On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by Crunchyroll EVP Mitchel Berger to talk about anime’s increasing popularity with those yearning for community. We reference a report on the state of anime several times; you can read it here. The long and the short of it, though, is that anime is increasingly popular with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, which will likely come as no surprise to anyone who has seen the wall of manga in their local Barnes and Noble. From theatrical rollouts in the United States and around the world to the 17-million-subscriber-strong Crunchyroll streaming service to the sold-out Anime Expo in Los Angeles earlier this month, it’s an enormous segment of the market that holds a deep attachment to younger audiences. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I hope you share it with a friend!
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I watched a lot of anime back in the 90s and 00s and went to a NYC comic con, which was AMAZING! I can't wait to go again! I never really considered crunchyroll, but after this conversation and reading the comments, I am going to reconsider. It is great to know the anime fandom is alive and doing better than ever with GenZ. Although not included in the crunchyroll umbrella, I adore the Studio Ghibli films and, as pointed out in this conversation, it is very easy to get a relatively large group of people to go an watch a movie, re-run or new. There is something really unique and special about anime that appeals to all demographics.
I'm 66 and read comics in High School and collected certain titles, no superhero though, always enjoyed cartoons and animation that I include anime in, all depending on the story. Netflix provides some anime that mixes well with the other streaming offerings, there is already far too much to watch, so their limited offerings isn't a problem for me. My guess is that anime got a big bump in popularity when cable started eating into over-the-air broadcasting because I remember that there were more animation offerings starting in the 90s. For example, I loved MTV's Liquid Television. Before that, we would go to theaters to see animations, such as Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Film Festivals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_and_Mike%27s_Festival_of_Animation), my first was in La Jolla CA. Netflix presented Love, Death and Robots that are adult animations. And then there's Dust on youtube.
So, I wrap Anime in that adult animation genre. I don't know about you kids, but if you like animations now, you will die enjoying them, of course which will depend on your personal taste. Oh, and one more thing, many cartoons are produced at both the child and adult levels. So, your childhood cartoons may still entertain you as an adult, but at the adult level.
I’m an older anime fan at age 57, squarely in Gen X, and I’ve subscribed to Crunchyroll for about 15 years now. One thing I think non-fans don’t get is how much anime can fill in the blind spots of risk-averse western media. I often like to say that when I look at what’s showing at my local movie theater here in Grand Rapids, MI, I get three choices: superhero crap, Pixar wannabees, and Christian nationalism. I suppose it’s not surprising that I haven’t been to a movie since Crunchyroll rolled out the theatrical wrap-up to its romance series “The Quintessential Quintuplets”.
And romance is one of those blind spots I’m talking about. If I’m an adult male looking at American TV and film, one thing I’m not going to find much of is romance. Romantic comedies have dwindled, and romantic dramas are all but extinct, and in either case they’re denigrated as “chick flicks”, with the thought of appealing to male viewers completely out of the question. Flip over to the summer anime season on Crunchyroll and I can take my pick of romantic-flavored shows, including the cosplay-themed “My Dress-Up Darling”, the vampiric “Call of the Night”, and the magical realism of “Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus” (don’t ask about the title… it’s a long story). Go further and there’s even great LGBTQ stuff, like the extremely silly lesbian romcom “There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover… Unless” (which was inexplicably left unlicensed by Crunchyroll, so it airs on YouTube).
Western media doesn’t want my time? Fine. I’m happy to give Crunchyroll and HIDIVE my money every month.
Listening to this one made me take a trip down memory lane with Osamu Tezuka, his creations and his kindness in personally replying to a child's fan letter.
Of course anime is taking over pop culture—Gen Z and Gen Alpha were born into a world where institutions crumbled and attention spans fragmented. They don’t want tidy moral lessons or three-camera sitcoms. They want existential sword fights, trauma arcs, and a talking cat who understands grief better than their guidance counselor.
Anime didn’t just fill a content void—it offered a cosmology. And unlike Western media’s obsession with chosen ones and last-minute redemption, anime says: train harder, cry louder, your pain is sacred fuel.
The fact that tech billionaires watched Evangelion and said “yes, let’s become gods through data fusion” just proves they missed the point. The kids didn’t.
Miyazaki? He opened the temple. But the congregation stayed for Jujutsu Kaisen, Mob Psycho 100, and that one episode of Attack on Titan that made you rethink nationalism.
It’s not a takeover. It’s a resurrection. Of myth, of madness, and of meaning.
The “What anime should I watch?” question made me laugh. I get that all the time and it’s hard to answer unless you know that person well and have a good idea of their taste. I always ask “What type of shows or movies do you like the most?” From there I can normally give an ok recommendation as long as it’s not a genre I’m completely ignorant of.
I always try to find a movie or a one season show that they might like so it's not the commitment of some show that's 5+ seasons long. There's a reason why Cowboy Bebop remains an into anime after all these years because its only 26 episodes long. For just about any genre interest, there's probably an anime out there that's a solid dozen or two episodes.
Cowboy Bebop is actually one I end up recommending a lot (and why I NEVER recommend One Piece to new people 😂). Depending on their taste I also end up recommending Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood a lot too. I’ve never recommended a movie, but if I did it would likely be a Ghibli film.
The tech billionaires saw SEELE in Evangelion and thought, "lets do that".
Instrumentality really is a very Peter Thiel sort of goal, isn't it?
Miyazaki is where it starts and ends, as far as I'm concerned.
I totally get that and his works are always held in high regard, but there is an insane amount of anime out there that I think people would love if they gave it an honest shot. Not everything is for everyone, but there’s a ton of stuff I believe most people would enjoy if they tried it with an open mind.
Wish you'd asked Mr. Berger why it's taken four entire years for Crunchyroll to finish up their "Dirty Pair" Blu-Ray Kickstarter, while you were at it.