No, not really, but we understand why it feels like it.
Summary:
Some older fans complain that there’s not enough action in modern anime.
The share of action anime didn’t change — most of the non-action series of the 90s were just forgotten about.
Nowadays, almost everything is licensed, and there is a much wider variety of genres and themes.
Some of the older fans have been complaining about a lack of epic action-oriented anime series nowadays. Yes, we have such popular hits like Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) — but the overall percentage of action series feels smaller than that of the 90s.
It seems to some that a lot of new anime focus on slice-of-life and drama rather than fights. Even isekai fantasy series, which are supposed to be action, usually don’t have any impressive combat, as the characters simply face any mortal peril.
Even in the 90s, anime wasn’t just action
The sentiment is actually just factually wrong: the amount of action anime didn’t change. There were also a lot of anime with little to no action in the 90s, people just don’t remember those because usually, they weren’t licensed, and not everyone goes out of their way to watch obscure series that only exist fansubbed.
Licensors were more cautious with picking up TV anime back in the day, and if something wasn’t guaranteed to be somewhat popular, it just wouldn’t make its way to the West.
Anime like Cowboy Bebop and Dragon Ball Z were very popular, and those are the ones that are remembered. There were many non-action series, of course, but people just never watched them.
Why we see more non-action anime these days
Nowadays, when anime is easily accessible and almost everything is licensed and streamed online, there is a much wider selection of anime to choose from.
As such, viewers are exposed to many series that don’t feature much action — for example, almost every season we have a couple of romantic comedies. There was also a boom of cute girls doing cute things anime, although they seem less widespread now.
This doesn’t mean that there’s necessarily less action anime. In fact, there’s arguably more, as there’s more anime being made overall. Besides, the most popular anime are still the action-oriented ones, as those are often the easiest to get into.
There are more genres of anime now
Arguably, the popularization of anime and the increase in the amount of it made it more diverse. We see many new genres and subgenres that never existed in the 90s — for example, band-themed anime like Bocchi the Rock! weren’t much of a thing back then.
This diversity is a good thing, and if you just want your action series, you can still watch them.
No, not really, but we understand why it feels like it.
Summary:
Some older fans complain that there’s not enough action in modern anime.
The share of action anime didn’t change — most of the non-action series of the 90s were just forgotten about.
Nowadays, almost everything is licensed, and there is a much wider variety of genres and themes.
Some of the older fans have been complaining about a lack of epic action-oriented anime series nowadays. Yes, we have such popular hits like Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) — but the overall percentage of action series feels smaller than that of the 90s.
It seems to some that a lot of new anime focus on slice-of-life and drama rather than fights. Even isekai fantasy series, which are supposed to be action, usually don’t have any impressive combat, as the characters simply face any mortal peril.
Even in the 90s, anime wasn’t just action
The sentiment is actually just factually wrong: the amount of action anime didn’t change. There were also a lot of anime with little to no action in the 90s, people just don’t remember those because usually, they weren’t licensed, and not everyone goes out of their way to watch obscure series that only exist fansubbed.
Licensors were more cautious with picking up TV anime back in the day, and if something wasn’t guaranteed to be somewhat popular, it just wouldn’t make its way to the West.
Anime like Cowboy Bebop and Dragon Ball Z were very popular, and those are the ones that are remembered. There were many non-action series, of course, but people just never watched them.
Why we see more non-action anime these days
Nowadays, when anime is easily accessible and almost everything is licensed and streamed online, there is a much wider selection of anime to choose from.
As such, viewers are exposed to many series that don’t feature much action — for example, almost every season we have a couple of romantic comedies. There was also a boom of cute girls doing cute things anime, although they seem less widespread now.
This doesn’t mean that there’s necessarily less action anime. In fact, there’s arguably more, as there’s more anime being made overall. Besides, the most popular anime are still the action-oriented ones, as those are often the easiest to get into.
There are more genres of anime now
Arguably, the popularization of anime and the increase in the amount of it made it more diverse. We see many new genres and subgenres that never existed in the 90s — for example, band-themed anime like Bocchi the Rock! weren’t much of a thing back then.
This diversity is a good thing, and if you just want your action series, you can still watch them.
