Anime’s popularity has tremendously grown in recent years, but, behind that growth left behind a backdoor that has become rife within the community.

For the longest time, the global popularity of anime and manga has continued to rise dramatically. Our medium has become so mainstream and beloved that it’s no longer uncommon to encounter fellow fans almost anywhere. This holds true not only in sparsely populated regions of the United States, but even in countries around the world that have little to no historical or cultural ties to Japan and where the market for anime and manga remains relatively small.

Of course, like all interests, new fans naturally enter fandoms as their popularity grows. When newcomers arrive, controversy often follows, and longtime members frequently take issue with the “hot takes” these newcomers share. These opinions might concern quality judgments, preferences between modern and classic favorites, or challenges to the common practices and core beliefs that the older community has established—especially when those views clash with what the creators of the series themselves believe in.

As we all know, anime and manga are no exception to this pattern. The medium continues to experience unprecedented global growth, expanding the fandom dramatically. But the key question remains: Is this rapid growth ultimately good for anime and manga?

Lately, there has been a wave of controversy in the anime community. What exactly is this controversy about? It centers specifically on the influx of newer anime and manga fans. At first glance, this might seem like the typical case of gatekeeping in a fandom. However, as you take a closer and deeper look into the issue, you’ll see that this controversy is actually a bigger problem than most people realize. It even has its own official name: anime tourism (often shortened to “anime tourist” as a pejorative label). So, what exactly is “anime tourism”?

Anime tourism, as simple as the name sounds, is a derogatory term used in online anime communities to describe people perceived as new and ignorant fans who make uninformed “hot takes” and dismiss older, beloved classics as having “bad animation” or “outdated tropes.” Anime tourists are also individuals who stick exclusively to mainstream anime and manga—often boosted by streaming platforms like Crunchyroll and Netflix—while treating these as their sole source of truth. They remain highly ignorant of (or unwilling to explore) the classical contributions that shaped the medium’s current format, and refuse to watch anything outside their mainstream bubble. Additionally, anime tourists frequently complain about longstanding elements in anime and manga, such as certain character designs, ecchi content, lolicon, and shotacon themes. They often demand that the medium change to better align with Western sensibilities, pushing for it to become more “accessible” or “politically correct.” Finally, these individuals display a condescending attitude, acting superior as if they already know everything. They dismiss older opinions and veterans while lacking any deeper engagement with anime and manga’s history, industry, or Japanese cultural roots.

The issue of “anime tourism” (in the pejorative online slang sense, referring to superficial or disrespectful newcomers in the anime fandom) first originated around 2023, particularly on platforms like Reddit (notably in subs such as r/animecirclejerk, where it was used ironically or critically early on to mock “fake fans,” posers, or those overly critical of certain tropes like fanservice without deeper context).

The term began gaining decent traction throughout 2023 on social media platforms like Twitter (rebranded as X later that year), where it was frequently directed at people accused of having little to no knowledge of anime history while making bold judgments. Sporadic uses appeared even earlier (e.g., ironic mentions as far back as 2022 in some meme communities), but 2023 marks the point where it started solidifying as recurring slang for “tourists” who treat anime as a trendy phase.

In 2024, the term became more constant in forum discussions, blog posts (e.g., early analyses on sites like Seinenrider or personal blogs describing it as a label for posers imposing external views), comment sections, and YouTube discourse. It was still niche but building momentum amid anime’s growing mainstream appeal via streaming.

Finally, in mid-to-late 2025 (with a massive spike around July–September), the term exploded and went truly viral across social media. Numerous threads flooded Reddit (e.g., in r/TrashTaste, r/TrueAnime, r/KotakuInAction), famous users on X debated it heatedly, and big-name YouTubers/podcasts like TrashTaste discussed the “anime tourist problem” in depth—often tying it to gatekeeping vs. protecting the medium’s identity. Perhaps the lowest (or most infamous) display of what many called peak “anime tourism” was TheAnimeMen’s YouTube video, where the group ranked the first episodes of anime from every year (1961–2025). They gave very poor takes and low ranks to beloved classics (often criticizing them for lacking modern animation polish or watching at high speeds like 2x/3x), while praising mainstream recent hits. The backlash was swift and intense, with many labeling them as textbook “tourists” who admitted limited history with anime and acted like experts. They later uploaded a follow-up/redemption video with more polished, respectful takes on the classics, which was better received but didn’t fully quell the drama.

