Anime Making Trends in Other Media

You see a lot of crazy things in downtown LA, but nothing prepared me for the droves of sword-wielding fans, dragons, and assassins as visitors from over 60 countries were out in force for the “largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America”, otherwise known as Anime Expo. 

Here are some of the takeaways from the event. (And no I wasn’t in Cosplay, but next year? Who knows.)

First, some numbers. If you aren’t into the world of anime, you might not have any idea of the sheer passion and number of fans. Anime is one of Japan’s largest cultural export. And anime fans are not just “fans”, they are FANS. In the US for instance, over 25% of respondents in a recent Gen Z poll, rated anime as their favorite type of entertainment. 

Who are the fans? The fan base, similar to BTS fandom, identifies deeply with the content and builds relationships and roles around their favorite series.  Many fans don’t outgrow anime but instead transition to another series, as well since many anime have vast numbers of episodes, viewers grow with their series, becoming lifelong devoted fans. 

One trend at Anime Expo is animes geared to family audiences. In a market saturated with adult themes, many sellers were discussing a market shift as they produce storylines and content targeting families. 

This was the first in-person anime expo post covid and the sold-out four-day event drew over 350,000 fans to the LA Convention Center. Lines were long (and probably even worse if you are sitting in the hot sun in a Sailor Moon costume for two hours.) 

Who’s Buying? But the anime expo is not just for fans, lots of business is done there. Concurrent with the fan-centered expo, anime distributors and producers are holding their own events. All the global streamers are there too, announcing their upcoming anime slates. 

The pandemic saw surges in the viewership of anime, and that doesn’t seem to be slowing.

Just today, Hulu announced a new anime sub-brand, Animayhem. Check out the article here.

And it seems like new anime FAST channels are launched daily. Some general anime, others retro or even character specific like Sailor Moon.

And even if you’re not into anime, trends in storylines and art that are developed here, quickly spread to other types of content. (There is so much cross-pollination between games and anime for example.)

Another trend? Live-action adaptions. Similar to webtoons, many live-action series are adapted from anime. This trend doesn’t seem to be ending as streamers and other US companies snap up hit anime IP. (And anime fans have mixed feelings on this trend, as many adaptations have gotten lukewarm treatments.)

Yes, we are tracking anime as a part of our IP representation and coverage of trends from Japan.  Up next, is Anime NYC in November.