The Anime Preference Survey (2010 edition) results


The results of the anime survey I conducted a little less than a month ago are now posted…

In total, I got 244 responses to the survey since I first posted it. You can see the results for each of the 22 questions below, with the highest percentage for each being in bold. I also commented on some of the results, especially if they differed much from the last survey I did in 2008.

———-
In ’08, YouTube-like sites got slightly more votes than torrents. But now it looks like torrents are making a comeback.

Question:  1. What’s the main way you watch anime?
Download via torrents  42.6%
Streaming on official sites  4.1%
Streaming on unofficial sites  12.8%
Streaming on both official and unofficial sites  22.7%
DVDs  10.7%
I read manga more than watch anime  7%

———-
Not too surprising here (Sailor Moon was mine).

Question:  2. What was the first anime you ever watched? (if none of these are your very first one, pick one that’s among your firsts)
Sailor Moon  19.7%
Pokemon  24.6%
One of the Dragon Ball series  9.8%
Robotech  2.9%
Voltron  6.1%
One of the Macross series  1.2%
Cowboy Bebop  1.6%
Inuyasha  2%
Tenchi Muyo!  1.2%
One of the Gundam series  0.8%
A Studio Ghibli movie  4.5%
Naruto  0.8%
Bleach  0.4%
Evangelion  0.8%
Digimon  2.9%
Ranma 1/2  0.8%
Yu-Gi-Oh!  3.7%
Cardcaptor Sakura  4.1%
Fullmetal Alchemist  0.4%
Rurouni Kenshin  2.5%
None of these were among my firsts  9%

———-
Nice to see that most people are not totally anti-dub.

Question:  3. Do you like to watch anime dubbed or subbed?
Either way, I don’t really care  11.9%
Definitely subs (I hate dubs!)  29.6%
I prefer subs but I have nothing against good dubs  50.2%
I prefer dubs unless the dubs are bad  3.7%
Definitely dubs (I don’t like reading subtitles!)  2.9%
Neither, I watch anime in raw Japanese  1.6%

———-
My answer got the most responses, though I’m kind of surprised at how many people rarely or never buy DVDs.

Question:  4. How often do you buy official DVDs of anime you’ve watched via streaming or fansubs?
Just about all the time  2.9%
As often as I can  9.5%
Only if its an anime I really like  38.7%
Rarely  19.8%
Never  29.2%

Question:  5. How do you feel about manga?
I like manga just as much as I like anime  39.8%
I like manga more than anime  12.3%
I only read manga from a few series  13.5%
I like reading manga sometimes but I prefer watching anime  24.2%
I rarely or never read manga  10.2%

———-
Guess I’m one of the few who watches between 15 and 20 series at a time.

Question:  6. On average, how many anime series do you watch at one time? (meaning you watch at least one episode of the series every week)
Less than 5  49.4%
Between 5 and 10  39.8%
Between 10 and 15  6.2%
Between 15 and 20  3.3%
Between 20 and 25  0.4%
Between 25 and 30  0%
More than 30  0.8%

———-
This year FMA got almost as many votes as Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note did combined in ’08. Obviously Brotherhood has a lot to do with its popularity this year.

Question:  7. Which of the following shonen series do you like the best?
Bleach  3.4%
Naruto  7.2%
Dragon Ball  4.6%
One Piece  8%
Inuyasha  4.2%
Yu-Gi-Oh!  0.8%
Rurouni Kenshin  3.8%
Yu Yu Hakusho  3%
Hikaru no Go  1.3%
D-Gray Man  1.3%
Konjiki no Gash Bell!!  0.4%
Fullmetal Alchemist  32.5%
Death Note  11%
Soul Eater  6.3%
Claymore  4.6%
Shaman King  0%
Detective Conan  1.7%
Gintama  3%
Tsubasa Chronicle  2.5%
Fairy Tail  0.4%