Since then, the topic of anime tourism has become widespread in the community. As someone who has been an otaku for 15 years now and has watched how the community engages over time, I can say this debate is perhaps the most heated I have ever seen. Not even the great elitist wars of the 2010s were this intense. One side argues that these “parasites” are invading and ruining the community, while the other side contends that they are being treated unfairly and misunderstood as mere newcomers.

For this article, I will be giving my extremely honest and blunt opinion on this ongoing issue that’s keeping the community in massive uproar. I will provide a balanced perspective, but I will confess that I lean more toward the narrative that anime tourism is indeed a problem. At the same time, there is something else I would like to say that departs from the typical anti-tourism stance.

Are Anime Tourists Really a Problem?

The truth is, yes, they are a HUGE problem in the community, and the thing is, this issue isn’t really complex at all. Here are the obvious reasons why anime tourists are not just a problem for the communiy, but for the industry as a whole.

The problem with anime tourists isn’t really the fact that they watch anime. It’s the ignorance they spout. These tourists have this glaring issue where they act arrogantly, demanding that the medium change to fit their beliefs and narratives. I find that utterly disgusting, especially since, as we all know, Japanese anime and manga operate completely differently from the stuff they like—or previously liked.

One of the core annoyances is how they outright act as if it’s their birthright to change anime and manga to fit their views. As a die-hard otaku for 15 years, I have to ask these tourists: Why the heck would you want to change something from another country just to fit your tastes? I’m sorry to say this, but the truth is you don’t have a single right to demand that another nation’s entertainment be altered for you.

If an anime or manga does something specifically meant for Japanese audiences, then as a viewer, you have no right to complain. Anime and manga are, at the end of the day, made for Japanese people to enjoy. If you can’t stand how it works, then sorry, bud—look elsewhere. If you complain, fine, but keep your mouth shut if you’re demanding changes, because it’s not going to happen.

Anime and manga are made specifically for Japanese audiences, and the fact that the creators are humble enough to share their works with us through translations just shows how gracious they are. The issue is that some of these people demand changes to fit their Western sensibilities, as if the Japanese have to conform.

Look, you don’t have to like everything in anime and manga—that’s completely understandable. Even I, after 15 years as a fan, still can’t enjoy some tropes or themes. However, to demand changes to fit your own needs and standards is truly what I would describe as cultural imperialism.

Another part I’d like to talk about is how anime tourists have this very toxic and horrific tendency to slap labels on literally anything they don’t like and call it “this and that.” What do I mean?

Ever since anime and manga’s popularity exploded even further in the mid-2020s, we’ve seen this massive influx of pretenders who suddenly claim to like anime and manga without any real knowledge or understanding whatsoever. They’ve started this toxic trend of attacking any anime that features tropes, genres, or themes completely opposite to what they used to like—their former favorites, which, let’s be honest, were mostly politically themed entertainment designed to push their agenda in the name of a political movement. To be specific: left-wing progressive themes that typically dominate Western cartoons, comics, and live-action entertainment. Aka, “woke” entertainment.

This is something I find really funny, considering the fact that anime and manga have already been home to exactly the kind of entertainment these people supposedly desire. In fact, it’s been like that for a long time—and, despite not being into it myself in every case, anime and manga have often done it much better than anything the West has ever produced. In other words, anime and manga were already “woke” before it was even cool in the first place.

Tons of anime and manga have expressed progressive themes covering a wide range of beliefs—economic, social, sexual, and beyond.

They’ll immaturely and falsely call something like Frieren “racist,” or label old classics like Haruhi Suzumiya, Toradora, and Lucky Star as “pedo slop.” I’m not freaking kidding—these people are just insane, and to put it bluntly, downright stupid. They harass creators, send death threats, and demand changes to fit their own needs, which I find utterly disgusting.

I really hate the way they think. As a long-time otaku, it’s just pathetic. They make baseless claims labeling nearly every old-school anime and manga as “problematic,” while at the same time enjoying their own favorites that ironically have the exact same themes—or, in many cases, actually worse ones. What am I talking about?

