By Stephanie Perez, Assistant Copy Editor and Advertising Manager
Upon the student body’s recent return to a new school year in person, everyone is experiencing changes. Having gone through an entire school year mostly virtual, a lot of students found themselves in a place where they had a lot of free time with nothing to entertain themselves with. Some students leaned on social media and video games while others decided to dive into the world of fans’ most beloved movies and TV shows.
Communications senior Julie Sanchez was one of many who started watching Marvel this past year.
“I kept hearing great things about Marvel, and the movies were on my watch list,” Sanchez said. “So I decided to watch them all since I had the time.”
The popularity of Marvel and Star Wars productions rose this past year as Disney+ released new content. With lots of free time, many teens started watching these movies and TV shows, becoming new fans.
Shows like WandaVision, Loki, and The Mandalorian reeled in many new fans with the massive popularity gained during the past year.
People craved an escape from everyday life and they found that relief through these other worlds and characters.
Bradford senior Veronica Morales, who started watching anime “The Promised Neverland” and TV show “Jane the Virgin” needed a distraction and found relief through these outlets.
“The show in general wasn’t important but having something to be invested in and spend time doing made it feel pretty important,” Morales said. “With everything going on they were really nice distractions and a way to make time go faster.”
Gaining massive attention through social media, anime has attracted many new viewers through captivating stories. From a worried brother trying to restore his sister from a demon to a young man’s strong will to fight for humanity and freedom, anime has something for everyone to enjoy.
“I would definitely have never even considered anime if it wasn’t for COVID,” Morales said.
Not only did this outlet help during quarantine, but also when reunited with their friends they found that they now share a common interest that was not there before.
Harborside Academy senior Abigail Esquivel found herself in a similar situation as she started watching Marvel and anime during the past year. Although she never watched Marvel or anime before, she recommended it to friends and got results.
“..I’ve got multiple friends to watch..,” said Esquivel. “Gives us more to talk about…”
With all the new content still to be released, new quarantine fans will never have to be bored again. Along with a new bond between their friends and the possibility of making new friends easier, they don’t find themselves in a position of regret about how their time was spent.
And if they find themselves with nothing to watch, there’s always another universe to be explored out there.