The 12+ Types Of Anime Fans And Their Psychology (A Full Breakdown)

The Psychology of anime fans and the types of anime fans is different.

In a lot of ways – it’s similar as other tight-knit communities (like the gaming community).

When you’ve been a part of the anime community for long enough you notice patterns.

Some of these patterns show up whether you’re a casual anime fan, a newcomer, or someone who’s been watching or talking about it for years

Not all of these “patterns” are positive either, as many fans will admit to.

I see it everyday and it never gets old.

What are the types of anime fans?

There’s quite a lot, with new one’s in the last decade.

There’s both good and bad.

Let’s focus on that and how it translates.

1. The elitist

Might as well get the most obvious one out of the way first.

The elitist is the anime fan who’s responsible for pushing people away from the anime community. The type that scares newcomers because of their toxic logic and unbearable snobby attitude.

Elitists will:

Diss new anime fans and put them down.
Deter new anime fans from joining the community.
Acts like they’re superior to everyone, especially newcomers.
Attacks other anime fans who disagree with their opinion (popular opinions or otherwise).
Can never have a conversation without arguing or being a self righteous c*nt.

The elitist is the enemy to the anime community and is the main reason some people have bad things to say about anime fans.

“You have no taste”, “if you like XYZ you’re an idiot”.

These types are constantly looking for attention to validate themselves.

2. The motivator

These types of anime fans are motivated by the anime they watch. And unlike the elitist, they don’t use anime as a crutch to “flex” their so called dominance.

Instead they use the amount of anime they’ve watched, or the anime they do watch as a source of motivation.

They then use that motivation to share knowledge with the anime community, or they just use it in their everyday lives to push themselves. And even achieve their goals.

I’m one on of those anime fans, and there are others like this guy on YouTube.

He makes videos and combines exercise with anime motivation.

In fact this is what he does for a living. It’s part of his business.

3. The student

This type of anime fan is self explanatory. They’re students of anime and they’ll take what they learn from anime and apply it in real life.

These types of fans are similar to “the motivated” type since they both crossover.

Anime posts relating to life lessons are the types of content these fans dig into. And will read up on.

A lot of these anime fans are right here on Anime Motivation.

4. The creator

The creator is also self explanatory. They create as a result of becoming anime fans and watching anime. The reason they watch anime is to take and be inspired for their creative work.

Artists.
Mangaka.
Writers.
Authors.
Voice Actors.

The “creator” fits into these categories.

Anime artists who draw on sites like Pixiv can be classed as creators. They’re love of anime lead them to create and be artists in the first place.

The same is true for Mangaka’s in Japan and outside of Japan as well. And it’s no different for anime writers, authors and anyone who creates in anyway, shape or form in the anime industry.

5. The culture vulture

Yes, this is a type of anime fan. As insane as it sounds it’s actually legit. Even if stupid and senseless.

The culture vulture type of anime fan dives into the anime community, watches a few anime, and becomes a supposedly genuine anime fan.

What they don’t show you until later is they have a hidden agenda.

That agenda relates to:

Trying to “change” the political correctness of anime.
Complaining and criticizing anime 24/7 and profiting of it.
Taking the so called “moral ground” and talking down to Japan’s culture.
Colonist behavior.
Bowing down to the SJW mentality to pander to the loud minority.

Culture vultures are everywhere in the anime community these days.

Some are on Twitter, and some are on sites like CBR.

Relevant: The Rise Of Anime Culture Vultures Infiltrating The Industry (In The Last Decade)

6. The “feminist”

I don’t have to say much about this. It’s obvious where I’m going with it.

Even though it’s a smaller portion than it seems on the surface, there’s a group of loud feminists who are anime fans. The types of people who make “real” feminists look bad.

The psychology of these anime fans will berate every little thing relating to women in anime. Even if it’s within context, they’ll ignore it to push a narrative.

Some will even write cringe headlines (if they publish content) and then play mental gymnastics rather than be direct and straightforward about their points.

For good reason – this type of fan is the minority.

Some have even tried going to Japan to force their rhetoric on the Japanese, and FAILED obviously.

7. The expert

The expert shouldn’t be confused with the elitist.

There are elitists who’ve watched 100’s and 100’s of anime shows…. But their attitude and the way they treat other fans is why they’re elitists. Not because they’re experts.

Anime fans who’ve been watching for years and have plenty of knowledge are helpful. And they share their knowledge without ego or arrogance.

Unsurprisingly a lot of these types are:

Writers
Bloggers
YouTubers
Content creators

And so on.

They share so much knowledge they’re responsible for bringing new anime fans to the community.

Especially online.

If it wasn’t for this group a lot of websites and news outlets wouldn’t exist. Especially not to the degree that it is today.

8. The casual fan

There are anime fans who only watch anime casually. And don’t get too involved in the anime community.

These types of fans are “casual”, meaning they’re laid back about anime and aren’t too fanatical about it.

They watch anime as and when. And if they have time to watch it.

Anime isn’t a commitment, a habit or something they’re involved with everyday. But they respect anime (and the community) from a distance.

9. The underground fan

The psychology of this type of fan is similar to a rebel. They reject the typical mainstream shows, and watch a lot of unknown anime shows.

In fact they’re the types who give you recommendations you’ve never even heard of. And aren’t the biggest ravers when it comes to shows the whole world already knows about.

They pride themselves on this knowledge. And even though they’re not elitist, they do stand by their style of watching anime.

And they offer a different perspective from the mainstream crowd.

10. The mainstream fan

And of course – the mainstream fan. The psychology of this anime fan is obvious.

They know all the mainstream shows and a lot of their favorite anime are mainstream.

Shows like:

Naruto.
DBZ.
One Piece.
Hunter x Hunter.
Death Note.
Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Bleach.

Some mainstream fans haven’t even watched more than a few anime. They sound similar to casual anime fans but they’re actually different.

Mainstream fans don’t watch anything outside of mainstream shows. And will stick with one or a few of their favorites for years. Without watching anything else.

I used to be one of these fans.

At one point I only watched DBZ, Pokemon and that’s about it.

I graduated some years later and haven’t looked back since.