It’s the hypocrisy of these tourists. One of the things I’ve noticed is the blatant double standards in their claims. They’ll look at an anime like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, for instance, and go on a full crusade claiming how it’s SO bad and “how can anime and manga even do such a thing,” simply because Kanna looks like “a little girl.” They call it “pedo-slop” even though Kanna—the target of their accusations—is literally just an adorable girl that everyone in the anime loves, and is labeled as, guess what? “Kawaii moe shoujo.” Aka, cute moe girl, following a long-established trope of adorable moe female characters that’s been around since 1984—did ya know that? I’m sure you didn’t, because this is the kind of information only a hardcore otaku like myself knows.

Ever since Lynn Minmay from Macross was introduced, she reinvented the moe girl trope that has since dominated the medium. Countless characters have followed this exact pattern, but these tourists come out of nowhere and suddenly decide it’s “problematic” and has to be removed. Like, are you really this condescending of a maniac—to barge into someone else’s medium and demand it change to fit your standards, especially as someone from a completely different country? Like, how insane is that…This has always existed, but only now it’s suddenly an issue? Oh yeah, here’s another part.

Another issue I’ve noticed with these anime tourists is how one-sided their tastes in anime and manga are. A core element they always demonstrate in front of everyone else is their sheer ignorance of the medium. They only stick to anime and manga that are considered mainstream among the masses and completely neglect the classic or niche masterpieces that actually defined the medium we know today.

They obsess over stuff like Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and My Hero Academia. They treat this narrow spectrum as the “correct” norm—the only anime and manga untainted by so-called “degeneracy.” Which I find SUPER ironic and hilarious, because these very same titles they boast about as being “different” from the evils of degeneracy are no different at all. Many of their favorites contain exactly the same tropes they claim to despise, like fanservice and lolicon elements.

Fun fact: you’ll find way more fanservice in One Piece than you will in something like Toradora. A ton of the characters they love are minors too—which is another topic I want to get into. These tourists seem to ALWAYS have a massive issue with a character’s age, treating fictional characters as if they were real people. Every time a character is introduced, it turns into this government-survey-level obsession over whether they’re considered a “minor” or not. If the character shows even one inch of skin, they go into ballistic meltdown, crying and arguing that characters shouldn’t be sexualized because “minor” this and “minor” that.

The truth is, I find it so ironically confusing. I want to ask these same people: Please don’t tell me that as a minor—or when you were a minor—you never went to the beach, saw other people your age showing skin, and thought, “That person looks so attractive.” It’s exactly the same in anime and manga. Also, these people completely forget that most of the anime and manga they obsess over are literally catered toward teenagers—who obviously feel fictional attraction to these characters. So what’s the problem here? Don’t tell me that you feel the same with specific anime and manga characters as well am I right?

Hey, tourists, let me ask you something: Did you ever complain when Bulma flashed her private areas to Master Roshi in the original Dragon Ball? Did you ever complain that Naruto had an entire ending sequence (Ending 6) where all the girls were in bikinis despite being 12–13 years old? Did you ever complain that Orihime from Bleach is constantly joked about having a HUGE rack despite being 15? Never, right? But suddenly, when another anime does it, it must be stopped?

And when this is pointed out, they just slap labels like the person is a quote-unquote “pedophile,” or some P. Diddy/Epstein-level creep. Truly a disgusting attitude, honestly.

Now, don’t get me wrong—I don’t like lolicon/shotacon and I never have, even when I first started getting into anime and manga. When I see those tropes being used, it simply puts me off, and to this day, I still don’t really understand the affection some people have for lolicon/shotacon. I’m just not into that stuff at all.

But again, is any real harm being done? Instead of wasting time obsessing over a drawing, how about we focus on actual real problems in this world that are genuinely harmful and dangerous to children? A loli being the mascot of an anime isn’t going to suddenly end the freaking world, you know. Obviously, it deducts points for me, and I mostly avoid anime and manga with heavy lolicon/shotacon themes, but one of the things I’ve noticed about these tourists is how quickly they label anything that looks young as “loli.”

