Gushing over Magical Girls is selling really well in Japan right now.
Despite that, not many people are talking about it within the mainstream circles.
The anime focuses on a niche target audience that doesn't interact much with the others.
This season has been quite good for ecchi fans. Between Chained Soldier (Mato Seihei no Slave) and Gushing over Magical Girls (Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete), it seems like we again have anime with a lot of fanservice — there was a bit of a drought of those in the recent season.
The latter series is especially praised by the fans, yet you don't hear many people talk about it often. This is even more surprising when you realize how popular the anime is in Japan. Why is it so overlooked in the West, then?
BDs and manga are almost sold out
"Popularity" is a very vague term. Web PVs for Gushing over Magical Girls have more views than those for many anime this season — even series like Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi). Despite that, Delicious in Dungeon is mentioned much more.
Similarly, the Blu-Rays for Gushing over Magical Girls were sold out at preorder stage — forcing the studio to announce that they will be making more. This happens extremely rarely, and supposedly shows how popular the anime is in Japan. A similar thing happened to the manga — printed copies were selling so fast that the manga volumes had to be reprinted.
Gushing over Magical Girls focuses on its target audience only
This can all be attributed to the fact that there was a viral marketing campaign for the anime before its release. The campaign itself had a lot of fanservice and was borderline provocative — and the anime itself has so much fanservice that even long-time otaku have been impressed by it.
This, ironically, is also the reason why no one is talking about it. Gushing over Magical Girls focuses a lot on its target audience, who are very dedicated (especially because we haven't had good ecchi anime in a while) and will buy the merch and talk about the series.
The mainstream viewers are not the target audience, and they probably won't watch — or like — ecchi anime anyways.
The show is talked about, just not within mainstream circles
If you aren't seeing much discussion about Gushing over Magical Girls, it's pretty understandable. Ecchi fans very often keep to their own circles and don't interact with other otaku, as their genre is not exactly well-received. That said, Gushing over Magical Girls has been getting at least some attention for its animation and for how it improves upon the manga — and the content is so ridiculous it's hard to take seriously.
To be fair, it is definitely not for everyone.
Summary:
Gushing over Magical Girls is selling really well in Japan right now.
Despite that, not many people are talking about it within the mainstream circles.
The anime focuses on a niche target audience that doesn't interact much with the others.
This season has been quite good for ecchi fans. Between Chained Soldier (Mato Seihei no Slave) and Gushing over Magical Girls (Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete), it seems like we again have anime with a lot of fanservice — there was a bit of a drought of those in the recent season.
The latter series is especially praised by the fans, yet you don't hear many people talk about it often. This is even more surprising when you realize how popular the anime is in Japan. Why is it so overlooked in the West, then?
BDs and manga are almost sold out
"Popularity" is a very vague term. Web PVs for Gushing over Magical Girls have more views than those for many anime this season — even series like Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi). Despite that, Delicious in Dungeon is mentioned much more.
Similarly, the Blu-Rays for Gushing over Magical Girls were sold out at preorder stage — forcing the studio to announce that they will be making more. This happens extremely rarely, and supposedly shows how popular the anime is in Japan. A similar thing happened to the manga — printed copies were selling so fast that the manga volumes had to be reprinted.
Gushing over Magical Girls focuses on its target audience only
This can all be attributed to the fact that there was a viral marketing campaign for the anime before its release. The campaign itself had a lot of fanservice and was borderline provocative — and the anime itself has so much fanservice that even long-time otaku have been impressed by it.
This, ironically, is also the reason why no one is talking about it. Gushing over Magical Girls focuses a lot on its target audience, who are very dedicated (especially because we haven't had good ecchi anime in a while) and will buy the merch and talk about the series.
The mainstream viewers are not the target audience, and they probably won't watch — or like — ecchi anime anyways.
The show is talked about, just not within mainstream circles
If you aren't seeing much discussion about Gushing over Magical Girls, it's pretty understandable. Ecchi fans very often keep to their own circles and don't interact with other otaku, as their genre is not exactly well-received. That said, Gushing over Magical Girls has been getting at least some attention for its animation and for how it improves upon the manga — and the content is so ridiculous it's hard to take seriously.
