Summary
I grew up with a nominal interest inanime, rushing home from grade school to catch that day’s episode of Pokemon, but a lot of shows that were popular when I was young felt like boys’ clubs.There was plenty of action, shouting, explosions, and guys who could shoot lasers from somewhere on their bodies, and as a little girl, I just wasn’t into it. Then, when I was a teenager in the 2000s and saw the rise of it online, it felt back then like something only the weirdos enjoyed – memes about kids Naruto-running through the halls at school didn’t make themselves, you know.
It wasn’t until I was in college looking for something to do during a Friday night power outage that I reallydove into my first anime series. I’d downloaded Death Note on my laptop months prior, promising a friend who loved the series that I’d watch it eventually, so without much else to do, I sat back to start the first episode. My power came on again an hour or two later, but I was engrossed, and I wound up watching the entire show that weekend.
Anime has become significantly more mainstream in the last decade or so, and I think streaming services arriving as online fan communities thrived has played a big role in that. We’re not limited to just what’s airing on Toonami or as part of Saturday morning cartoon blocks – we’re spoiled for choices now in ways I never imagined when I was a kid. It’s not that I didn’t like anime as a genre back then, it’s that I didn’t like the limited options I had.
Crunchyroll shows you the most popular anime, sure, but there are dozens of other categories if the top programs aren’t for you. Are you less-than impressed by shonen’s non-stop action like I was as a kid?Supernatural shows may be for you. Not into demons and ghosts?Check out the slice of life selection. You’re not trying to watch high schoolers go to class?Maybe romantic anime is more your speed. Perpetual will-they-won’t-they not floating your boat?Give a fantasy series a try. Hell, they’ve even got a section for shows whose titles are full-sentence plot summaries if you’re still undecided – no real mystery what you’re getting into when you start watching The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants.
Access to other kinds of programming besidesall the shonen seriesthat were popular when I was younger has opened the door to a whole new kind of show for me.I’m into grim, distressing storieslike Jujutsu Kaisen, Elfen Leid, or Psycho-Pass,shows that make my arm hair stand on endor put that sinking feeling in my gut. It’s all the stuff I would never have seen on syndicated television when I was younger but have found as an adult thanks to Crunchyroll’s sheer volume of choices.
It’s more possible than ever before to find new shows, but it’s also just as easy to give second chances tostuff you passed over before. In a confession that’ll likely earn me some ire, as someone who never watched the show, I genuinely believed that every Saiyan in Dragon Ball was Goku. It was a herculean effort for my boyfriend, a lifelong fan, to pick his jaw up off the floor, but he’s spent the last few months sitting beside me on the couch watching Dragon Ball Z and answering any questions I have. Not only can I tell the Saiyans apart now, butI’ve even got a favorite– Vegeta might havethemost unfortunate hairline ever, but man do I love his casual, unforgiving snark.
Is it thatI’m getting olderand am somehow both more and less picky with what I’ll watch? Possibly – I’m willing to give different shows an episode or two to see if the concept clicks with me, but I’m not sticking around if it doesn’t. Is it that anime is both more culturally acceptable and more physically accessible in the West than it ever has been before? Perhaps – I do like being able to buy t-shirts and volumes of manga in person. Is it that there’s more out there now to directly target different interests? Maybe – if one show isn’t your speed, there are literally hundreds more just a click away.
No matter what the reason, it has never been easier to explore new genres, series, and potential interests no matter what they may be, and that feels especially true when it comes to anime. It’s the kind of access I only dreamed of as a kid who liked the idea of anime but was unimpressed by the offerings in a buffet of shonen programming. And now that I know more about my preferences and how to find more series in that wheelhouse when I’m craving something new, I can’t wait to see how much cooler it gets to be an anime fan from here.
