Animecore

This page is about an aesthetic that expresses nostalgia for 2000s moe anime. For other aesthetics that incorporate imagery related to anime and manga, see the anime category.

Animecore revolves around the early anime and anime-related media (such as video games and VOCALOID) of the 2000s, particularly cute and moe girls. It primarily features figurines, posters, and old desks/computers that reflect the Weeaboo anime subculture of the time when it was a more niche nerdy subculture. It originated in the 2010s with Weeaboo communities such as 4chan who idealized 2000s anime. It also spread to TikTok in the 2020s with new members idealizing an anime community that they never got to experience.

Animecore also heavily overlaps with Cutecore. Both feature similar visuals of edited image collages and pictures of rooms, and both can include darker themes. The primary difference is Cutecore's focus on Kawaii plushies and clothing, while Animecore focuses on 2000s anime figurines.

Animecore is not anime on its own, but rather the images consumed outside the context of the stories anime is conveying. The aesthetic culture here is the Western fans of the Japanese genre, rather than the artistic environment within anime, which can encompass multiple aesthetics.

History[]

Animecore encompasses the period of Otaku and Weeaboo history approximately the early 2000s to mid 2010s. Due to Animecore's focused time period and the rise in reaction to "cringe culture" that is increasingly prevalent on the internet, it overlaps with aesthetics such as Webcore or Scene. Japanese anime as a style gained worldwide prominence into the 1990s due in part to a mix of the decade's interest in alternative and creatively freer media in response against highly regulated mainstream media, anime's close relation with entertainment and multimedia technology, especially after the 1980s Japan Bubble Economy which cemented Japan's then electronics monopoly over the world, and its propensity for inciting otherworldly wonder due to its own visuals and expression. This makes its cultural relevance to the era, ever so significant.

Animecore represents itself by its high flying visuals and themes it communicates inspiration and insight with, to its bright and colorful to its dark and nightmarish. The overall theme to Animecore can be summed up as "The Drive of Mankind"- Be it for a better future, to explore the stars, smash down ancient conspiracies, defying the system, or to even salvage the dark future or merely live life free from troubles and annoyances, it all comes back down to the heart and soul of the people and how far they are willing to go for it.

Visuals[]

Popotan-Caramelldansen — A gif from the Popotan game, starting the Caramelldansen meme,

Commonly featured in this aesthetic are edits and GIFs of scenes from popular anime franchises or anime-style music videos, photography of merch collections and rooms, various memes that exist within the anime fandom (like Caramelldansen or Touhou), gaudy Blingee-esque edits, but also stolen and edited fanart that is often posted without neither credit nor permission, which is also common in other aesthetics. Ball-jointed dolls and anime figures are also popular. Sometimes, distortion methods are used to lower image quality to replicate the look of many old web artifacts. Even then, this doesn't touch the surface of Animecore, as fans range far and wide in their interests and series, as web and graphic design range from the simple to more intricate and complex that utilizes detailed art graphic borders and backdrops and overall site design to capture a specific feel for their presentation, and the series themselves presented provide an extension of their own style with additional impressions.

Currently into the mid-2010s and 2020s, the primary visual of Animecore is Moe characters, who evoke feelings of affection within viewers. They are always young girls with large eyes, colorful and distinctive hairstyles, and kawaii outfits such as school and maid uniforms, and are often Neko Girls.

Images of bedrooms cluttered with anime merchandise, such as posters, figurines, and banners show the simultaneously obsessive and cozy feelings that Animecore conveys.

Alignment chart — Animecore alignment chart meme. featuring characters: (From left to right, top to bottom) Hatsune Miku (VOCALOID) , Komugi Nakahara (Nurse Witch Komugi-Chan) , Windows ME-Tan (OS-Tan), Yuri Ootani (Alien Nine), Konata Izumi (Lucky Star), Digital Witch Mayura (Ukagaka), Pastel Ink (Moe-tan!), Yakui-san (Inappropriate Maids), Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain)

Wallpapers[]

Common themes:

Vintage anime aesthetics (such as Serial Experiments Lain and Vaporwave)
Nostalgia for the bygone early internet and UNIX era

Ahoka Clone[]

Ahoka Clone is the aesthetic associated with Animecore in the online Linux, programming, and hardware community etc. The name comes from the 4chan boards /g/ and /w/ where a user named Ahoka created the aesthetic. The style is based around having a minimalist wallpaper with a solid color and a single image of an anime girl.

Early Animecore[]

Early Animecore defines anime fan aesthetic from before Web 2.0 or the 2010s and even the mid to late 2000s, when HTML 2.0 coding was yet to be implemented. Early Animecore makes use of 1990s and early 2000s anime, manga, and video game series, use of Photoshop edited images, examples including incorporating more "dreamy" elements like fade transitions, light bloom borders, border graphics, special effects, and simple to intricate HTML 1.0 coding based layouts.

Nightcore[]

More information: Nightcore Nightcore is a type of music edit referring to increasing the tempo of the song by about 35%, primarily of eurodance songs. It is heavily associated with Animecore, and almost every nightcore edit video features a 2000s anime image.

Criticism[]

The Animecore aesthetic has drawn criticism from established figure collector communities, primarily concerning its perceived impact on the anime figure market.^[1] Concerns have been raised regarding the influx of newer, potentially less experienced collectors, particularly teenagers, who may be unfamiliar with responsible figure collecting practices. This influx is thought to potentially contribute to an increased demand for, and subsequent purchase of, bootleg or counterfeit figures.

The aesthetic's emphasis on displaying large collections of figures and merchandise, often seen in room tours and hauls on TikTok and Instagram, has been suggested to promote excessive or rapid purchasing. Experienced collectors, who typically accumulate their collections over extended periods, have observed significant price increases for certain figures popularized within the Animecore aesthetic. For instance, the price of a nurse Hatsune Miku figure has reportedly risen from $15-30 to $100-150, while a "Gloomy Bear" Super Sonico figure has seen its price increase from approximately $15 to $75-200. These price fluctuations are attributed by long-time collectors to the increased demand driven by the aesthetic's popularity.