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8/3/2025, 10:08:00 AM
>>281132749
>>281132665
>>281135652
I'm 34 and European, through my lifetime I saw about three phases of the popularity of anime - though there were probably more. I started reading manga at 7 because my dad was very much into comic books.
>elementary and middle school phase
Anime as a whole were not popular. We had a dragon ball and 1st and 2nd generation pokemon craze in elementary school, and that was about it. After the age of 11 you were basically perceived as a weirdo for still liking stuff like One Piece instead of "growing up".
>high school phase (early 2000s)
Here I experienced a first jump in the popularity of anime and manga, but it was specifically only within emo/goth subcultures (so, I'd say, less than 20% of my class). The big threes brought boys into the media. Naruto was big. But Death Note is what made this jump: girls started appearing in comic book shops to buy gothic themed mangas (Kuroshitsuji used to be big). Internet also helped: with e-Mule and torrent, anime was the perfect internet content to download - short and easy to find. Fansubbers explode at this time. People start reading manga spoilers on the internet. We "dig" for stuff and start watching diversified things: Elfen Lied, Rozen Maiden, Haruhi, Lucky Star. In this period I'd say anime was grounded as a proper internet subculture, because more people got on the internet - although it likely existed before in other forms. Anime tropes become stronger.
>Zoomers and the pandemic
The majority of teenagers (especially gen Zs a few years ago) started engaging with the media as a proper hobby at some level. The pandemic and KNY going viral were the two milestones of this new phase - lockdowns brought lots of people on the internet, and people who never watched anime got brought in by shows like SNK. We are getting good animation, but anime tropes are getting weaker because they don't pander to the mainstream anymore. Geriatric millennials (me) complain about dying fanservice.
>>281132665
>>281135652
I'm 34 and European, through my lifetime I saw about three phases of the popularity of anime - though there were probably more. I started reading manga at 7 because my dad was very much into comic books.
>elementary and middle school phase
Anime as a whole were not popular. We had a dragon ball and 1st and 2nd generation pokemon craze in elementary school, and that was about it. After the age of 11 you were basically perceived as a weirdo for still liking stuff like One Piece instead of "growing up".
>high school phase (early 2000s)
Here I experienced a first jump in the popularity of anime and manga, but it was specifically only within emo/goth subcultures (so, I'd say, less than 20% of my class). The big threes brought boys into the media. Naruto was big. But Death Note is what made this jump: girls started appearing in comic book shops to buy gothic themed mangas (Kuroshitsuji used to be big). Internet also helped: with e-Mule and torrent, anime was the perfect internet content to download - short and easy to find. Fansubbers explode at this time. People start reading manga spoilers on the internet. We "dig" for stuff and start watching diversified things: Elfen Lied, Rozen Maiden, Haruhi, Lucky Star. In this period I'd say anime was grounded as a proper internet subculture, because more people got on the internet - although it likely existed before in other forms. Anime tropes become stronger.
>Zoomers and the pandemic
The majority of teenagers (especially gen Zs a few years ago) started engaging with the media as a proper hobby at some level. The pandemic and KNY going viral were the two milestones of this new phase - lockdowns brought lots of people on the internet, and people who never watched anime got brought in by shows like SNK. We are getting good animation, but anime tropes are getting weaker because they don't pander to the mainstream anymore. Geriatric millennials (me) complain about dying fanservice.
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