We wonder if Jujutsu Kaisen will still be talked about in 15 years.
Anime losing popularity is a normal thing. Some series get forgotten over the years due to a lack of new content. What happens less often is anime actually gaining popularity — that requires a very specific set of circumstances to happen.
That said, let’s look at some cases of both of these things happening.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) used to be one of the go-to anime recommendations. Combining slice-of-life, supernatural and mystery, it was very unique for its time, and the impressive visuals by Kyoto Animation made people love it even more.
However, the second season was largely criticized for The Endless Eight arc — 8 episodes of almost the exact same events — and despite the popularity of the movie, the anime slowly lost the love of the public. Which is a shame, because it’s still amazing, even though there have been many thematic successors after it.
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) is one of the most popular anime out there — if you consider yourself an otaku, you have definitely heard of it. What is curious is that before the release of its second and third seasons, it wasn’t as popular as it is now.
It was, of course, still incredibly well-known — but the gap between the first and second seasons was several years. During them, people stopped talking about AoT for a while, before it eventually came back and planted itself in their minds.
One of the most popular urban fantasy anime of the late 00s, Darker than Black was a staple. Full of fun action and bizarre yet unique powers, the first season was incredibly well-received — but now most people don’t even remember the series anymore.
Being an original series which ends more or less conclusively certainly didn’t do Darker than Black any favors in the long run. The second season — largely regarded as a failure that ruined the protagonist of the original — didn’t help either.
Gained popularity: The Dangers in My Heart
The Dangers in My Heart (Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu), the second season of which is airing right now, has cemented itself as one of the most wholesome modern romcoms. This is not exactly what people thought of it during its first season.
A lot of fans blame the premise and the first three episodes, which are incredibly edgy and probably drove many people away. After that, the anime mellows down, but some viewers didn’t get there.
Lost popularity: Btooom!
While Btooom! has never been considered a masterpiece of writing, its high-stakes action and the constant feeling that anyone could betray the main character made it at least interesting to watch. The death game genre is popular for a reason, after all.
Unfortunately, the anime ends pretty much nowhere and teases the second season. Said second season never happened, and the anime was slowly forgotten about.
At first, Mob Psycho 100 was basically considered One Punch Man’s younger brother. With both being written by the same person — and both having an overpowered protagonist, it’s understandable why.
However, it became more and more its own thing, to the point where it started to be talked about more than OPM itself, especially with the disastrous second season of the latter. With MP100 manga being finished and fully adapted into three amazing anime, it has become one of the most beloved action series out there.
Lost popularity: The Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins (Nanatsu no Taizai) was one of the most talked about shounen series of the mid-2010s. Yes, a huge part of that popularity was the series being on Netflix, which used to not have much anime. Regardless, fans hoped it would continue to be as good as its first season — which turned out not to be the case.
The last arcs of the manga were considered subpar by most readers, and the lackluster animation of the adaptation made it even worse. Currently, the sequel manga is getting adapted — but almost no one cares at this point.
Gained popularity: Fate/Zero
The more Fate series are released, the more and more people get curious about the franchise — despite the amount of content it has.
Most people recommend to start with Fate/Zero if you only watch the anime, and so, the anime gets more and more popular, as opposed to the 2006 Fate/stay night series by DEEN, which is largely ignored nowadays.
The first adaptation of Fruits Basket used to be one of the go-to shoujo romance recommendations — however, it was widely accepted that the way it deviated from the manga was not ideal.
That said, it was still considered good enough until the release of the new (and actually faithful) adaptation, which quickly eclipsed the old one.
Haikyuu!! is a unique case. It was discussed just as much as other sports anime of its time — like Free! and Kuroko’s Basketball (Kuroko no Basuke). With the latter ending and the former being an anime original, Haikyuu!! actually won against its competitors because of how successful its manga was.
It hasn’t lost any relevance during many years between its third and fourth seasons, and it’s basically the only big sports anime these days.