———-
Not too different from ’08. Ouran scores high once again. And nice to see that Sakura still has fans :3

Question:  8. Which of the following shojo series do you like the best? (a few josei and mahou shojo included)
Fruits Basket  8%
Sailor Moon  7.1%
Cardcaptor Sakura  16.4%
Fushigi Yuugi  2.1%
Kimi ni Todoke  6.7%
Lovely Complex  3.4%
Itazurana Kiss  0.4%
Nana  2.9%
Ouran High School Host Club  17.2%
Paradise Kiss  0.8%
Gakuen Alice  0.4%
Nodame Cantabile  8%
Vampire Knight  4.6%
Full Moon wo Sagashite  1.3%
Shugo Chara!  3.8%
Revolutionary Girl Utena  8%
Pretty Cure  2.1%
Magic Knight Rayearth  0.8%
Kare Kano  5.9%

———-
Code Geass love is still going strong.

Question:  9. Which of the following mecha series do you like the best?
Evangelion  20.5%
RahXephon  4.4%
Gundam Wing  3.9%
Gundam Seed  4.8%
Eureka 7  8.7%
Code Geass  27.1%
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann  13.1%
Full Metal Panic!  11.4%
Macross  6.1%

———-
AzuDai and Lucky Star love still going strong, too.

Question:  10. Which of the following slice-of-life/comedy series do you like the best?
Azumanga Daioh  24.8%
Ichigo Mashimaro  2.7%
K-ON!  18.6%
Lucky Star  22.6%
Hayate no Gotoku!  7.5%
Hidamari Sketch  4%
Minami-ke  5.3%
School Rumble  14.6%

Question:  11. Which original anime motion picture do you like the best?
My Neighbor Totoro  5.6%
Princess Mononoke  10.4%
Akira  2.2%
5 Centimeters Per Second  10.8%
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time  17.7%
Spirited Away  16%
Nausicaa  3.9%
Summer Wars  5.6%
Blood: the Last Vampire  1.7%
Perfect Blue  1.7%
Tokyo Godfather  3.9%
Grave of the Fireflies  3%
The Sky Crawlers  0.4%
Steamboy  0.9%
The Place Promised in Our Early Days  1.3%
Howl’s Moving Castle  13.4%
Ponyo on the Cliff  1.3%

Question:  12. Besides watching anime or reading manga, what other aspects of the fandom do you take part in?
Working on an anime blog or web site  4.8%
Fan art  4.5%
Fan fiction  4.3%
Doujinshi  2.7%
Video games  8.8%
Trading cards  1.9%
Figures or other collectibles  5%
Cosplay  2.6%
Japanese language and culture  9.4%
Web comics  3%
Anime conventions  6.1%
AMVs  4.8%
Japanese music  13.1%
Japanse live-action TV shows or movies  4.9%
Fantasy books, TV shows, or movies  6.6%
Online gaming  4.1%
Online discussions (forums, IRC, podcasts)  8.3%
Other non-Japanese animation  5%

Question:  13. Which of the following Japanese video game series do you like the best?
Pokemon  22.8%
Final Fantasy  20.5%
Sonic the Hedgehog  2.2%
Mario  10.3%
Zelda  10.3%
Disgaea  4.9%
Kingdom Hearts  11.2%
Harvest Moon  4%
Games based on anime that I like  3.1%
Otaku games (dating sims, visual novels, gal games, etc)  10.7%

Question:  14. When you’re talking with people who don’t like or are ignorant about anime, how do you act?
Keep quiet so as not to make the fact that you like anime obvious  5.4%
If you’re asked, pretend you don’t like anime  2.5%
If you’re asked, say you like anime but don’t go into detail  40.1%
Passionately proclaim your interest in anime no matter what  12.8%
Try to avoid the topic, but if it comes up, you won’t lie about your interest and will just be honest  39.3%

———-
I’m one of the fewer fans who has a very consistent anime watching schedule.

