Based on the talkback from this Anime News Network post.

It’s…an interesting question to answer, this one, simply because we don’t have access to marketing data outside the occasional company flex like Netflix’s.

However, we can think about the factors surrounding such a question:

Internet Fandom Keeps One’s Own Fandom Alive

When you’re bonding with people over watch parties, new information releases and whatnot, it makes sense that participating in a fandom increases your own love and appreciation for the fandom space you’re in – this would skew the perception of something as “popular” to any given singular fan (as opposed to a streaming giant or company). This is true even for fandoms where the source material stopped airing long ago but still maintains a strong fandom.

The opposite also exists where the fans have mostly moved on to other spaces because the fandom on their platform/s of choice isn’t active enough and a singular fan will go, “Oh hey. Remember that show? That show was good, but I don’t hear anyone talking about it anymore,” with some implications of “I must be the only fan in existence to remember this show when it was streaming” or some similar vibe, even when that’s clearly not true.

…It’s the Internet

The internet has a habit of keeping and holding things much longer than it should. That’s another mark towards keeping older fandoms and previously-thought “lost” material alive. However, fandoms tend to be attracted by newer things in their spaces, such as seasonal anime and new announcements. This somewhat photographic memory created by a gathering of fans means it’s easy to ask about a thing like “how many times was this opening song used during the original run of the anime?” and get an answer, but it does have downsides, like using the “I know more than you!” mindset to develop gatekeeping tendencies.

Then again, using non-internet sources such as anime clubs and conventions to gauge a fandom’s interest is also a viable measure that could be factored into a fan’s perception of a fandom’s popularity. For example, seeing how many cosplayers cosplay a certain character at anime conventions (even if they’re not from anime!) is a somewhat reliable indicator of popularity for that particular region, due to the time, money and/or effort investments for costumes, props as well as travel.

Individual Voices Don’t Mean The Entire Fandom

When it comes to fandoms speaking multiple languages, you might think the most vocal fans have the power. That’s true, but the ones with the power aren’t just vocal, they tend to be the ones with outside influence beyond their immediate spheres, like translators or influencers with large platforms (or even hold multiple roles of this nature). In terms of being a fan with influence, being someone who has been around since day 1 typically helps to magnify one’s fandom influence as well.

This is why a singular, very vocal fan can be an inaccurate measure of “buzz” – “buzz” means having multiple people talk about the same thing.

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Somehow, this post started about discussing how to gauge interest through people talking about it and ended with discussing power dynamics between fans. I think I’ve mentioned it a few times, but that last section is what I’ve been calling “social capital” in my other posts.