Anime has only been growing bigger in recent years, with North America seeing a serious increase when it comes to interest in the medium. In 2023, there were quite a few contenders for the most popular franchises that were airing episodes on the small screen, old and new. In a newly revealed study, the most searched anime series in Japan were revealed, showing which animated television shows were able to rise to the top in the ever-expanding roster of anime franchises.
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2023 has been a massive year for anime overall, with some of the biggest news coming from Studio MAPPA. The animation house brought Attack on Titan to a close with its final episode and is currently working on the shocking second season of Jujutsu Kaisen, currently following Yuji and his friends throughout the Shibuya Incident Arc. MAPPA isn’t the only anime studio that has been releasing some heavy hitters in the animation department, as Ufotable returned for the third season of Demon Slayer, A-1 Pictures introduced viewers to Mashle: Magic & Muscles, and Wit and CloverWorks once again pointed a camera at the Forger Family in Spy x Family. Remarkably, none of the anime series mentioned here made the cut when it came to the top searched anime franchises in Japan for this year.
Top Searched Anime for Japan 2023
The dark horse candidate, Oshi no Ko, took the top spot, as Yahoo announced that the dark idol anime was the most searched series in Japan. Following the top searched series was Blue Lock, the soccer tale that became the highest-selling manga series of this year thanks to its energetic story featuring its characters putting everything on the line to be the best on the field. Finally, newcomer Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End rounded out the top three spots as the heart-warming story about life in a magical world has covered serious ground in a short amount of time.
While Blue Lock and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End are currently available to stream on Crunchyroll, Oshi no Ko is a HIDIVE exclusive. All three anime franchises have become major names in the anime world around the globe, securing bright futures for the stories revolving around soccer players, idols, and sorcerers.
What was your favorite anime series of 2023? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the top three winning series of 2023.
