Tag Archives: anime opinion

Oregairu Season Three Expectations and Hopes

March 28, 2019 Jack Scheibelein Leave a comment

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

Well, its actually happening. It was announced roughly a week ago now in a Japanese magazine that Oregairu, or My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, is getting a third season, which was done shortly after the announcement of the release date for the fourteenth volume of the light novel. Since this series is one of my favorite shows of all time, I thought it only appropriate to talk about it.

My Thoughts on the Series Thus Far

Since the only time I have really talked about the show in any depth was on an OWLS post a few months back, it would make sense to summarize my thoughts on the series so far. Now, I don’t often use the word masterpiece, so I won’t here. However, Oregairu is by far and away one of the best slice of life series, possibly even best anime period, I have ever watched. The first season was a pleasant surprise back when it first came out, and when I finished watching it, I thought about it a lot. At the time I was about to be in my freshman year of high school, and I was nervous. The first time I watched it, I was really just interested in Hachiman’s attitude of taking no prisoners, and always being brutally honest. I went back to watch it a second and third time, though, and I started to notice a lot more nuance. Less and less it became about Hachiman fighting his social situation and more about what it was doing to him as a person.

The second season piggy-backed off of this in a way that was both extremely well executed and yet also somehow extremely jarring. More and more Yukino and Yui were confronting him about his self-sacrificial nature and his tendency to always go with the easiest solution, and not necessarily the most graceful one. It was a turning point that signaled an the beginning of the end for Hachiman’s isolationist attitude, and by the end it seemed like all of them were starting to change for the better.

Where the Series Will Go

There are a few things to consider here. First, while I am not familiar with the light novels on a personal level, I do know that the second season adapted volumes seven through eleven, leaving only twelve through fourteen for the final season. Now, assuming that the last three volumes have a similar amount of content to the first eleven, that means that we likely get an anime only ending of some kind.

As for the content, my guess for right now is that much of the third season will focus on the three of them pulling back the personas that they were hiding behind at the end of season two.

A PV that was also recently released for the show seems to imply that there will be some romantic tension between the three of them.

Where the Series Should Go

What the end of season to also seemed to imply heavily is that each of our three main protagonists still have a lot of demons that need to exercised, so one thing I don’t want this season to be is happy-go-lucky. Of course, at the end of the season it would make sense for the three of them to triumph, but if the show doesn’t address any of the problems left after season two, it will be incredibly disappointing.

One other thing that would interesting to see is there life after high school, and what it is they end up doing. Now, of course, there are many anime that center around high school, but in Oregairu’s case especially the idea of social hierarchies is such a core part of its ethos that it would be interesting to see how each of them deal with a new dynamic.

How do you guys feel about the announcement of Oregairu’s third season, and about the show in general? Let me know in the comments below. If you would like to support The Aniwriter, or are just feeling generous, consider donating on ko-fi, or using one of my affiliate links below:

If you can’t, or just don’t feel like it, no worries. Thank you all for reading, and goodbye, for now, friends!

Anime/Manga, Opinion

One of the Important Conditions for a Good Isekai

February 24, 2019 Jack Scheibelein 13 Comments

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

With the amount of Isekai anime coming out every season, it’s getting harder and harder to avoid it as a genre. Shows like “Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody” and “The Rising of the Shield Hero,” for however questionable their quality, will always be on people’s radar because, well, its the new Isekai, so maybe it will be good. Still, despite its current oversaturation in anime, the Isekai genre still has one advantage over others: Its potential.

Now, before any of what I am about to say gets lost in language, I am not saying that other anime do not have potential. I do think, however, that the general premise that comes along with what defines an Isekai is one that can be taken in a lot of different ways. It also seems to me that the Isekai anime that most people would agree are bad fail to take advantage of the world that they have set up, either because the story doesn’t engage with these elements in an interesting way or they rely on previous tropes that have become tired.

One good example of this is “In Another World with my Smartphone.” Sure, in the beginning, the setup has a bit of novelty. A kid enters another world that he knows nothing about, with the catch being that he can bring his smartphone and have it work, as well as allowing him to use magic. However, unlike a comedy show like “Konosuba,” none of this is played for laughs, and the main character mainly comes across as overpowered and uninteresting. In this case, the story has failed to engage with the world and its mechanics in an interesting way and has therefore failed to realize its potential.

