In the wake of this seemingly ceaseless quarantine, many people have picked up new interests to pass the time as we’re stuck in home. From baking to knitting to simply playing even more video games, many communities have flourished in the wake of all this free time. Today, we’re going to be looking specifically at anime, which has exploded in popularity the past few months.

Anime, a genre of animation hailing specifically from Japan, has always had a sort of cult following in the years past, but it’s always been rather niche and not exactly mainstream. However, recently anime has been thrust into popularity. Whether it be the profile pictures of your classmates on Google Meet, Instagram or even TikTok, you probably won’t get far scrolling through your phone without seeing some anime character on your phone. But why has anime boomed into the limelight so quickly? What’s the appeal and furthermore, which Animes have brought with them so much popularity?

After conducting a questionnaire on Instagram on people’s favorite animes, the three anime that showed up the most were Haikyuu, Attack on Titan (go watch it, it’s really good), and Kakegurui. An anime about a high school volleyball team, another about fighting giant monsters that have almost wiped out humanity, and one about life or death gambling. They don’t have all that much in common at first glance. However, there is one similarity between all these anime that I believe is responsible for their popularity. They are all available on Netflix, and I believe that has much to do with their popularity. Anime, for a long time, has been a much more niche and secluded subculture than it now is. However, anime has become much more exposed to the mainstream recently, and it seems that our school is just another part of that. For many people, anime has always been something they’ve enjoyed, and only just recently have they been able to share that enjoyment with other people as the community has flourished.