Anime Survey 2023 Preliminary Results

Preliminary Results of the 2023 Anime Survey

In this document we report preliminary results from the 2023 Anime Survey. A goal of this series of preliminary working papers is to provide the fandom with a brief overview of some of the basic findings. In the interest of keeping this short and interesting, we have gone through the results and found some of the most interesting and relevant findings for anime fans. Many of the findings not reported here will eventually be included in future papers.

We would like to again give special thanks to the participants and moderators on reddit this year. Thank you to everyone who spread the word and shared with friends. Thank you!

Method and Participants

We handed out pencil-paper surveys at AnimeFest (Dallas, TX, July 28-31; n = 274) and emailed our volunteer list and solicited participants from various anime-related websites from July 31 to September 15, 2023. After removing participants that did not complete a majority of questions, the present data includes 2,693 anime fans (73% men, Mage = 26.16, SD = 7.80). Similar to prior years, the majority of respondents were from the United States (59.2%). However, we received responses from 82 different countries including Canada (5.9%), the UK (3.7%), Germany (3.6%), Australia (1.9%), Poland (1.5%), Brazil (1.4%), Italy (1.4%), India (1.2%), Philippines (1.1%), France (1.1%), and the Netherlands (1.0%).

1. What are fans’ gender and sexual orientation?

Anime fans were asked to self-identify with any of the below categories. The data reveal that men are significantly more represented in our surveys than are women. The results are largely similar to last year.

We also asked about sexual orientation. Participants were asked to pick the option that best describes them. We added fictosexual and digisexual this year. The numbers reveal, as in previous years, that the majority of the fandom identifies as straight. However, there were fewer straight fans this year compared to prior years.

2. What other activities and interests do fans have?

Fans were asked to indicate which of the following interests applied to them (they were allowed to choose as many options as they wanted). We also added some new categories this year, based on recommendations from fans in our previous surveys (e.g., pro wrestling fan). 

3. How frequently do fans participate in fan-related activities?

We asked fans to indicate how frequently they participated in different activities (1 = never, 7 = often). Being fans of anime, watching official anime related media was the most frequent activity. This was followed by consuming fan-made media and talking with other fans. The results are similar to prior years. 

4. How religious are anime fans?

Fans rated how religious they are on a 7-point scale (from 1 = not religious to 7 = very religious). Additionally, we compared this year’s data with the 2014 study. In general, anime fans are not very religious. There appears to be a slight shift toward less religiosity over the past nine years. This is consistent with a general trend of younger people being less religious (at least in the US and UK).

5. How many friends do anime fans have?

We asked fans to list the number of friends that they have (who they see or speak to at least once a week). We also asked how many of those friends are also anime fans. These same questions were asked in the 2014 study. The average number of friends that fans have decreased over the past nine years. However, the decrease in number of anime friends only decreased slightly. The percentage of one’s friend network that are also anime fans increased from 45.5% in 2014 to 57% in 2023.

6. Do fans put anime related stickers on their vehicle?

We asked fans to indicate whether they have anime stickers on their vehicle (e.g., car, bike). As shown below, the majority of fans do not have stickers on their vehicle. Additionally, a sizable portion of fans do not have a vehicle.

7. Are anime fans dog or cat people?

Based on a suggestion from a fan we adopted an item from Gosling et al. (2010) about whether they are a dog person, a cat person, both, or neither. Gosling et al. conducted a large international internet study of animal preference and personality. Their results showed that cat people (vs. dog people) were higher on neuroticism and openness to new experiences, and lower on conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion. When comparing anime fans to Gosling et al.’s results we see anime fans like both and neither at roughly similar levels. However, anime fans are much more likely to be a cat person, and less likely to be a dog person, compared to participants in Gosling et al. (2010). Interestingly, the results are consistent with other findings showing that anime fans are less extraverted, agreeable, and conscientious than fantasy sport fans (Reysen et al., 2021 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XKMZa88C74ONyHpTN09slqZ6eUGJi0gB/view).

8. Does anime promote the source material?

Given that between 70-80% of anime fans are also manga fans, we wondered if anime motivates fans to seek out the source material (e.g., manga). We asked fans to rate whether they watch the anime before reading the source material and whether the anime is the motivator for reading the source material (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). As shown below, fans largely agreed that anime motivates them to read the source material.

I often watch an anime BEFORE reading the source material.

I often read the source material of the shows I enjoy.

