| Hey all, I've recently been trying to watch the most popular animes released in the least 4-5 years or so (to catch up on the seasonal stuff I usually miss), which resulted in me giving Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer a chance. What baffles me is how these shows managed to build such large fan bases, and get such high praise, despite being average or even below average (in my view), and that's what I'm trying to understand. The worst offender is clearly Demon Slayer. I sat through the first season, having enjoyed Ufotable's previous works, hoping that it would eventually get interesting, but it didn't. The characters are awfully boring and annoying, the plot is extremely generic and predicitible - the only saving grace is the animation/OST. How come it has 8.5 on MAL? Jujutsu is not as bad, but it is pretty generic in its own sense (at least from what I've seen). Another high-school anime about teens with powers fighting demons. That wasn't enough to keep my attention, not to mention MAPPA's ""cinematic"" style of presentation, which just looks flat and lifeless to me. What is it that I'm not seeing?? |
 Get Louder than Words ~The Story of a Field Trip, a personal project of mine, on Steam! |
| They are enjoyable, their audiovisual quality is high, so they are fun to watch and people like them, which in return causes them to be anime that receive high praise for the general audience. As shrimple as that. |
| Shonen jump series always get showered with praise be it deserved or undeserved. |
| People tend to like popular stuff, like, GoT, Tarantino movies, FMAB, etc. |
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Reply to Adnash
They are enjoyable, their audiovisual quality is high, so they are fun to watch and people like them, which in return causes them to be anime that receive high praise for the general audience. As shrimple as that.
| @Adnash I can usually sit through your average shonen jump series, but these two I really had a hard time sitting through. I wouldn't even qualifiy them as "enjoyable", this is why Im so surprised by their success |
Get Louder than Words ~The Story of a Field Trip, a personal project of mine, on Steam! |
| Cause they're adaptions of shounen jump manga, have plenty of action and got extra points for having good visuals on top of that. That's enough to appeal to the average anime watcher. Even with the JJK2 animator situation, it still looked better than the majority of shows out there. Another show you're missing is My Hero Academia which is the exact same category. Short answer, you're likely not the target audience. |
Reply to Surox
@Adnash
I can usually sit through your average shonen jump series, but these two I really had a hard time sitting through. I wouldn't even qualifiy them as "enjoyable", this is why Im so surprised by their success
I can usually sit through your average shonen jump series, but these two I really had a hard time sitting through. I wouldn't even qualifiy them as "enjoyable", this is why Im so surprised by their success
| @Surox Yeah, it's understandable. Although, the general audience finds them entertaining, even if, obviously, not everyone will enjoy watching them. I'm not a fan of several popular anime series too. They are very popular, but I find them hmm.. either boring or just not interesting enough to even give them a try. We just have different tastes, that's all. However, in terms of whether a show is highly acclaimed and successful, or not, the majority aka general audience decides. |
| My brother in arms, feel the same regarding those two shows although I may have different views when it comes to mha. |
 -Tohka is better than Kurumi. You can't change my mind. |
| If you think JJK is not as bad as KnY, then you're part of the problem. To answer the topic question: Because we live in the "dumb age of anime", where people flock towards the most shallow shounen-series, isekai-series or otherwise gimmick-series, keep posting meme-clips on instagram, make "funny" reaction videos, and that's it. Meanwhile the rare GOOD anime, mostly seinen, get ignored, because generation Tiktok can't afford the brain cells for the attention it takes to follow a continuous, coherent story. That's why last season they ignored "Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai", and this season they'll ignore "Chi: Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite". Anime needs healing, but we're not there, yet. The industry has to implode before it can attempt to go back to the heights of the golden age of anime. |
| If you haven't watched "Fantastic Children", don't talk about "best anime". Thank you. |
