6 "Very Asian" Things You Used to Like Before They Were Cool now everyone is obsessed with

Boba and Ube aside, don’t you feel like everything that is new, super popular and mainstream now is, well… actually old? That’s because it is. Old seems to be the new new. Maybe it’s representation finally catching up (a little bit?) or a new generation discovering just how cool your childhood and teenage hobbies really were? Whatever it is, we’re loving the reinvention and popularity of our obscure (past and current) niche Asian obsessions.

K-Pop Anything

A real stan collects everything and anything from their favorite K-Pop group or K-Drama- including pricey tickets to each sold out concert. But wait, now everyone's doing it? Once a very niche audience in the US is now mainstream: Korean "hallyu" consumption has doubled each year for past 3 years with groups like Blackpink gracing "All-American" editorials like Rolling Stone and BTS collaborating with Coldplay, officially making K-POP very "American" these days!

Anime, Manga, Figures Graphic Novels + Cosplay

Filling up shelves of books and figures from popular Japanese pop-culture has become more common due to the increase in its popularity over the last decade. More than 24 million individual volumes of Manga comics were sold last year, up 171% from 2020. Your 13 yr-old self would be in heaven now knowing that every major city now boasts a convention just for anime, manga or cosplay.

Choose Your Own Adventure Virtual Novel Games

An extension of the Manga boom (introduced to the US officially in the 60's), visual novel games are a narrative semi-interactive fiction game that changes the story line based on the choices you make. Genres include mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, horror or psychological, slice of life. Games and sales on apps have quadrupled in the last two years stateside and we're 1000% you've been target marketed to IG or TikTok just today.

Kawaii Desk Spaces

Remember the cute stationary, pens & stickers you once loved as a child? Now imagine your entire desk or room dipped in Kawaii sauce and everything from your pastel neon lit keyboard, to your gradiant LED Gudetama essential oil infuser sharing your office space with your 100 piece collection of Pusheens.

Tamiya Mini 4WD Model Cars

While thought to have reached its peak in the 90's, building and racing custom mini 4WD model cars from Japanese toymaker Tamiya is only growing in fanbase. From individual enthusiasts, to car meets and races, this hobby car scene that's heavy on engineering, was once obscure is now reaching younger fans through manga and tv adaptations.

Gundam Model Kits

Model kits from the Gundam franchise that come in parts with instructions to build have been rising in popularity. Veterans of the hobby mix & match parts and paint them to create new and exciting models (even, surprise, Hello Kitty characters!). The company saw a 10% rise in global sales during the Pandemic with some models selling out online in 10 min.

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