Uzaki-chan is a perfect example of this idiotic display. These tourists will slap the term “lolicon” on any anime girl who looks young, even if she’s explicitly an adult. Yes, I’m not kidding you. These people will see an anime girl who looks young, isn’t doing anything sexual, and still label it as problematic lolicon that’s somehow “P. Diddy/Epstein stuff.” Which again, I find utterly laughable—because according to them, anything that looks young is automatically a minor. Like, as if extremely youthful-looking college-aged adults don’t exist in real life, right?

Chances are, I’d bet you a million bucks that Ayu Tsukimiya from Kanon—aka my favorite anime of all time—would get labeled as a problematic loli who “looks too young,” and that anyone who likes the anime is automatically a P. Diddy/Epstein guy. Well, they’re 20 years too late to this masterpiece. If they think like that, then poor them—they’re judging and missing out on an absolutely amazing emotional masterpiece that has absolutely none of those disgusting things whatsoever. But hey, these are tourists we’re talking about.

Also, these anime tourists seem to have this insane obsession with morals. They turn into the ultimate moral police when it comes to deciding what’s right and wrong in anime and manga. It’s not just the age thing they go on about—it’s also the actions characters take, even when it has virtually nothing to do with sexual content.

Like, some of these tourists literally believe that anime characters who are aged from elementary to middle school shouldn’t fall in love with each other. Like, ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS??? So what’s the whole point of anime like Cardcaptor Sakura, Hi Score Girl, Cross Game, and Gakuen Alice? Suddenly childhood romances are a BAD THING just because they’re minors? So no more Kanon, 5 Centimeters Per Second, or Anohana? Suddenly these titles are “problematic” because “minors”?

Excuse me for my language, but are these people that mentally stupid? Are they literally just walking babies with zero common sense or emotional understanding of how human beings actually work? Do they have to filter everything through a politically correct lens because it hurts their fragile feelings, or because they desperately want to look like “good people”—when in reality they just stand out as total idiots?

What, please tell me you NEVER fell in love when you were much younger. Don’t tell me you never secretly liked a classmate around the same age during elementary or middle school. I will never forget the first time I read one of their narratives and thought: “What, you never felt romantic feelings for someone else? What a load of horse poop.” This is exactly the kind of pathetic behavior these tourists pull that earns them the label they so richly deserve.

Anime tourists also seem to have this unprecedented obsession with anti-fanservice narratives. Now, don’t get me wrong—fanservice has always been disliked by many fans, including the older generation that still hates it to this day. As for me, I’m not into fanservice at all. Quite frankly, I don’t enjoy it much, and the ecchi genre as a whole bores me and always has.

That said, I do enjoy some ecchi-heavy anime, like No Game No Life, Prison School, To Love-Ru, Yosuga no Sora, Rosario + Vampire, and even acclaimed classics like Shuffle! and Gurren Lagann as instant favorites. Of course, as I’ve said before, I’ve never really been into the genre, and to this day, I tend to ignore or even deduct points from an anime or manga if it has a high amount of ecchi. Even when watching a series that’s heavily ecchi-based, it’s VERY hard for me to finish.

So what makes me different from these tourists? I just ignore it and move on to the next thing. But these tourists? They don’t do that. Instead, they go on an entire crusade trying to get ecchi banned, shame people for liking it, or cry about their feelings in front of everyone on how bad ecchi is.

Like, this is hilarious coming from the same crowd that enjoyed the sexualization in their former entertainment favorites, while at the same time obsessing over their favorite pairings—which, let’s be real, 90% of them are all homo shippings. I literally remember when the entire Deku x Bakugo fandom went into a full-blown meltdown because Deku ended up with Uraraka—they genuinely believed their ship was canon and basically canceled anyone who said or thought otherwise. But then they complain that My Hero Academia has a large amount of fanservice with the girls, while staying dead silent when the guys get their fanservice moments—and drooling over sexualized art of Deku and Bakugo at the same time.

Do you see this freaking pathetic irony that these tourists display? It’s so annoying and hypocritical. They’ll rant on and on about how ecchi is bad, fanservice is horrible and harmful, and they feel “threatened,” but somehow stay dead silent when the fanservice aligns with the stuff they like.

