Fjordson

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,085
I'll be reading the full thing when I get home, but I just want to say I love the visuals to this article. Well done Polygon.
 

NativeTongue

Member
Oct 4, 2023
1,033
NYC
So what are the metrics that has made anime reach that "tipping point" in popularity? Like has the yearly revenue been comparable to movies and videogames?

The numbers in the article are just percentages of a survey.

I don't think it's at the tipping point yet. IMO, we can really start saying that when anime films actually start making money outside of Japan. Now saying they have to make Toy Story money, but even with Pokemon being "the biggest IP in the history of the world" they can't sell their animated movies internationally.
 
Oct 28, 2017
261
User banned (permanent): inflammatory accusations, long history of inflammatory commentary
My guess for the breakdown would have been -

Paedophiles - 50%
Japan Culture Experts - 25%
"Ephebophiles" - 25%
 

Mekanos

â–² Legend â–²
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,978
Forum shows its age when some make fun of anime unironically honestly. Can you be more outta touch?

Same with manga.
There's definitely the occasional post on these forums that gives the impression older people still think anime is watched only by little kids and basement dwelling perverts. Some of it is also rooted in the belief that Asian media is lesser.

As I'm typing this, a post above has a great example of what I'm talking about:

My guess for the breakdown would have been -

Paedophiles - 50%
Japan Culture Experts - 25%
"Ephebophiles" - 25%
 

RPGam3r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,955
YALL, IM BEGGING, SUB TO HIDIVE 😭

They have a top 3 show almost every season and at least one AOTY contender every year.

Eh, I sub bc it's cheap and they have some stuff you can't easily find elsewhere. But even this season it's not doing a lot for me. Also, its iOS app is just shit (web site is the only thing I've been able to tolerate).
 

Aaronrules380

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
22,730
I don't think it's at the tipping point yet. IMO, we can really start saying that when anime films actually start making money outside of Japan. Now saying they have to make Toy Story money, but even with Pokemon being "the biggest IP in the history of the world" they can't sell their animated movies internationally.
I mean what do you define as "selling"? Plenty of anime movies have done very well in the US and that's just one market internationally
 

Swiggins

was promised a tag
Member
Apr 10, 2018
11,644
My guess for the breakdown would have been -

Paedophiles - 50%
Japan Culture Experts - 25%
"Ephebophiles" - 25%
unlimited-bait-works.jpg
 

Vash

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,960
I've started with Metallic Rouge, by BONES, and since it's an original production, there's no manga to read. It scratches the Trigun/Cowboy Bebop itch for me with the style and pace. There are hardly any shows that come close to those who, which happen to be my favorites (not the fully CGI Trigun, the terrible FPS ruined it for me). First two episodes are out now.

I don't watch all the shows anymore, I am sticking wit reading manga for a lot, but here are some I still watch: Playing catchup on One Piece, even though I have fully read the manga, Dr. Stone, Synduality (also looking forward to the game), can't go wrong with Anya in SpyXFamily, and now Metallic Rouge.

Also, older Millenial here.
 

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,591
I've started with Metallic Rouge, by BONES, and since it's an original production, there's no manga to read. It scratches the Trigun/Cowboy Bebop itch for me with the style and pace. There are hardly any shows that come close to those who, which happen to be my favorites (not the fully CGI Trigun, the terrible FPS ruined it for me). First two episodes are out now.

I don't watch all the shows anymore, I am sticking wit reading manga for a lot, but here are some I still watch: Playing catchup on One Piece, even though I have fully read the manga, Dr. Stone, Synduality (also looking forward to the game), can't go wrong with Anya in SpyXFamily, and now Metallic Rouge.

Also, older Millenial here.
I loved Stampede. I understand that it just inherently bothers some people, but to me, the limited framerate 3D thing works well if the studio actually treats it like keyframes in 2D animation, and it passed that test with flying colors.
 
Dec 17, 2022
1,498
Memories of going to Saturday Matinee and seeing laser disk anime, or our local "Pandora's Box", renting anime and recording it on VHS 😂
Good times!

I remember the stigma of anime in the early 90's was that it all "weird sex stuff". Good to see that it's more universal now. Crazy to think that anime like Pokemon has been localized longer than some posters here have been alive 😳
 

Zimmiwood

The Wise Ones
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,195

Fossora

Member
Jun 14, 2023
1,259
I still need to watch more anime honestly. I'm a big visual novel enjoyer, but outside of a few adaptations (Clannad/Steins;Gate etc) & additional anime-first works from studios I really like (Angel Beats) I've yet to find anything I can really latch on to. They all just seem so fast paced compared to what I enjoyed so much about a VN like Clannad, with the only adaptation I've seen that I can consider great being the Steins;Gate one.

I'm not surprised at all by the data though. Almost everyone I know watches it, & even those that didn't are asking those that do for the best ways to engage with One Piece after watching the Netflix show.
 

