When most people in the UK or America talk about "hugely popular anime" they ignore a vast chunk of the market that never gets localised for our consumption.

I was chatting on a podcast about classics and took the chance to point out that the most watched #anime in #Japan is actually Sazae-san, a soap opera that's been running since the 60s. It's a social institution.

Sazae-san has long outlived its creator, becoming such a touchstone of Japanese life that the emotional slump when you realise "the weekend is almost over and it's Monday tomorrow" has been tied to its ending theme and named Sazae-san Syndrome.

Doraemon is another old #anime - not many Brits or Americans have seen it. Yet here it is, doing well in Japanese cinemas, 41 years after its debut as a manga. The film franchise is the highest-grossing in anime and one of the highest worldwide. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-08-12/2020-doraemon-anime-film-opens-at-no.1/.162805

#Anime and #manga we don't know or rate are popular in Japan and worldwide. India, Africa, Asia, Europe, are not identical or inferior to the Anglophone market. The world is hugely diverse, and it doesn't have to agree with us about anything, including its favourite anime.