The truth is, these people don’t have a legit reason to dislike something aside from the fact that it doesn’t align with their beliefs—and they act like the creators have to follow suit as if it’s their right. Like, no offense, but who are you? You’re just some watcher that the Japanese consider an extra, not mandatory.

Even during my era, I rarely saw demands to cancel ecchi anime. It was just a “whatever” or “I hate this,” and people moved on. Like, no offense, but do flying boobs and butts really make you feel threatened?

Go Nagai literally made some VERY controversial statements and added controversial themes to his manga titles like Demon Lord Dante—portraying God as an evil, tyrannical force (an alien invader who destroys civilizations and subjugates people) while flipping the script on good vs. evil, with demons and satan as more sympathetic figures in a cosmic rebellion. That angers me because, as a Christian, I see it as pure ignorance, and I strongly object to those views.

Am I asking for him to be canceled, removed, banned, or for anyone who likes his works to be stigmatized? Not at all. Why? Because it’s his right to freedom of speech and creativity, no matter how much I disagree. Even then, guess what? I still enjoy his works, like Mazinger Z as an example, which played an instrumental role in revolutionizing the mecha and tokusatsu genre.

That’s the HUGE difference between respectfully moving on from something you don’t like—and acting like an abyssal creature wanting to change everything because you don’t like it, even though you virtually have no right to.

Finally, my last criticism of anime tourists is their poor and ignorant knowledge of anime and manga. The most notable thing about them is their sheer, ultimate ignorance of the medium—not just how anime and manga function as entertainment, but also their complete lack of understanding of the medium’s history, its classic hits from the past, and its deep cultural values. Not to mention how they always seem to look down on otaku culture as if it’s some kind of abomination, when in reality it’s just a misunderstood passion.

A lot of these tourists refuse to leave their safe shonen-action bubble. If they encounter anime from other genres—such as mecha, magical girl, or even non-mainstream battle manga—they immediately shoot it down as uninteresting or unimportant. I’ve seen this happen over and over again, especially toward my own favorites.

Many of these anime tourists seem to genuinely believe that anime and manga suddenly started with Dragon Ball Z in the 90s, and that everything else is irrelevant or doesn’t even exist. I find that extremely depressing because it’s obviously not true at all.

As we all know, anime has existed since 1917, with Namakura Gatana widely regarded as the first anime (or 1907 if you count Katsudō Shashin as the earliest recorded animated work). Manga has an even longer history, dating back to the 12th century with Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga (Scrolls of Frolicking Animals), considered the first manga ever recorded.

Since then, anime and manga have evolved into unique forms of entertainment like no other. It started gaining massive momentum in the 1950s and 1960s with Osamu Tezuka’s revolution through Astro Boy, followed by the decades of iconic hits: Space Battleship Yamato, Mobile Suit Gundam, Studio Ghibli movies, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Big Three of the 2000s (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach), Attack on Titan in the 2010s, and today’s biggest hits.

It’s just as simple as that. If you already knew this, then I’m glad. If you didn’t but you’re still a passionate fan in practice, don’t worry—just enjoy the journey. Finally, if you’re a tourist who claims to know a lot but didn’t know any of this… then uh, well, you’re exactly the problem I’m talking about.

Anime tourists also seem to have zero knowledge of otaku terminology whatsoever. Instead of using simple, easy-to-learn otaku terms, they fall back on the typical statements normies would use. I was shocked to hear that Rei from Evangelion or Kanade from Angel Beats were being called “autists” by these tourists instead of the original and proper term: kuudere.

What shocks me is how easy it is to understand and research these terminologies—that’s exactly what I did when I first started my otaku days 15 years ago. Heck, even before that, I knew this stuff back in 2007. Literally anything passionate that we otakus do gets labeled as “cringe” by these people. Whether we speak Japanese, learn how to cosplay, or write a 1000-word essay about the behind-the-scenes of Evangelion, these tourists will always find a way to put us down. I find it funny because it’s truly just normie sensibilities at work.

I hear some of them say they don’t have time to sit down and read five magazines from the 1980s just to get inside details from a seiyuu about their feelings, their description of a character, or the anime itself—stuff that can be used as backup sources for research and content creation. Well, guess what? I can, and so can you. If you truly love something, wouldn’t you invest full time into it?

