As someone who discovered anime in the mid-2000s, I was always aware of my taste when it came to the medium. In the past, I gravitated towards Shoujo series. The ones where the girls wore pretty dresses and fun outfits while they were nervous to talk to their crushes. After watching Fruits Basket (2001), I went to my local library to check out the manga and read the rest of the story. I cried a lot at the end because of the emotional rollercoaster it put me on.
Now that I’m grown, my tastes have changed. I still love romance stories, but I prefer more mature ones. Which has led me to explore more works in the Seinen and Josei demographics. Slice-of-life, crime, and mystery stories that mirror the real world caught my interest just as well. I have seen quite a lot of anime in my life and have read plenty of manga as well. But to this day, I have yet to watch or read “The Big 3” of Anime.
What is “The Big 3” of Anime?
“The Big 3” of Anime refer to the three popular anime series from the 2000s: Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece. By all means, I have nothing against these series. It’s nice seeing the positive impact they have had on my peers’ lives. Some of my closest friends love The Big 3. While these series have significant cultural impact, I can’t get into them because they’re very long and aren’t the kinds of stories I gravitate toward.
Pirates are one of the things I love. When I found out One Piece was about pirates, I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I was so close to reading the manga… until I saw how many chapters it had. I put it back down right away, because there was no way I could stay engaged with the rest of my reading list if I started it. Yes, the length of the manga did, in fact, scare me away!
FOMO vs. gatekeeping
At that moment, defeat was the feeling I had. You know that scene where Squidward was looking out the window while SpongeBob and Patrick were running around having a good time? That was the feeling I had.
During my first few years of adulthood, I was still learning who I was and finding my place in the world. I wanted to become more involved in my local anime community. Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece were everywhere. From merchandise in stores, art sold in artist alley, to the cosplays I’d see online and in person. Scrolling through my feed and seeing videos of people making jokes about “The Big 3,” I would be confused. I didn’t understand what made them funny, because I was out of the loop. These franchises were the talk of the town. But because of the gatekeeping that was going on (and still is) in fandom, I did not feel like I truly was an anime fan.
Battle shounens vs. “girlier” series
Yes, this may come off as sensitive, but growing up, there weren’t many people in my community who were into anime. Some of those who were into it weren’t very open about it until later. My classmates called me stupid for reading manga in class because they thought I was reading a book backwards. They wouldn’t even give me a chance to explain what a manga was.
There were many more guys than girls around me who liked anime. But they were mainly into “The Big Three” along with plenty of other popular battle shonen series. When I mentioned girlier series I was into, they’d turn up their noses because they were so different from what they liked. My classmates didn’t think the anime I liked was considered “real” anime. It was not surprising to see that online fandom spaces weren’t much different about this sentiment. Growing up, I let other people’s opinions on what “real” anime was affect how I felt. I unfortunately carried that over into my early adulthood.
It was clear to me early on that there was fandom policing regarding anime tastes. And that was just ridiculous, in my opinion. Fandom often treats interests as if they were a test. As someone who has been in fandom spaces for a while (well over 10 years), there was so much belittling because of individuals who felt that if someone had not seen a specific anime, they weren’t a real anime fan. Why do we have to have rules on what makes us a real anime fan in the first place? Who even started this phenomenon?
You’re still a real anime fan, no matter what
When a person says they’re an anime fan, so many have this preconceived notion of what that is. If you search “anime” online, most of what shows up is battle shounen series, “The Big Three,” and Sailor Moon. There is this assumption that anime fans are all into the same media. The truth is, the more anime fans I have interacted with, the more I learned that they all have different likes and dislikes. Even down to their favorite characters and least favorite arcs. Not one Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure fan I have met has the same thoughts and opinions on it. I, who is still new to Jojo, find it fascinating. One of my close friends loves Trigun Stampede, and while I have yet to pick up the series, I always listen to them passionately talk about how much they adore it.
Anime fans are not one-size-fits-all because anime is not one-size-fits-all. Some may like westerns, while others are into sports shows. Numerous series, films, and franchises exist for a reason!
It is not someone else’s call to govern if you’re a real fan of anything in general. It’s also not up to you to determine if someone is actually into something, either. Everyone’s anime journey is different. While “”The Big 3” of Anime may be a part of yours, they may not be a part of someone else’s. That doesn’t mean that person is less of an anime fan than you. If you haven’t seen or read the big three at all but enjoy other anime, you’re an anime fan regardless.
Facts, love this post. Not everyone is going to love the same anime, doesn’t make them less of an anime fan.
Some of my earliest experiences with anime were with big shounen/shoujo series as an infant. As I aged, branching out to more “nieche” or digestible series really helped me appreciate manga/anime as a medium in general. I agree that “true” fandom shouldn’t be dependent on what or how far you engage with something.
Fruits basket, my love. I’m so thankful I had friends to share manga with in school. Being a poser or fake fan or whatever is just immature noodle brains picking a thing to be mad at that day.