Page contents

• ToC

Summary

AniMate is an anime media browser application for Android that provides a convenient location to view various types of information about existing and upcoming Japanese animation content. It retrieves information about anime movies, TV shows, dramas, and more, and displays them to the user in a list of interactive entries. When tapped, these reveal detailed information for that content, including synopses and other details like animation studio, images, trailers (YouTube), air date, and more. For visual content, the user can then tap again to proceed to an additional view focusing on that content, giving them additional options to share media, download media, or open in an external app.

In addition to media, the main anime listing view provides filtering options to search content by name, or to filter results to the user by genre or by season/year. It also allows users to add favorites of content, and to provide tags for sorting and retrieval at a later date.

The app stores an initial inventory of anime for a subset of shows, such as the currently airing season or the thirty-or-so newest entries available in the API; this set is what is stored initially in the database, and any other results that the user obtains are then added to this set. This allows for offline viewing of show information that has been saved locally, without the use of the external API.

Intended users and user stories

• Casual watchers of TV shows and media who like to browse visually when deciding on what they should watch next.

  As someone who enjoys browsing a visual database to discover new content, I use this app to list anime by genres I like, so that I can more easily pick shows that more closely match my current tastes and interests.

• Anime enthusiasts who want to filter or sort shows by specific attributes to find information about them more quickly using a mobile interface.

  As an avid anime consumer who needs to know the newest releases, I find this mobile app a convenient way to sift through shows, read plot synopses, and watch trailers so I can quickly start drafting my watchlist for the season, all without leaving my phone.

Functionality

• Displays a list of Anime media (shows, OVAs, and movies) to the user from a landing ‘page’ (i.e., the main view), distinguished by poster image, title information, season and year information, and plot synopses
• Allows a user to tap an anime to take them to a new view that shows a larger image (poster), links to external content (e.g. MyAnimeList), and extended synopses and other information about the entry
• Logs in a user using Google Sign-In, allowing for personalization of the in-app experience:
  • Marking apps as favorites that can be listed in a menu and revisited later
  • Tagging entries with tags for personal sorting
• Sorting the entries listed in the main view by anime attributes, including:
  • Listing by genre
  • Listing by season and year
  • Listing by newly released
• Includes embedded video (YouTube video links) to watch trailers of anime listings, when available

Persistent data

• User information pertaining to Google Sign-in:
  • Display name
  • OAuth2.0 identifier
  • Timestamp of first login to the app
• Anime retrieved from MyAnimeList.com via Jikan API and cached locally for later viewing:
  • Anime titles, synopses, and descriptive information like genre and season
  • Anime from any list sort actions, including by genre, new release, etc.
• Information that pertains to user actions in the app, including:
  • Favorites (Anime)
  • Tags (User-provided)
• Information on genre and studio (any information that can be multiple for any given anime)

Device/external services

• Jikan API: https://jikan.moe/

Current state of the project - Wed Aug 6, 2025

As of today, the following functionality has been completed:

• Migration of base classes from APoD to Anime
• Implementation of Anime entity class with fields matching information available from MyAnimeList via the Jikan API
• Entity classes for data with many-to-many relationships with anime, including:
  • Theme
  • Studio
  • Genre
  • Producer
  • Licensor
• Entities for app-specific functionality (Tag, Favorite)
• Bridge entity classes for many-to-many entities
• DAO classes for querying and retrieving information from the database
• Working database build using entity classes with proper key and constraint relationships
• Retrieval of anime information from Jikan API
• Storage (in-memory) of information using Anime data transfer object (DTO) class
• Successful display of retrieved information in UI (following APoD layout structure)

The following are features initially planned for completion by this date, but are not yet implemented:

• Migration of Anime class to Hilt dependency injection framework
• Setup of Google Sign-in using OAuth2 authentication
• Repository classes connecting the DAO classes to service methods
• Testing to ensure the database is properly updated and data is correctly persisted
• More fields in the Anime DTO to capture and store more information from the Jikan API
• Using the Anime entity class to persist this information
• Querying the database for cached information before making API calls
• Filtering functionality (e.g., additional views or view changes) to list Anime by other attributes, such as genre
• Additional view for displaying embedded YouTube video (watching trailers)
• Additional “Favorites” and “Tag” features allowing user to make personal lists

Stretch goals and possible enhancements

• Sorting (or populating) main list by more than just one attribute at a time
• Sorting by more than just genre, or by season & year
• Adding licensors, producers, and themes (and accompanying bridge entities)
  • many-to-many relationships in the web api
• Option to download multiple image types (small image, big image, etc.)
• Add avatar to user and allow for uploading picture
• Create separate views for specific episodes
• Ability to leave comments on anime episodes (for personal review)
• (Larger Stretch) Development of a server application to host comments for multiple users at once, like a message board or reddit-style comment section