Ask John: Why Don’t Some Popular Shows Retain Their Popularity?

Question:
I’ve noticed something. Last year at JAFAX, I saw at least a dozen people dressed up as Chii (from Chobits). I also saw a few people who were paying some sort of homage (hand-made Kyo backpack, Cosplay and hand puppets) to Fruits Basket. But now, they are gone. Asking a few people I know, half of them haven’t even heard of these two absolutely fabulous anime, but the other half who had heard of them, had never even seen them. What’s going on? Is it just because an anime has a solid and clear ending, or even, an ending at all, it’s no longer worth the honor? Why does no one seem to have any interest in an anime or manga once the series ends?

Answer:
I think the fact that some fans don’t cling to particular series doesn’t mean that these fans don’t appreciate the title. Nor does it suggest that the anime wasn’t good. I suspect that it’s simply a matter of practicality. With as much anime as is now available in America, it’s natural to watch a show, enjoy it, then move on to a new show. Doing otherwise limits one’s enjoyment and appreciation of anime as a medium. Focusing all of your attention on a single title, regardless of how good or deserving it is, reduces your opportunity to discover and enjoy other shows. It’s perfectly fine to totally devote yourself to a single show if that’s the one and only show you like, but many fans want to experience more and more anime. And it’s the nature of consciousness to be most influenced by the immediate. I, for example, am obsessed with the original 1985 Dirty Pair. I collect everything I can related to the series, including odds and ends like pencil boxes, cassette labels, cardboard standees and doujinshi. However, I don’t frequently watch classic Dirty Pair anymore. There’s so much anime available that I haven’t seen yet that I don’t have the time or energy to evenly divide my attention between my love of an older show and my interest in new series. There’s no question over my absolute adoration of the classic Dirty Pair, but as much as I love that show, it occupies a comfortable but remote part of my mind while current and interesting new discoveries reside at the forefront of my consciousness.

On a side note, I think it’s interesting to notice that obsessive devotion to older anime titles is much more common among Western, and especially American anime fans than among Japanese viewers. Perhaps because there’s so much more anime available in Japan than in America, and because anime is an everyday part of Japanese life so it seems natural, Japanese fans tend to have a relatively short attention span for anime relative to non-Japanese fans. There are, of course, Japanese otaku who cherish older titles and keep their fandom alive, but while many American fans tend to develop long devoted relationships to their favorite anime series, Japanese fans tend to appreciate anime series while they’re current, then forget about them in favor of the next show to come along. Examples of this may be seen in monthly popularity polls among Japanese fans that are always heavily weighted with whichever shows and characters are current and trendy at the time. While American fans may desperately long for sequels to older anime like Dragonball, Trigun, Fruits Basket and Cowboy Bebop, these older shows have fallen out of the immediate consciousness of average Japanese viewers. While, after the passage of some years, revivals may be counted on to evoke nostalgia in Japanese fans, for the most part older shows are little more than older shows to typical Japanese fans. They may have been outstanding anime, but they’re still older titles that don’t have the novelty value of first impressions and “newness” that come with new, original debuts.