Why is X anime relatively popular in X region?
Unique white, Latin American, and Russian tastes.
TL;DR:
Russian speaking countries have a uniquely different anime taste in comparison to people from other countries, which trends towards edgier or more intellectual shows (e.g. Berserk, Kill la Kill, Serial Experiments Lain)
The Whiter the country, the more it likes Soul Eater.
The Whiter the country, the more it likes Ghost in the Shell.
The Whiter the country, the more it likes FLCL.
All of the above are artsy avant garde anime, which makes me think that liking that kind of stuff is a White people thing.
Fate seems to have an unusually universal appeal, with a lot of presence in Africa, for example.
Latin Americans seem to prefer feminine series like Psycho Pass, Sailor Moon, Elfen Lied, and Evangelion, and are not as into masculine anime like Samurai Champloo, Berserk, or Vinland Saga.
This is a rather difficult thing to do, as different countries use different names for series, so using a search term will result in biased results.
Fortunately, the “topic” feature in google trends allows search results to be less biased by spellings or language use, and paints a more comprehensive picture of interest across countries.
There is also the issue of time invariance. If certain countries got into anime at different times, then the fact that certain anime were released at different times will give biased results. To avoid this, I intentionally compared anime that had released at more or less the same time, and if they did not, I only subsetted to recent interest (usually last 5 years).
Soul Eater (artsy comedic battle shounen) vs Code Geass (dramatic thriller):
Soul Eater relatively more popular in the Americas and continental Europe. Code Geass is more popular in the rest of the world.
Elfen Lied (edgy porn thriller) vs Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games with magic):
Elfen Lied is more popular in Latin America and continental Europe while Fate/Zero is more popular in the anglosphere and the rest of the world. Not surprising, given that Elfen Lied is extremely sexual and deviant.
High School DxD (harem) vs Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games with magic):
Same pattern, but African and MENA countries more accepting of the harem (High school DxD) than the extremely deviant thriller (Elfen Lied)
Tokyo Ghoul (edgy battle shounen) vs Sword Art Online (isekai harem):
Tokyo Ghoul was more popular in general, while SAO took off hard in East Asia and some European countries.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (weird mecha series) vs Sword Art Online (isekai harem):
Evangelion is popular in Latin America, the Anglosphere, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean and East Asia, while SAO is more popular in Africa, Northwestern Europe, and MENA.
Sailor Moon (girly series) vs Berserk (macho fantasy anime):
Sailor Moon is relatively more popular in Spanish speaking countries, Europe, and East Asia. Berserk is more popular everywhere else.
Full Metal Panic (comedy) vs Kiss x sis (incest):
Kiss x sis is unusually popular in former soviet states and MENA.
Gintama (comedy) vs Code Geass (dramatic thriller):
Gintama more popular in East Asia. Code Geass is the universal favourite.
Spirited Away (spiritual film) vs High School DxD (harem with tits):
Africans and Indians really like watching High school DxD. Interesting.
K-On! (wholesome band anime) vs Soul Eater (artsty funny battle shounen):
Caucasians like soul eater, Asians like K-ON!
Bakemonogatari (edgy harem) vs Black Butler (victorian action romance)
Eastern Europeans and to a lesser extent East Asians like bake. Everybody else likes BB.
Bakemonogatari (edgy harem) vs Log Horizon (isekai)
Eastern Europeans still like bake.
Bakemonogatari (edgy high IQ harem) vs F/SN (Japanese hunger games)
Bakemonogatari preference scales with national IQ and Eastern Europe/Eastern Asia
Fullmetal Alchemist (westernish shounen) vs HxH (shounen)
White people and Asians like FMA, MENA prefers HxH.
Bleach (supernatural school shounen) vs One Piece (adventure shounen)
Former Soviets and Latin Americans like OP, Bleach is the favourite everywhere else.
Naruto (fantasy shounen) vs DBZ (alt-uni shounen)
Southern Africans and Anglos are into DBZ. Ruskis and MENA are much more into Naruto.
One Piece (adventure shounen) vs Attack on Titan (walking dead but titans)
Former Soviet states like Attack on Titan.
