Anime X Comeback

New Age Nerds Anime x Comeback

CURIOSITY AND BOREDOM HAS LED PEOPLE INTO DISCOVERING THEIR LOVE FOR ANIME

By Cecilia Greene

Society as a whole has been amazed at some of the premieres made by Netflix and Hulu, but shortly became bored with controversial characters such as Joe Exotic from Netflix’s “Tiger King” and the wait for new seasons to start. Pretty soon, old and new popular series from the anime genre were adapted to the popular platforms, taking the western hemisphere by storm. And with the release of Koyoharu Gotouge’s “Demon Slayer”, and the return of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s hit show “Death Note” on Netflix. The genre that had once been made fun of and looked down upon were brought back in the spotlight with the help of social media Tik tok became one of many outlets for everyone to voice their opinions in regards to the quarantining situation and recommended activities to do if boredom ever occurred. Many of the app’s audio clips would come from popular shows including “Cowboy Bebop,” “Death Note,” “Naruto,”and “Attack on Titan.” This would create a larger fanbase not only for the shows, but a safe spot for the anime community to finally come together. The genre has been attractrive to a lot of different people, creating special bonds between communities. With the help of influencers on Tik tok and many other social media platforms, there’s likely to be more of a cult following to the art style, along with making new connections to express feelings and different works art. Although anime had just got back into style, it was often recognized as something for kids and used to label people as weird or just plain strange. “I stopped watching anime when I was in fifth grade because I got made fun of and decided to do the same thing,” junior Mason Chambers said. There’s generally a lot more time to do literally nothing and most people got tired of “The Office” and needed another form of T.V.

“I think some things that could come back are old fashion movies or old “ fashion shows, ‘’ freshman Onaya Johnson said. “My favorite shows at the moment would have to be Psychic and Demon slayer.”

Junior Mason Chambers As of now nobody knows why society practically abandons a trend only to slowly revive it years later. Some argue for aesthetic, others say it’s just what’s going on now until the word boredom becomes associated with it. Smoking (cigarettes specifically) is another example of a bad and outdated trend that typically came back for the ‘aesthetic’ it gives off. With the common characteristics helping the genre back on its feet, the Japanese anime industry would experience sales dropping down 1.8% throughout the beginning of the pandemic for the first time in a couple years as stated from “Japan Times.” In regards to the US, Koyoharu Gotouge’s “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,” had made a total of 503 million USD from it’s premeire that would set the bar for movies to come in the future. Whether those movies will meet these expectations is up for debate. While anime is relevant now, who knows if its popularity will last or if it’s just another passing trend.

We asked 91 students if they started watching anime over quarantine. 24.2% said yes and 75.8% said no.