That's like the only fantasy there is lol. Pretty much anything that's considered "fantasy" by the mainstream is medieval fantasy/fairy tale inspired (features magic, wizards, dragons, elves, princesses, knights, ogres, etc). LotR, GoT, Witcher 3, War Craft (plus Shrek and Disney cartoons if you want to include fairy tales) . I'd even throw Harry Potter in there with all the Wizards and castles and dragons. Also I don't see how you can compare it to anime when it's a genre that can be expressed through multiple mediums. You can have medieval fantasy books, shows, movies, art, games, comics, anime, etc. I feel like if medieval fantasy isn't mainstream, then neither are zombies lol.

Deleted member 29280 · Feb 21, 2021

HStallion said:
Anime is like fantasy fiction. It's very popular to the point of ubiquity but most people have only watched GoT and maybe The Lord of The Rings and aren't out there reading Brandon Sanderson's latest release or getting into playing D&D.

That's a funny comparison to make bc Sanderson himself is like the most popular/mainstream currently working genre fantasy author outside of what you just mentioned

DongBeetle · Feb 21, 2021

It's definitely more mainstream but weebs will never be considered normal

Deleted member 22630 · Feb 21, 2021

Slightly more, you'll still be made fun of for watching the more fringe stuff.

John Doe · Feb 21, 2021

TickleMeElbow said:
Even if only one anime is popular at a time, but it happens every year for decades, then I don't see how that medium isn't mainstream? If every generation can look back and remember an anime they watched, and recognize that it's anime, then "anime" as a medium is in the mainstream consciousness is it not?

Also how is medieval fantasy not mainstream?

That's like the only fantasy there is lol. Pretty much anything that's considered "fantasy" by the mainstream is medieval fantasy/fairy tale inspired (features magic, wizards, dragons, elves, princesses, knights, ogres, etc). LotR, GoT, Witcher 3, War Craft (plus Shrek and Disney cartoons if you want to include fairy tales) . I'd even throw Harry Potter in there with all the Wizards and castles and dragons. Also I don't see how you can compare it to anime when it's a genre that can be expressed through multiple mediums. You can have medieval fantasy books, shows, movies, art, games, comics, anime, etc. I feel like if medieval fantasy isn't mainstream, then neither are zombies lol.

I mean not mainstream in the sense of how many people knew what ASOIAF was before Game of Thrones? When I think mainstream, I think of something that you can just bring up to almost anyone on the street and not get a slightly quizzical look. You can go around the water cooler at work, any office before someone comes in with an anecdote, and talk about Harry Potter or Game of Thrones.

There are also far more fantasy genres than medieval. You've got sci-fi fantasy as well. In fact most types of fiction can be classified as fantasy but that's just semantics. I know some people consider sci-fi to be a separate genre.

As far as anime goes, I'll try to make the distinction clearer. People will sit down and watch cartoons, any cartoon, whether it be Saturday morning cartoons or what have you. So when you talk about cartoons in general, the conversation can shift to several different shows. Even shows that are not that popular or critically acclaimed. The same thing with movies, even if someone hasn't seen a particular movie, you can talk about movies as a whole, or the different genres of movie that you like. You can talk about horrors vs comedies or action movies

With anime, you can't really do that, the conversation will be limited to a select few anime. Most people don't even know that anime has different genres besides Shonen.

How can something be mainstream when only a very, very small portion of it is consumed by the masses? Imagine a world where the NFL was the only widely consumed Sport and every other sport was only at the amateur level and no one really discussed them. The NFL would be mainstream, but sports on a whole would not be mainstream even though the NFL is a sport.

Baphomet · Feb 21, 2021

Beefsquid said:
Anime is absolutely mainstream at this point. Obviously it varies between shows, but as a genre is totally is.

SageShinigami · Feb 21, 2021

Parch said:
There's fair amount of regional niche. That doesn't make it universally mainstream.
Posters with anime avatars call it mainstream. Everybody else ignores threads about anime.

This would be a good point if ya'll weren't popping into threads about Travis Scott going "I've never heard of this person."

soulmatic said:
😄😱☠
She's gonna pull a Kelly Oubre right behind Joey B at one of these gatherings.

AnImE iSn'T mAiNsTrEaM....

HStallion · Feb 21, 2021

Nature said:
That's a funny comparison to make bc Sanderson himself is like the most popular/mainstream currently working genre fantasy author outside of what you just mentioned

He's popular with fantasy and potentially book readers in general but your average Joe doesn't have a clue who Sanderson is. Same with the ASOIAF before GoT came out.

Wes D. Mess · Feb 21, 2021

mikeys_legendary said:
It's mainstream.

Individual shows may not be but Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online and My Hero Academia are popular enough that many people can recognize the apparel.

It's very popular with the under 25 crowd, moderately popular with people from 25 to around 30ish and it just tapers off after that.

