Why/when did Anime become mainstream in the U.S.?

[Daverid]

TBH I would hardly call it mainstream, even among the older teens (Say 17/18) - Middle Aged Folk (30-40) age bracket (Which is probably where the majority of 'Grown Up' Anime is watched, doubt there's many people over 40 watching Anime).

Star Wars is mainstream. Lord of the Rings is mainstream. Batman is mainstream. Anime, is not even close. Naturally I don't have any kind of data, research etc to back that up. But I think it's safe to say that if you asked every American (Or any First World native English speaking country) aged 18-40 whether they had watched Star Wars, LOTR and/or a Batman Movie/s and then proceeded to ask whether they'd ever watched an Anime after they turned 18, you'd most likely find the first 3 would get FAR more 'Yes' responses then Anime.

Of course such a question could be skewed by people trying to say that they have watched an 'Anime' because they watched something like 'Adventure Time', which isn't really 'Proper Anime'.

Anime among Children, Yes definitely Mainstream. Anime among adults, I really don't think so.

[Themius]

I remember watching anime in the 90s.

Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight! She is the one named Sailor Moon!

[Wildtree]

Anime is definitely not mainstream. Very far from it even.
And if we use TV also as an indicator for what mainstream is (TV Network are always amongst the first ones to cash in on trends), then it is safe to say that anime is a very small niche in the US. For little kids there's some stuff.

[Gothicshark]

As the old fart here I started watching Anime as a kid, G-Force/Battle of the Planets.

But Anime became mainstream in 1985 with Robotech, I remember every nerd in my Jr High talking non stop about the show.
When I joined the Marines in 1989 the popular Anime with nerdy marines was MD Geist.

So the question really is when did non nerds start watching Anime?

The simple answer is Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z during the 90's.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:33 AM ----------

If I'm not mistaken, an American that really likes anime is called an "Otaku".

Otaku = Nerd in Japan

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:36 AM ----------

It's not mainstream. As an actual self declared otaku I can probably list a half dozen anime you've never heard of.

As a long time American Otaku, I bet I can list stuff that most out side of Japan have never heard of, especially since I like gag/ecchi/gender bender/harem anime and manga.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:38 AM ----------

Play obscure games that are very japanse... Check
Watch anime no one's heard of... check
read manga no one's heard of, also check
Never leave the house? Double check.

Play obscure games that are very japanse... Check
Watch anime no one's heard of... check
read manga no one's heard of, also check
Never leave the house? Double check.

Well at least I leave home once a week to check my mailbox.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:43 AM ----------

Since when has anime been mainstream? Most people in the US only know anime from toonami when they were younger and adult swim, and that's mostly only the actionish genre stuff.
Otaku is a derogatory term for an obsessive shut-in lacking the slightest semblance of social skills that has no meaning when everyone else uses it like people calling themselves "so nerdy" for something like playing tetris. You're probably thinking of weeaboo, which is someone who obsesses over japan.

A weeaboo is someone not from Japan who tries to act like they are.

[cz75fan]

I was thinking the same few days ago. The 80s shows that i watched when i was 5-6 looked really good. Quite realistic. I know that the Japanese artists started drawing Anime with huge eyes to mimic Disney movies and stuff, but why did the 2 cartoon styles drift apart so much , it has been puzzling me for a while.

1. Yes a lot of those were borrowed from Japan.
2. The Disney part is convoluted at best. In reality, the first "manga" showing of a form of art which we are more familiar with predates the United States if I remember correctly. On the other hand, once the actual creation of Animated Films reach Japan, there were influences taken by Osamu Tezuka.

[Trassk]

I've never been a fan of anime either. Freaky looking cartoons of skinny kids with big heads and massive eyes and mouths yapping away about some random shit I can't make sense of.

However, some years ago I was a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki movies, like spirited away or howl's moving castle, loved those movies.

btw, can't stand pokemon, I fear my nephews watching those cartoons and getting seizures

[Gothicshark]

Meh, as all subcultures one is expected to have certain basis, while a huge part of wow population are working people over 30 it is still associated with nerds (most vocal, the working over 30 couldnt care less about forums or kid tantrums) so yeah.

