Was anime cool back in middle/high school? Anime Expo 2024 goers reminisce

Welcome to Out & About, Out's new man-on-the-street style interview series where we venture off into the real world to attend some fun events and ask the LGBTQ+ community their thoughts on culture, what's current, and all the other things that affect them IRL!

Anime may be the most popular it has ever been in the United States, but was it always like that? For some cosplayers attending this year's Anime Expo, one of the world's largest and most attended anime-centered conventions, there was a time in the not too distant past where it wasn't as mainstream as it is now.

We asked con goers whether or not it was cool to like anime back when they were in middle and high school, and they had no problem sharing their thoughts on the surging popularity of anime as a whole.

"Hell no," one cosplayer told us when Out asked about whether it was cool to like anime in the past. "It actually got a little cooler in high school, but I went to middle school in the mid- to late-2000s, and at the time, anime was pretty taboo. If you publicly said you liked Naruto or something, you'd be made fun of or whatever shoved in a locker. But definitely now that it's hit the mainstream, you're weirder now if you don't like anime, in my opinion."

Watch Anime Expo goers give Out their thoughts in the video above. And for more information on Anime Expo, and all the other events and programs they offer throughout the year, visit their official website.