Question:  15. On average, about how much time do you spend watching anime?
2 or more hours a day  18.9%
2 or more hours every few days  18.1%
2 or more hours every week  8.6%
An hour or less every day  11.9%
An hour or less every few days  5.8%
It varies all the time  36.6%

———-
Watching a variety of series is probably better than just the new stuff – I should try it someday.

Question:  16. The anime you’re currently watching is MOSTLY…
Seasonal shows, as they’re airing in Japan  38%
Recently aired shows that are available online  7.4%
Anime that’s recently available on official English streams or DVD  3.7%
Old series I’m trying to catch up on  6.6%
A mix of series from various time periods  44.2%

———-
Didn’t expect these results. Slice-of-life series have certainly gained popularity in the West over the years.

Question:  17. Out of the following, what would be your preferred genre of anime?
Shonen  11.9%
Shojo  8.5%
Mecha  3.8%
Drama/Romance  6.4%
Drama/Comedy  5.5%
Slice-of-Life/Comedy  24.6%
Sci-fi  10.6%
Fantasy  6.4%
Horror  3.4%
Action/Adventure  8.9%
Drama/Mystery  10.2%

———-
Aya and Jun tie for this one, though Aya won with 20% in ’08 (and sad to see lack of Hayashibara love). With the recent news about Aya, I wonder how her popularity will hold out.

Question:  18. Out of the following popular seiyuu, who is your favorite?
Megumi Hayashibara  7.4%
Maaya Sakamoto  8.3%
Aya Hirano  9.7%
Mamiko Noto  3.2%
Mamoru Miyano  4.6%
Kappei Yamaguchi  0.5%
Akira Ishida  1.4%
Takahiro Sakurai  1.8%
Jun Fukuyama  9.7%
Rie Kugimiya  6.5%
Nana Mizuki  7.8%
Tomokazu Sugita  2.8%
Yui Horie  4.1%
Romi Paku  6%
Tomokazu Seki  1.8%
Miyuki Sawashiro  3.7%
Kana Hanazawa  2.8%
Rie Tanaka  5.5%
Norio Wakamoto  6.9%
Daisuke Ono  3.7%
Shinichiro Miki  1.8%

———-
Didn’t know Asian Kung-Fu Generation was still popular (UVERworld won in ’08).

Question:  19. Out of the following Japanese singers/bands who have performed in anime, who do you like the best?
Megumi Hayashibara  2.3%
L’ Arc-en ‘Ciel  7.7%
FLOW  8.2%
Shoko Nakagawa  2.3%
Aya Hirano  9.5%
May’n  2.3%
Megumi Nakajima  0.5%
UVERworld  4.5%
Asian Kung-Fu Generation  10.5%
Nana Mizuki  6.4%
YUI  7.7%
Angela  1.8%
ALI Project  2.3%
Lia  5%
Mayaa Sakamoto  5.5%
abingdon boys school  5.9%
Hikaru Utada  7.7%
Do As Infinity  1.8%
Steropony  3.2%
KOTOKO  4.1%
MELL  0.9%

———-
Because manga is (relatively) cheap?

Question:  20. When it comes time to spend money on anime, what do you usually buy…
DVDs  16.1%
Figures  7.8%
Posters  7.3%
Manga  18.3%
Art or other anime books  8.3%
Pencil boards  0.9%
Cosplay and accessories  2.5%
Plushies  4.9%
T-shirts or other apparel  4.6%
Trading cards  1.3%
Video or computer games  7.2%
CDs  5.2%
Miscellaneous character goods (keychains, pins, pens, etc)  8.6%
I rarely or never buy anime products  7%

———-
Most people not having my level of obsession is probably a good thing.

