Global Anime Fans Want Stronger Female Leads & Adult Protagonists, New Research Finds

Gen Z male fans are more right-wing or anti-left and we're the majority in the Anime fandom so I have no idea of what you're talking about.

Gen Z male fans are more right-wing or anti-left and we're the majority in the Anime fandom so I have no idea of what you're talking about.

Gen Z male fans are more right-wing or anti-left and we're the majority in the Anime fandom so I have no idea of what you're talking about.

Anime must only be aimed towards the Japanese audience, not the global audience. It's fine to have female leads, adult protagonists, LGBTQ+ characters, any race of characters, and inclusive storytelling in anime, but it is not okay to aim anime towards Western audiences, while neglecting Japanese audiences. Also, censorship is never okay.

@ForgotEyeWasHere This would be true if anime was only aimed at japanese audiences, but this is less and less true as time goes on and western publishers fund more and more of the industry. Who's going to tell Crunchyroll or Netflix that the shows they publish with their money should only target the japanese audience?

Besides, japanese audiences tend to be much less reactionary than what the culture warriors want you to believe. The truth is, anime had lgbt characters decades before western dubs stopped censoring them.

@Deathko eh, i like yuri, yaoi, genderbend series, crossdressing, and other stuff all in good fun etc but i would never associate with that.
There are a very few series that try to push a serious message and even when they do the perception is still different from the west and less negative/evil imo, since it isn't designed to force you to capitulate and get crushed under their boots.



Mod Edit: Removed baiting.

It is sad that nobody can even read and they get away with tricking people like this. Wow 16% of people want more lgbtq+ characters? I wonder what that means about the other 84 percent. HMMMMMMM....

More adult protagonists is definitely something I'd like more of. More racial diversity is a funny one because it would generally mean making anime less realistic by enforcing diversity that doesn't exist IRL. You could include some Koreans and Brazilians without making things unrealistic, but in the same way that a yuri anime taking place in an all girls school where every student is a lesbian isn't realistic, it's similarly unrealistic to show a lot of a minority group you wouldn't expect to see in that concentration. The plot would have to revolve around that group for it even to make sense, and then it's not about showing diversity but is a story about a specific race.

More canon LGBT would be cool. It's a bit repetitive when every CGDCT and sports anime merely hints at gay relationships but is afraid to commit to them. Show them holding hands, show them kissing. It's hot.

@ForgotEyeWasHere This would be true if anime was only aimed at japanese audiences, but this is less and less true as time goes on and western publishers fund more and more of the industry. Who's going to tell Crunchyroll or Netflix that the shows they publish with their money should only target the japanese audience?

Besides, japanese audiences tend to be much less reactionary than what the culture warriors want you to believe. The truth is, anime had lgbt characters decades before western dubs stopped censoring them.

@Deathko This is very bad for anime, and leads to a decline in quality. If people want animated shows aimed towards Westerners, they should just watch Western cartoons.Neither side of the culture wars acknowledges this. One side that is supposedly "pro-LGBT" cheers on these localizers and defends them simply because the other side pretends to hate localizers, while the other side acts like Japan is a staunchly anti-LGBT country, when they're not.

@niconiconii27 Ribbon no Kishi (60s), Versailles no Bara (70s), Kanashimi no Belladonna (70s), Dousei Jidai (70s), Sailor Moon (90s), NGE (90s), (Utena (90s), Kill la Kill (2010s)... the manga/anime that offer serious portrayal of queer characters or serious criticism of gender normativity, heteronormativity, or the patriarchal japanese culture are not hard to find.

And I'm not sure how taking a stance against intolerance can be seen as evil, even if the current western trend is mostly motivated by corporate greed and at the detriment of quality. Just don't watch that shit until they find a way to make good stories out of it.

Oh geeeeez! The sieg heilers are about to throw a massive temper tantrum! (I suppose that isn't really any different from a normal day, tbh).

You use a very biased title to frame this study, one deliberately meant to set off the rabid attack dogs of this subforum, and you call for civility? Nah, you're a hypocrite. This isn't genuinely meant for discussion.

Also, a lot of us got into this fandom specifically because we liked the strong female leads in anime, even back in the 90s or 00s. Female fans are the majority of the artists and cosplayers in anime conventions I go to. So calling these new trends are misrepresentation, again, serving a biased agenda.

Regarding indigenous cultures, there are pushes in Japan itself for more Ainu and Ryukyukan (Okinawan) representation, two ethnic groups who have been brutally repressed by Japan.

You use a very biased title to frame this study, one deliberately meant to set off the rabid attack dogs of this subforum, and you call for civility? Nah, you're a hypocrite. This isn't genuinely meant for discussion.

Also, a lot of us got into this fandom specifically because we liked the strong female leads in anime, even back in the 90s or 00s. Female fans are the majority of the artists and cosplayers in anime conventions I go to. So calling these new trends are misrepresentation, again, serving a biased agenda.

Brought to you by Crunchyroll....Obvious case of selection bias and open ended questions where they can be interpreted in multiple ways. Fact there even is 16% that thinks there isnt enough LGBT is hard to interpret if these are fujoshi wanting everyone gay or just some people wanting slightly more when it's already been very present in some form or another for decades or did they have such vanilla tastes they somehow managed to avoid all queerness. Though Id think it might be correct on some people wanting more adult protagonists just since they had become less prevalent it seems.. Overall it is nicer for more variety but only if it is out of genuine aspiration of writers and character designers etc not corporate pandering especially if this is by foreign American companies like Crunchyroll domineering Japanese studios.

@MelodyOfMemory
This thread is standard deg. Not meant maliciously, but completely lacking awareness. I tired of calling him out years ago.

@MelodyOfMemory
"Minority" cultures would be a more relevant descriptor, as the Yamato too are indigenous to Japan.

"The research was conducted across seven key markets, including the U.S., U.K., India, Germany, France, Brazil, and Mexico, in March 2025."

So a minority audience in minority markets have some wants? Oh, I'm totally holding my breath waiting to see how fast the Japanese creators fall over themselves catering to them.

"The research was conducted across seven key markets, including the U.S., U.K., India, Germany, France, Brazil, and Mexico, in March 2025."

So a minority audience in minority markets have some wants? Oh, I'm totally holding my breath waiting to see how fast the Japanese creators fall over themselves catering to them.