The Rise of Anime, Manga, and Japanese Pop Culture in the West

Oct. 28, 2024

Japanese pop culture has been contributing gems to the entertainment industry since its inception. Currently, its popularity has reached its peak in all forms of Japanese entertainment such as anime, manga, movies, and TV shows, among other things. Now that the popularity ofJ-pop culture has reached an ever-growing stage, more and more people are joining the phenomenon every day.

In recent times, the Japanese pop culture boom has been off the charts, so I thought why not take a look at its rise in the West? So, let’s see how Gojo, Luffy, Godzilla, and even artists like Creepy Nuts and Eve have influenced our media consumption and perception of Japan.

Domination of Japanese Anime, Manga & Live-Action Media

Jujutsu Kaisenbecame themost popular anime, according to the Guinness World Records. It was stated that“the anime has a global demand rating 71.2 times greater than that of the average TV show.”Furthermore, many excellent anime like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which became the highest-rated anime, and One Piece at its pinnacle are also some of the most in-demand anime right now. TheOne Piece anime is on a 6-month hiatusright now, though.

This is all proof of how anime has just gone from the“it’s just a cartoon”phase to one of the most demanded forms of entertainment worldwide. Not just anime, famous shonen manga such as One Piece, JJK, Blue Lock, and many others have been topping the charts and are selling like crazy in recent years.

We also got other amazing live-action shows such as Alice in Borderland, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Parasyte: The Grey, which were liked by fans worldwide. In a nutshell, all three biggest products of Japanese entertainment have achieved monumental success!

American TV shows set in Japan have enchanted audiences and made us desire more TV series that tell ancient folklore. The recent phenomenon is theShogunseries by FX. Being the platform’s most expensive show, this series exceeded everyone’s hype and expectations to become one of the best TV shows in history.

At first, the authors considered it to be a limited series, but upon seeing the reception from the fans, they changed their minds andrenewed Shogun for multiple seasons.

Shogun is not the only Japan-based show loved by the fans asTokyo Vice starring Ansel Elgort captivated the fanswith its rich crime stories. Not to forget the stellar animated series, Blue Eye Samurai, which was massively applauded by the fans and critics. These show’s immense success and their renewals are a testament to how the audience loves Japanese-themed TV shows. There is no denying that they have some of the best stories there.

TheGhost of Tsushima PC portthat wasreleased earlier this year is being highly celebrated by the fans as they finally get the chance to witness the amazing journey of Jin Sakai. It is now confirmed that Ghost of Tsushima became the largest single-player PC launch for PlayStation. Even after four years, thanks to Sony, its popularity is skyrocketing!

The Ubisoft team unveiled their next gameAssassin’s Creed Shadowswith dual protagonists from Japan a while back. Though the game has been embroiled in controversy, with its release pushed to next year, fans are excited to play an AC game set in Japan. Much more than that, we are excited to play the next installment in the Ghost of Tsushima series, i.e.Ghost of Yotei.

With the rising popularity of streaming services, it has become much easier to access Japanese Pop Culture media. The English dubs are largely available for anime and TV shows, mangas are available in many languages, and we don’t have to worry about games as it is available on every platform. So, themassive barrier to entry that used to exist before has been shatteredwith the advent of new tech platforms. Thus, anyone can take a deep dive into Japanese entertainment and immerse oneself completely without any worries.

All these aspects of entertainment have substantially boosted Japanese tourism too. A lot of people, including myself, dream of traveling to the land of the rising sun to visit the iconic places I have seen in anime, manga, or games. Therefore, as you can see the exponential growth of Japanese Culture is reaching greater heights in the current generation. It will only continue to grow, and I hope to have various splendid Japanese tales to experience in all kinds of forms.

That said, what’s your thought about the Japanese pop culture boom? Let us know in the comments below.

An entertainment writer with a passion for analyzing and sharing insights on movies, shows, and anime.