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Twitch star Michael "Shroud" has left the online community divided with his opinions on anime. On May 14, 2025, esports personality Jake Lucky shared a 26-second video from the streamer's most recent livestream. In it, the Canadian content creator's attention was drawn to one of his live viewers' comments about how he owns a Star Wars lightsaber but dislikes watching anime.
They said:
"You have a real-life lightsaber, but you don't watch anime. That's cringe."
In response, Shroud revealed that he owns three lightsabers. Explaining why he doesn't watch anime, the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro stated that he prefers to watch things that "are real." He said:
"Dude, I have three lightsabers, you watch your f**king mouth. Bro, I can't watch stuff that's not real. It's not real, there's no emotion. That's like watching a Disney Pixar f**king movie and being like, 'Oh!' Like, bro, it's not real!"
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Over 600 netizens have shared their thoughts on Shroud's opinions. While one community member questioned whether the Twitch streamer believes Star Wars "is real," others described his views as a "L take."
"does bro think Star Wars is real???" X user @PogPredict wrote.
"uncommon shroud L take," X user @AbsoluteDealer posted.
"this is an L take, BUT, it’s also not just about anime, if he seems to just not be able to connect with animated shows in general, i feel like that’s more acceptable then just sh**ting on anime," X user @Blxndkidz remarked.
"I used to be like this too clearly a man who’s never seen an anime. I was a hater for a long long time." X user @BEASTMODECARTER tweeted.
"People might be misinterpreting. He isn't saying anime sucks, or that people shouldn't watch it. He is only saying HE cannot stand watching it. He simply prefers to watch Entertainment with Human actors physically acting. Also might just be bait. He jokes a lot," X user @nzsonleo commented.
Shroud made headlines earlier this year when fans criticized him for promoting gambling during charity stream
In February 2025, Shroud hosted Fragathon, a month-long charity marathon livestream to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. One segment of the livestream went viral on the r/LivestreamFail subreddit, in which Michael was seen opening lootboxes containing anime-themed trading cards on the website Boxed.gg.
The Twitch clip, titled "Gambling For Charity," has received over 115,000 views, with one Reddit user calling his actions "gross."