An example of a good Isekai would be something like Log Horizon. In it, the main character Shiro suddenly appears in a world that is eerily similar to an MMORPG he plays called Elder Tale. He assumes this because the world itself is structured much like the game and because he now has all the abilities of his in-game character, as do all of the other 30,000 players that are trapped in the game-esk world. From there, much of focus of the plot is on figuring out how the world itself works, as well as building up the world’s infrastructure enough to where adventurers can live happily in the hopes of one day escaping back to the real world. Shiro, being a famous player of Elder Tale, becomes a sort of de-facto leader, and starts to build up the political alliances and government infrastructure that makes the world function. In this way, Log Horizon does engage with its world in an interesting way, and actively tries to understand utilize its mechanics, fully realizing its potential.

However, this is not the only condition on which to judge whether or not an Isekai anime is necessarily good. If this were my sole condition on which to judge that, then I would have to admit that Sword Art Online is good, and I am not sure I am quite ready to do that.

It is helpful to think about it in some philosophical terms. In Epistemology, there is a concept known as Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. A Necessary Condition is one that is required for something to be true or for a definition to be met and a Sufficient Condition is one that satisfies a truth or definition completely. In this case, I would argue that engaging with the fantasy world that has been set up in an Isekai story is a Necessary, but not Sufficient Condition for calling that Isekai good.

What do you guys think are the elements of a good Isekai? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you would like to support The Aniwriter or are just feeling generous, consider donating on Ko-fi or using one of my affiliate links below:

If you can’t, or just don’t feel like it, no worries. Thank you all for reading, and goodbye, for now, friends!

Anime/Manga, Opinion

Everything is Politics, Including Anime, and What That Should Mean

January 21, 2019 Jack Scheibelein 9 Comments

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

The phrase “Everything is political” has gone from an obscure term which originated in the late 1960s to something of a rallying cry for those who consider themselves to be on the left. The phrase has especially picked up a lot of value in recent years, as we have arrived at a political era in which people’s identities are more and more become a source of contention, and are sometimes even leading to violence.

For those who are unaware, while its exact origins are unknown, the phrase’s creation is generally credited to Carol Hanisch, an American activist who fought for women’s issues, and in 1969 joined the Women’s Liberation Front, an organization which was considered radical by the political establishment at the time. In an essay of hers which was later retitled “, The Personal is Political,” Hanisch describes her journey at the Women’s Liberation Front and how it was difficult to get other members of the group to agree that problems such as how men treated their wives, how much money a woman makes compared to her husband, and abortion were more than just personal ones. During the period of second-wave feminism, Hanisch and others like her managed to start a whole new conversation about what exactly was worth getting involved over.

Fast forward to today and, while many of the problems that second-wave feminists dealt with in their time have largely been solved, it seems like a large number of new problems have come to take their place. Rape on college campuses has become increasingly common, Revenge Porn, while having been dealt with by a few places on the state level, still goes largely unpunished, Sexual Harassment is still a problem in many workplaces, including in Hollywood and at large media corporations, as demonstrated by #Metoo, and while men are still more likely to commit suicide then women, the rate among women has increased about 50 percent over the past two decades. Now, I am three paragraphs into this article already and haven’t mentioned any Chinese cartoons yet so you might be wondering: What does any of this have to do with anime?

Well, a lot actually. In his TEDx talk titled, “Everything we do and don’t do is political,” Zachary Baiel stresses the importance of community involvement by using his own community of Lafayette, Indiana as an example. He further goes on to point out how many changes in his community only happened when people decided to get involved, like how a local biking group managed to get actual legislation passed on the city level by getting signatures for a petition and then getting it to their city council representative. Michael Toland put it well in his piece titled “Everything is Political” When he said “If your someone who takes the time to volunteer, you’re most likely volunteering with an organization with which your values align… Each of these decisions affects our communities, working to improve them.” Now, we may not gather together every month to meet with our local representative or hang out at the local library, but anime is a community.

Of course, everyone in the community watches anime, but we also converse online through various forums and social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Some of us write for blogs, make YouTube videos, and work in journalism related to the community. Sometimes we even take a break from our screens to go out into the real world and enjoy the many wonders that wait at anime conventions. There are so many ways in which people enjoy being a part of this wonderful little slice of the world that we as fans have carved out for ourselves, many even that I did not mention.

