Anime. Who would’ve thought it would have this much mainstream popularity in this day and age, compared to being the underground ‘members-only’ niche medium it once was over 20 years ago. With it among the mainstream ranks; this medium has brought about a new generation of anime fans, and while that’s a great thing to a large majority of the anime community, there’s been some talk about the next wave of anime series that will sustain its mainstream dominance. In fact, there’s even a term for it; and that term is The Big Three. For many fans they’re aware of who the ‘Big Three’ are; they are three of the most popular, longest-running anime titles of their genre, and in the world. Whenever someone mentions ‘The Big Three’, they’re talking about Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece.

In the 2000’s Shonen was all the rage, and in EVERY Shonen Jump magazine you’d see these three on the cover. Although Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakasho, and Rurouni Kenshin (which we like to call ‘The Gateway Three’, or ’90’s Big Three’) made their mark on anime’s rise to popularity, these three solidified themselves as mainstream mainstays due to their stories, their iconic characters, and also being the longest-running shows. During the early 2000’s anime wasn’t as widely accessible as it is now, so trying to get your hands on any type of merchandise of these three anime titles was easier said than done.

When Toonami came to town (we’re not even gonna mention the 4Kids One Piece dub even though the opening music slapped), the hype of seeing these shows along with new manga chapters in the weekly Shonen Jump magazines, was intensified. We all remember the ‘Naruto Takeover Marathon’ (Naruto Hundo) on Cartoon Network, as that’s how a majority of Naruto fans found the Orange ninja. From anime TV series, manga, video games, and movies; the ‘Big Three’ defined a generation of Shonen anime fans the world over. Even today the influence of the ‘Big Three’ is felt among the modern generation of anime fans, and contrary to popular belief, it has led to the rise of ‘The New Three’.

For many fans; the ‘Big Three’ brought them into the anime community in the first place, and even led them to other shows of that genre as well. It doesn’t have to be just Shonen anime, as there could be a ‘Big Three’ of a particular genre or decade; say in our case, the 90’s. We know what our ‘Big Three’ are (as we aforementioned above) when we were growing up, but for some anime fans, it could be the three anime titles that made them become fans in the first place during their childhood; like Pokemon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. For Mecha fans it could be Gundam, Gurren Lagann, and Evangelion. For Gen Z’ers it could be Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, and Demon Slayer.

The ‘Big Three’ is synonymous with the most popular, longest-running, and most iconic anime franchises. Like Michael Jackson (no, not the dude who looks like him in Demon Slayer in the “Smooth Criminal” outfit from the music video); there will never be another ‘Big Three’ as popular, iconic, or generational defining as Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. If you think about it a lot of fans have those three to thank due to their success, as they have led to the rise in popularity of ‘The New Three’. Every genre has a ‘Big Three’, every decade has a ‘Big Three’, and most of all, every fan has a ‘Big Three’ that got them into anime. Who knows what the future holds for ‘The Next Three’, but for now, ‘The Big Three’ will go down in history as the ones who brought anime to mainstream.

Until next post, stay nerdy! 😉

Anime. It seems everybody’s into it. Since its rise to fame in the 90’s anime has become a BIG part of nerd culture; and eventually as we’ve already seen, mainstream culture. Anime’s influence can even be seen in a majority of American pop-culture; such as music, sports entertainment, and yes…even American live-action. (Netflix, I’m lookin’ at you!)

With the medium now apart of mainstream culture, it’s brought about the ‘wrath’ (and we use this term loosely) of original anime fans; the ones who were there when it was mocked by people who didn’t understand it – mainly bullies. Lately we’ve been hearing this term thrown around throughout the anime community, and that term is ‘True Anime Fan’. Of course for anyone that’s heard of this term before, you might recall it being said from a salty individual on Twitter; ripping into the fans of popular series that have had a spot on Toonami’s line up. Of course you guys know the titles; Demon Slayer, Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, SAO, you name it.

The term ‘True Fan’ usually means that you’re well-versed in the material of the medium that you’re passionate about, but in anime’s case; you’ve watched ‘enough’ anime to know about what genres are trending, what series has good/bad plot and character development, and the reputation of the animation studios that produce the shows that you watch. Honestly, there’s really no set number of shows that you have to watch in order to be classified as a ‘True Anime Fan’, however to the many ‘anime specialists’ out there; if you ONLY watch anime titles that are deemed ‘popular’ or ‘mainstream’, then YOU are not classified as a ‘True Anime Fan’.

This type of mentality has garnered some rather controversial attention, which has lead to gatekeeping within the anime community (which we’ve talked about on a previous post) as well as Twitter feuds online. Sure, anime is now accessible to a casual market of consumers, but now that its among the ranks of mainstream popularity, it has brought in a whole new generation of anime fans who didn’t originally have access to it during its rise. You don’t have to watch a specific anime title to be considered an anime fan, in fact, if popular titles like One Piece or Demon Slayer brought you to the world of anime fandom in the first place (and you like it), the you ARE a ‘True Anime Fan’. Who knows; maybe that one show can lead you to underrated or hidden gems that you’d never thought you’d find.

It seems many fans forget that they too (yeah, we said it); THEY TOO, were watching one anime title that they really liked when they were growing up. (For us it was Dragon Ball Z.) As you get older within the anime community your tastes in certain genres change over time, however to the casual anime novice they’re just trying to get their feet wet into the fandom and see what shows will peak their interests. You don’t need an ‘anime checklist’ to figure out if this is the show you should be watching or not due to its popularity. If you like a show (regardless of its story, characters, etc.), the you’re a fan of that show. If that show leads you to other shows; then you’ve become not just a fan of THAT show, but the other shows as well. Basically we’ll end this post a lil’ somethin’ like this:

Watch what you wanna watch and who cares what others think!

Until next post, bye! 😉