ANN’s Most Read News and Interest Articles of 2022

2022 was a very different year compared to 2021 and 2020. The pandemic continued, but it no longer dominated the headlines, and its effects were much less apparent in most of our readers’ countries.

Although it didn’t make the top ANN news itself, one of the biggest stories worldwide was, of course, the return to “life as usual,” or at least something closer to life as usual following two years of lockdowns and other restrictions. For the anime community, this meant the return of major anime cons, with Anime Expo attracting 105,000 unique attendees in July and Anime NYC attracting 55,000 individual attendees in November.

Sadly, 2022’s top news articles were dominated by unfortunate news, with articles about the deaths of voice actor Billy Kametz, manwha artist Dubu, manga creator Koko Natsuki, and voice actress Hitomi Suzuki being 4 of the top 10 most-read news articles. You can read the full list here.

Kametz’s death ranks as the most-read news article on ANN of all time, supplanting the previously most-read article announcing Dragon Ball Super back in 2015.

Aside from these somber articles, two other topics stood out in the news: the consolidation of Crunchyroll and Funimation under the Crunchyroll brand and various articles about VTuber Uruha Rushia’s dismissal from hololive.

The rise of Disney+, which has become a powerhouse with all of its in-house properties (i.e., Marvel & Star Wars), as a global anime streaming platform is a story to watch in the coming years.

Speaking of global stories, a huge shout out to all of ANN’s new international readers. While it didn’t make the published Top 20 list, it’s very rewarding to see stories about Indian theatrical releases making it into our Top 30 news articles of the year. New readers in North America and abroad have helped push ANN to new traffic heights, with just under 10 million unique visitors a month coming to the site. We expect to cross the 10 million mark for the first time this month. So thank you for your support!

Here’s the list of the top 20 news and interest articles of 2022:

ANN’s Most Read News and Interest Articles of 2022

Image via Billy Kametz‘s Twitter account

1. Voice Actor Billy Kametz Passes Away at 35
2. Studio Trigger Reveals New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Project
3. Solo Leveling Manhwa Artist DUBU Passes Away (Updated)
4. Manga Creator Koko Natsuki Passes Away
5. Demon Slayer Creator Draws Tanjiro In the Style of Japanese Classic Theater
6. Former hololive VTuber Uruha Rushia’s Online Alter Ego Racks Up 900,000 Yen in Superchats
7. Voice Actor, ADR Director Daman Mills Accused of Sexual Misconduct
8. Online Petition to Redo Chainsaw Man Anime Gets 2,000 Signatures
9. Crunchyroll to Remove Food Wars!, Akame Ga Kill, BanG Dream!, Girls und Panzer, No Game No Life, More Anime
10. Spy×Family Anime Premieres With 3.1% Rating
11. NHK Asks Netflix to Remove its Titles Due to Ad-Supported Subscriptions
12. Cover Corp Addresses Harassment of hololive Virtual YouTuber Uruha Rushia
13. Voice Actress Hitomi Suzuki Passes Away at 26
14. Cover Corp. Announces Termination of VTuber Uruha Rushia’s Contract
15. Lycoris Recoil Anime Changes Episode 11 Eyecatch Illustrations to Discourage Fans from Imitating the Poses in Real Life
16. Demon Slayer Manga’s Swordsmith Village Arc Gets TV Anime
17. One-Punch Man Anime Gets 3rd Season
18. Final Fantasy VII Tifa Pornography Interrupts Italian Senate Meeting
19. Golden Kamuy Penis Sizes Officially Ranked By Manga’s Creator
20. New Light Novel Heroine Is Just As Cute As hololive’s Gawr Gura

Top 10 ‘Fun’ Interest Articles

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1. Final Fantasy VII Tifa Pornography Interrupts Italian Senate Meeting
2. Golden Kamuy Penis Sizes Officially Ranked By Manga’s Creator
3. “All-In-One” One Piece Print Becomes World’s Largest Book
4. Fate/Stay Night’s Gilgamesh Wishes Lil Nas X ‘Happy Birthday’
5. Toby Fox Reacts To Sans Undertale’s Win Against Reigen As Ultimate Tumblr Sexyman
6. Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 2 Opening Theme Reaches #1 on U.S. Billboard Hard Rock Chart
7. The Film References in the Chainsaw Man Opening
8. Magical Girl Site Manga Creator Kentarō Satō Wants Royalties from Elon Musk
9. Newspaper Ad for Raunchy Tawawa on Monday Manga Draws Ire
10. Life-Size Asuna Statue in Wedding Dress on Display in Tokyo Department Store

ANN’s Most Read Features of 2022

© Akihito Tsukushi・Takeshobo／Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun Production Committee

1. Our Most Anticipated Anime Of Summer 2022
2. What We Know About the Funimation-Crunchyroll Merger
3. The Chainsaw Man Anime’s Style Feels Off
4. Our Most Anticipated Anime Of Winter 2022
5. Light Novels With Shonen Manga Energy
6. Myth and History: Jujutsu Kaisen’s Ryomen Sukuna
7. The Irresponsible Management of This Year’s Artist Alley
8. The Best and Worst Anime of Winter 2022
9. The Best and Worst Anime of Summer 2022
10. Our Most Anticipated Anime Of Fall 2022
11. Why Were Light Novel Fans Furious at Classroom of the Elite’s First Season?
12. Our Most Anticipated Anime Of Winter 2023
13. Ranking Pokémon’s Evil Teams from Least to Most Justified
14. Here Are All The Designer Chairs Featured In Spy×Family So Far
15. The Best and Worst Anime of Fall 2022
16. 10 Great Non-Studio Ghibli Family-friendly Anime Movies
17. The Fall 2022 Light Novel Guide
18. How His and Her Circumstances Breaks the #1 Writing Rule
19. The Best and Worst Anime of Spring 2022
20. The Spring 2022 Light Novel Guide