TR.BIZ: 10.2.2025

Your late-mid-week check-in, where we cover a new Democrat movement and the eve of a big day in music 💫

Welcome to The Trend Report: Business Edition™, a midweek look at top stories, trends, and more of what’s happening online and off by Kyle of The Trend Report™. Today, we’re exploring OpenAI’s new video drop, the rise of an incel word, and the power of an anime flag.

💥 Soft Powers: Our flag is anime

As we discussed a few weeks back with thoughts on “war times,” a young people movement is emerging to push back politically — and a curious symbol has emerged: the One Piece pirate flag. From Nepal to Indonesia to the Philippines to Madagascar, the flag has been seen. “Pop culture has often been used by young protesters to signal defiance,” The Guardian’s Rebecca Ratcliffe explained of the phenomena. “While the specific demands to protests differ across the region, the underlying messages echo one another and symbols such as One Piece transcend borders, say activists.” The other thing happening here that must be noted is that this highlights the dominance of anime and manga for younger generations: 42% of all Gen Z American adults watch anime once a week, all as worldwide statistics echo this. This phenomena isn’t new — and is partially why something like Netflix’s One Piece adaptation was such a success — but is further proof of anime and manga as a generational macro trend, perhaps what Adult Swim and other “irreverent” alt-animations were for Millennials (although anime was a part of that conversation too). It’s a sign of how we “bring our whole self” to the battlefield, which is also how we end up with bullets as meme manifestoes.

• What can you do about this? If you’re very #resist, sporting this flag is a good idea to show solidarity — and I wouldn’t be surprised if American activists start carrying it too. Beyond that, tapping into and using anime as a cultural olive branch is a great idea. While not the same, it does help to show the cultural dominance of Asia as we know Labubu, matcha, and Kpop continue their relevance.

🏛️ Politicultural, I: Will the young dems break through?