How Did Anime Go From Geek to Cool? | Subcultured

Comments · 581

• PB

  @PBSDocumentaries · 4 years ago · pinned

  Every episode of Subcultured has audio descriptions! Go to Settings - Audio Track - English Descriptive.

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• MA

  @marcianoacuerda · 4 years ago

  Fansubbers were the unsung heroes of that time. Imagine all the effort needed for a subbed vhs to reach our hands.

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• LA

  @lawrenceiverson1924 · 4 years ago

  I've been an Anime fan since Akira I'm 71 now and still love it!!

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• JE

  @jebus6kryst · 4 years ago

  It became cool because animes do have great animation and storylines. The geeks in the 90s were just the first people in the West to notice that.

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• TT

  @tttITA10 · 4 years ago (edited)

  The main reason for anime newfound coolness is that the generation who first had widespread access to anime on television (and anime-friendly videogames, like Pokémon) is now made interely of adults capable of building a huge market for anime stuff, both as consumers and as producers. <br>And then, widespread fast internet made anime accesible. Meme culture got people curious. Anime-influenced YouTubers gave hype and voice to anime fans. The increased politization and the louder cries for individual liberties in social media made anime acceptable. And, lastly, streaming services like Netflix made anime mainstream even for the uninitiated public.

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• DE

  @desu38 · 4 years ago

  I&apos;m so used to &quot;weeb&quot; that &quot;otaku&quot; feels oddly archaic now.

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• AR

  @argella1300 · 4 years ago

  You can’t discount American anime and manga distributors <b>finally</b> wising up and making their content more accessible. For ages the only way to stay current with a series was to pirate them because the American release was so far behind, often by months or even years. It wasn’t until streaming services like Hulu blew up in the 2010s that the distribution and dubbing companies realized that if they offer a free way for the public to watch their content, people will go out and buy their other stuff.

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• HO

  @honeyswann · 4 years ago

  I luckily grew up in a household where anime was watched constantly . My mom is from Mexico so she would watch Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac , Gundam, the secret garden, Minki Momo and of course, Candy Candy and Dragon Ball. I grew up watching these shows and wanted to know more. It’s how I ended up watching Pokémon, Dinosaur King , and some other anime as I grew. It’s been an integral part of my life that reminds me of how international media can have such an effect on someone.

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• MA

  @mashrien · 4 years ago

  And here I am one of the lucky ones, now pushing 40 years old, that HAD an anime subscription (mail service) in the 80s/90s.. Lodos, Akira(obviously), Wrath of the Ninja, 8-Man, Vampire Hunter, Dirty Pair, Demon City, god the list just goes on and on. I <b>grew up</b> loving anime, one of the early ones.<br>Also; SpaceTime sent me.

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• HE

  @HelgeMoulding · 4 years ago

  As someone who worked putting on fan conventions in the 90s, I&apos;d say the reason why anime became popular is because it filled a void in Western culture. The people who came to our conventions had many specific reasons for enjoying the shows and manga, but they had in common that Western media was missing what anime provided. We had animation and graphic novels, but not the novel point of view brought by these Japanese media.

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• PA

  @patwhip65 · 4 years ago

  I am never going to like the fact that people that bullied us are the ones enjoying it without any risks that used to come with it

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• US

  @uss_04 · 4 years ago

  Found Anime in the 90s, and got to see it grow in popularity. Crazy to think how more “mainstream” it’s gotten. My 15 year old relatives felt like they always had it growing up.

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