How many types of anime fans can you name?

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that the term “anime fan” encompasses quite a variety of people…

In the anime fan base, there are varying degrees of fandoms and varying types of fans. Unlike Harry Potter or Star Trek fandom which revolve around one series, anime fandom revolves around a ton of different series simultaneously, many of which are vastly different from each other. As a result, the fans themselves and how they relate to their hobby is extremely diverse.

I’m not one to stereotype, but during my ten years of being an anime fan, I’ve come across particular types of fans. I’ve listed 32 off the top of my head (I try to be more descriptive rather than use terms like “elitist” or “Narutard”). They’re listed below in no particular order…

1. People who like anime in general but stick to one or two genres

2. People who like many genres of anime

3. People who love anime but watch mostly the current or unlicensed shows in Japan via streaming or fansubs

4. People who love anime but watch mostly official U.S. releases of licensed series (could be anti-fansubs)

5. Girls who prefer anime with bishounen

6. Girls who often “fangirl” over hot guys and/or romantic relationships in anime

7. Guys who prefer anime with cute/moe/attractive female characters

8. Guys who often “fanboy” over hot girls in anime

9. Guys who prefer “masculine” anime such as action, mecha, sci-fi, and military series (could be anti-moe)

10. People who love anime but don’t openly show it, i.e., don’t buy DVDs or collectibles, don’t discuss it often

11. People who love anime and openly show it through apparel, collectibles, discussion, and online presence

12. People who love anime mostly for visual attractiveness such as pretty character designs and flashy action

13. People who love anime mostly for creative stories and thought-provoking themes

14. People who love anime as well as other pop culture/media things such as video games, movies, computers, fantasy stories, online gaming, etc.,

15. Shy, introverted fans who are not open about discussing anime, whether in person or online

16. Conspicuous, opinionated fans who voice their opinions no matter what people think

17. People who watch anime but are more of manga fans

18. People who prefer anime over manga

19. Artists who are into the style of anime and incorporate it into their works

20. People who love anime but relate to it as entertainment and don’t put it on a scholarly level

21. People who love anime but relate to it on an intellectual, scholarly level, i.e., academia

22. People who love anime but only watch it and don’t partake in other related activities

23. People who love anime but also get into fan art, fan fics, AMVs, cosplay, working on an anime blog or web site, etc,.

24. People who mostly look for good storytelling in anime

25. People who mostly look for appealing characters in anime and often get attached to particular characters

26. People who mostly watch currently airing shows

27. People who mostly watch older shows

28. People who love anime but don’t get into Japan or Japanese (could be dub fans)

29. People who love anime as well as the Japanese part of it, i.e., Japanese music, learning the Japanese language, Japanese culture

30. People who love all kinds of anime, from Pokemon and Naruto to Evangelion and Lucky Star

31. People who love mostly adult-aimed anime

32. People who love mostly family-friendly anime

I think I’ve covered a good variety of fans in the above list. And many of the points I listed could encompasses more than one type of fan, for example, #1 could include shonen fans, shojo fans, etc, and #23 could include avid fan fic writers, avid fan fic readers, AMV creators, etc. And of course, any particular fan could fall into more than one type on the list. The variety of ways people relate to and express their anime fandom really is stifling. I’ll probably think of more to add to the list as time goes on but I’m gonna stop here.

Could all these types of fans be called “true” fans even though they love anime in different ways? I think that passion and a genuine love for or interest in anime are probably the most important factors. The fan who loves only a few series and the fan who loves all genres are both true fans as long as the love is there. The fan who ogles attractive characters in the fansubs they watch and the fan who looks intellectually at the creative stories of their official English DVDs can both be fans despite how different they are. There could be nearly as many kinds of fans as there are kinds of anime.

If you think of any more to add to the list, feel free to mention them in the comments below.

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Passingass says:

    Its a very eclectic list, but the thought is there…it would be better if you stratified your list from light/casual to generalist to specialist to extremist, with sub-branches into gaming, collectibles, doujin, blogging, etc.

    Up until early this year, i was a generalist/anime&manga/fansub&scanlate-only/non-buyer/blog commenter.

    Then i began moving on to live-action US, EU, JP and KR shows, reducing my anime watching to 2-3 shows per season, only commenting like this to blogs that really really catch my attention.

    Anyway, i agree that there should be classifications of anime and manga fandom, and i hope the industry gets out of its present slump (moe/fanservice overload) into another golden age.

    By the way, how do you classify those fans of US shows like Simpsons, South Park, Avatar, etc?

  2. Yumeka says:

    @ Passingass

    Yes, a more complete list would definitely take into account the sub-branches and other things you suggested. Maybe someone will make such a list one day (I don’t plan on being the one XD)

    And yeah, I totally forgot, another type of anime would be someone who loves animation in general, including U.S. cartoons like Avatar, Simpsons, etc,.

  3. Dragonliger says:

    umm, XP there should be a “non-anime enviroment anime fan” because like me, I am mostly unsorrounded by anime so I have to look for a way to get it (mostly online or ebaylike) though i don’t show it often i do show it at sometimes. Yes, I am weird, or maybe am a cacoon to grow into a great anime fan.

  4. Kairu says:

    1. /a/ type of anime fan
    2. weaboo
    3. fat yaoi fangirl
    4. closet otakus.

    That’s all I can name.

  5. Shockerz says:

    It’s sad but true that people often misunderstood the term. From the looks of it I found I’m guilty on a lots of account listed above. Then, what am I?

  6. Jan Suzukawa says:

    An offshoot of No. 17 I’ve seen is “Manga purists who criticize the anime for being different in any way from the manga.” There are a lot of those in fandom. :0

  7. 2DT says:

    This is a very important list. Or at least the thought processes that led up to this list. It took a long time for me to get comfortable with the anime club, and I think a clash of types is precisely what it boils down to.

    Or blogs. I don’t understand what it takes to maintain an episodic blog, for example, nor do I have the stamina to write some of the massive pieces from more intellectual blogs. But we’re all ostensibly part of one “blogosphere.”

    The fandom is useless when it boils down to each person listing what they’ve seen. But it’s when we branch out and start interpreting that things start getting so complicated.

  8. Yumeka says:

    @ 2DT

    Yeah, even if we haven’t seen the same anime (though usually there’s at least a few shows that most anime fans have all seen), we can still discuss with and relate to each other about anime in general.

    With few exceptions, I can’t keep up an episodic blog either, nor can I think of good topics for those “massive pieces” you mentioned. But again, despite the variety of blogs, we’re all united in the “anime blogsphere” because we all like to discuss anime in some way on our blogs.

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