Ergo Proxy (scifi altuni adventure story) vs Monogatari Series (avant garde harem):
East Asians prefer Bake, rest of the world likes Ergo Proxy.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs Serial Experiments Lain (abstract avant garde tech art):
Former soviet states and MENA/British Africa like Serial Experiments Lain, everybody else likes Kill la Kill.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs Death Parade (abstract avant garde tech art):
Former soviet states and MENA like Death Parade, everybody else prefers Kill la Kill.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs Noragami (supernatural comedy (?) series):
MENA/Africa have a relative preference fo noragami, Soviets and East Asians like KlK.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs K-ON! (moe music series):
Asians and soviets like KON, everybody else prefers KlK.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games):
Asians and caucasians like KlK, MENA/Africa like Fate.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs Toradora (romcom):
Spanish speakers like Kill la Kill, otherwise the regional differences are inconsistent.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs NGNL(avant garde gaming show):
Soviets like Kill la Kill, otherwise NGNL is the favourite.
Kill la Kill (sexy action comedy) vs Steins;Gate (scifi thriller romcom):
MENA, Balkans, and Asia like Steins;Gate, everybody else likes KlK.
Ergo Proxy (avant garde scifi adventure) vs Baccano! (weird action series):
East Asians like Baccano, Latin Americans and Soviets have a strong preference for Ergo Proxy.
Ergo Proxy (avant garde scifi adventure) vs Escaflowne (the OG isekai):
Soviets and MENAs really like Ergo Proxy…
Ergo Proxy (avant garde scifi adventure) vs FLCL (wacky comedy series):
Again, Soviets and MENA really like Ergo Proxy. Repetitive pattern. Western Europeans and Latin Americans like FLCL.
Shinsekai Yori (dystopian magic series) vs Wtt NHK (sad comedy):
Very unstable regional preferences here, besides the East Asian preference for Shinsekai Yori.
Darker than Black (magic dark action series) vs FLCL (wacky comedy series):
White people like FLCL.
KON! (music moe comedy) vs FLCL (wacky comedy series):
Same pattern — White people like FLCL, though it’s a little harder to parse.
Samurai Champloo (hip hop samurais) vs FLCL (wacky comedy series):
…Do Latin Americans not like Samurai Champloo?
Samurai Champloo (hip hop samurais) vs Trigun (western action comedy):
Maybe not.
Samurai Champloo (hip hop samurais) vs School Days (crazy harem):
That’s the confirmation.
Spirited Away (spiritual isekai) vs Re:Zero (fantasy isekai):
Central America, Africa, Eastern Europe (nonrussian), Central Asia, and Japan all prefer Re:Zero. Everybody else prefers Spirited Away.
Spirited Away (spiritual isekai) vs Re:Zero (fantasy isekai):
Hard to parse anything concrete here.
Serial Experiments Lain (avant garde abstract tech series) vs Perfect Blue (arthouse psychological drama):
Soviets and Africans like Serial Experiments Lain, Latin Americans and Euros prefer Perfect Blue.
Serial Experiments Lain (avant garde abstract tech series) vs Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games):
Now the Americans like SEL… Do they just like Perfect Blue?
Ghost in the Shell (avant garde action tech series) vs Perfect Blue (arthouse psychological drama):
Euros, Southern Africans, and Anglos like GITS, everybody else prefers Perfect Blue.
Ghost in the Shell (avant garde action tech series) vs the Garden of Words (fem age gap romance):
Anglos and Euros like GITS, again.
Yuri on Ice (gay skating) vs Banana fish (gay gangs)
Soviets and Asians like Yuri on Ice; Everybody else prefers Banana Fish.
Yuri on Ice (gay skating) vs Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games)
Whites like Yuri on Ice, everybody else watches Fate.
Yuri on Ice (gay skating) vs Monster (psych crime thriller)
Similar pattern as before.
Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games) vs Berserk (dark fantasy series)
Soviets and anglos like berserk. Everybody else likes Fate.
Fate/Zero (Japanese hunger games) vs Haruhi Suzumiya (weird school comedy)
Anglos, Soviets, and Latin Americans like Haruhi. Everybody else likes Fate.
Dargon Ball (action supernatural series) vs Clannad (school romcom)
Latin Americans, Soviets and East Asians like Clannad. Everybody else watched Dragon Ball.
Vinland Saga (historical action series) vs Psycho Pass (dystopian thriller)
This confirms my Latin American feminine theory, which hypothesizes that feminine anime overindex in Latin America and masculine series like Samurai Champloo underindex.
A shocking turn of events that Dragon Ball doesn't sweep LatAm as people stereotypically imagine
Code Geass has this fascinating love-hate relationship with Anglo-Americans. I wonder how that impacts its popularity in America vs the rest of the world.