AACC students said in March they enjoy watching anime because it offers a perspective different from most American cartoons.

In an informal Campus Current poll on campus, 30 out of 50 students said they watch anime—Japanese cartoons—for entertainment.

“I would say that a lot of the Japanese cartoons are probably better quality on average than, or maybe a different quality than a lot of the American things,” Madeleine Woolley, a second-year computer science student, said. “And, of course, it’s a different culture. Different stories get told.”

These foreign shows have grown in popularity with college students. In a national poll of 4,000 Americans by Polygon, 42% of Gen Z participants said they watch anime weekly.
“I watch anime because I’m really into, like, gaming, nerdy-ish subcultures,” Liz Fall, a second-year theater student, said. “I’m also [a] really big cosplayer, so you can’t really cosplay unless you have source material [and] a lot of the source material comes from anime.”

Cosplay, a mixture of the words costume and play, is a form of dressing up to depict specific characters.

“I just think it’s fun,” Essie Murphy, a first-year transfer studies student, said. “I like watching it. I think it’s just entertaining.”

Common favorite anime to watch among students include “One Piece,” “Sword Art Online,” “Demon Slayer” and “Bleach.”

However, not all students in the poll said they watch anime.

“I just don’t have a lot of time to watch any shows in general,” Archer Floyd, a first-year psychology student, said.