How deep into the anime fandom would you say you’ve delved? If I really push it, I can trace my fandom back to somewhere in the mid 1990’s, when Sailor Moon and Akira were first popular in the US, and perhaps even earlier to when a friend of mine commented that my character doodles looked like “Japanese cartoons” – it turned out it was mimicking some of the designs from one of several anime that had been wiped of Japanese culture for the consumption of American kids on Nickelodeon. While I know that anime had a minor presence in the West even prior to that, the era of anime alongside Saturday morning cartoons really marked a big jump in its fandom cache. I don’t say all this to imply that I’m somehow “more” of an anime fan than any particular person, I just want to point out that I have the benefit of time and exposure to a lot of series that have since become much less available to newer fans.
A member of the anime club I belong to recently posted the chart to the left (you’ll have to click on it to be able to actually read it), which uses a depth metaphor in an attempt to help individuals define how deeply they’ve managed to make headway in their own anime fandom. The chart takes a large sampling of anime, and organizes them by how well-known (or not) they are, then uses a tier system to measure fans’ progress into incurable weeb-dom.
There’s an anime historian inside of me that really enjoys this kind of material. We figured out that the chart itself is about 5 years old based on what’s considered popular or easy to find up at the top (Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan both stuck out to me personally), and considering that, it serves as kind of a window into what the thinking was about anime at that time and what was in the fandom consciousness. It’s fun to know that some of my personal favorites were being talked-about – Michiko and Hatchin, Tatami Galaxy, Xam’d, Kaiji, Mononoke, even Den-noh Coil (my favorite anime!) are buried in there somewhere. And being reminded of the existence of truly unique stuff like Kuchuu Buranko (Trapeze) and Angel’s Egg is always fun (though it also gives me the urge to go re-watch them, and that would require the time and motivation to do so).
On the other hand, this list is also clearly based on a particular viewpoint on what to prioritize, whether there was one person putting together all the selections or a small group of folks trying to agree on where to slot them in the hierarchy. And to reiterate, it’s definitely an artifact of its time because there are things on the list that I might place higher based on my own awareness if only because I had the benefit of being aware of it during the season it was broadcast on Japanese TV. Things like House of Five Leaves, or Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight were relatively easy to find at my typical fansub purveyors (House of Five Leaves even had an official stream on Funimation… that said, it’s not the type of material that had a good chance at popularity even considering its availability, I just knew about it, watched it, and enjoyed it when it was new). Now Manabi Straight has a shiny new Blu-ray release, while House of Five Leaves is long out-of-print, so someone entering the fandom now might have a very different perception of these two series.
What bothers me a little bit is that lists and charts like this will always feel a bit like fandom ranking or gate-keeping. Even if constructed with the most benign intentions in mind, they attempt to frame a person’s fandom as a checklist or ranking, rather than the organic progression that it is (and in my opinion should be). Each person’s situation is going to be influenced by the time period in which they become interested in anime, the amount of time (and money) they’re able to devote to acquiring and watching it, and their particular subject-matter and genre interests and tolerances. There are great anime out there that I wouldn’t fault anyone for not wanting to watch, simply because they’re extremely violent, sexual, or just contain material that’s likely to be divisive. I think fandom is better as a conversation between fans, where those of us who have been around longer take note of what newer fans are enjoying, and provide them advice or recommendations if they come asking for them.
As a passive list of interesting anime, though, this is a pretty good chart. It reminded me of a lot of series and OVAs I’ve seen in the past and would love to revisit, given the time (yes, even in enforced lock-down, I don’t have all the time in the world, especially since I’m still working). It’s also a fun reminder of how much the landscape has changed, even in just five years; there are things on this list that I never thought would get an official streaming or disc release, and yet I can walk over to my shelf and look at my shiny Blu-ray copies of Genius Party, Robot Carnival, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Kaiba, and many others. I think, like anything else, this a powerful reminder of how robust the anime fandom is, and the wealth of material that exists for new and experienced fans alike, no matter how deep they’re willing (and able) to dive.