You mention Arctic Fox-one of the things that my stylists friends have said about that brand in particular is that it won’t dry your hair out like manic does.

But that’s often a big advantage of other brands is preventing the dryness. But also manic is famous for bleeding everywhere (pillows, shirts, towels, ears) sometimes for days after dying. Modern brands have gotten a lot of that under control. The other thing I’ve noticed, especially for those that don’t want it to last too long, is the fading is way better. I couldn’t tell you how many times about a week after dying with manic and the fade was just an awful color. And the other thing I’ve noticed when comparing newer brands to manic is the consistency. Manic is often really thin and runny comparatively. This makes application a pain, newer brands just stay where they’re put.

While manic panic doesn’t necessarily have anything wrong with it per se, it has been surpassed by other stuff. It still works, but you’re tolerating annoyances that got solved years ago.