Just realized my anime club's watchlist turned into pure hype bait overnight

I run a tiny anime discussion circle in Austin and 3 months ago we were doing deep dives on slow burn series like Mushishi, now every new member only brings up viral clips from TikTok and Crunchyroll's trending page. Last meeting someone seriously tried to argue that one 3 minute fight scene in Jujutsu Kaisen S2 beats the entire character arc in Frieren. Is this just how every community gets after a big seasonal spike, or did something specific shift the way people talk about shows? Has anyone else seen their group's taste do a total 180?

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cameronwest19d ago

Honestly same thing happened in my group a few months back. We went from discussing pacing and tone to people screenshotting hype moments and asking if it’s “peak fiction” yet. Tbh I think the algorithm just trains people to chase the loudest 30 seconds instead of sitting with a story.