If you are a punk you are expected to know the sex pistols, ramones and so forth
If you are a goth you are expected to know bauhaus, banshees and so forth
if you are a club person you are expected to know that dude with horrid hairstyle.
and so forth

You play wow, thus are considered a nerd, thus are expected to know zelda and mario.
I play since those times and meh, couldnt care much about either of those (heresy i know), never been a console kid, talk me about star control, comand and conquer, total annihilation and so forth and its a different story

Um, what if you are a Nerd/Punk/Goth/Otaku?

((Saw Bauhaus, Siouxsie, Ministry, NIN, Blutengel, and Combi-Christ live, did the whole green Mohawk thing in the 90's, didn't enjoy zelda since it wasn't RPG, never liked platformers, Jumping is not cool. Been watching Anime since the mid 70s.))

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:52 AM ----------

Otaku is used as a badge of pride by people who have no idea what it actually means.

Actually its a badge of pride to the people who know what it means, much like I'm Gay and proud of it. Taking possession of an insult is how people turn a bad thing good.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:57 AM ----------

They're both offensive.
Otaku by no means is a good thing.

You need to see Genshiken, it's all about Otaku life in Japan. It's actually a really good.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 05:59 AM ----------

But I'd whoop anyone who wants to talk about WoW or Marvel.

That is a pretty bold statement.

[Volitar]

I don't even like anime and I read every post, man what am I doing with my life.

[Lemons]

Wait, anime is normal? I've always found people that know a lot about anime to be kind of strange. It's like a counter-culture type thing. Like "oh, you're gunna watch American animation? Well screw you I only like the Japanese stuff! HA!"

Lord knows I have tried to like anime, I have watched movies and shows, but 90% of the time I end up hating it! I just watched Akira, and Jesus...I mean...there's no denying the animation is incredible...but the story was just...bleh. I mean, half the movie is just that Tetsuo kid wrecking up the the entire city, killing hundreds of people, trying to get to Akira. We get it...he's unstoppable. I honestly think the only reason he didn't just psychically teleport to Akira is so the the animators could draw more amazing explosions and smoke. And then that one girl who was his semi-gf just dies and not a single #%$@ was given, and yet the colonel survives!? If anyone deserves to die it's him!

But even I have a favorite Anime: Cowboy Bebop. Awesome show. Go watch it and then you'll have an answer next time someone asks.

[Gothicshark]

It seems like it would be like calling someone who likes Star Trek a Trekkie. Doesn't sound very offensive to me.

A quote from Wikipedia

Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family (お宅, otaku). This word is often used metaphorically, as an honorific second-person pronoun. In this usage, its literal translation is "you". For example, in the anime Macross, first aired in 1982, Lynn Minmay uses the term this way.[1][2]

The modern slang form, which is distinguished from the older usage by being written only in hiragana (おたく) or katakana (オタク or, less frequently, ヲタク), or rarely in rōmaji, appeared in public discourse in the 1980s, through the work of humorist and essayist Akio Nakamori. His 1983 series An Investigation of "Otaku" (『おたく』の研究 "Otaku" no Kenkyū?), printed in the lolicon magazine Manga Burikko, applied the term to unpleasant fans in caricature. Animators like Haruhiko Mikimoto and Shōji Kawamori had used the term among themselves as an honorific second-person pronoun since the late 1970s.[2] Supposedly, a set of fans kept using it past the point in their relationships where others would have moved on to a less formal style of address. Because this misuse of the word otaku indicated social awkwardness, Nakamori chose the word itself to label the fans.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 06:06 AM ----------

They're both offensive, people just misuse them constantly. If Skelington remembers right, otaku in japan is like calling an african person a nigger. It's about as low as it gets.

That's because people are morons. It's like the "IMUH GURL GAMER xXXXXXDDDD" crowd.

20 years ago in America people would get in fights if someone was called a Nerd. You realize that people would call anyone who touched a computer a nerd/geek/dweeb, they where highly offensive terms in the 80s/early 90s. Otaku is no different than Nerd was in 1989.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 06:09 AM ----------

Also, reminds me of Evangelion bouncy boobs hahaha, it did catch on quite well

neon genesis evangelion the biggest F-U to the fans ever, and still one of the greatest amines ever.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 06:13 AM ----------

Weren't the girls in Evangelion like 14?

the writer/creator of Evengelion took all the fan favorite themes and mixed them into one anime, 14 year olds, harem, mecha. he then made everything off. watch the anime and spot how he made it a FU it's really funny.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 06:18 AM ----------

What defines a US otaku?
I have the entire series of Avatar on DVD.

