You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn’t agree that the world of anime has exploded over the past few years, with series such as Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, One Piece, and many others leading the charge. With 2021 recently coming to an end, a new chart shows off which anime series were the most streamed in Japan and some of the entries might be downright surprising to fans in North America.
The Top 10 List of Streamed Anime series in Japan, as calculated by GEM Partners based on the number of hours they were viewed by residents, are listed as follows:
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10.) Kingdom
9.) One Piece
8.) Evangelion
7.) My Hero Academia
6.) That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime
5.) Case Closed
4.) Attack On Titan
3.) Tokyo Revengers
2.) Jujutsu Kaisen
1.) Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
What you might find especially surprising is that these aren’t just the top ten most-streamed anime series in Japan, they are also the top ten television shows streamed period, with live-action series such as Solitary Gourment, The Walking Dead, and Squid Game ranking high but being unable to crack the top ten. Needless to say, it just goes to show how popular the medium of anime has become in Japan when it is able to overtake the top streaming spots for 2021.
It’s no surprise to see that Demon Slayer was able to take the top spot once again, but what is surprising is how the series created by mangaka Koyoharu Gotouge was able to do so so soon following the manga’s premiere in 2016. With the story of the Mugen Train being told in the television series and the Shonen’s first movie, the tale of Tanjiro has become a worldwide phenomenon, even though the manga has already come to an end. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what series, if any, are able to dethrone the franchise of Demon Slayer at this point.
What do you think of this top ten list out of Japan? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of streaming.
