The Rise of Anime is Creating a New Generation of Experiences Posted Nov 30, 2021

Anime has been around, as far as we know, since the early 20th century. The first verifiable movies were shown in 1907 and, since then, it’s become a niche culture around the world. Although it’s hard to define exactly how popular anime is, we know that annual revenue in Japan alone is upwards of $19 billion. We also know that it’s a niche on the up. With platforms such as Netflix adding more anime content over the last five years, new people are discovering the genre’s wonders.
Perhaps more significantly, the recent uptick in interest is opening the doors to new ideas and innovations. Looking beyond the basics, anime characters and themes are starting to appear outside of movies, shows, and comic books. A great example of this is casino gaming. To understand why anime casino games are becoming popular, you have to first understand the industry as a whole.
Casino Developers Are Betting on Anime
By taking a look at what games payout real money, you can see that all of them have a theme. Regardless of whether they have a payout rate of 95% or jackpots topping $1 million, all of these casino games have a theme. For example, Jack Hammer 2 is inspired by comic characters such as Dick Tracy. Anime slots, such as Magical Stacks, offer a similar experience in the sense they take popular trends from the genre and put them into a casino setting. Of course, anyone with a deep understanding of anime will know that its link to gambling is far from superficial.

Betting is a recurring theme in a variety of anime sagas, including The Legends of Gambler: Tetsuya. The talented gambler, Tetsuya, lives in a post-World War II culture where he uses the skills gleaned from games such as mahjong to survive real-life confrontations. With longstanding ties between anime and gambling, it’s easy to see why certain iconography is popping up in the online casino industry. Moreover, it suggests that this subgenre may continue to evolve as anime becomes more of a mainstream interest.
Virtual Reality Can Make You an Anime Character
We can say the same thing when it comes to virtual reality (VR). Another part of the gaming industry that’s seen value in anime, VR is now making stories more immersive than ever. Take, for example, Tales of Wedding Rings VR by Square Enix. Published on Steam in 2018, this manga adventure follows the story of Satou as he embarks on an adventure with Hime. Unlike anime of the past where, players aren’t passive observers. Instead, they’re active participants in the story. Just as it is in the casino industry, the rise of anime in the mainstream will only lead to the creation of more VR products.
Indeed, as technology improves and people discover the exciting stories in anime, there’s no telling how many games we could see in the future. The point here is that anime doesn’t start and end with movies, shows, and comics. The genre is gaining momentum and that’s creating new experiences. Casino games and VR are the latest innovations, but more could be on the way if anime’s popularity continues to increase. That’s exciting prospect and something every fan should be looking forward to.