Anime has come a long way in popularity over the years. What was once a niche hobby enjoyed exclusively by antisocial weirdos, is now enjoyed by a mainstream populace of antisocial weirdos the whole world over. And thanks to the advent of things like Toonami, DVD boxsets, and streaming services, anime has had its fair share of success in America especially. Today we’ll take a look at what we’ve determined are the most popular anime in each state of the US.
Alabama: Fruits Basket
For whatever reason, Alabama just really loves Fruits Basket, an anime that is rife with plotlines that involve romancing one’s own cousin.
Alaska: Vinland Saga
The stories of vikings traveling the world and enduring harsh climates is very relatable to Alaskans, who suffer through brutal weather conditions just to get to their local Wal-Mart.
Arizona: Chainsaw Man
The sun tends to fry people’s brains in Arizona, so a lot of people can probably relate to Chainsaw Man’s protagonist Denji, who may or may not have a few screws loose. “He’s just like me FR,” they say.
Arkansas: Cardcaptor Sakura
The home state of Bill Clinton just loves the story of Sakura Kinomoto, a schoolgirl who has to retrieve a set of magical cards. Matter of fact, a lot of series by manga artist group Clamp are fairly popular there.
California: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than movies about making movies. So naturally, California loves the closest thing to that in anime: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, which is an anime about making an anime. Meta!
Colorado: Gintama
I’ve never been to Colorado and I’ve never seen Gintama, but people sure do seem to love both of them a lot. They probably toke up and enjoy the comedic antics of Gintoki Sakata and his friends, I imagine.
Connecticut: Yu Yu Hakusho
Sandwiched in between New York and Massachusetts, this east coast state with a chip on its shoulder absolutely loves Yu Yu Hakusho. They probably appreciate and respect Yusuke Urameshi’s school punk, don’t-take-shit attitude.
Delaware: Slam Dunk
When people think ‘anime’, they probably don’t think of sports immediately. There are a lot of great sports anime out there though, a fact that clearly hasn’t gone over Delawarians’(?) heads and their love for Slam Dunk.
Florida: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
I mean, what’s more “bizarre” than Florida, am I right? This generation-spanning series is incredibly popular in Florida, probably thanks in large part to the fact that Part 6: Stone Ocean takes place there. Not a lot of other anime would be willing to use Florida as a major story setting, I imagine.
Georgia: Beastars
Georgia absolutely eats up Beastars, a series about anthropomorphic animals that go to high school together. Maybe there’s a lot of furries in Georgia? I don’t know. Let us know in the comments if you’re a furry who lives in Georgia.
Hawaii: Dorohedoro
Hawaii is always kinda doing their own thing, since, you know, they can’t hang out with all of us continental states over here. Dorohedoro is an anime that isn’t concerned with what everyone else is doing either, free to be as weird and wild as it wants to be.
Idaho: One-Punch Man
The farmers of Idaho pretty much idolize Saitama’s strength to defeat anyone in a single punch, and maybe they like that his bald head looks like a potato or something. I don’t know. What else is Idaho famous for besides potatoes, I got nothing.
Illinois: Naruto
The story of a down-on-his-luck ninja who rose to prominence despite his limitations is relatable to many people from Illinois, including the former hokage of Chicago herself: Lori Lightfoot!
Indiana: Berserk
Berserk is a story of enduring struggle, hardships, and intense misery, which are themes that people who are forced to live in Indiana might be able to relate to just a little bit.
Iowa: Mob Psycho 100
What’s wrong with being ordinary? Is everyone as special as they think they are? Mob Psycho 100’s stories and themes resonate greatly with the citizens of Iowa, who are completely okay with just being another “fly-over state”.
Kansas: Samurai Champloo
The Sunflower State loves the plot to Samurai Champloo, which sees the characters set out on a journey to find the Sunflower Samurai. There are more than enough sunflower fields present in the show for them to pretend like the characters are in Kansas instead of 17th century Japan.
Kentucky: Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Kentucky takes their anime pretty seriously apparently, hailing this classic series as an absolute pinnacle of the medium. If you place anything else higher up on your MyAnimeList profile, they’ll kick you out of the state so fast your head will spin.
Louisiana: Food Wars
Louisiana is known for their exquisite cuisine and southern home cooking, so it’s no surprise that Food Wars is the most popular there. Honestly I don’t even know if they’ve seen it or if they just saw the word “Food” and got hungry.
Maine: Death Note
Thanks to Stephen King, there’s nothing that the residents of Maine love more than a good old fashioned spooky story. And what’s spookier than a suspenseful thriller about a kid who gets a notebook with the power to kill anyone? …Now I’m suddenly starting to see why they tried to ban this manga in school libraries.
