Anime. Once considered a pervert’s haven and socially unaccepted in the West… (Lowkey depending on where you look still is, looking at you, Jobless Reincarnation fans), Has evolved past its stigma to mainstream relevance and prevalence. But how did a median so differentiated from Western culture end up so intertwined with its populace? 

Anime always had its niche circle in the early 2000s and was a subject of humiliation for those who were fond of it. However, two key shows started to dissipate this surrounding view. Dragon Ball and Pokémon. Of course, many other shows had their fandoms, but the ones that were aired often and openly and therefore ingraining them as childhood shows throughout the masses were Dragon Ball and Pokémon.  

The introduction of these two shows in Western media was the equivalent of a little bit too much water pressing up against a dam and then the internet acting like a boulder demolished that dam and released the floodgates. Anime made its way into the eyes outside of their niche community and thus allowed for more personalised and nuanced views on the medium. 

Anime certainly was more well known in the late 2010s. Names like Naruto, My Hero Academia (not for good reasons), and Sailor Moon were something that many non anime watchers and fans knew, even if not having seen it. Of course this did not result in an end to the stigmatisation. 

The real closure was the combination of streaming services and lockdown. The constant watching of shows led to more and more people discovering anime. And with popular titles like Attack on Titan being one of the most popular at the time, it allowed the masses to see that such a medium could create mature and deep stories. 

The induction of anime into mainstream has been a slow burn over decades and a combination of global changes that forced the masses to indulge in a culture other than their own.