| I fully empathize the need to understand the utterly bullshit whims of anime fandom. I myself attempted to do it with one even more highly rated- I watched Frieren for exactly the same reasons. And I am also rating it the same, between 4 and 5 maximum. And I am no closer to understanding the praise- in fact I'm EVEN MORE CONFUSED than before I started because the show was utterly inane, unengaging, overladen with flat dialogue; boring, unimaginative, extremely generic and utterly unfulfilling. The worst thing is that, it's not actually a terrible show, it's just not very good. And yet The Collective of Gen Z decided it was the Bestest Evar ... and when I argue with people about it it just goes off the rails. For Demon Slayer, I actually gave it a 7 and liked it a lot more. It didn't seem generic only because; well there aren't THAT many Taisho-era (1900s) traditional Japan fantasy with katanas are there? There are some- but it's not like a flood of them (like it is with medieval fantasies with elves and dwarves etc) But the generic Shonen tropes are there. Probably I just didn't watch enough shonens to get sick of that stuff. And people praise the emotional pull it has, with Nezuko and the hero needing to have a gentler side- that's compelling; also people praise the animation and art style (and they are correct- it looks fantastic) Don't try to understand The Crowd though, you'll go mad. |
| Because they are entertaining to watch. Eye candy animation, great fights, simple plot and badass characters. They are the perfect combo to appeal to the general viewer. You are complaining about JJK and Demon Slayer when Code Geass is in your Fav. An anime with incoherent plots and over the top characters. |
 If you see me stuck on MAL for more than 30 minutes, drop me a message and tell me to get my life together. |
| Because the authors wrote them, and then they were animated. And turns out a ton of people like them. Hence the praise. Make sense? |
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| Cause they are good enjoyable shonen for more than 90% of viewers. Your taste can be different(and judging from your favorites, you won't like simple plots). |
If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.  |
| Because they have action and are well animated which hooks the style over substance crowd. |
| "The name's Gambit. Remember it." -Gambit "X-Men '97"  |
Reply to TheMechaManiac
It's normies. They have to rate absolutely everything they like a 10, or otherwise they're "not true fans".
| @TheMechaManiac I think you may have nailed it - that makes so much sense |
Get Louder than Words ~The Story of a Field Trip, a personal project of mine, on Steam! |
| I guess you're not connecting with the popular appeal of these shows, which often feature high quality animation and accessible stories. Maybe the plots and characters feel generic to you, but many fans enjoy them, and it's okay if you don't resonate with Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen. |
| i just like them for their visuals, but they are overrated because i couldn't tell you why their manga gets praised. |
 |
| Well do you like battle shonen? That's the first question I'd have to ask because if not then there's your answer. If you've previously liked the genre, it may be the case that you've outgrown it without realizing. |
| To me, this is like asking the question "Why does your typical McDonalds have more customers than my favorite 3 Michelin Star restaurant?" These battle shounen do what they do very well... which is to deliver high octane action with flashy action scenes. They aren't trying to be more than that. And the die hard fans of those shows love them for keeping things simple, safe, and straightforward. MyllerPhiem said: they ignored "Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai", and this season they'll ignore "Chi: Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite". Yeah, a grounded series about astronomy in 15th Century Poland is shaping up to be the front runner of "Best Show of Fall 2024 that no one watched" award. 😔 |
| I do think you can make an argument they are overated. Both series are kinda plain on paper. JJK is a bit more interesting because of the darker undertones, but I too did not know what the big deal was when watching season 1 (having read the manga though I can say that its not a bad series overall, better than kimetsu no yaiba for sure). So I think the biggest reasons these series are popular are: 1) They get going quick and the make being watchable/bingable a priority. Gone are the days of dragonball and inuyasha where you might have to wait years for a battle to take place, the next big thing is always around the corner in these series, its a sort of "instant gratification"/"trim the fat" approach. However, the cost you have to pay here is lack of buildup. e.g. Tanjiro wants to save his sister and so he kills demons, that's it, that's his whole character. Its somewhat shallow, and this is only compounded by the fact that Tanjiro soars through the ranks (I mean something like his 5th on screen battle was against one of the 12 elites of muzan I think that apparently had not been killed for over 100 years or something, I don't remember the details of that quite exactly, that is kinda crazy). This is a fast paced story that doesn't linger much, for better or for worse, its easy to get into but it can also feel sort of aimless as well. 2) Both JJK and Kimetsu have above average animation. Especially JJK season 2 is remarkably good, kimetsu is less impressive but still consistently above average. For action series like these the action matters a lot, it matters that you can post a 10 second clip of mahoraga vs sukuna on Youtube and some people will be so impressed they will check out the series. It brings new people in and those people are also willing to put up with weaknesses such as shallow or rushed plotpoints just to get to the cool fights. |
| Series often get huge praise for high budget animation even if the story is mediocre. I like jjk and demon slayer though. |
