Animes That Require Prior Knowledge Are Becoming a Barrier for Many Fans

Last year, a discussion emerged on Japanese Twitter about “Animes That Require Prior Knowledge” in order to fully enjoy them. Many people complained about the exhaustion caused by anime that only make complete sense if you have already consumed multiple previous titles, spin-offs, or hidden references.

According to the comments, the problem is not the existence of references or connections between stories, but the excess of them. Many fans report that today there is constant pressure to have “seen everything” before starting a new series. Otherwise, people feel like they are missing jokes, emotional moments, or even important parts of the narrative.

One Japanese user commented that the amount of content available today is enormous, making it impossible to keep up with everything. For him, when a work depends too heavily on prior knowledge, it ends up competing for mental space with other hobbies and interests, which creates discouragement instead of curiosity.

This discussion quickly gained support from other users, who cited famous franchises as examples. Long-running series such as Gundam, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Marvel, and even games like Fate/Grand Order and Kingdom Hearts were mentioned as works that require prior knowledge for a more complete understanding of the story.

On the other hand, part of the audience argues that this requirement is often exaggerated by hardcore fans themselves. According to them, it is not always true that someone needs to consume an entire franchise to enjoy a new entry. In many cases, this idea exists more as a way to show superiority or knowledge rather than being an actual necessity, and I somewhat disagree with that part.

I see this happening with the Yakuza game series, for example. Right now, there are 9 mainline games and 5 spin-offs. Out of those spin-offs, only one is truly not that necessary. Two of them take place between the main games, and the other two feature different characters and stories but still occur within the main timeline.

I see people who simply do not want to start with the first chronological game in the franchise, which is Yakuza 0, and instead want to start with the seventh game, since that one changes the protagonist, who is the same from 0 through 6.

However, if you play Yakuza: Like a Dragon first, you will not understand certain references and character appearances, which have a completely different impact if you have played the previous games.

So if the series is already good, what is the problem with starting from the beginning? I imagine that if you are interested and might enjoy it, at least for series with a chronological order, starting from the beginning is a good idea, and you will have many games to enjoy.

Other series that do not have strong connections can be played in any order you prefer, like Atelier, which works differently. I started with Ryza, but later went back to play the older ones.

But anyway, what do you think?