Is anime truly popular worldwide?

I'm feeling basic today, so I'll go ahead and ask it. Is anime truly popular worldwide? <br><br>I know that's a very general question. However, when it comes to its mainstream popularity, I feel many of us have different perspectives on this. I know that "worldwide" includes over 7 billion people, so it's hard to generalize. However, there are some trends and observations, which might be of interest to you. <br><br>I'm from Eastern Europe, and even though I spend most of my time on anime-related platforms, such as Reddit, these days I can't help but feel anime's popularity is decreasing globally. Or at least not growing. I can't help but feel that way, because I have been seeing many signs, which are pointing to decreased mainstream popularity. <br><br>The first one is the global box office performance of Demon Slayer 3. I don't think anyone needs a special introduction to Demon Slayer. It's an extremely popular series, with a massive global following. So, many of you might have expected Demon Slayer 3 to break the box office again. After all, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was extremely successful and broke many box office records. <br><br>However, it seems Demon Slayer 3 didn't break any box office records, and the global box office numbers are almost 40% lower compared to Mugen Train. Don't get me wrong, when it comes to the global box office performance, Demon Slayer 3 is doing amazing. It has already grossed over $260 million at the global box office and might reach $300 million in the end. <br><br>260-300 million is amazing, but it's not as much as many of us expected. And that's why I believe Demon Slayer 3 is a very good example of anime's current mainstream popularity. I believe that the global box office performance of Demon Slayer 3 is a reflection of anime's decreased mainstream popularity. <br><br>I believe box office numbers are a very good indicator of anime's mainstream popularity, because it's not related to streaming. Box office numbers are a reflection of people's interest in a particular product, and in this case, anime. <br><br>The second reason is Netflix anime viewership. I think many of you might have noticed that Netflix anime viewership has been declining over the past year or so. For example, JJK S2 had almost half of the viewership of S1. Vinland Saga S3 had 40% less viewers compared to Season 2. <br><br>The third reason is the massive decrease in popularity of anime-related content across platforms. I spend most of my time on this sub, Twitter, and Instagram. These days, I see much less anime-related content on these platforms compared to 2021-2022. I see much fewer anime posts and memes, and there are fewer anime discordsions as well. <br><br>The fourth reason is the underperformance of anime movies, which used to be extremely successful worldwide. For example, One Piece: Red and Attack on Titan were truly global successes and broke many box office records. However, movies like Sword Art Online: Progressive, which were expected to be massive successes, are now doing much worse. <br><br>I know that's a very interesting topic, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this topic. Is anime truly popular worldwide? Do you think anime's popularity is growing or declining globally?