Steadily, anime (hand-drawn computer animation originating from Japan), has grown in popularity ever since its first entry way into the U.S. media in 1990.
Although anime has become increasingly popular since then, it wasn’t always this mainstream. When hearing the term “anime”, people were quick to assume that it was associated with the nerdy subcultures that enjoy writing and artsy activities.
Nowadays, the people who like anime could be subject to anyone of any personal aesthetic or stereotype. Many people who weren’t expected to watch anime before have now started watching anime and enjoying it too. People who had liked anime in the past were now having their interest in common with those who didn’t. Some people enjoyed having the reliability of having people to talk to, while others didn’t.
One student, tenth grader Patricia Elvira, personally enjoys her peers watching anime besides the stereotypical student who watches anime.
Elvira commented, “I noticed that anime became more mainstream in 2019 because that's around the year that I started watching, if it hadn't become more mainstream I probably wouldn't have started watching anime.”
Many people feel similar. Since then, Elvira has developed her own sense of which shows she likes and which she doesn’t. For starters, she recommends watching the mainstream shows if you first get into anime. “Some popular animes that I see everyone liking are My Hero Academia and Naruto,” states Elvira.
Elvira added, “Mainstream anime is good and they're usually mainstream because they're good and very fun to watch. I do kind of enjoy it more because I am able to have more people to talk about it with.”
Personally, in the end, Elvira enjoys that she has other people to connect with and talk to about the shows she watches- specifically in the anime realm.
While yes, anime used to be something of the nerdy subculture it was a year or two ago, anime has changed and grew with the times, connecting to those just outside of the realm of nerds. Which ever way people want to embrace “outsiders” liking and enjoying anime, is completely up to them.