It is also important to recognize that our community is a diverse one. There are anime fans all around the globe of many different races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and genders. Every possible flavor of human being has been joined together by a strange addiction to Japanese animation, to anime. And it is not just the community itself that is diverse. Anime, for being more or less its own medium within animation, has many varying genres and subgenres for fans to explore. Wanna watch a show about giant robots? We have that. A dramatic romance? Got that too. A Slice of Life Comedy? Anime has you covered. Each of these diverse genres can also encompass a wide-ranging set of ideas on many topics, from big inherently political shows like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and its exploration of military dictatorships to the much more subtle politics of shows like Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai which is often underlined by a mental health epidemic. The reality is that all anime is going to have an political message because there are many aspects of life that we don’t often consider that are also political.

Take just the place where you live as an example. If you have a house, that means you probably got a loan in order to pay for it. The interest rate you got on that loan is directly affected by your country’s monetary policy. The electrical work, plumbing, and material used to build the house are all affected by regulations to ensure that it is safe. If you have an apartment, the rent you are charged and the cost of your utilities are affected by any rent controls that are passed by the local government. Also, the quality of your drinking water is also affected largely by your cities regulation. As much as we might not like it to be, everything is politics.

However, this does not mean that everything has to be viewed as politics. Sure, every show will have them, but that does not mean that you are required to engage in a shows politics if you enjoy it for other reasons. Even a show as universally enjoyed as Naruto has politics that explore the responsibility one has to their community, but even I have to admit that most of the time I am just there for the action.

What I am advocating for is not a constant political debate, but rather that we engage our entertainment critically, and ask ourselves why it is we enjoy certain shows. I am not even asking people to change their political viewpoints, necessarily. It is important, however, to recognize certain brands of reactionary politics that seek to make other people feel bad about their identity because those who engage in said reactionary politics feel like their own is somehow under attack. As a community, we should be united in making sure that everyone feels welcomed so that we can all get together in watching anime and solving the real problems, like why Crunchyroll is really bad at picking nominees for the Anime Awards.

Its been a while since I’ve written something on the longer side, and this was something that I personally felt like I needed to write. Just want to add, I know the Anituber Zeria did a video with a very similar topic, but I didn’t find out about it until after I finished writing this, so apologies about that. You can watch their video here.

So, here’s a question that I would love to here an answer to: What do you guys think, if anything, should change about the anime community? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you would like to support The Aniwriter or are just feeling generous, consider donating on Ko-fi or using one of my affiliate link to buy stuff:

If you can’t, or just don’t feel like it, no worries. Thank you all for reading, and goodbye, for now, friends!

Anime/Manga

Would Super Smash Bros. Be a Good Anime?

December 13, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 3 Comments

Welcome, weebs and authors alike, to The Aniwriter

On June 10th, 2014, in promotion for the then-upcoming release of Super Smash Bros for the Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo released an animated trailer for the reveal of Palutena and Dark Pit as two of the playable characters. At the time, the trailer by itself was enough to get people thinking about a Super Smash Bros anime. Of course, after the hype of the trailer died down and the game eventually came out, that conversation all but disappeared. However, four years have passed and a new Super Smash Bros. has been released, which got me thinking: Would Super Smash Bros. be a good anime?

Animated Trailer for Super Smash Brothers Wii U and 3DS

The short answer is probably no, but here is a much better explanation. The first point against it is that Smash Bros as a game has largely existed for the spectacle of it all. There is not much of a large overarching narrative when it comes to the Smash universe, even with Smash Brothers Ultimate’s attempts at expanding what story there is. As such, the finished anime would likely feel fairly a lot like the Rage of Bahamut anime, in that it feels like a fairly generic good vs evil story without much to it in terms of character dynamics.

All 74 characters in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Credit: VG247.com

Speaking of characters, though, there would be far too many. The promotion of Ultimate talked about everyone being in the game and it is not far from truth. The game currently has a roster of 74 characters, with challenger packs set to release in the near future which will potentially get that total closer to 100. From a storytelling perspective, trying to flesh out that many characters over a traditional 12 or even 24 episode time span while also having the main antagonist and other potential characters would be impossible to manage. Of course, if the show had as many episodes as say a show like Naruto, then it could work, but even longer running Shonen have a lot of characters that usually do not get well fleshed out.