9. Does anime have accurate portrayals?

Last year we asked whether anime fans believe that anime accurately portrays women (participants indicated the portrays were unrealistic). A fan, rightly, pointed out that we should have also asked about men. This year we asked fans to rate the accuracy of portrayals for a variety of things on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The results showed agreement that Japanese culture and friendships were portrayed accurately. People from Japan was rated at the midpoint, and all other aspects were rated below the midpoint. Men were perceived to be portrayed more accurately than women in anime.

Overall, anime has accurate portrayals of…

10. Are fans emotionally and sexually attracted to their waifu/husbando?

In the 2015 survey we examined sex differences in connection to having a waifu/husbando. The results showed that 29.3% of men and 26.9% of women indicated having a waifu/husbando. Women (vs. men) showed a stronger emotional connection, while they did not differ in sexual attraction (Reysen et al., 2020 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SDW2KXPFMxqVJLIhPFDeY7ZtelXgKWub/view). This year we found a sizable increase in the percentage of people with a waifu/husbando with 44.4% of men and 40.5% of women with a waifu/husbando. Women again showed a stronger emotional connection than men. This time, men showed a slightly higher degree of sexual attraction compared to women.

I feel an emotional connection with my waifu/husbando.

I feel a sexual attraction to my waifu/husbando.

11. What are the characteristics driving waifu/husbando choice?

We asked those with a waifu/husbando to rate the extent that physical appearance, personality, role in the anime/manga, and similarity to self was the main reason for choosing their waifu/husbando (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Personality, followed by role and physical appearance, were the main reasons for choosing a particular waifu/husbando. Similarity to the self was below the midpoint of the measure.

12. Do anime fans want to engage in sexual activities with a robot?

We included a measure of sexual attraction to robots from prior research (Leshner, 2021) (e.g., “I have previously found myself experiencing sexual attraction toward robots” 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Leshner administered the measure to 212 undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. He found the mean score (M = 3.54) was below the midpoint of the scale, but that men scored higher than women. Anime fans, overall, scored lower than the undergraduate students (M = 3.03), with men scoring higher than women.

13. Do fans who watch sports anime play sports more often?

We asked fans to rate how frequently they exercised this past year and how often they played sports (1 = never to 5 = almost everyday). Additionally, we asked fans to rate how frequently they watch sports anime (“I often watch sports anime (e.g., Haikyu!!, Kuroko no Basket)”). As shown below, fans do exercise with relative frequency, but do not play sports often. Watching sports anime showed a small correlation with playing sports (r = .08, p < .001), but a stronger correlation with frequency of exercising (r = .18, p < .001).

How often have you exercised this past year?

How often have you played sports this past year?

14. How do anime fans feel about AI?

With the recent growth in acknowledgement and use of AI programs we asked fans to rate four items regarding AI (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). As shown below, fans were relatively neutral regarding their view of AI in general, right around the midpoint of the measure. Fans indicated that they would not desire watching anime created by AI. Furthermore, they indicated that they felt that AI would hurt artists and harm the anime industry.

15. How do fans feel about censorship in anime?

Fans were asked to rate two items regarding anime being censored. As shown below, fans generally disapprove of censorship (especially for media that was purchased).

I dislike when anime is censored (e.g., covered, scene cut).

Anime DVDs should NOT be censored.

16. Do fans like live-action adaptations?

Fans rated a single item (“I like live-action adaptations of anime”) on a 7-point scale. As shown below, the majority of anime fans do not like live-action adaptations. We also examined responses before and after the release of the One Piece live-action. There was no difference.

17. How do fans feel about people who have a waifu/husbando?

Fans rated a single item (“I have a favorable view of people with waifus/husbandos”). In general, people tend to favor their ingroups. In other words, people with a waifu/husbando will likely report having a favorable view of others who share this aspect in common with themselves. Therefore, we split responses on this item by separating people who do and do not have a waifu/husbando. The results showed that a large portion of fans were neutral on their attitudes toward people with a waifu/husbando. However, there was a trend of people with a waifu/husbando showing a favorable view of others who also have a waifu/husbando. On the other hand, fans who do not have a waifu/husbando showed a trend toward disliking people who have a waifu/husbando.

18. How do fans rate their satisfaction with life this year?

Many years we measure fans’ satisfaction with life with a single item (“In general, I am satisfied with my life”) rated on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Last year we noticed a dip in the ratings and wondered if that was simply a strange year and would go back up, or if it remained at the same level. The results showed a slight increase in ratings compared to last year.