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| What puzzles me the most is why the hell is Shibuya so praised? A bunch of fights against NPCs |
| If you're a fanboy, please don't waste my time. Watch more movies, please. Perhaps, this is hell. |
| People only care about consuming things that satisfy their absence of an attention span. |
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| Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer have garnered high praise for several reasons Jujutsu Kaisen have Engaging Characters. The characters are new concept and well-developed, with unique power abilities and personalities. It blends horror and supernatural themes, which is something every shounen fans like . It has Exceptional Animation: The fight scenes are visually stunning, thanks to the high-quality animation It explores deep and dark themes like death, grief, and the struggle between good and evil.. Demon Slayer has Stunning Animation: The animation, especially the sword fight scenes, is breathtaking and visually striking. It has Relatable Characters The characters, including Tanjiro, Nezuko, and their associates , are well-loved by fans. The series is simple to understand and people are into themes of revenge and family |
| Because most anime fans are like, 15. It's really not that deep |
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| I cannot really say much on either of these. They're on my list to watch but forgot to I think add Demon Slayer seasons etc. IMO I have been enjoying My Hero Academia even if I am a bit late to continuing to watch it. I've been enjoying watching the rest of MHA a bit late I do admit. |
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| The same reason why MCU movies get a lot of praise. The normies loves it. |
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| "Can someone explain why JJK & Demon Slayer get such high praise?" The battle shounen fandom indoctrinating every newcomer (or at least trying really hard) into their religion. That creates fans with certain acquired taste. I have seen people trashing pretty decent shows simply for lacking elements that you would expect only in battle shounen. Spunkert said: The same reason why MCU movies get a lot of praise. Nowadays they don't, they are not trending anymore. You can even say that hating on those is the norm. |
alshuOct 6, 11:58 PM
| high quality production and mid story is common on mainstream shows the average consumer just wants mindless fun thats why battle shonens like demon slayer and jujutsu kaisen are popular |
| I was bored during the early part of Demon Slayer. I probably started enjoying it from the Mugen Train arc. Many people didn’t recognize the value of the manga early on, so your impression isn’t surprising. The trend was driven by women who like shoujo manga, as Demon Slayer is a mix of both shonen and shoujo styles. |
Reply to alshu
"Can someone explain why JJK & Demon Slayer get such high praise?"
The battle shounen fandom indoctrinating every newcomer (or at least trying really hard) into their religion. That creates fans with certain acquired taste. I have seen people trashing pretty decent shows simply for lacking elements that you would expect only in battle shounen.
Nowadays they don't, they are not trending anymore.
You can even say that hating on those is the norm.
The battle shounen fandom indoctrinating every newcomer (or at least trying really hard) into their religion. That creates fans with certain acquired taste. I have seen people trashing pretty decent shows simply for lacking elements that you would expect only in battle shounen.
Spunkert said:
The same reason why MCU movies get a lot of praise.
The same reason why MCU movies get a lot of praise.
Nowadays they don't, they are not trending anymore.
You can even say that hating on those is the norm.
| @alshu alshu said: Nowadays they don't, they are not trending anymore. You can even say that hating on those is the norm. The new deadpool movie made over a billie. They're going to keep pushing out MCU slop because the absolute dumb collective of normal**gs still haven't advanced through marvel slop and other worse shit like barbie and oppenheimer. It's better to kneel to Lord Kevin Feige and admit defeat at this point. We're all undone by the dumb masses, all we will get is going to be slop. |
LenRea said: The new deadpool movie made over a billie. Only because it's on the X-Men side of the things (yes, now those come by Marvel Studios instead of Fox, but I am not even sure it's part of MCU), also the money from it aren't enough to compensate the massive losses from all the other projects. LenRea said: They're going to keep pushing out MCU slop because the absolute dumb collective of normal**gs Said movies and TV shows are loosing money, which means nobody is watching those...it's the producers and their bosses who are to blame here for not recognizing the changing trends. |
Reply to alshu
LenRea said:
The new deadpool movie made over a billie.
The new deadpool movie made over a billie.
Only because it's on the X-Men side of the things (yes, now those come by Marvel Studios instead of Fox, but I am not even sure it's part of MCU), also the money from it aren't enough to compensate the massive losses from all the other projects.