Now, this is not to say that there would be nothing good about a Smash Bros. anime. Quite the opposite in fact. For example, assuming that the animation stayed relatively close to the quality of the trailer, that would definitely be something to praise. The music, assuming that it comes from the different franchises in Smash, would be really fun to hear in an anime about those characters.

Overall, a Smash Bros anime probably would not be bad, but it definitely would not be good either. There are just too many problems with the story and characters to make it a worthwhile adaptation.

Anime/Manga, Observation Deck

Final Thoughts: Re:Creators

October 22, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 2 Comments

Welcome, weebs and authors alike, to The Aniwriter. After my taking a little while to catch up on what all I’ve been missing when it comes to the world of anime and other personal hobbies, I’ve come to a conclusion: I’ve been missing a ton of good stuff, especially when it comes to anime. One of those fantastic anime that I want to talk a little bit about is Re:Creators, a show that on the surface seems like an otaku’s fantasy come to life but in actuality is a lot deeper and more relevant to today’s society than we might think.

However, instead of doing a formal review, I thought I would just take some time to write about aspects of the show I enjoyed and some that I feel the need to criticize and/or comment on. It will be similar to my reaction on the ending of March Comes in Like a Lion, just a bit more organized.

The Power of Stories

For whatever other criticism someone might have about Re:Creators, I think it’s safe to say that one thing everyone will admit is that Re:Creators understands the power of stories both on an individual level and in the context of a broader cultural mythology.

One of the ways that Re:Creators shows this is through its character’s ability to gain new powers. In the latter part of the show, Meteora, as well as the other main characters, comes to the realization that the only way for a character that has appeared in “the land of the gods” to gain new powers is to have it be excepted by large groups of the story’s fans. If the fans don’t except it as reality, then the new powers won’t materialize. The duration of the new powers is also affected by the belief in the new powers. A stronger belief in the new narrative that has been created means the new powers will last longer. In this way, Re:Creators shows that it understands that a story is only as powerful as the number of people who believe it.

This is true for basically anything that involves a narrative. Whether it be a political campaign, a conspiracy theory, and especially religion, the strength of those narratives is predicated on the number of people who accept them as truth, and when people start to accept those narratives as true, it can be hard to convince them otherwise, even if the narrative they believe is patently false.

Depression and Regret

Re:Creators main character Sota represents a character flaw as old as time that has been molded by the new age that we live in. With the power of the internet, it has become a lot easier for people to create. Whether it be writing, making music, doing crafts, or in Sota’s case, drawing, the internet has turned everyone, with the click of a few buttons and enough time, into an artist.

However, by the same token, the increase in the number of people trying to make it as artists has also made it a lot more competitive. In the age of the internet, it is no longer about the art itself per say, but whether or not it is worth someone’s time, because when there is an endless amount of free and cheap content, time becomes the most valuable resource.

This problem is exactly where the main villain Altier’s vengeance comes from, at least indirectly. Because Sota became jealous of Setsuna, he abandoned her and left her alone to face other people’s jealousy and hatred. Eventually, she felt like she had no one, and decided to end it all. Altier became an incarnation of that hatred of the world that Setsuna felt. Sure, Sota may not be directly responsible for Altier, but in a lot of ways, it was his decision that lead to her being born. Sometimes inaction can speak louder than action.

Fantasy Becoming Reality

One other thing I can appreciate about Re:Creators is how much the people who wrote the show understand what it means to create a story and characters, and just how much those narratives mean to the ones who create them. Many of the creations in the show end up forming deep bonds with their creators. Selesia and Matsubara, while not really liking each other in the beginning, come to understand and appreciate each other by the end. Alicetaria faces a similar situation with her creator but eventually comes to understand him. Even Altier did everything that she did in order to carry out what she thought was Setsuna’s wishes.

As someone who has written a couple of short stories that may or may not ever see the light of day, I understand how easy it is to get attached to the world that you are writing. As more and more detail gets put into a story, characters start to feel alive, like they could jump off the page at any minute, and that is a lot of what Re:Creators is all about. When the creations come alive, we see not just their perspective, but the perspective of their creators, the one who wrote them. To have your creations come to life only to see them disappear would at the very least, be emotional as hell.

