Yes, Adults Do Watch Anime. They Never Really Stopped!
Casting away the belief that enjoying anime is “childish”.
In the past week or so, there’s been a TikTok video of a young woman asking if there are adults who still watch anime. It was less of a genuine question, but more of an attempt to mock anyone who does.
That video garnered more comments than likes, and multiple people stitching it — which is a TikTok feature to combine two videos where the second video is responding to the first — to give their input on the subject. The responses varied, from people who mocked her attitude as that of a “peaked high school bully”, people who proudly admit that they do still watch anime, or people who just flat out tell her to let people enjoy the stuff that makes them happy.
Also, I’m not sure why she brought up college degrees when talking about adults who watch anime. As if what you studied in college should 100% define what you do during your free time — not that it stopped some people from showing off their own degrees to prove how baseless such an argument supposedly is against anime.
Either way, I didn’t comment or stitch the video. There were already a handful of people doing that so I felt that I didn’t have anything new to contribute.
But it did get me thinking a bit about this mentality. It seems that even now there are people who believe that anime is only for kids. That adults who still watch anime are immature and need to grow up.
Thankfully, it looked like the TikTok anime community was able to band together. I guess it shows how much the acceptance of anime has changed in the past decade and that this kind of bullying is becoming less tolerated.
Perhaps there was a time when anime wasn’t very popular and people are bullied for watching it, but not anymore. Nowadays, there’s at least one person you know in your life who watches anime.
Hell, there are celebrities who have openly stated that they are fans of anime. One notable example is Michael B. Jordan, who’s a big enough fan that his Killmonger costume in Black Panther was based off of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z.
Anime newcomers are lucky that there are plenty of streaming platforms like Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu that have anime for them to watch. I still remember the days when being able to watch anime was to watch it on TV channels like 4Kids TV and the Toonami section of Cartoon Network.
And if you couldn’t do that, then you would go watch it on Youtube. The episodes were usually of low quality and were split into two or three parts, but a lot of us didn’t really care back then, since we were happy to be able to watch them whether it was subbed or dubbed. And you better hope that all two or three parts of an episode are there, or else you’re stuck unable to watch a part of the episode because Youtube doesn’t have it.
There are also those sketchy anime websites, but I would caution people to use them carefully lest they want to risk infecting their computer with viruses.
So what gives? What is it about anime that makes adults still watch it even now? Or better yet, what makes it so popular today? In the past, it was a niche hobby that wasn’t seen in a favorable light. Now, you can find anime merchandise almost everywhere; more people are watching anime even on a casual level. And when you go to an anime convention, you will see it populated not just by adults but also families, and some of them are in cosplay of their favorite anime characters.
Why has it gotten so popular? Well, surely it must mean that people actually like watching anime. And it’s not just because of the animation or art design, I can tell you that now.
Much like TV shows and movies, people watch anime because it’s entertaining and they enjoy it. It’s no longer just about the mainstream animes like Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, and Sailor Moon; there’s a diverse number of anime TV series and original movies for people to enjoy regardless of whether it’s mainstream or not.
Anime isn’t just diverse in terms of the genre; it’s also diverse regarding the target demographic. For example, shounen and shoujo anime target teen boys and girls respectively. And then there’s seinen and josei, who target older males and females respectively. They’re not mandatory requirements on who’s allowed to watch what, but this goes to show that there’s always been anime out there that’s targeted toward a specific audience. And if there are fans of any age who enjoy the show, that probably speaks more about the quality of the show than the medium itself.
I think another reason that adults watch anime is that it doesn’t hesitate to discuss heavier topics, regardless of whom the anime is targeting. Demon Slayer, for example, reminds the audience of the dangers the demon-slaying occupation entails and doesn’t hesitate to kill off named characters to drive home what the stakes are in the battle between humans and demons. Another example is One Piece which, despite its rather lighthearted, goofy nature and art style, also explores themes such as corruption within the government, prejudice, and trauma. A show doesn’t have to be dark or light all the time, but being able to talk about heavy topics can add to the viewer’s experience.
And now that it’s encouraged for adults to indulge in their passions, as well as anime becoming more mainstream thanks to the Internet, why wouldn’t adult anime fans want to embrace their love for the medium? Fans are happy to discuss with each other about what their favorite anime is, or they want to geek out about their mutual interests in anime series and characters. Fans can even give each other recommendations of shows to watch, further building camaraderie within the anime community.
Really, it’s time to leave behind the belief that anime is for kids only. Anyone who still thinks like this is missing out on some good shows to watch.
And I hope that anyone who feels insecure about liking anime sees the comments on that TikTok video or comes across the stitches of that video and realizes that they’re not alone in liking it, and will have the confidence to embrace their passion. Or maybe it’s better that they don’t see the original video. They don’t need that negativity in their lives.
Do you like to watch anime? If so, what’s your favorite anime?
