Well, yes, but it’s not just Western fans, and there are actual reasons for this.
Summary:
We get far fewer original anime series than we used to, and they are usually less popular as well.
This isn’t just a trend in the Western anime fandom.
Many fans opt to go for something that doesn’t take time to become clearer and actually has some hype already.
If you look at the most popular anime in recent years — Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba), or at the current season with Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) and The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) — you’ll mostly see manga, and occasionally light novel, adaptations.
This actually prompts some questions: what happened to anime originals? Are they slowly disappearing? Yes, there are still some every season — for example, Metallic Rouge in Winter 2024 — but it doesn’t seem like many people are talking about them. Did the community just slowly stop watching them at some point?
We used to get more original anime
Since the boom of the manga industry and rise in the popularity of magazines such as Weekly Shounen Jump, manga adaptations have always been among the most popular anime series.
There’s nothing new about that, especially when you consider that series like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, which were already popular as manga, got high-quality adaptations with great animation.
That said, mainstream anime wasn’t limited to just manga and light novel adaptations. We used to get many anime originals, some of which were very popular — we got series such as Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Angel Beats! less than two decades ago.
It felt like there were a couple of somewhat popular original anime every season, but now, most fans will be struggling to name even one. The last one that ended up being a huge hit with Western otaku was Lycoris Recoil, which aired over a year ago.
Reasons for this
Original anime are probably fading out because of the competition, and it’s not just a Western trend. Anime is becoming more mainstream, and it’s hard to compete with series that have a huge headstart in popularity because of the source material fans.
Very often, original anime also take some time to make the plot clear. The setups are often more convoluted and unusual than in, for example, shounen manga adaptations, and most people nowadays don’t feel like giving the anime time to explain itself.
This is happening to Metallic Rouge this season — the world is interesting, but it’s hard to actually follow the series weekly, and many feel like it’s better binged.
Sadly, this is expected
The fadeout of original anime, sadly, is a natural consequence of the growth of the anime industry. There’s just so much anime that you will often go for something that is easier to get into — or something that’s just more hyped.
However, older otaku still enjoy original series and look forward to those few that air every season, as they are often willing to take more risks and create more unusual stories
Well, yes, but it’s not just Western fans, and there are actual reasons for this.
Summary:
We get far fewer original anime series than we used to, and they are usually less popular as well.
This isn’t just a trend in the Western anime fandom.
Many fans opt to go for something that doesn’t take time to become clearer and actually has some hype already.
If you look at the most popular anime in recent years — Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba), or at the current season with Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) and The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) — you’ll mostly see manga, and occasionally light novel, adaptations.
This actually prompts some questions: what happened to anime originals? Are they slowly disappearing? Yes, there are still some every season — for example, Metallic Rouge in Winter 2024 — but it doesn’t seem like many people are talking about them. Did the community just slowly stop watching them at some point?
We used to get more original anime
Since the boom of the manga industry and rise in the popularity of magazines such as Weekly Shounen Jump, manga adaptations have always been among the most popular anime series.
There’s nothing new about that, especially when you consider that series like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, which were already popular as manga, got high-quality adaptations with great animation.
That said, mainstream anime wasn’t limited to just manga and light novel adaptations. We used to get many anime originals, some of which were very popular — we got series such as Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Angel Beats! less than two decades ago.
It felt like there were a couple of somewhat popular original anime every season, but now, most fans will be struggling to name even one. The last one that ended up being a huge hit with Western otaku was Lycoris Recoil, which aired over a year ago.
Reasons for this
Original anime are probably fading out because of the competition, and it’s not just a Western trend. Anime is becoming more mainstream, and it’s hard to compete with series that have a huge headstart in popularity because of the source material fans.
Very often, original anime also take some time to make the plot clear. The setups are often more convoluted and unusual than in, for example, shounen manga adaptations, and most people nowadays don’t feel like giving the anime time to explain itself.
This is happening to Metallic Rouge this season — the world is interesting, but it’s hard to actually follow the series weekly, and many feel like it’s better binged.
Sadly, this is expected
The fadeout of original anime, sadly, is a natural consequence of the growth of the anime industry. There’s just so much anime that you will often go for something that is easier to get into — or something that’s just more hyped.
However, older otaku still enjoy original series and look forward to those few that air every season, as they are often willing to take more risks and create more unusual stories
