Key insights
- Newer anime like Mayonaka Punch and VTuber Legend explore these subcultures and popularity online.
- Animes like Dennō Coil and Serial Experiments Lain deal with the merging of cyberspace and reality.
- VTuber Legend cleverly explores VTuber culture and resonates with fans who enjoy such content.
The digital age is now in its third decade, and a lot has happened since the advent of the Internet. Now that the Internet has become the global phenomenon it is, and technology has improved significantly since the early days of the Internet, there are a number of anime and manga titles (not to mention films) that have attempted to deal with the implications our newfound interconnectedness and its overall impact on society, with some new anime even making its way into emerging and established forms of internet culture and various subcultures.
With summer 2024 Mayonaka punch And VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream have both explored two interconnected but distinct forms of internet culture that are now part of a modern digital experience: streaming, both in the form of YouTubers and their variant, the VTuber. So what are the best anime about the internet and internet subcultures?
What are “Internet subcultures”?
At this time the Internet is omnipresent
The Internet's ability to connect people around the world and make much more information accessible to the average person than ever before has led to its use for the purpose of building and maintaining relationships in the digital realm, which in turn has various implications can have on offline relationships. We're now at a point where “logging out” is becoming less and less common, and with the increasing integration of offline and online, it only makes sense that those who use the Internet frequently have developed a way of interacting with each other other people and with the world is characterized by this level of online activity. In this way, “netizens” have developed a culture that is inherently digital and established itself in online spaces.
While offline subcultures may include aspects such as hip-hop, goth or hipster, the Internet has given rise to various digital iterations of the same things, which vary significantly in their offline expression, particularly through the emergence of the “Internet persona”, celebrity or Influencers. Summer 2024 Mayonaka punch And VTuber legendand spring 2024 The many sides of voiceover radio are all recent anime that are inspired in some way by internet popular culture, but there are also other anime that are inspired by the advent of the internet and its impact overall, such as the cult classic Serial experiments lie (1998). YouTubers (and streamers in general), influencers and VTubers are among the group of people who gain fame through their online exploits Mayonaka punch And VTuber legend are some of the few anime titles that deal with the new peculiarities of the digital age, although not in a psychological way Series experiments are available or a certain anime title from 2007.
Let's start with something older…
The series that introduces a fully augmented reality
This is definitely an article about subcultures that have emerged online, but we can't have this conversation without talking about the psychological, speculative masterpiece that it was Serial experiments laid out and its predominant influence nearly 30 years since its broadcast. With a perspective firmly rooted in the 1990s Serial experiments laid out is a series that spawned many interesting titles in the 2000s, such as Madhouse's 2007 sci-fi title, Dennō coila series that is as close as possible to the world it presents. It takes place in 2026, eleven years after the breakthrough of the “Dennō Megane” (cyber glasses), a device that allows the wearer to perceive and interact with an augmented reality. Juxtaposing traditional Japanese landscapes, folktales and nature with a superimposed futuristic digital environment, the series follows children as they play in a half-real, half-digital city and slowly uncover its many secrets.
The series is another cult classic, a somewhat speculative fiction about the changes that increasing digital advances and the merging of cyberspace and reality could bring; Things that had already begun by the time the show aired. With a ton of internet, programming and tech jargon thrown at you from the jump, and the way they overlap the digital world and the real world in incredibly creative ways, Dennō coil can be considered one of the most significant anime of its kind and is the only anime title for the niche of people who have experienced the early Internet, have knowledge of programming jargon and l33t language, and have a general interest in technology, um to be able to enjoy the extremely imaginative depiction of a world that is no longer lived outside but also in cyberspace. This premise differs from that of Reki Kawahara's prequel Sword art online Franchise, Accel Worldto what extent it drives the influence of the digital on the material world.
An anime about vampire YouTubers
Call of the night Meets streaming
Summer 2024 Mayonaka Punch (Midnight Punch) is an original anime from PA Works and created by Dōga Tōkō Shōjo (Video Submission Girls). It's about Masaki Sonoue, a “NewTuber” who was kicked out of her group after she hit one of her co-workers following a disagreement. Her online reputation has been tarnished and she is receiving a barrage of hate messages. In a desperate attempt to rebuild her online rep, she tries to make a few videos herself, but they fail. While attempting to record a video in an abandoned hospital, Masaki meets Live, the leader of a group of vampires, and makes a deal: if they can gain 1 million subscribers on NewTube, Live can feed on Masaki's blood. The series combines character writing with a clear insider's perspective on what it can be like to run a hugely popular social media account or become a famous streamer. The concept of putting supernatural beings on camera isn't new, but the current focus online is on streaming and video content
The series is directed by Shū Honma, with scripts by Hideaki Shirasaka, original character designs by Tsukasa Kotobuki, and character designs by Ryōta Arima. The cast includes Fairouz Ai (Jolyne Kūjō, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean) as Live, Ikumi Hasegawa (Evil, Freezing: Beyond Journey's End) as Masaki, Hina Yomiya (Anna Yamada, The dangers in my heart) as Fū, Hitomi Ueda (Aki Hiyami, World trigger) as Tokage and Yuina Itō as Ichiko.
VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream
Uniquely hilarious and extremely close to the target group
VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream acts exactly as the title makes it sound, but each episode is a hilarious and charming exploration of the main character Awayuki Kokorone (voiced by Sakura Ayane and Hayden Daviau, Twitch: SyllaAria), a third-generation VTuber from Live-On She Fought to keep up with their successful contemporaries. One night she forgets to turn off her live stream at the end of her show, revealing her drunken, unrefined nature and going viral overnight.
The great thing about VTuber Legend is the clear love for VTubers and this particular type of content that is becoming increasingly popular in the streaming age. Any fan of VTubers should check this out and enjoy an entertaining, light, but knowledgeable portrayal of one of their most treasured internet subcultures. In fact, VTuber Legend might be the series that best suits the interest it represents and the fans it wants to resonate with.
