I don't remember this being a big deal as a kid. If it wasn't what made it this way? MAL? Ease of access? Streaming? Do people count each season as an anime watched and do short series count?
>>1554572Anime has never been as popular as it is now, if you live in the west you used to get bullied hard, these days even the most jock meathead have probably watched at least 1 series so the bar is higher.Ease of access and streaming. Why won't seasons and short series count?
>>1554572>>1554623This, also back then you made lists of what you watched for yourself to not accidently watch shitty stuff again Today its probably More like "yeah but my list is longer, therefore i'm right"
>>1554572it definitely wasn't like this when i was a kid. it was always about watching some shit dubbed on tv and talking about it at school, when hanging out etc, just like any normie on the southeast. but back in the day it was still just seen as "cartoons" and not a distinct thing so in fact if you did watch a lot of these you'll just be seen as childish, nerdy (the hollywood kind of nerdy, like napoleon dynamite nerdy) and you'll be made fun of a lotmost yeah, when it got more centralized with stuff like MAL it became some sort of a bragging right
>>1554572>Was watching a high number of anime always popular?No. Back in the day, like think Gaia Online "back in the day", the average anime enthusiast had probably only seen maybe a little over a dozen anime series not counting "entry level stuff" you could get on cable like Pokemon, Medabots, Digimon, Escaflowne, Gundam Wing, etc.. And then maybe 3 Ghibli Films.A lot of what people had to watch was available only through a combination of cable television, VERY expensive dvd sets (think 40-60 American Dollars), burned/pirated CDs, and fan subbed content uploaded to fan sites or early Youtube. Watching seasonal anime was basically impossible; famously, the Namekian Saga for DBZ was rerun for fucking MONTHS in certain countries that couldn't get later seasons. Simulcasting, things releasing everywhere, all at once, is the height of modern luxury.
>>1554705>A lot of what people had to watch was available only through a combination of cable television, VERY expensive dvd sets (think 40-60 American Dollars),You know Blockbuster had stuff right? And every town had independent rental places, so stuff was out there for anime fans. Also $60 for a set was cheap, there was stuff @ $100 a tape
>>1554711>blockbuster>animeNot the ones I went to, unless I wanted to watch episodes 16-18 of sailor moon, or random hand picked episodes of the namek saga of DBZ. Not to mention it was always a crap-shoot renting VHS tapes to see if they weren't fucked with or taped over. Even then if they were popular they got worn down pretty fast. >hurr 60 isn't bad try 100Both of those are expensive when you're a kid with maybe a fistful of chore money. More than one thing can be true at once.
>>1554732>>hurr 60 isn't bad try 100>Both of those are expensive$100 a tape. With small series's being 4-6 tapes, or some Gundam on 20 tapes. DVDs were fucking cheap when they hit>Not to mention it was always a crap-shoot renting VHS tapes to see if they weren't fucked with or taped over. Even then if they were popular they got worn down pretty fastNever did I find something taped over, and the place that was doing 2 tapes for $1 on Tuesday still had watchable tapes
