The Most POPULAR Anime Topics Fans Talk About (And Fight Over)

The anime community is lively on a daily basis, every minute even. And that was the case since the internet came into the picture especially.

Whether we’re talking about:

• The evolution of social media.
• Forums.
• Websites.
• Platforms like YouTube or Pinterest.
• Discord.

Or even offline conversations, there’s a certain set of anime topics that come up in conversation time and time again. And I’m talking about topics that are popular and tend to be more common.

Let’s focus on that in this post. Let’s get into it!

 

Popular anime topics fans discuss:

 

1. Shipping

Shipping has become more of a thing since the internet came into play, not to mention when anime like Naruto came about and social media start to pop off.

It’s also a thing that goes back to Yaoi fans “shipping” male characters together which has become more toxic in 2022 in a lot of ways.

Why do anime fans ship characters together?

• Ideal romantic partners.
• Wanting certain characters to be together.
• The characters chemistry between each other.
• Wishful thinking.

And sometimes just to be toxic, argue, belittle, and fight other anime fans because they’re salty about their ideal ships not being chosen. This happened with Emilia in Re Zero when Rem was rejected.

Other examples are Hinata with Naruto instead of Sakura, and Sakura fans losing their minds to the point of threatening the author and pressuring them into making different choices with the story.

Shipping is something that will always be a hot topic in the anime industry.

Related: 14+ Anime Ships That Will Never Set Sail (SPOILERS)

 

2. Vs Battles

Vs Battles are imaginary battle scenarios between characters from different universes/anime shows that are put against each other. And fans debate whether let’s say, Saitama can beat Goku if they ever fought.

This kind of thing is so prevalent in the anime industry that you can’t go on ANY social network without seeing this play out in some way.

Whether we’re talking about people asking questions on Quora like “can Saitama beat Superman”, or it’s Tweets asking the same questions which gain 1000’s of reactions… It always ends up in a fight between fans.

Usually it’s the toxic type of in-fighting, name calling, insults, shaming, and even racism if it’s heated and controversial enough.

Vs Battles stir the emotions.

 

3. Recommendations

Recommendations will never go away. As long as there are anime shows being produced, marketed, promoted, and created, fans will always need recommendations for what to watch.

This is especially true for NEW anime fans who come into the industry on a daily basis, weekly basis, and especially every year these days.

It’s not just about new anime fans though, it’s about fans who are so called veterans who need something new to watch or try.

It can be based on things like:

• Similar shows to their favorite anime.
• Anime of a certain genre.
• Anime that fits a certain idea or description.
• Recommendations based on one person’s opinion (celeb, writer, influencer, etc).

Or anything else that fits in between. There’s well over 10,000 anime with 100+ being made every year so recommendations will always be a thing.

Relevant: THIS is How Long It Would Take To Watch Every Anime Series Ever Created

 

4. Anime Piracy

Anime piracy wasn’t so bad back in the early stages of the anime industry. We’re talking about the 70’s, 80’s, and 1990’s. That all changed though.

There’s a good reason why it changed. That’s all thanks to the internet which made everything too accessible with no regulation whatsoever.

Overtime things have changed and streaming has been introduced, as well as region blocks and much worse. Making it impossible for fans in countries like India to watch anime without pirate websites.

Some people think anime piracy is:

• Immoral.
• Unethical.
• Bad.
• Selfish.

And every other bad word in the dictionary, but a lot of fans are also of the idea that it can’t be helped because of how messed up the industry is, which is true.

When all is said and done the topic of anime piracy will always be popular. Japan seems to have no interest in making the industry’s services better so this will continue.

Related: An Open Letter To The Anime Industry About PIRACY

 

5. Waifu’s/Husbando’s

What is a Waifu/Husbando?

• Waifu = a girl/woman you’d WIFE in real life because of their qualities.
• Husbando – the opposite.

The waifu/husbando thing has probably been going on for a long time now. But the internet brought it to life and made it visible since you can see people talking about it everywhere.

Every single season of every single year there’s a load of anime shows with at LEAST one Waifu/Husbando character for people to pick and choose from based on what they like about them.

This will never go away as long as anime keeps producing and writing great characters with traits and qualities we like in the opposite sex and what not.

 

6. Memes

Everyone needs a good laugh and that’s why anime memes exist.

Ever since the internet came about (the modern internet) memes were one of the things that came out of nowhere. Someone decided to put pictures together sarcastically describing something, and here we are.

