This reports on the latter part of a panel discussion with three popular influencers about trends and needs in Egypt's anime fan community.
Regarding the popularity of Japanese anime in Egypt, Japanese anime enjoys tremendous popularity, as evidenced by Zeyad's experience of gaining 100,000 followers within a week when he began posting anime-related content on social media. The word "Anime" is commonly used in Egypt to refer specifically to Japanese animation, and Egypt is considered to have the overwhelmingly largest number of anime fans in the Middle East region. According to Ahmed's estimate, among Egypt's population aged 5-35, about 3-4 out of 10 people have watched anime or are anime fans.
Currently, "Attack on Titan" and "ONE PIECE" are particularly popular among Egyptian anime fans, with testimonies of witnessing police officers watching "ONE PIECE" videos on the streets. "Jujutsu Kaisen" is also extremely popular. The popular genre is "shonen" (anime based on shonen manga), with the previous "Big Three" being "NARUTO," "BLEACH," and "ONE PIECE," and the current "New Big Three" being "Demon Slayer," "My Hero Academia," and "Jujutsu Kaisen."
In terms of merchandise, anime character fashion goods are popular, with examples of men in their 50s wearing anime character t-shirts. "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card games, "Pokemon Cards," anime goods, and figures are also popular, with plastic models forming their own fan communities. However, figure prices are high, with an example of a "Grendizer" figure at Kinokuniya in Dubai, UAE, priced at 28,000 UAE dirhams (approximately 1.11 million yen).
Egyptian anime fans seek more anime fan events, with "EGYCON" currently being the only anime-related event with sponsors, while the UAE holds up to 6 events per month. Events focusing on Japanese food and games combined with anime are also desired.
Regarding international competitiveness, "ONE PIECE," "Jujutsu Kaisen," "Attack on Titan," and "Demon Slayer" are considered globally recognized content. The recent popularity of the phrase "ONE PIECE is your uncle" in the Arabic-speaking world demonstrates how deeply Japanese anime has penetrated the Arab world.
The article concludes that Japanese anime culture has penetrated across a wide age range in Egypt, with strong demand for related merchandise and events, demonstrating the significant influence of Japanese pop culture in the Middle East region.