Agreed

Parch said:
IMO, if it's only popular by people under 30, then that by definition is something that is NOT mainstream, just niche.

I dunno if I'd go that far but I do have to laugh when people totally dismiss older people not knowing about anime when the discussion is how mainstream something is.

TickleMeElbow · Feb 21, 2021

John Doe said:
I mean not mainstream in the sense of how many people knew what ASOIAF was before Game of Thrones? When I think mainstream, I think of something that you can just bring up to almost anyone on the street and not get a slightly quizzical look. You can go around the water cooler at work, any office before someone comes in with an anecdote, and talk about Harry Potter or Game of Thrones.

As far as anime goes, I'll try to make the distinction clearer. People will sit down and watch cartoons, any cartoon, whether it be Saturday morning cartoons or what have you. So when you talk about cartoons in general, the conversation can shift to several different shows. Even shows that are not that popular or critically acclaimed. The same thing with movies, even if someone hasn't seen a particular movie, you can talk about movies as a whole, or the different genres of movie that you like. You can talk about horrors vs comedies or action movies

With anime, you can't really do that, the conversation will be limited to a select few anime. Most people don't even know that anime has different genres besides Shonen.

How can something be mainstream when only a very, very small portion of it is consumed by the masses? Imagine a world where the NFL was the only widely consumed Sport and every other sport was only at the amateur level and no one really discussed them. The NFL would be mainstream, but sports on a whole would not be mainstream even though the NFL is a sport.

Anime is mainstream in the same way sushi is mainstream. There's large swaths of people who have never had it or hate it, but everyone knows exactly what you're talking about when you mention it. If you mention anime at the water cooler people will have something to say about it, whether they think it's weird or they love Dragon Ball. It's well established in the public consciousness, and if I ask any random person if they know what anime is, they'll most likely have an idea.

Also, anime is too influential globally to be considered niche imo. The art-styles have been adopted, live action Hollywood films have been made, parodies have been done, films makers have been inspired, musicians put the imagery in their videos, etc.

And only a few sports are consumed by the masses. Think of how many sports are in the Olympics, and how many people regularly watch those sports when....they're not in the Olympics lol. Like, who's watching archery or speed walking? Most people watch like two or three sports regularly. You can say NFL, NBA, MLB are mainstream, and I can say DBZ, Naruto, and Sailor Moon are mainstream.

Autumn · Feb 21, 2021

It's mainstream to a certain age I think maybe those under forty. And it's not a like of all anime but each person has their specific taste/genre. Someone who like Naruto wouldn't watch Yuri Camp or vice-versa.

While I'm always surprised by the type of man appearance-wise who tells me they watch anime, women are usually are not the same.

Mechaplum · Feb 21, 2021

TickleMeElbow said:
Anime is mainstream in the same way sushi is mainstream. There's large swaths of people who have never had it or hate it, but everyone knows exactly what you're talking about when you mention it. If you mention anime at the water cooler people will have something to say about it, whether they think it's weird or they love Dragon Ball. It's well established in the public consciousness, and if I ask any random person if they know what anime is, they'll most likely have an idea.

Also, anime is too influential globally to be considered niche imo. The art-styles have been adopted, live action Hollywood films have been made, parodies have been done, films makers have been inspired, musicians put the imagery in their videos, etc.

And only a few sports are consumed by the masses. Think of how many sports are in the Olympics, and how many people regularly watch those sports when....they're not in the Olympics lol. Like, who's watching archery or speed walking? Most people watch like two or three sports regularly. You can say NFL, NBA, MLB are mainstream, and I can say DBZ, Naruto, and Sailor Moon are mainstream.

I'll have you know I like watching Kyudo.

RedSwirl · Feb 21, 2021

Yuli Ban said:
The more heartening thing is that non-shonen/shojo is having a bit of a boom period now in the West when, for so long, shonenshit drove anime's popularity. The more seinen, the better.

In what way?

JCG · Feb 21, 2021

It is definitely getting closer to mainstream than ever before, by all indications. Which is good for the industry as a whole, but mostly indifferent or even occasionally bad for me, since I tend to like a bunch of relatively niche anime series these days that either tend to be plainly unpopular or outright dismissed by mass audiences.

It doesn't change what I'm interested in either way. Simply makes it a lot harder to actually talk to people about those specific series, outside of small circles with similar interests. It's not very fun to be the one visible person at particular location who cares about something, nor being forced into jumping on the big bandwagons to get any true debate or real conversation going.

Yasumi · Feb 21, 2021

Netflix has done wonders in introducing people to new/niche anime. I've overheard decidedly non-weeb adult coworkers talking about how much they enjoyed Saiki-K, Erased, and Parasite. Having been in a high school anime club in the early 2000's, it'll be a while before it starts to feel "normal" to me.

How mainstream has Anime become since the past decade?

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