Anime memes have gotten more coverage as the years have gone by, to the point of people blending anime with regular “real life” topics and turning it into a meme to relate to something.

Its become a part of meme culture in general and it’s not going anywhere.

 

7. Loli’s

Loli’s is a term too many people misconstrue, misinterpret, and purposely take out of context to make it mean something it doesn’t.

The word simply means little girl. In the case of anime, Loli’s tend to be:

• Cute.
• Kawaii.
• Adorable.
• Innocent.

Or whatever term you wanna use to describe the same thing. They can be little sisters in anime or just cute characters who do “cute things” and that becomes part of the entertainment.

You also can have Loli’s who are much older than they are (demons, etc) but take on the form of younger people.

It’s a culture and while there is a dark side (particularly in the west), that’s not what it represents in general.

 

8. Quotes

Anime quotes have always been a topic of discussion, but it wasn’t as popular many years ago compared to other topics like Vs Battles or Shipping.

I remember looking up anime quotes in 2015 and not seeing much of anything. hat’s when I created Anime Motivation to create a destination for anime quotes on the internet.

Since then I’ve seen this topic (and space) grow, evolve, and more people are talking about it, sharing it, sharing the quotes and doing their own versions more than ever before.

It’s not at the PEAK of popular anime topics, but it’s in the same playground so to speak.

 

9. Reviews

Reviews are naturally a big thing in the anime community. I mean it’s entertainment we’re talking about…. As long as there are TV shows and movies being made, there will be people to review them.

Anime shows air every single week of every single year and season, so whether it’s weekly reviews or full reviews after the anime airs, it’s a topic of discussion and a popular one.

Sometimes when reviews are written about popular or controversial anime, depending on the result and the opinion of the reviewer it can spark a lot of controversy and outrage, making the anime more popular than it would have been.

That leads to my next point….

 

10. Controversy

There are two types of controversy in the anime industry:

• Controversy started by anime fans.
• The types of controversy started by outsiders, trolls, and haters.

The first type of controversy starts when anime like Darling In The Franxx are released. When this anime came out back in 2018 there was controversy because of fans taking sides between Ichigo and Zero Two (female characters).

It was trending all over Twitter and everyone was losing their minds in their own toxicity. Naruto had a similar “fan made” controversy years ago.

The 2nd type of controversy is when random people on Tiktok claim Spy x Family sexualizes children and promotes child trafficking, or when mothers claim World’s End Harem is somehow “sexist” to women.

Anime is a scapegoat so this topic will never die down.

 

11. Character analysis

This is a popular anime topic but it’s more of a niche/specific one that only a segment of fans tend to dive into. It’s not something the average fan does a lot.

From characters like:

• Goku.
• Vegeta.
• Sasuke Uchiha.
• Nezuko Kamado.
• Light Yagami.
• Nobara Kugisaki.
• Sakura Haruno.
• Eren Yaeger.
• Chizuru Mizuhara.

And so many more, the anime community constantly analyses different characters from different genres and stories and shares their thoughts on why they are the way they are.

Here’s my example: Lucy Heartfilia Character Analysis: MUCH More Than She’s Given Credit For

 

12. Aesthetics/Design

Aesthetics and design are a big part of the anime industry for obvious reasons. The visuals, animation, and style of characters, backgrounds, and scenes is what defines anime.

One way this is talked about a lot is through anime art, fanart, wallpapers, and custom designs artists make and share on social media. Or on platforms like Pixiv.

Another way this is talked about is when fans share anime characters and highlight their design features through blogs, videos, or social media.

This can either be when people review or analyze characters, or when they criticize or praise them.

 

13. Anime News

Anime news is what drives the industry everyday. News is what drives media overall. There’s always something new happening that people wanna know about.

Everyday you’ll hear and see anime news like:

• New announcements for anime adaptations like Solo Leveling.
• Announcements for original anime shows like Vivy Fluorite Eye’s Song in 2021.
• News about voice actors, singers, and industry people.

Or news about delays in anime production and things of that nature.

This is short-lived since it’s news, but it gains enough attention for it to stay popular which shouldn’t be surprising.

 

14. Hentai

Yes, Hentai can’t be denied. It’s even more popular than anything on this list I’d go as far to say. Hentai is even more popular than Ki Kardashian, video games, and many comparable things (statistically).

In fact Hentai is so popular that pornhub said it was their most searched term in 2021.

Just a few days ago I had an article about Hentai explode across social media and this site, further proving the point.

People are horny as F and sex sells. That’s just the way it works but it still surprises me how much attention it gets as a topic.

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