Americans who watched anime from the 1990s to the 2010s incited a common social reaction. Many people patronized them for enjoying animated television, considering it a “childish” or “nerdy” hobby. But the concept of anime and the animation industry as a whole has developed exponentially over the past ten years.
Netflix has reported that over 50 percent of its subscribers watch anime, accounting for 150 million households. Anime is no longer seen as a child’s pastime, but as an art form that tells many larger-than-life stories.
This cultural shift is the result of many factors.
In part, it is due to the extreme popularity of shows like “Naruto” and “Dragon Ball Z” that were carried over from Japan and embraced by American broadcasting systems, including Cartoon Network. Americans who grew up during this era of animated television often feel nostalgia for anime and appreciate the artistic choices the genre made.
Though nostalgia is a powerful force, another factor is accessibility.
Those in the 1990s and 2000s who wanted to watch anime had to either rent or buy DVDs or even VHS tapes sent over from Japan. This could make the pastime quite expensive, requiring consumers to sink $30 or more to watch just three or four episodes at a time. Now, however, it’s common to have a subscription to a streaming service like Netflix, which offers a variety of anime series.
More than ever, anime is accessible to anyone with an interest and an internet connection. There’s no better example of this than the streaming service Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll houses exclusive anime titles, including television and movies. The site reported having 17 million monthly subscribers as of this year, with about 30 percent of them American.
Over the past decade, anime has become something everyone can enjoy on some level. It is an outlet for amazing visuals and beautifully crafted artworks – visuals that guide viewers through a narrative of deeply rooted characters in fantasy and sci-fi worlds.
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Paul Swartz
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Anime’s growing influence on American culture
Americans who watched anime from the 1990s to the 2010s incited a common social reaction. Many people patronized them for enjoying animated television, considering it a “childish” or “nerdy” hobby. But the concept of anime and the animation industry as a whole has developed exponentially over the past ten years.
Netflix has reported that over 50 percent of its subscribers watch anime, accounting for 150 million households. Anime is no longer seen as a child’s pastime, but as an art form that tells many larger-than-life stories.
This cultural shift is the result of many factors.
In part, it is due to the extreme popularity of shows like “Naruto” and “Dragon Ball Z” that were carried over from Japan and embraced by American broadcasting systems, including Cartoon Network. Americans who grew up during this era of animated television often feel nostalgia for anime and appreciate the artistic choices the genre made.
Though nostalgia is a powerful force, another factor is accessibility.
Those in the 1990s and 2000s who wanted to watch anime had to either rent or buy DVDs or even VHS tapes sent over from Japan. This could make the pastime quite expensive, requiring consumers to sink $30 or more to watch just three or four episodes at a time. Now, however, it’s common to have a subscription to a streaming service like Netflix, which offers a variety of anime series.
More than ever, anime is accessible to anyone with an interest and an internet connection. There’s no better example of this than the streaming service Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll houses exclusive anime titles, including television and movies. The site reported having 17 million monthly subscribers as of this year, with about 30 percent of them American.
Over the past decade, anime has become something everyone can enjoy on some level. It is an outlet for amazing visuals and beautifully crafted artworks – visuals that guide viewers through a narrative of deeply rooted characters in fantasy and sci-fi worlds.