Anime, a Japanese-style animation that became popular in the US in the 1990s, has recently skyrocketed, making anime one of the top viewed genres across all streaming platforms.  

Ever since quarantine started in 2020, people began to become bored quickly due to long stays at their houses. With wanting to try something new, some started watching anime to see how they liked it. Teens are no exception to this, and they most of all started watching anime, since they had a lot of free time and streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu were easily accessible. When they started watching anime, some would like to post about it on popular apps like Tik Tok, Instagram and Snapchat.  Due to the fact that those apps were popular, more and more people heard about anime and started to add on to the increasing views. This chain kept going, making anime more and more known. 

Emilio Paz-Cruz (10) started anime during quarantine in 2020.

“My friends recommended me a lot of shows and me being bored, I tried it out and loved it,” Paz-Cruz said.

As these streaming sites noticed more of the views, more anime’s were added to the sites. Merch and materials of the anime’s were being bought more than ever. With the new popularity, dubbed versions of shows came out, allowing those who have no interest in subtitles or do not understand the show’s language to get to watch the shows. For subtitle lovers, more languages were being added to the subtitle list, allowing for more people who speak different languages to watch and now be included.  

Anime sites like Funimation and VRV were flooded with tons of subscribers, aching for new anime’s and their newest episodes.  

William Allen (10) got Funimation in an attempt to get to watch episodes for free.

“I never thought I would get into anime. Having access to so many good animes really made me enjoy it,” Allen said.

Not only has the interest of anime in the US brought up sales, influences and creators but also has increased the knowledge of Japanese culture and traditions. In some anime’s, the culture and traditions of the Japanese people are added in, urging others to look up more. Some watchers like to understand more of what is happening in the show, culture and traditions wise, and gain knowledge through their search on the internet.  

The most popular anime’s streaming right now is Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, Jujitsu Kaisen, Dr. Stone, My Hero Academia, and Black Clover. The new interest of the shows had the creators running to create more for their new, eager fans. Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan both have new seasons that recently have come out. Fans keep checking in for the episodes, as they are eager to know what happens next.  A report from Parrot Analytics in the March 2021 Spectator shows that the popular anime Attack on Titan even beat out shows like the popular WandaVision, which is one of the most in demand shows on Disney+.

Shannon Um (11) loves watching anime and has enjoyed the new shows recently coming out. Her favorite show, Attack on Titan, had a new season come out recently that many watchers were antsy for.

“Attack on Titan has no flaws. I’m just happy more people are watching it so I can talk to them about it,” Um said.

New fans of anime’s also mean new fans for manga, comics or graphic novels from Japan. Some people would prefer to read over watching anime’s. Some also would prefer to not wait for the new episodes to come out and rather already know what would happen in the show. Manga is usually made first, then the animation would be made if it is seemed popular enough. New fans have made some mangas deemed popular enough to be made into an animation and are awaiting for the new shows to come out.