Well, that’s all I really have to say for now. The show was absolutely incredible, and if you have not seen it yet, you need to.

What did you guys think about Re:Creators? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

Anime/Manga, Opinion

In Defense of Slice of Life pt. 2: How to Define the Genre

September 14, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 10 Comments

Welcome, weebs and authors alike, to The Aniwriter

In my last post, which you can find here, I talked about how the Slice of Life genre can unfairly be labeled boring or uninteresting and pointed to shows like Spice and Wolf and A Place Further than the Universe to prove my point, which brought up a different point in the comments that I was planning on talking about in this post anyway: What defines a Slice of life?

Now, I’ve come up with a few working definitions, but before I put those out there I think it’s important to know what other definitions people have used before. The most common definition seems to come from Wikipedia, in which it is described as “seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a character’s life is presented, often lacking plot development, conflict and exposition, and often having an open ending.”

In Robert E. Brenner’s book “Understanding Manga and Anime,” He defines Slice of Life as having more melodramatic tendencies, while also acknowledging the tendency to focus on School, romance, Sci-fi and fantasy.

Other definitions, including ones from Merriam Webster and Cambridge, emphasize the fact that a slice of life focuses on the “real life” of the character or characters involved.

All of these definitions probably would have been accurate by themselves even just a half a decade ago, but the reality is that the Slice of Life genre, whether we like it or not, has expanded. As Brenner’s definition acknowledges, Slice of Life in anime isn’t just high school comedy and romance. What seems to be the problem in modern anime is the Slice of Life genre’s increase in its use of fantasy and sci-fi elements.

In that case, I would propose a definition that looks something like this:

A story in which one or more characters interact in a way that involves little to no plot progression, and which generally focuses on the character’s day to day lives.

Now, I like this definition not just because I wrote it, but because it focuses on the two things that are at the heart of every slice of life show:

The characters
The character’s interactions

The definitions previously were somewhat limiting in that they had to involve the “real lives” of the characters involved, meaning that show’s with more unrealistic elements like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid could technically be considered not Slice of Life.

Now, looking at the definition I wrote above, how would this apply to the example’s I used in my last post?

Well, this is where some of it gets a little sticky. With “A Place Further Than the Universe,” even though it might be defined by others as Slice of Life, under this definition it might not be, because even though the main girls are certainly the focus, it would be hard to argue that there is no plot progression.

The Ancient Magus Bride seems to fall somewhat more in the middle, as the show most certainly focuses mainly on Ainsworth and Chise, but there is a fair argument to be had about just how much the plot progressed by the end of the show.

Spice and Wolf, at least under this definition, is a pretty open and shut case. Very little in the way of actual plot progression happens during the show’s run, and the interactions between Lawrence and Holo are pretty much the main driving point of the show.

Well, that’s my answer to the question. By no means am I saying this is a perfect definition, and I would for sure love to hear some criticism and feedback, but its what I have come up with for now. I might end up following this up with a third post talking about sub-genres, but I’ll leave it at this for now.

What do you guys think the definition of Slice of Life is? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

Anime/Manga, Opinion

In Defense of Slice of Life

September 3, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 19 Comments

Welcome, weebs and authors alike, to The Aniwriter.

In my time watching anime, one genre, in particular, has often been criticized as being the least interesting and lacking in a lot of substance, and that would be the Slice of Life genre. Slice of Life is a genre that fans use to describe series where the focus is on the characters and the day to day happenings in each of their lives.

I thought I would take a bit of time to talk about the Slice of Life genre in a bit more depth because I feel like a lot of those same criticisms are still very much around, even despite the amount of high-quality Slice of Life shows that have been coming out as of late.

As I see it there are two major criticisms that still get lodged at the Slice of Life genre, so as such, I’ll be making this a two-parter. Those criticisms are as follows:

“Slice of Life shows often lack any serious development on the part of both the characters and the story, and as such don’t really make for interesting pieces of entertainment.”
“Slice of Life shows are so loosely defined that it doesn’t make sense to call it a genre at all.”

Today, I’ll be addressing the first of these criticisms, so without further ado, let’s get started.

First, I’d like to just get this out of the way: yes, I understand that what is entertaining or even interesting is completely subjective, but to that, I would say that I think it’s important to be able to at least make an argument as to why you believe something.

