Anime Recommendation System

This Streamlit application provides dynamic anime recommendations by leveraging the Jikan API, an unofficial MyAnimeList API. It allows users to discover new anime by finding titles similar to their favorites or by exploring recommendations within specific genres, with all data fetched live.

Features

• Recommend Similar Anime:

  • Users enter the title of an anime they enjoy.
  • The system queries the Jikan API to find the MyAnimeList ID of the input anime.
  • It then fetches direct recommendations for that anime from Jikan, which are often curated by MyAnimeList users.
  • Results are displayed with details like score, image, genres, a synopsis snippet, and a direct link to the anime's MyAnimeList page.

• Explore by Genre (For New Watchers):

  • Users can select from a list of popular genres (e.g., Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, etc.), dynamically sourced from the Jikan API's genre list.
  • The application then queries the Jikan API for popular anime within the selected genre.
  • A few sample anime are displayed with their score, image, genres, synopsis, and a link to their MyAnimeList page.

How It Works

The application's core logic relies on real-time interactions with the Jikan API:

1. Fetching Anime Data: When a user searches for an anime or requests recommendations by genre, the application makes HTTP GET requests to specific Jikan API endpoints.
2. Similar Anime Logic:
   • The input title is used to search for the anime on MyAnimeList via the Jikan API to retrieve its unique MAL ID.
   • This MAL ID is then used to fetch user-generated recommendations for that specific anime directly from Jikan.
3. Genre Exploration Logic:
   • The application first fetches a list of available anime genres and their IDs from Jikan.
   • When a user selects a genre, the system queries Jikan for top-scoring or popular anime within that genre.
4. Data Presentation: All anime information, including titles, scores, synopses, images, and genre lists, is parsed from the Jikan API responses and formatted for display in the Streamlit UI.

API Usage: Jikan API

• Data Source: This application uses the Jikan API (v4), available at https://api.jikan.moe/v4/. Jikan is an unofficial, free, and open-source REST API for MyAnimeList, providing access to a wide range of anime and manga data.
• Dependency: The functionality and availability of this recommendation system are directly dependent on the Jikan API.
• Rate Limiting: The Jikan API has rate limits to prevent abuse. This application attempts to respect these by including small delays (time.sleep(0.5)) between API calls made by the jikan_client.py module. Frequent or rapid use might still lead to temporary blocks by the API.
• Unofficial Nature: As Jikan is an unofficial API, its data accuracy and availability are tied to MyAnimeList's own structure and any changes MyAnimeList might make.

How to Run

1. Prerequisites:
   • Python 3.7+
   • Streamlit
   • Requests (Python HTTP library)
2. Installation:
   • If you haven't already, install Streamlit and Requests:

     pip install streamlit requests

3. Running the Application:
   • Navigate to the project's root directory in your terminal.
   • Execute the following command:

     streamlit run src/main.py

   • Streamlit will typically open the application automatically in your default web browser.

Contributing (Future)

Contributions that improve the UI/UX, enhance recommendation logic (e.g., advanced filtering, alternative recommendation sources), or add new features are welcome. Please refer to future contribution guidelines when available.