We wonder if Jujutsu Kaisen will still be talked about in 15 years.
Anime losing popularity is a normal thing. Some series get forgotten over the years due to a lack of new content. What happens less often is anime actually gaining popularity — that requires a very specific set of circumstances to happen.
That said, let’s look at some cases of both of these things happening.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) used to be one of the go-to anime recommendations. Combining slice-of-life, supernatural and mystery, it was very unique for its time, and the impressive visuals by Kyoto Animation made people love it even more.
However, the second season was largely criticized for The Endless Eight arc — 8 episodes of almost the exact same events — and despite the popularity of the movie, the anime slowly lost the love of the public. Which is a shame, because it’s still amazing, even though there have been many thematic successors after it.
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) is one of the most popular anime out there — if you consider yourself an otaku, you have definitely heard of it. What is curious is that before the release of its second and third seasons, it wasn’t as popular as it is now.
It was, of course, still incredibly well-known — but the gap between the first and second seasons was several years. During them, people stopped talking about AoT for a while, before it eventually came back and planted itself in their minds.
One of the most popular urban fantasy anime of the late 00s, Darker than Black was a staple. Full of fun action and bizarre yet unique powers, the first season was incredibly well-received — but now most people don’t even remember the series anymore.
Being an original series which ends more or less conclusively certainly didn’t do Darker than Black any favors in the long run. The second season — largely regarded as a failure that ruined the protagonist of the original — didn’t help either.
Gained popularity: The Dangers in My Heart
The Dangers in My Heart (Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu), the second season of which is airing right now, has cemented itself as one of the most wholesome modern romcoms. This is not exactly what people thought of it during its first season.
A lot of fans blame the premise and the first three episodes, which are incredibly edgy and probably drove many people away. After that, the anime mellows down, but some viewers didn’t get there.
Lost popularity: Btooom!
While Btooom! has never been considered a masterpiece of writing, its high-stakes action and the constant feeling that anyone could betray the main character made it at least interesting to watch. The death game genre is popular for a reason, after all.
Unfortunately, the anime ends pretty much nowhere and teases the second season. Said second season never happened, and the anime was slowly forgotten about.
At first, Mob Psycho 100 was basically considered One Punch Man’s younger brother. With both being written by the same person — and both having an overpowered protagonist, it’s understandable why.
However, it became more and more its own thing, to the point where it started to be talked about more than OPM itself, especially with the disastrous second season of the latter. With MP100 manga being finished and fully adapted into three amazing anime, it has become one of the most beloved action series out there.
Lost popularity: The Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins (Nanatsu no Taizai) was one of the most talked about shounen series of the mid-2010s. Yes, a huge part of that popularity was the series being on Netflix, which used to not have much anime. Regardless, fans hoped it would continue to be as good as its first season — which turned out not to be the case.
The last arcs of the manga were considered subpar by most readers, and the lackluster animation of the adaptation made it even worse. Currently, the sequel manga is getting adapted — but almost no one cares at this point.
Gained popularity: Fate/Zero
The more Fate series are released, the more and more people get curious about the franchise — despite the amount of content it has.
Most people recommend to start with Fate/Zero if you only watch the anime, and so, the anime gets more and more popular, as opposed to the 2006 Fate/stay night series by DEEN, which is largely ignored nowadays.
The first adaptation of Fruits Basket used to be one of the go-to shoujo romance recommendations — however, it was widely accepted that the way it deviated from the manga was not ideal.
That said, it was still considered good enough until the release of the new (and actually faithful) adaptation, which quickly eclipsed the old one.
Haikyuu!! is a unique case. It was discussed just as much as other sports anime of its time — like Free! and Kuroko’s Basketball (Kuroko no Basuke). With the latter ending and the former being an anime original, Haikyuu!! actually won against its competitors because of how successful its manga was.
It hasn’t lost any relevance during many years between its third and fourth seasons, and it’s basically the only big sports anime these days.
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