LenRea said:
They're going to keep pushing out MCU slop because the absolute dumb collective of normal**gs
They're going to keep pushing out MCU slop because the absolute dumb collective of normal**gs
Said movies and TV shows are loosing money, which means nobody is watching those...it's the producers and their bosses who are to blame here for not recognizing the changing trends.
| @alshu ahhh yes now explain to me why a Marvel's X-Men movie making a billie for the same exact company that did all the other movies that flopped and you hate is somehow a good thing?? The fact they still have some popular IPs such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four where people donate their money and attention to is the reason why you will keep getting more and more mediocre content and slop. This new Deadpool movie just ensured 10 more years of pathetic capeshit MCU slop by topping the box office for Disney. After those ten years you can come here again and tell me the significance of Deadpool 3 technically being a Fox/X-Men project. |
LenRea said: and you hate is somehow a good thing? What do you mean by that? LenRea said: The fact they still have some popular IPs such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four Now they have all the Marvel licenses, so what? Maybe they can squeeze some money from Spider-Man (but not its spinoff characters) and X-Men, but Fantastic Four is practically dead (thus the latest project is doomed). LenRea said: people donate their money No, they pay their money and they will stop doing so if they aren't entertained...which is already happening in the last few years. LenRea said: more mediocre content and slop The problem being that they aren't only mediocre, they are straight-out bad and incomprehensible. LenRea said: This new Deadpool movie just ensured 10 more First it should be pay the Marvel Studio losses from the last 5 years...which is not happening anytime soon. LenRea said: tell me the significance of Deadpool 3 technically being a Fox/X-Men project The significance being that this part of the IP is not as milked as the Avengers part. |
Reply to wizdom224
Well do you like battle shonen? That's the first question I'd have to ask because if not then there's your answer. If you've previously liked the genre, it may be the case that you've outgrown it without realizing.
| @wizdom224 I'm not a diehard battle shounen fan but I've enjoyed classics like Bleach and HxH for example. I certainly don't mind watching some shonen from time to time, that is why I was surprised by how painfully below average these titles were in my view |
Get Louder than Words ~The Story of a Field Trip, a personal project of mine, on Steam! |
| The animation of the anime adaptations can go really hard, which makes the monkey neurons activate (just look at how much budget went on animating that Muzan strut in the Demon Slayer HQ). If you actually start analyzing Demon Slayer, its characters and worldbuilding, it quickly falls apart. I can understand why the creator ended the story so quickly, the flaws would have be made more apparent if the story dragged on. I would say the animation alone is worth watching it, maybe even some of the cool character designs, popcorn flick. Should also mention that marketing and the timing of the adaptation, on top of the movie releases, added to Demon Slayers' popularity. If you put a gun to my head and demand a rating, I would give the story is between a 5 or 4, but the animation is between a 9 and 7. |
TechnopunkOct 8, 2:18 AM
 "Don't let your memes be dreams."- Ancient Japanese proverb, probably |
| the animation is shiny, music is decent for brats and the waifus and husbandos are hot, other than that, both are trash |
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| I am surprised the thread is not locked yet To answer your question JJK has a lot of fancy animation that is why it's popular. |
| What you see is what you get , Sorry my English is not the best . |
| Demon Slayer had some beautiful animation, a likeable lead, Iconic characters, An emotional punch. It appeals to a wide audience. JJK is the weaker anime. Peak animation and a nice cast of characters but failed in plot. Demon Slayer had me wanting the next episode. JJK had me putting it on hold for a few weeks |
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| JJK is action writing perfection. It has incredible animation, interesting powers, a wild range of styles, settings and scales for the action scenes, great balance of showing and telling what the powers do or what is happening in the fights, and also, on rare cases, some genuinely strong character writing. and considering how jjk gives a lot, and I do mean a LOT of screen time to it's action, being of the best action shows in every possible way, goes a long way when it comes to it's quality, as for demon slayer.... I HAVE NO IDEA!!!! Like I get why it's "liked". But it's sheer amount of praise is beyond my comprehension. Yes the animation/art of the fights are really good, and the music is even better.... but... that's it. like I don't get what gives it the same rating as fate for example. Same studio, composer and production quality. Literally better at everything else. But isn't more highly acclaimed on websites like mal. |
| Also available at: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8spdL1M_J-z0vO2C7jPLw Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AshPolygonsDo/videos Why You Should Watch Akudama Drive: https://youtu.be/Yw0r52wRjgA A Love Letter To Anime「AMV」: https://youtu.be/YQyqxFM2m9Q My referral code to a website/app that gives you free money (a few cents a day) by using a few megabytes of your internet for file sharing. We both get a bonus if you use my link: https://r.honeygain.me/ARSHIA7942 |
Reply to Phosphophyllita
What puzzles me the most is why the hell is Shibuya so praised?