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
45,156
So what are the metrics that has made anime reach that "tipping point" in popularity? Like has the yearly revenue been comparable to movies and videogames?

The numbers in the article are just percentages of a survey.
Have no idea of the total yearly revenue of everything anime related (streaming, merch, games etc.), but it's clear all of those are highly successful. I can't leave my house without seeing Naruto, AOT or JJK shirts

I don't think it's at the tipping point yet. IMO, we can really start saying that when anime films actually start making money outside of Japan. Now saying they have to make Toy Story money, but even with Pokemon being "the biggest IP in the history of the world" they can't sell their animated movies internationally.
Demon Slayer and One Piece Film Red were very successful iirc
 

Vash

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,960
I loved Stampede. I understand that it just inherently bothers some people, but to me, the limited framerate 3D thing works well if the studio actually treats it like keyframes in 2D animation, and it passed that test with flying colors.

Nah, it just doesn't work. It's the same with Beastars. There's something inherently off about it and makes it look extremely wonky. I went deeper into why it didn't work for me in the original thread, and noped out of there, but it just wasn't good at all. I am fine with different takes on a story, that is fine, but the studio pulled a fast one when they showed key-art showing the original model for Vash, and said that it was going to be closer to the manga, and it might be in some ways, but it was utterly disappointing to watch that first episode and it turning out it wasn't.

It also didn't have that Western feel to it, felt too clean. As a major fan since 99/00, it just wasn't for me.

Anyway, not really the topic for this now that I think about it.

Did want to say that there was this Netflix CG animated series that tried to do the same with a lower FPS in the first season, and that got a lot of negative feedback at the time. They changed it up in later seasons, but it had the exact same effect on me as Beastars and Stampede. It's completely off-putting.

But to all reading this, go watch Metallic Rouge!
 

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
62,310
There's definitely the occasional post on these forums that gives the impression older people still think anime is watched only by little kids and basement dwelling perverts. Some of it is also rooted in the belief that Asian media is lesser.

As I'm typing this, a post above has a great example of what I'm talking about:
I honestly feel bully culture from the 80/90s did a number on people. They still can't understand that anime is mainstream.
 

nyxuki

Member
Sep 30, 2023
253
I can see this IRL. All the zoomers I know pretty much only watch anime when it comes watching TV shows and movies. None of them really watch live-action TV and barely ever go to a theater. I'm a millennial and I'm in a similar position. If it isn't anime or YouTube, I just don't care/watch it. There's so many quality anime, YouTube content and video games to enjoy, all while my time is limited. In the end, they all beat some 40 minute TV show or 2 hour movie (which might feel like a wasted investment of my time).

Surprised crunchyroll isn't higher because it seems to me anyway their catalogue is much bigger than the rest.

I don't understand it either. Then again, if this poll skews towards Gen-Z, maybe they're using whatever their parents have streaming wise? I don't understand the Amazon numbers because aside from the Evangelion Rebuilds and Lupin III, Prime (at least in my country) hasn't aired new anime since like 2018. They don't even license any shows.

65% find anime more emotionally compelling than other media is crazy to me. I don't see that at all. I don't think I've even teared up watching an anime before.

Anime has what I call "soul". I don't think you'd ever see crowd energy and reactions to American media like this for example. While this is the "hype" side of emotion, live-action TV just doesn't get much of a reaction out of me anymore, all while anime commands my emotional investment. I haven't cried watching live-action TV like I did watching Violet Evergarden.

I definitely agree with the horror. Horror does absolutely nothing for me, and the tropes, writing and acting just make me frustrated. Anime, on the other hand can instil more dread and suspense in me.
 

Aaronrules380

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
22,730
I can see this IRL. All the zoomers I know pretty much only watch anime when it comes watching TV shows and movies. None of them really watch live-action TV and barely ever go to a theater. I'm a millennial and I'm in a similar position. If it isn't anime or YouTube, I just don't care/watch it. There's so many quality anime, YouTube content and video games to enjoy, all while my time is limited. In the end, they all beat some 40 minute TV show or 2 hour movie (which might feel like a wasted investment of my time).



I don't understand it either. Then again, if this poll skews towards Gen-Z, maybe they're using whatever their parents have streaming wise? I don't understand the Amazon numbers because aside from the Evangelion Rebuilds and Lupin III, Prime (at least in my country) hasn't aired new anime since like 2018. They don't even license any shows.



Anime has what I call "soul". I don't think you'd ever see crowd energy and reactions to American media like this for example. While this is the "hype" side of emotion, live-action TV just doesn't get much of a reaction out of me anymore, all while anime commands my emotional investment. I haven't cried watching live-action TV like I did watching Violet Evergarden.