Seiyuu behind-the-scenes, creators, animators, artists, music composers, albums, singers, idols, and encyclopedias about everything anime and manga-related—there’s so much out there. Why? Because I love it.

Fun fact: Do you know who Ui Miyazaki or Ai Shimizu are? Probably not, right? Only us die-hard otakus know these seiyuu because, again, it’s what we love. If you’re truly passionate about something, you invest full time into it because it’s your passion. Right now, for this year, I’m on a roll with cosplay and anime conventions, and every day I’m learning something new.

Another issue with these tourists is how they create long-form content based on ignorant or distorted historical context about specific anime topics. For example, they’ll claim Dragon Ball Z changed anime and manga forever—which is true, but not in the simplistic, overblown way they usually describe it. Or they’ll say Evangelion single-handedly saved the mecha genre and was completely revolutionary and different, which is another lie. Even after Evangelion’s success, mecha still struggled through the late 90s and early 2000s until Gundam SEED revived it in 2002. Plus, Evangelion itself borrowed heavily from older works like Mobile Suit Gundam and Angel’s Egg.

Another common one is the claim that Madoka Magica is a groundbreaking deconstruction of the magical girl genre because of how dark and different it was from the typical kawaii magical girl shows—which is yet another lie, given that darker magical girl anime existed long before Madoka aired.

These kinds of ignorant hot takes are sadly rife within the community, and not enough people call them out. A lot of these creators make content based purely on personal favoritism rather than actual knowledge and verifiable sources considered factual. There’s nothing wrong with making content about your favorite anime and manga, but if you truly loved it, wouldn’t you take the time to research it properly and cite factual sources? That’s exactly how I approach my own content on Kanon—100% backed by sources I’ve thoroughly researched.

It seems like the mecha and magical girl genres are probably the most misunderstood and misrepresented out there, and it’s saddening how this issue just keeps going. I see shonen hogging the spotlight constantly, while shoujo, seinen, and josei barely get any real attention. I believe that needs to change.

Anyways my fellow otakus, this is the criticism I have with these anime tourists. Now, want to know my other perspective with this issue?

Anime Tourist “Used Wrongly”

While I do understand that anime tourists are annoying and to an extent, a plague to the community, there are at times when I feel like the term anime tourist is used the wrong way. What do I mean exactly?

You see, while anime tourists are definitely a problem, there are times when I see new die-hard anime and manga fans—who only got into the medium a few years ago, around 2020 (a year infamously known for when the tourist influx really began)—getting unfairly labeled as tourists themselves. In my opinion, that’s just not fair. The year someone starts doesn’t matter at all. What actually matters is how passionate and well-informed the individual is.

Some people have known anime and manga since the early 2000s, yet even now they don’t know the first thing about what went on behind the scenes with classics like Evangelion or Death Note. Meanwhile, I’ve met people back in the late 2000s and early 2010s who were just as touristy as the ones today—sometimes even worse. They treated anime and manga so casually, never giving the medium any real importance whatsoever. I’ve seen these types before, and believe me, they got on my nerves many times.

At the same time, I’ve also seen brand-new fans who got into anime and manga, and within just a year, they know so much stuff that even I get surprised. In my opinion, a year—or even a decade—shouldn’t dictate someone’s credibility as a fan, as long as they truly love and understand what anime and manga are all about.

Fun fact: Back when I first started my otaku days, many anime elitists looked down on me and treated me like an anime tourist simply because I liked modern favorites and hadn’t yet watched the oldest classics. The thing was, I wanted to watch them, and eventually I did—years later—and some of them became my all-time favorites.

I will never forget 2011, when some guy called me a retard for liking Angel Beats!, accused me of everything wrong with modern anime, and then blocked me. I’M NOT KIDDING YOU! THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME! It was so hilarious in hindsight… Not only that, but whenever I talked about other favorites like Code Geass, Death Note, and so on, I always got insulted by these hardcore anime elitists. Even years later, in 2015, the insults kept coming—when I loved Attack on Titan, I was insulted HARD, and, in 2017, even when I talked about Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, and Evangelion, I WAS STILL INSULTED!

