Anime on the Rise

Camila Escobar, STAFF WRITER

     COVID-19 has presented the world with many hardships, but one benefit that did come out of quarantine was gaining more time for students to watch their favorite tv shows and movies. A new art form comprising many genres has become more popular with the students at Charter. 

      Anime is a Japanese term that refers to all animated work, and sometimes people mistake it for a genre as a whole. When in fact, there are five main types of genres that make up anime that are shonen, shojo, josei, and kodomomuke. There are also sports, action, comedy, psychological, and horror anime that fall into these 5 main genres.  A term that most younger generations use to refer to anime genres is mainstream and non-mainstream anime. Mainstream anime has more popular shows and has a greater viewership, the most common ones include shonen animes. They run for a longer time which allows them to become more popular, whereas non-mainstream animes are usually shorter and less popular because they are not advertised as much. Even though they may not be as popular that does not mean that they are not good, junior Roshan Guyah states “Mainstream animes are good but I like non-mainstream animes much better because they’re a take away from the traditional fighting and romance.” When asked what non-mainstream animes he recommends, Roshan said “My two main suggestions are probably Terror in resonance and Astra lost in space, they are really good and I enjoyed watching them!” You can watch these on apps like Hulu and Funimation. 

      Mainstream anime has played a key role in the rising anime watches during quarantine. With shows like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia gaining new seasons after a very long time, the desire to watch anime arose. Some mainstream anime is very long and can go up to 800+ episodes while others can be short and pack a lot of information and content in just 12 episodes. When asked what mainstream animes he recommends and why he feels that anime has become more popular during quarantine, Junior Ashton Banarsi said, “Other types of mainstream animes are Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, Toradora, etc. I like One Piece even though it’s quite long. It’s super adventurous, keeps you busy, and you don’t have to find a new show after every week. I feel like anime is becoming more popular during COVID because since we have to quarantine ourselves and keep a social distance there’s not much we can do. As well, a lot of people love watching shows and I feel like they should at least try it because it won’t hurt if you try it.” 

      Anime helps the time pass by and every show has different arch’s, genres, and pacing. Since anime is getting more recognition than usual,  it allows people to get to know others better and be able to start new friendships. 

      With so many different genres, there’s something for everyone. Whether it be a jam-packed action series or a simple heartfelt romance anyone can stop for a minute and enjoy this extraordinary cultural art form.