The Origin Story
After binging my way through the top 200 anime on MyAnimeList (yes, ALL of them), I found myself in an all-too-familiar situation: recommendation algorithms were failing me miserably. The "if you liked X, you'll love Y" suggestions were painfully predictable. Meanwhile, keeping track of upcoming seasons meant endless scrolling through forums, Discord servers, and anime news sites.
The breaking point came when I spent three hours researching a supposedly "upcoming" anime only to discover it had been delayed indefinitely. There had to be a better way.
Enter AnimeVerse
What started as a simple weekend project to solve my own frustrations quickly evolved into something much bigger. I wanted to create a platform that would:
Understand my specific taste in anime beyond generic genres
Keep me updated on upcoming releases without the research rabbit holes
Let me document my thoughts on shows I've watched
Provide a space for creative expression through fan fiction
Connect with others who share similar niche interests
The Tech Stack Behind the Magic
For fellow tech enthusiasts, here's what powers AnimeVerse:
Next.js: For the seamless page transitions and optimized performance
TypeScript: Because maintaining sanity while dealing with complex data structures is non-negotiable
Tailwind CSS: For rapid UI development without the CSS headaches
Framer Motion: Those subtle animations make all the difference in user experience
Gemini API: The secret sauce behind the recommendation engine and fan fiction autocomplete
Jikan API: For pulling comprehensive anime data from MAL
The Features I'm Most Proud Of
- AI Recommendation Engine That Actually "Gets" You After feeding the model my ratings for dozens of shows, it started suggesting anime I'd never heard of but immediately vibed with. No more "You liked Attack on Titan? Try Demon Slayer!" level recommendations. We're talking obscure gems that match your specific taste patterns.
- Fan Fiction Autocomplete This feature started as a joke but quickly became my favorite. Start writing about your favorite characters, and the AI understands their typical speech patterns, personality traits, and even suggests plot developments that stay true to the original universe. It's like having a co-writer who's watched every episode alongside you.
- Seasonal Tracker Never miss an upcoming release again. The platform automatically categorizes upcoming shows based on your preference patterns and highlights the ones you're most likely to enjoy. The Development Journey Building this hasn't been without challenges. The biggest hurdle was training the recommendation engine to understand the nuances between similar-looking shows that evoke completely different emotional responses. Turns out, the difference between a 7/10 and a 9/10 in anime ratings often comes down to subtle elements that traditional recommendation systems miss. Another unexpected challenge: getting the fan fiction autocomplete to understand context without becoming repetitive. Early versions kept suggesting the same phrases ("Nani?!" appeared way too often), but after some fine-tuning, it now captures the essence of characters without falling into tropey patterns.
What's Next
AnimeVerse is still very much a work in progress. I'm currently enhancing the blog editor with specialized anime-focused formatting options and working on community features that will connect users with similar taste patterns.
I'd love to hear from fellow anime enthusiasts and developers about features you'd want to see. Drop a comment below with your thoughts or reach out if you'd like to test the platform as it evolves!