I definitely agree with the horror. Horror does absolutely nothing for me, and the tropes, writing and acting just make me frustrated. Anime, on the other hand can instil more dread and suspense in me.
The full article notes that Crunchyroll is actually only behind netflix for Gen Z specifically
 

NativeTongue

Member
Oct 4, 2023
1,033
NYC
I mean what do you define as "selling"? Plenty of anime movies have done very well in the US and that's just one market internationally

I mean the highest of all time is still Pokemon which was over 20 years ago. Even beyond that most anime films are very front-loaded internationally. They big ones do extremely well in the first week before falling like a brick.
 
Oct 26, 2017
1,886
I guess Netflix going all in on anime makes a lot more sense now. I applauded their efforts in localizing Asian dramas in general but bolstering the anime catalogue was a smart lateral move as they can pivot to live action and get the jump on everyone else.

As a dude who witnessed what I considered a "boom" in the early 2000's it is wild to see anime and manga actually topping western media with younger generations
 

Vash

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,960
Oh, what's funny, is that back in the 80s, early 90s, much of the anime was imported by one company in my country. MANGA. So that didn't help the idea that it was called manga, while it should've been anime. Not just that, it was all the super mature stuff, hentai in most cases, which gave anime a really bad name in the mainstream. So that hurt the market a lot. Until DBZ blew up.

Even funnier, a lot of people had already been watching anime and didn't even know it. One of the biggest anime series in The Netherlands was actually created by a famed Dutch stand-up comedian/singer called Herman van Veen. That show? Alfred Jodokus Kwak.

The show was based on a fairytale for theater that van Veen wrote, after he accidentally ran over a duck, and it was ultimately quite similar and hard in tone to the Grimm fairytales. Talked about loss, some hardhitting issues, and even made an allegory for Hitler and fascism (probably one of the reasons why I am vehemently anti-fascist) with one of the characters. But not many kids my age who watched that show realized it was actually written and animated in Japan.

Unlike France, the stigma towards manga and anime, and people thinking it was either for children or straight up porn, wasn't fully taken away for years. Now of course we see DBZ/DBS, Naruto, Bleach, and other anime shows pop up in much more places. The sales of manga also wasn't high for a while, and while there have been several attempts at domestic distribution of anime movies and shows, and manga, there wasn't a lot of success over time.

I did pick up Trigun, Wolf's Rain, and Gundam SEED on DVD at the time. All with Dutch subs, but since most people here can read English, manga is simply being imported now, same as the shows or movies if you want to get them.

I do wonder how many views are coming from my country on the streaming services, and it's a shame we don't have access to those numbers.
 
Last edited:

Rouk'

Member
Jan 10, 2018
8,407
I have to wonder
Does pokemon not count as anime for some people?
Like surely, the vast majority of US kids were already watching the pokemon anime 25 years ago
Is it an exception? What about stuff like Yu-gi-oh, Digimon or Beyblade? They're kinda all in the same category of anime in my mind
 

Dougieflesh

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
31,137
Milky Way Ghetto
I have to wonder
Does pokemon not count as anime for some people?
Like surely, the vast majority of US kids were already watching the pokemon anime 25 years ago
Is it an exception? What about stuff like Yu-gi-oh, Digimon or Beyblade? They're kinda all in the same category of anime in my mind
Some people don't want the stigma of being an anime fan, so they make mental exceptions for stuff like DBZ, Pokemon, Yugioh.
 

DevilPuncher

"This guy are sick" and Aggressively Mediocre
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,155
I definitely agree with the horror. Horror does absolutely nothing for me, and the tropes, writing and acting just make me frustrated. Anime, on the other hand can instil more dread and suspense in me.
Oh, I love horror! I just have such a familiarity with the genre that I know every tell in the book. Horror anime on the other hand has never really done it for me, though Kaiji came close to giving me that similar kind of suspense kick.
 

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
45,156
Oh, I love horror! I just have such a familiarity with the genre that I know every tell in the book. Horror anime on the other hand has never really done it for me, though Kaiji came close to giving me that similar kind of suspense kick.
Have you read Junji Ito stuff? The animes suck but the mangas are terrifying
 

yyr

Member
Nov 14, 2017
3,581
White Plains, NY
I've heard that Netflix has anime on it, and Hulu has Bleach, but what does Prime Video have? I'm shocked that it's higher up than Crunchyroll.

Forgive me if I don't know. I've never subbed to any of those except Crunchyroll.
 

RPGam3r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,955
65% find anime more emotionally compelling than other media is crazy to me. I don't see that at all. I don't think I've even teared up watching an anime before.

I tear up almost daily watching anime or reading manga. Especially when characters start to overcome their challenges and show growth.
 

Valcrist

Tic-Tac-Toe Champion
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,014
I remember being open about my love for anime in high school and the amount of homophobic slurs thrown at me for it was insane. I'd get bullied a lot for that and my Pokemon card obsession. Now I bet a bunch of those people consume anime or have at some point.