Mainstream Anime don't have to justify their popularity!

Ach ja, Netflix’s Squid Game took the world by storm and once again do I have to read the very same sentiment every time anything gets popular: “X doesn’t deserve the Hype” or “Y is overrated” and the worst thing of it all is that I so absolutely get it.

There is this weird notion of “If something is popular, it has to be good”, or at least be able to justify its own popularity. This idea actually comes from a pretty simple line of thinking: “Why else should something be popular, if not due to its quality?”
I understand there seems to be something just wrong about the idea of bad things being popular, especially if something actually good could take its place, but it unfortunately also ignores all the different ways audiences engage with media, the most important one being linking quality to an anime itself.

Personally, I genuinely do not get why your name. became such a global sensation. It’s not even that I dislike the movie or anything, just a good amount of wondering why it is so. But as a matter of fact, my, or any, opinion matters very little about it. your name. is popular, because many people like it and those people like it for their own reasons. Justifying popularity seems like a weird task, when confronted by the reality that the anime became popular (mostly) organically and as such doesn’t need a reason beyond existing. No one pressured anyone to like your name..

Honestly, I have to question the sanity of someone calling anything mainstream “overrated”. So, you want to tell me all those people are wrong in enjoying something, purely on the basis of you thinking otherwise? Again, there is no objective measurement for quality. Humanity has no need to judge its media by artificial criteria, so questioning the popularity beyond a well-intended Why is insane.

I understand most people probably don’t mean it in such a harsh way, but what else do they mean? When someone is bashing Sword Art Online while referring to its disproportionate popularity, don’t they also unintentionally criticize every single positive opinion in an indirect way? What is the purpose of putting your opinion into perspective to something as meaningless as popularity? Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood shouldn’t get better or worse, depending on how many people have watched it.

The same can be said about describing something as underrated, though calling something underrated seems way more well-intended and more like a “I wish more people would give it a chance” than “People should watch it!”, while calling something overrated makes you look angry and spiteful about other peoples taste.

While there are other reasons anime can get more popular, I don’t think they matter that much, as it doesn’t change the actual way people engage with it. Of course a globally available and heavily promoted Shounen Jump adaptation will garner more attention than your small scale original series by a niche director, but beyond that? Popularity is and never will be a a fair playing field, but arguing against the results will achieve nothing.

This whole point is obviously not limited to just anime, but have I seldom seen this discussion occur in movie or game spaces (which I don’t really take part in). Even if such criticism is well-intended, it doesn’t change the fact that mainstream anime don’t have to justify their popularity.