Question:  21. How would you rate yourself as an anime fan?
Total anime fan; I eat, sleep, and breathe anime 24/7  14%
I’m a pretty big fan but not totally obssessed  56.4%
I like anime but it’s not my main interest  20.6%
Some anime is okay but I’m not a fan at all  0.4%
There’s only a few anime that I like  2.5%
I’m new to anime so I’m not sure yet  0.8%
I used to like anime more but my interest has been diminishing  5.3%

———-
Can’t believe Haruhi beat FMA this year, especially considering Brotherhood vs Endless Eight. Perhaps the Haruhi movie was enough to squeeze out the win.

Question:  22. And just for fun, out of the following popular series, which do you like the best?
Death Note  4.2%
Bleach  1.7%
Code Geass  7.1%
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya  13.3%
Naruto  5%
Bakemonogatari  4.2%
K-ON!  2.5%
One Piece  4.6%
Evangelion  2.9%
Fullmetal Alchemist  11.7%
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann  0.8%
Lucky Star  1.7%
Azumanga Daioh  1.7%
Toradora!  2.9%
Eden of the East  1.3%
Clannad  6.3%
Elfen Lied  1.3%
Ouran High School Host Club  7.9%
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni  4.2%
Inuyasha  1.3%
Cowboy Bebop  5%
Eureka 7  4.2%
Hetalia  2.1%
Monster  2.5%

———-
These results pleased me ^^

Question:  *BONUS* How often do you read Mainichi Anime Yume?
Whenever there’s a new post  33.3%
Only posts that interest me  24.8%
Once in a while  20.1%
Rarely  21.8%

———-

Once again, I want to thank everyone who participated~! Hope you’ll also take part in the next one…whenever that will be =P

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Jan Suzukawa says:

    I participated this year, as I did last year. I think you should consider adding Paprika and Sword of the Stranger to the best anime film question, and yaoi/shonen-ai to the preferred genre of anime question… it would’ve changed those two answers for me. ;)

  2. Yumeka says:

    @ Jan

    “I participated this year, as I did last year.”

    You mean “two years ago” right ;) I would have done one in 2009 if I wasn’t busy with school and job hunting.

    I’ll add your suggestions to the next survey! =)

  3. Myna says:

    What news about Hirano Aya? o_o

    I still think Evangelion >>> Code Geass but that’s just me. I love both series anyway.
    nooooooooo Yamagucchi Kappei didn’t receive enough love D:
    I wish Nana Mizuki got some more love too.

  4. Yumeka says:

    @ Myna

    For the recent news about Aya, check here and here for starters.

    I feel the same way – I love both Eva and Geass, but Eva a little better.

    Kappei hasn’t had many new, big roles for a while, so that’s probably why he didn’t rank high. Nana got second place, but I thought she may get first. She has done quite a few major roles in recent years.

  5. f0calizer says:

    I’m glad Maaya Sakamoto still has a following! No prizes for guessing whom I voted for in those categories =] . She’s doing fewer high-profile character roles now, but I think she’ll always be someone anime studios turn to when they need a memorable voice for an OP or ED theme song. Especially if Yoko Kanno is composing it!

  6. Yumeka says:

    @ f0calizer

    Yeah, Maaya’s great. I always love all the anime songs she sings, especially with Yoko Kanno. I’m sure she’ll always have a fan following.

  7. Mystlord says:

    No big surprise in the results this year. The only thing is that fansubbing is starting to get more and more unreliable, so we might see a bigger switch to streaming sites soon… We’ll have to see!

  8. Yumeka says:

    @ Mystlord

    I agree, it’ll be interesting to see when streaming becomes more common than torrents. I prefer the latter though so I hope fansubbed torrents don’t become too unreliable.

  9. Canne says:

    I often find myself in minority group when it comes to choosing specific anime series and movies. Thus, several of my choices were not in the list. Maybe next year you can add the space I can freely fill in?