It’s also a pretty grandiose claim to make that an entire genre has no development whatsoever, so I’ll address it now: the idea that the Slice of Life genre has no development whatsoever is kind of ridiculous.

The first major example I can give to refute this point is Spice and Wolf. The show follows Holo and Lawrence for two seasons, through all kinds of adventures and situations. Holo starts the show looking down on humans, assuming that none of them are worth her time. But, as the two continue, she comes to understand through Lawrence that humans are all living their lives the best they can.

A similar change happens inside Lawrence. At the beginning of the show, Lawrence starts out with a much more cynical view of the world. Holo, however, gets him to believe in the idea that life doesn’t have to be so doom and gloom all the time. Not to mention that by the end of the second season, the two have obvious romantic feelings for each other that aren’t just going to go away without any resolution.

Another great example of a Slice of Life with major development is Nagi no Asakura. Now, I’ll freely admit that I haven’t seen all of the show, but even despite only having seen the first 9 episodes or so, if already feels like it’s going through plenty of development. Hikari has already gone from someone who unconditionally hates humans to someone who realizes his friend might be in love with a human, and as such tries to support her.

Even in more recent editions to the genre like A Place Further than the Universe, there is obvious development in the relationships between all of the characters. Mari starts the show as an unfulfilled high schooler who wants more out of life than just to sit around and do nothing. After she meets Shirase and decides to pursue a trip to Antartica with her, she realizes there is a lot more out there that she could be doing, and that doing those things with great friends makes them much more enjoyable.

Shirase especially sees a ton of development over the course of the series. Despite starting out as just a meek, somewhat quirky teenage girl who only seems to be the butt of everyone’s jokes, she manages to finally find her place in the world. The trip to Antartica allows her to finally fulfill her dream, and near the end of the show, she manages to get some closure about her mother.

It’s also worth pointing out that among the three series I just listed that there is an incredibly diverse set of story and characters, each with their own unique goals and hopes. One thing that is consistent in all definitions of Slice of Life is a character-driven show, but that doesn’t mean a show has to sacrifice any development in order to be more character focused.

Next week, I’ll spend some time revisiting the idea of how to classify what exactly is a Slice of Life.

How do you guys feel about Slice of Life as a whole? Do you have any favorites that you would consider Slice of Life? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support The Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

Anime/Manga, Opinion

Does Anime’s Mainstream Success Lie in the Normal Feel of Mainstream Anime?

January 22, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 13 Comments

Whether we like it or not, anime is becoming more and more a mainstream phenomena. Shows like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia are receiving significant attention, and Netflix, a streaming giant, has put 8 billion into releases this year, including the critically acclaimed Devilman. Fortunately or Unfortunately, that attention is not being split evenly across many of the new shows coming out.

Attack on Titan’s mainstream success can be attributed to its assimilations to currently popular trends. As many have argued, the Titans, the show’s main villains, so to speak, play on the same tropes that make Zombies in movies like World War Z do, and the show’s main lead, Eren Jaeger, fills the role of the aggressive male lead that fills most of popular stories.

My Hero Academia is no different. Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has created a hunger for hero filled stories among the popular conscious, and being one of the few Hero stories to reach the medium of anime, and the even less common achievement of being a hero story that is popular in Japan, it, of course, made it outside the anime community in the west. While on the surface My Hero Academia may seem to still be dominated by the culture of its origin, the group of super high school students known as class 1-A is still extremely reminiscent of Super Hero groups like The Avengers and Justice Leauge found in American comics.

Not often do shows considered classics by anime fans like FLCL or Gurenn Lagan escape the word of mouth inside the community. Even Ghibli films, which are undoubtedly anime and have reached lots of mainstream success, do not often get talked about as being apart of anime because their appeal is much broader.

What anime’s recent mainstream success really comes down to is its ability to produce shows that are far more accessible to western audiences. Sure, the continued success of anime in the mainstream and a growing community has allowed for more niche shows like Kemono Friends and Umaru-chan to continue being made, but it is not these shows that are driving the medium more and more into the mainstream.

What Japan wants and what western audiences want are a lot different. The west wants the next Game of Thrones or Walking Dead, while Japan is more than happy just getting another season of Idol Master. The reality is that anime’s mainstream popularity has more do to with shows that appeal to western audiences than anything that is particularly unique to the medium of anime.

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!