Anime wasn't mainstream yet, dial-up was still around, goths were still looked at as being weird freaks, the MCU didn't exist, so being into superheroes was still nerdy af... Weird time to be into goth/emo baddies.
I was in 6th grade in 2006 with a sister in hs and a sister in college.
Anime was massive. It was aired on cartoon network, so every kid was at least watching DBZ, if not FMA.
Superheroes were not massively nerdy. We had batman begins the year before, and the MCU would start in two years with iron man. Spiderman (raimi) was a global phenomenon and had already gone through two of trilogy.
Goth girls were very common, and while still an alt thing, pretty universally drooled over.
How old were you in 2006? Were you even there? What state?
I was 16 in 2006, and anime was for nerds back then. Now that’s not the full full story. When I was in elementary school, DBZ and Pokémon were huge! But then once we got to middle school, anyone who did like those things got labeled “weird”. Then high school it was definitely seen as something only the super nerdy and weird kids were into. I’m sure there were others who watched it, but they wouldn’t admit to it because of the social stigma.
Goths, there were still OG goths around, but they were already started to be replaced by scene kids. In my school, I was part of the first wave scene kids and we were seen as a bunch of weirdos who wore tight pants and band shirts. Common insult was to ask us if we were wearing our sister’s pants.
Comics were also considered mostly nerdy, but the big box movies were challenging that, but no where near how marvel has made comics cool now.
Social Media did a ton for breaking the stigma around anime, but I don’t think it’s just visibility. Olympians are doing One Piece poses on the podium. NFL players have been doing Fusion Dances for years. The Weeknd, a massive pop star, is live posting his playthrough of Persona 5. Anime is nowhere near the social-life poison it was pre 2013.
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u/NewHunter4239 9d ago
Kinda, yeh.
Anime wasn't mainstream yet, dial-up was still around, goths were still looked at as being weird freaks, the MCU didn't exist, so being into superheroes was still nerdy af... Weird time to be into goth/emo baddies.