So, to all the newer fans who want to become true otakus: Come on, guys, let’s be nicer and more welcoming. If they say something incorrect, we can simply correct them. It’s that easy…

I also see that the word “tourist” is sometimes thrown around way too loosely, without any real reason behind it. Sometimes, I’ve noticed it’s just used as a weapon against people others simply don’t like. Look, here’s the truth: just because you haven’t completed 500+ anime and manga titles doesn’t make you “below” anyone else.

In my opinion, though, I do strongly believe it’s highly encouraged—and honestly recommended—to watch and read as much as possible. Not only does it expand your tastes and deepen your knowledge of the medium, but it’s also a ton of fun. I’ll never forget how 2016–2021 felt: that thrill of journeying into the unknown, discovering anime and manga titles that hardly anyone had ever heard of. It wasn’t just fun—it was exhilarating. When I finally watched Cat Soup and Angel’s Egg, I couldn’t believe my own eyes. Masterpiece after masterpiece. Of course, enjoy everything else too.

Taste doesn’t dictate who you are either—at the end of the day, we all have our preferences for what we like or don’t like. Me? I’m pretty diverse. I enjoy any genre as long as it’s good. Romance, mecha, psychological, action, sci-fi, and avant-garde are my go-to genres, but everything else is more than welcome.

Lately, I haven’t been watching or reading as much because my priorities have shifted to cosplay and anime conventions—which has been a blast. But for this year, I’m changing course and bringing back what I loved doing in the past.

So, if you want my advice: keep investing in what you love, but expand more. Believe me, it’s a lot of fun, and you won’t regret it. I’ve seen fans who got into anime and manga in 2020 and, in just six years, became full-fledged otakus. Again, the year you started or how many titles you’ve completed doesn’t define who you are. Some people have watched 1000+ shows and still don’t even know why Watanabe ended Cowboy Bebop the way he did.

Also, one final statement: You are entitled to your opinion. You have every right to dislike a specific genre, theme, or trope that’s commonplace in some anime and manga titles. Having those opinions doesn’t make you a tourist. It just means you have preferences—things you like and things you don’t.

Fun fact: Even after 15 years, I still don’t like some common tropes that pop up a lot in anime and manga, and guess what—the majority of them involve fanservice and other elements like lolicon/shotacon. I’ve never been a fan of those, and at times I get REALLY tired of seeing them over and over again. Does that make me a tourist? No. And it doesn’t make you one either. It just means we have opinions, just like everyone else does.

Obviously, that doesn’t mean we should act like obnoxious jerks, insult everyone else, try to cancel everything involving those tropes, or demand that they change to suit us. But we can—and should—voice our strong criticism of those tropes because we have every right to do so.

Of course, this applies to literally everything else too: shonen action, romance comedies, and so on. Simply put, there’s freedom to express creativity, and there’s also freedom to criticize. It’s just as simple as that.

Well, my fellow otakus, that was my long, passionate rant about the epidemic of the anime tourist in our community. Again, the whole point of this article isn’t to tell anyone what they can or can’t like, or what they have to like. It’s more about this: Let’s show everyone around us that we are die-hard otakus who truly love anime and manga for what they are, and for the happiness they bring us as fellow otakus.

We must appreciate the medium even more, make sure anime and manga always remain the amazing form of entertainment they are, and admire them for their incredible creative achievements and what they’ve brought to us as a society and as individuals. Invest time in it if you love it. Dive deep into everything that makes anime and manga what they are. Appreciate the classics. And don’t act like rude jerks who want to change the medium for the sake of a personal agenda, constantly slapping labels on everyone and everything else that isn’t true.

Of course, at the same time, let’s also respect what we like and don’t like. Let’s try not to discourage newcomers from entering our passion if they genuinely love it just like we do. Let’s all just get along.

As an otaku, I will always hold close to my heart what Hideaki Anno said in 1999 during an episode of the Japanese TV series Welcome Back for an Extracurricular Lesson, Senpai!: “There is no gap between age and politics for otakus.” Always remember those words.

Thanks for reading my fellow otakus! Don’t forget to like, share, follow, and check out my socials!

“Florida’s #1 Akiba-Kei!”