By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

Hello, Everyone!

We’re a little over half-way through 2023 now, and I believe now is an opportune time to reflect on some of the things we may have missed in 2022. While we at TAV haven’t typically done this in the past, I think it’s important to take a moment to look back and review some of the significant moments in anime and manga from the previous year. As a semi-newsie blog, we aim to keep you informed, and while we’re definitely not the kind of resource that places like CBR, ANN, or AniNews tend to be for anime and manga fans, we hope to bring you other relevant information as fellow fans in this space. As such, I’ve curated a selection of articles that I believe will provide a comprehensive summary of the events that transpired in 2022.

I hope these articles and videos will provide you with a better understanding of the industry and its evolution over the past year.

As always, we appreciate your readership and welcome your feedback on our content. Thank you for supporting our blog, and we look forward to continuing to bringing you more news and analysis on all things anime and manga in the future! With that said, please enjoy:

Content:

According to data pulled from MyAnimeList, the top three most popular genres of released works in 2022 were: School (18.18%), Isekai (12.73%), and Music (8.48%). In a short video by Danny Phandom titled “2022 ANIME STATISTICS,” the 165 anime that premiered in 2022 are analyzed to show what genres have seen a rise or fall among fans.

Shonen Jump Continues To Decline – For years now, people have been mentioning Shonen Jump’s decline from popularity and circulation. As of 2022, this continues to be the case. Even with the publication of a new book, and continued support by fans and the media, it is hard to deny the signs of Shonen Jump’s continued fall. Shonen Jump has not been able to pick up many new hits in recent years, often falling back on older works with partial revivals or latching onto singular hits for continued periods of time. As of 2023, the publisher does seem to be taking steps to revitalize the company and brand, but we can only wait to see if these efforts will work.

The Streaming Wars – The Streaming Wars rage on between big licensers like Netflix and Crunchyroll–really any streaming platform. In the year 2022, a new article was coming out nearly every month (or week) with mentions of how anime was at the forefront of the battle between platforms.

Classic Reboots – In 2022, several classic anime and manga series received new adaptations, including Urusei Yatsura and Tokyo Mew Mew New. This trend is definitely continuing in 2023, as Trigun Stampede has already been released and Rurouni Kenshin is being released now.

Industry News:

“Anime continued its dominance in 2022” by Roland Kelts from the Japan Times. – This article addresses the record-breaking sales that anime has had in the last few years with examples of the biggest hits seen internationally.

“The Manga Industry Growth in 2022: Sales Skyrocketing” by Julienne from CCC International (a prominent translation agency that works with licensed distributors like Manta and Webtoons). – This short review by CCCI talks about the massive increase of manga sales internationally and what these numbers may mean for the industry in the future. A good, short read for those interested in this side of publishing.

Online Events:

MAL Expo – MyAnimeLIst had their first Expo online this last year. I just posted about the event this last April, but we missed discussing it closer to the event. It was a fun experience and worth looking at again if MAL continues to engage audiences with such content.

Education / Academics:

“2022 in Review in Anime and Manga Studies” from the Anime and Manga Studies website. – This commentary post reflects on the academic achievements of those working in Anime and Manga studies. It is a short but interesting read that previews new books, reflects on publications/awards, and informs readers about potential things to come.

Releases:

MyAnimeList’s Winter 2022 | Spring 2022 | Summer 2022 | Fall 2022 – Titles listed for 2022 seasonal releases.

IMDb’s Animated Features of 2022 | Cartoons of 2022 – Titles listed for releases in 2022.

Wikipedia’s list of animated featured films in 2022 | Wikipedia’s List of Animated Netflix Films – Titles listed for releases in 2022.

AniTubers:

Shaybs‘ 2022 AniTube Digest Playlist – A collection of reviews of AniTubers and their content in 2022. I’m a new subscriber to this channel, but I think Shaybs does a good job of breaking down the content of each creator and provides clear reasoning as to why they felt a particular way when judging the content. The videos are on the long side, but have a broad overview of semi-large creators in this digital space.

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Copyedited by: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee