Why Fans Of Attack On Titan Take Issue With My Dress-Up Darling

According to IMDb rankings in early 2022 (via Socials Frag), "Attack on Titan" is one of the most popular shows in the world. Furthermore, a report from Parrot Analytics indicates that the worldly popularity of the juggernaut anime series has risen substantially as it approaches the end of its story. With its fast-paced storytelling, daring character deaths, and penchant for brutal violence, the anime has even been compared to one of HBO's most popular series, "Game of Thrones" (via CBR).

Based on the manga of the same name, "Attack on Titan" takes place in a world where giant humanoids roam outside of a walled city, devouring anyone they can get their hands on. As Eren Jaeger (Yuki Kaji and Bryce Papenbrook) joins the Scout Corps in hopes of eradicating the titans, the human alliance must try to get to the root of where their monstrous foes come from in order to be rid of them for good.

Despite the popularity of the show, other hit anime like "Demon Slayer" and "My Hero Academia" regularly rival "Attack on Titan" for the crown. To any fan of these series, that much isn't news. However, a different anime has started to approach the mainstream success of the hit shonen series, and it is the last one you'd expect.

As reported by Anime Trending on Twitter, the more subdued anime "My Dress-Up Darling" has been consistently popular since it began airing in early 2022. The news has not been well-received by "Attack on Titan" fans. A Twitter user called @MaDM3Khan took particular issue with this, writing, "How is it that a pointless slice-of-life anime is coming toe to toe with the fu*king Attack on Titan?"

This led another Twitter user, @BlerdErik, to troll Muhammad in response, posting a picture of Marin Kitagawa (Hina Suguta and AmaLee) from "My Dress-Up Darling" with the cheeky caption: "Gonna cry?" The response has since been shared on Reddit, where fans of all stripes reacted. Funnily enough, u/advik_314 got over 700 upvotes after sharing the tweet to the r/MyDressUpDarlingAnime subreddit, which prompted a plethora of comments in reply. The top comment of the thread came from u/FeelingClear5472: "I don't even watch aot anymore, just this." Meanwhile, u/ImRedditorRick simply wrote, "Different anime fulfill different needs."

Other users shared their feelings on the social-media interaction by reflecting on the series. Interestingly, although u/Nekorio watches both anime, they take issue with some of the structure of "Attack on Titan," complaining in a post about the overuse of cliffhangers. Conversely, u/Klemzo69 defended the shonen hit in their comment, simply stating: "It's really fu*king good." Regardless of which camp you're in, it's certainly unexpected that a show about cosplay has skyrocketed to success so quickly, but with "Attack on Titan" set to return for one final arc in 2023 (via IGN), the battle for most popular anime is still anyone's game.