Anime in America

As an American youth, I have noticed a growing trend amongst television shows. Most particularly on channels targeted towards adolescents and young adults. It seems that we are being infiltrated with Japanese culture through an animation style referred to as Anime.

This particular movement happened slowly over time. Anime has been available to the public for years through the local movie renting facility. However, apart from the few Anime aficionados, the general American public was oblivious to the presence of anime in America. This began to change upon the arrival of "Dragon Ball Z". Although this animation is now considered to be of low visual quality, it stands as the classic that sparked the American Anime mania. This fascination grew further with the birth of the late night Cartoon Network program, Adult Swim (http://www.adultswim.com/). This program featured evolved Anime shows consisting of:
"Witch Hunter Robin"(http://www.adultswim.com/shows/witchhunter/index.html), "Cowboy Bebop" (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/cowboybebop/index.html), "Paranoia Agent" (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/paranoia/index.html, and "Full Metal Alchemist" (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/fullmetal/index.html). The reaction to Anime in America was profound. Not only did it spark interest in Anime itself, but also in Japanese culture.

Due to this Anime mania, American cartoonists jumped on the bandwagon and began to create their own versions of animation that had an Anime flare. Cartoon Network began to feature these animations during its daytime program. A few examples include: "Teen Titans" (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/titans/index.html), "Samurai Jack" (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/samuraijack/index.html), and "The Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Show" (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/puffyamiyumi/index.html).

After the success of Anime on Cartoon Network’s programs, other channels began to follow the trend. G4TV recently added a late night program advertised as "Barbed Wire Biscuit"
(http://www.g4tv.com/animeunleashed/index.html) which features slightly mature Anime for a more adult crowd.

The appearance of Anime in America has created its own sub culture. Marketers have taken advantage of this craze and created a huge market of everything from clothing to bumper stickers to DVDs pertaining to Anime. In America, Anime has grown from a rare form of literature to its own subculture money making mass market.