    I speculate that the reason Slice-of-life got most vote was due to the nature of this blog’s readers :)
    You watch 15 series simultaneously!? *stunned*

  10. Yumeka says:

    @ Canne

    The main problem with adding a blank space for participants to fill in is that it makes the statistics very broad when there are so many possible answers. But depending on the nature of the question, maybe I’ll consider it.

    When I did the past few surveys, they were more through my main site rather than my blog. My main site seems to attract more fans of action/fantasy mainstream anime like FMA, Bleach, Naruto, Inuyasha, etc,. while the blog attracts fans of more niche series, like slice-of-life. I think it’s also due to the fact that slice-of-life has become more proliferate both with its growing popularity among Western fans and the kinds of shows that have come out in recent years.

  11. Wingless says:

    Yeah, a blank field would be swell. *pause* I guess that would be hard to factor in though, what with the different spellings and what not. You’d have to probably search through every single entry… *stares off into space* Oh yuck don’t do it. That’s too much!

    I’m glad there’s still some Haruhi love out there. Surprised but glad. Now if they’d only come out with the novels in English faster. Or if I could learn Japanese faster.

  12. Yumeka says:

    @ Wingless

    LOL, you explained my reason for not wanting to add a fill-in option better than I did to Canne above. Thanks XD

    Yes, I’m always glad to see everlasting Haruhi love too~

  13. Zygor says:

    I always stream anime, I used to download from torrents. But now there are a lot of websites that have high quality streaming. And it was DBZ that got me into anime, ever since, I been hooked!

  14. Yumeka says:

    @ Zygor

    My main issue with streaming is that it overworks my (relatively old) computer and there are always instances of freezing up, audio and video getting out of sync, etc., due to lag in the streaming process. It’s probably mostly due to the age of my computer and my Internet connection. Hopefully if I get a better computer and/or Internet I won’t have that problem.

  15. Siphon says:

    To the second question, most of those anime on that list were on Toonami. I miss Toonami soo much (sad face), especially Tenchi Muyo

  16. Yumeka says:

    @ Siphon

    I never got to enjoy Toonami much because I didn’t get cable TV until mid-2005, when anime on Toonami was starting to phase out. But a friend of mine in high school lent me VHS tapes of Tenchi Muyo! episodes she recorded from Toonami, so that’s how I got to see it =)

  17. KyonzumiNagato13 says:

    I was happy that Aya Hirano was voted the most as the most favorite Seiyuu and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as the most favorite. Looks like this months Friday the 13th was a good friday.

  18. Yumeka says:

    @ KyonzumiNagato13

    I agree, it was a good day for me too =) (but mostly for other reasons). Also glad to see the Aya and Haruhi love~

  19. Its not suprising that Dl from torrent is leading by a big margin.
    its simply the best way, quicker and efficent depending on subs, DVD of course would seem the ideal choice if you have the money to spend, plus youll have to wait for the release date.

  20. Yumeka says:

    @ Fabrice

    I agree, streaming can be quick too but quality is usually not as good and then there’s the issue of not being able to watch without a good Internet connection. And yes, buying DVDs would be ideal if you have the funds and the patience.

  21. Wingless says:

    @ Zygor I agree, I always used to torrent, and then I got into streaming… except now… where I live, my only source of internet is one of those wireless hotspots you have to buy. We aren’t authorized to get an actual internet hookup. Security issues. :( Due to my 5GB limit every month (terrible right?), I am being forced now to buy more series than ever before. No more torrenting or even direct downloading, after a certain point. Even streaming!