A bunch of fights against NPCs
A bunch of fights against NPCs
| @Phosphophyllita because the action is the strongest aspect of jjk, and shibuya has some of the strongest action in the series. It's beloved for the same reason redline is beloved. Bonkers, incredible, nail biting, high octane, high stake, creative and exciting eye candy. |
| Also available at: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8spdL1M_J-z0vO2C7jPLw Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AshPolygonsDo/videos Why You Should Watch Akudama Drive: https://youtu.be/Yw0r52wRjgA A Love Letter To Anime「AMV」: https://youtu.be/YQyqxFM2m9Q My referral code to a website/app that gives you free money (a few cents a day) by using a few megabytes of your internet for file sharing. We both get a bonus if you use my link: https://r.honeygain.me/ARSHIA7942 |
Reply to APolygons2
@Phosphophyllita because the action is the strongest aspect of jjk, and shibuya has some of the strongest action in the series.
It's beloved for the same reason redline is beloved. Bonkers, incredible, nail biting, high octane, high stake, creative and exciting eye candy.
It's beloved for the same reason redline is beloved. Bonkers, incredible, nail biting, high octane, high stake, creative and exciting eye candy.
| @APolygons2 Comparing Redline to JJK is crazy, one is a unique piece of art and a marvel of animation, which manages to present interesting characters and nail-biting plot in less than 2 hours, and the other is flavor of the month shonen series with some chromatic abberation and alright fight choreography (=good animation nowadays) I may exaggerate a bit tho :P |
Get Louder than Words ~The Story of a Field Trip, a personal project of mine, on Steam! |
Reply to Surox
@APolygons2
Comparing Redline to JJK is crazy, one is a unique piece of art and a marvel of animation, which manages to present interesting characters and nail-biting plot in less than 2 hours, and the other is flavor of the month shonen series with some chromatic abberation and alright fight choreography (=good animation nowadays)
I may exaggerate a bit tho :P
Comparing Redline to JJK is crazy, one is a unique piece of art and a marvel of animation, which manages to present interesting characters and nail-biting plot in less than 2 hours, and the other is flavor of the month shonen series with some chromatic abberation and alright fight choreography (=good animation nowadays)
I may exaggerate a bit tho :P
| @Surox JJK's animation and action, is by tv standards, one of the best. The thing is that good action isn't just the choreography, or just the animation. Writing a fight is an art all on it's own, and jjk is one of the best at it. Redline has a simple plot, and I would say both it's characters and plot are even more basic than jjk. but it works. The point is the race, and how cool that damn race is. That's also 90% of what makes jjk good. Just compare every demon slayer fight to other demon slayer fights. And then look at how incredibly well thought out, diverse, and stylish the fights in jjk are, not just in terms of animation, but also, setting, idea, and execution. The issue is that, jjk IS ultimately a battle shounen, with battle shounen tropes. So if you are someone who looks at shows like it in a bubble, you'll miss it's strengths. these flavour of the month shounens, do have incredible strengths from time to time. JJK DOES have some of the best fight scenes out there, and it's not just because of the animation. Demon slayer does have an absolutely increadible soundtrack, one of yuki's strongest ones in fact (though my favourite work from her is easily madoka) My hero academia has some extremely strong characters and moments along side the weaker aspects A lot of the people who get into watching more anime, get to a point, where they fail to see what made the more ""basic"" titles great. The appeal of shibuya is extremely similar to the appeal of redline if you look at it with the right perspective. |
| Also available at: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8spdL1M_J-z0vO2C7jPLw Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AshPolygonsDo/videos Why You Should Watch Akudama Drive: https://youtu.be/Yw0r52wRjgA A Love Letter To Anime「AMV」: https://youtu.be/YQyqxFM2m9Q My referral code to a website/app that gives you free money (a few cents a day) by using a few megabytes of your internet for file sharing. We both get a bonus if you use my link: https://r.honeygain.me/ARSHIA7942 |
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