By Oshae Hawkins

Staff Writer

   In the past year with the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, anime has slowly become mainstream, _. There have been a few times where anime has become popular, but not what it has become to today.

   There are three different anime that come to mind that have become mainstream: “My Hero Academia,” “Demon Slayer,’’ and “Attack On Titan.” These three anime have taken over the mainstream. An honorable mention to “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Even though it isn’t an anime it’s one of the reasons why these shows are becoming more mainstream, because it’s an anime influenced show it became main while along with some of the anime’s i’m about to mention. Another example that was previously mentioned, “My Hero Academia” is a story about a powerless teen who gets bullied because he doesn’t have any powers, and is given an opportunity to become a hero before attending high school.

   My Hero Academia made its anime debut in 2016. It was popular in the anime community but it slowly became mainstream in 2018. In 2020 it was one of the most-watched shows of the year, according to Comicbook Refrence. With “My Hero Academia” being on the rise in the mainstream it’s a must-watch show for anyone trying to dive into these kinds of shows. 

   The second anime that will become mainstream is “Demon Slayer.” This one might sound familiar as the movie was released on April 23rd, 2021. The story’s synopsis is when a teenager chooses to fight demons by joining the demon slayer corp, but it isn’t that easy to fight demons as he will soon find out. When the show made its debut, at one point it was trending all over Twitter with even popular Twitch streamer Ninja talking about it. The opening of Demon Slayer had over ninety million views and over one million likes on YouTube before it was removed. After the success of the movie, and with season two set to be released in 2022, this is one anime to look out for in the near future.

   As for the last anime being mentioned, it’s called “Attack On Titan.” This was the first anime that became truly mainstream. Season one came out in 2013 and one of the main reasons why it became so popular is that some people compared it to the popular show “Game of Thrones,” even though others would say it’s completely different. Coincidentally, the creator is a fan of “Game of Thrones,” according to Hajime Isayama himself.

   While Attack On Titan received some backlash because of how dark it was, it became mainstream as it was America’s most-watched show while it was airing. The second part of the final season comes out in January 2022. This is one of the anime that will be discussed for quite some time.

   With that being said, anime is rising on mainstream because it is constantly breaking records with “Demon Slayer Mugen Train” being the highest growthing film in this genre of 2020 according to Japanese times. More brands like Target showing more anime related merchandise in their stores, whereas it was difficult to find said merchandise in a Target a few years ago.