Some of the coolest and most unique forms of niche entertainment, including anime and horror, have recently found massive mainstream appeal.
The openness, transparency, and ease of access to the internet mean that some of what you may have considered niche aspects or forms of entertainment in the past have now become more mainstream than ever. It is just that the number of users is phenomenal, and as such, niche entertainment has become a global phenomenon. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less cool. With recognition comes respectability and a larger platform for your favorite artists, filmmakers, writers, developers, and other creatives. So instead of shunning mainstream appeal, we should embrace it as a path to more killer content and increased accessibility.
Below are some of my favorite nerdy obsessions that are now seeing a large fandom than ever before.
Anime
The rise of anime has to be partially attributed to the development and production of anime material, cartoons, and comics that were then spread and shared on the internet. Entire tribes have been set up that follow anime and have established social networks to discuss and share the latest developments. Anime was arguably the world’s first globalized content source and managed to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to spread across the globe. It is definitely no longer niche and has a global following that is based and interacts predominantly online and through the internet.
The popularity of anime on the largest streaming platform, Netflix, has been steadily rising. Netflix has been investing in original anime programming since 2017, working with high-profile studios like Production I.G. to create original anime programming. In 2021, half of Netflix’s 222 million global subscribers watched anime on the platform. This represents an increase of 20% in time spent watching anime globally.
Anime has always been popular in Japan, where at least 90% of Netflix subscribers watch anime, but it has reached a new level of global popularity. Between October 2019 and September 2020, over 100 million households globally watched at least one anime title on Netflix. This was an increase of more than 50% from 2019.
Anime producers have started to make content more suited to Western tastes. Anime is not age-specific and has a wide range of genres, including romance, comedy, action/adventure, mystery/suspense, and horror. It’s also relatable to all audiences because it typically carries heavy themes, ranging from lighthearted to more mature.
Horror
Of course, I was going to talk about horror!
The horror genre has developed tremendously since Salems Lot was the scariest thing on VHS. There are now entire channels and streaming services now dedicated to the horror genre. This is because there has been a growth in the horror genre itself, as well as a change in the genre to include a number of other genres and thus enticing viewers.
Horror is more popular than ever. In 2021, horror movies took the largest share of the box office in history, nearly double the normal share. In 2022, the share of horror movies represented in the 100 most in-demand films of the year increased by 36%, reaching the highest share for the genre in four years.
Horror is now 10% of the market, which is a little more than romance, about the same as action and thriller, and considerably more than war, sci-fi, musicals, westerns, and fantasy. It’s estimated that around 500 horror movies are released each yea, and the horror movie industry is worth around $700 million in domestic ticket sales. In 2022, the total gross of all horror movies was $644,774,976, with the movie Nope as the highest-grossing at $123,277,080.
As of October 2022, approximately 35 percent of men surveyed in the United States said they had watched a horror movie in theaters between one and 12 months preceding the survey. Among female respondents, that share added up to 21 percent.
Television shows such as Supernatural, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Yellowjackets, and Stranger Things have peaked in popularity, and not just for horror enthusiasts alone. These shows went mainstream as people shared the experiences and as streamed content became more accessible all around the globe. It seemed that the more horror and frights were able to be shared, the better for the genre, and the more people wanted to feel the fear.
Slots/Online Casinos
From the birth of the one-armed bandits — that set the tone for all casino play as you entered the land-based established of old to the digitally remastered versions we now have at our fingertips — slots have been a long-standing and established form of entertainment.
A form of entertainment that has spread and stood the test of time simply based on its entry and acceptance on the internet. Online slots and digital slot games have become the norm and are a genre that is now one of the top forms of entertainment on the internet.
Before entry to the internet, casino games and land-based casinos were arguably in decline. However, the range of games at places like online casino Australia and the technology that is used to create an immersive interactive experience is such that online casino is an entertainment growth point — making what may have been a niche form of entertainment a global preference.
Entertainment has become a lot more personalized and bespoke, and as part of these changes, there has been a rise in niche entertainment that has gone mainstream, with more people accessing more genres of entertainment.
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