  22. Yumeka says:

    @ Wingless

    That’s too bad about your bandwidth limit, but at least you seem to have the money to buy anime instead. If I were in your position, I would just have to do without, which would kill me >_<

  23. Shinmaru says:

    Just for fun, I’ll throw out my answers:

    1) Download via torrents (or direct download, in my case)
    2) Sailor Moon
    3) I prefer subs, but I have nothing against good dubs
    4) Only if it’s an anime I really like
    5) I like reading manga sometimes, but I prefer watching anime
    6) Between 10 and 15
    7) Fullmetal Alchemist
    8) Revolutionary Girl Utena
    9) Eureka Seven
    10) Azumanga Daioh
    11) Grave of the Fireflies
    12) Anime blog + video games + cosplay + webcomics + cons + music + movies + fantasy books/shows/movies + online discussions + non-Japanese animation (whew!)
    13) Zelda
    14) Try to avoid the topic, but if it comes up, don’t like and just be honest
    15) 2 or more hours per day (not always, but it averages out around there)
    16) Seasonal shows as they’re airing in Japan (I usually watch a bunch of shows from the current season, and one or two shows from the past)
    17) Mecha
    18) Miyuki Sawashiro (but if Houko Kuwashima were on the list, I would have chosen her)
    19) FLOW
    20) DVDs
    21) I’m a pretty big fan, but not totally obsessed (chose this only because I have other hobbies that occupy my time, too — most notably movies :p)
    22) Monster
    23) Whenever there is a new post. :)

  24. Yumeka says:

    @ Shinmaru

    Thanks for sharing your answers ^^ One of them that stuck out to me is your remark about Houko Kuwashima. I was almost going to put her on the list since I like her too, but I already had so many, and besides Sango from the final Inuyasha series, I don’t think she’s had any major roles for a long time. But maybe I’ll put her on the next one =)

  25. Glo says:

    How the hell did Rie Kugimiya only get 6.5 percent? Ridiculous.

  26. Yumeka says:

    @ Glo

    Yeah, I was expecting her to do a little better myself. I don’t think she’s had many new major roles in a while, so perhaps that’s why.

  27. Yi says:

    Mostly what I expected, but I’m a little surprised by some of the results. The shonen one, I thought Naruto/ Bleach would take it. The motion picture question, I didn’t expect Girl who Leapt Through Time would win. And for the J-band one, that’s a group I’ve never heard of. Really interesting to see the aggregate of opinions on a bunch of questions.

  28. Yumeka says:

    @ Yi

    Yeah, for the shonen one, Naruto would have gotten 2nd place if FMA Brotherhood didn’t just finish airing. And I wasn’t too surprised with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time since I know how well received it was outside Japan.

    I know that Asian-Kung-Fu Generation has done songs in Naruto, Bleach, and FMA. But I was surprised at their popularity too.

    But anyway, glad you found the results interesting =)

  29. MDA says:

    I missed out on doing this year’s (checked too late). But as usual, my choices are always in the lower brackets. But I have come to expect this. I must say though, I’m glad that more people watch animes from various time periods (I switch back and forth from the 60s-80s with animes like Voltron, Astro Boy, and Gatchaman, to the newer stuff like Kuroshitsuji, D.Gray-Man and Shugo Chara!).

    And just to say I had answers… here are mine:

    1) DVDs
    2) None of these were among my firsts – My first was Gatchaman (aka Battle of the Planets)
    3) Either way, I don’t really care
    4) As often as I can
    5) I like manga more than anime (this is somewhat recent for me)
    6) Between 15 and 20
    7) D.Gray-Man
    8) Shugo Chara!
    9) Evangelion (as always)
    10) Ichigo Mashimaro
    11) Howl’s Moving Castle
    12) Fanart, fanfiction, cosplay, anime conventions, video games, figures and other collectibles, Japanese music, live action TV shows & movies (I couldn’t pick just one)
    13) Kingdom Hearts
    14) If asked, say I like it but don’t go into detail
    15) 2 or more hours every few days
    16) A mix of series from various time periods
    17) Shounen
    18) Kappei Yamaguchi (my fave is Takeshi Koyasu)
    19) Nana Mizuki (more of an IOSYS fan)
    20) Manga, figures, DVDs, cosplay
    21) Total anime fan
    22) Cowboy Bebop, Eureka Seven, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Elfen Lied
    BONUS) Once in a while

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