A new series of infographic maps circumnavigate the world of 90s anime, linking dozens of countries to their most-searched titles on Google.
According to the research, Filipino anime fans can’t stop Googling Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and Ecuadorians—apparently the most avid anime searchers—prolifically research Ranma. Russia likes cyberpunk nuclear western Trigun, and for Japan, it’s a tie between Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Perhaps the most surprising tidbit is that the United States isn’t as into trendy titles like Dragon Ball Z or Cowboy Bebop as it is the Meiji-era samurai romance series, Rurouni Kenshin.
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For mobile users, here’s the key a bit bigger:
These numbers come from analysis by CableTV.com, done with Google Trends data from dozens of countries, in order to see which shows and films are searched the most. They also crunched the anime numbers in each US state, where it turns out the Midwest also loves Trigun, the South loves Dragon Ball Z (unsurprising once you realize how often it’s referenced in southern rap), and New York and California seem to have pushed Rurouni Kenshin into its first place position. Vermonters are the lone state plugging away for Hayao Miyazaki’s masterful Princess Mononoke.
Before anyone goes judging friends for their state’s or country’s taste in anime, note that some researchers are skeptical of this type of analysis. A Yale School of Medicine team wrote, “there is limited knowledge about its potential uses and limitations,” with regard to studying health concerns through Google Trends, but their study was inconclusive due to lack of information about the methodology. Since there’s no Yale School of Anime, the jury’s still out on how scientific these findings are, but you can decide what to take from the analysis by checking out your state in the map below.
Read a full analysis of the maps here.
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