Spend at least 10hrs a week watching anime, seen at least 20 different anime series. That would be a good starting place.

My level of Otaku
http://www.anime-planet.com/users/gothicshark

[Deafknight]

Wait, anime is normal? I've always found people that know a lot about anime to be kind of strange. It's like a counter-culture type thing. Like "oh, you're gunna watch American animation? Well screw you I only like the Japanese stuff! HA!"

Lord knows I have tried to like anime, I have watched movies and shows, but 90% of the time I end up hating it! I just watched Akira, and Jesus...I mean...there's no denying the animation is incredible...but the story was just...bleh. I mean, half the movie is just that Tetsuo kid wrecking up the the entire city, killing hundreds of people, trying to get to Akira. We get it...he's unstoppable. I honestly think the only reason he didn't just psychically teleport to Akira is so the the animators could draw more amazing explosions and smoke. And then that one girl who was his semi-gf just dies and not a single #%$@ was given, and yet the colonel survives!? If anyone deserves to die it's him!

But even I have a favorite Anime: Cowboy Bebop. Awesome show. Go watch it and then you'll have an answer next time someone asks.

Most american animation is comedic and tailored to children, there is very rarely any sort of character development or anything that keeps a decent plot going.
Alot of anime has just that and while its still targeted at children manages to incorporate content appealing to adults.

However i love me some Dexters Lab and companions

Some people crave identity though trying to use japan as their counter culture, most of em horribly failing and the ones that do succeed just notice how most people that actually tried watching anime like it and in turn fail as well

[Skorpionss]

Spend at least 10hrs a week watching anime, seen at least 20 different anime series. That would be a good starting place.

My level of Otaku
http://www.anime-planet.com/users/gothicshark

nice... would it be possible to transfer my anime list account to anime-planet xD cba to manually add them all again, I just remade my anime list account so I'm kinda burned out on it xD not that's it's lots of work or anything just boring xD

my list: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Skorpionss

[Lodreh]

With the same generation that started really loving JRPG's I believe. So the people who think FF7 was the best FF are also going to love anime, in general.

Clearly there are outliers. I'm not a big fan of Anime, about the only one I've seen that I enjoyed was Ghost in the Shell. The rest were just meh-tastic to me. And feel free to ignore people who claim 'you had a bad childhood' because you didn't do just the same things they did.

Final Fantasy VI was the best one ever... and Anime has had a strong foot hold in the US since the mid 80's/ early 90's. Some of the best include: Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll, Berserk, Bastard!, Record of the Lotus War, and Rurouni Kenshin.

[Gothicshark]

I think avatar was made and produced in America by Americans so it might not be considered Anime.

It's an American Cartoon, granted it falls in the category of good quality cartoons from the west.

any US Otaku show have at least seen:
Wizards
Heavy Metal
Lord of the Rings (animated)
the Black Cauldron
Rock & Rule

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 06:32 AM ----------

Something about a time traveling girl that goes to school. I don't remember the name.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

[Ridesdel]

Nani? They are sugoi kawaii desu ka bento! =^____^=

Okay, first things first, what you just said roughly translates to "What? They are very/super cute, dont you agree, lunchbox!" A statement in japanese ending with -desuka is almost always a question. and bento is a boxed lunch type of meal.

Second, and on topic this time, anime has not become mainstream in the US, just highly popular among the 18-30 year olds because of old shows on TV(pokemon, sailor moon, speed racer, DBZ)

[Deafknight]

Okay, first things first, what you just said roughly translates to "What? They are very/super cute, dont you agree, lunchbox!" A statement in japanese ending with -desuka is almost always a question. and bento is a boxed lunch type of meal.

Second, and on topic this time, anime has not become mainstream in the US, just highly popular among the 18-30 year olds because of old shows on TV(pokemon, sailor moon, speed racer, DBZ)

huh ? being highly popular in the age group that decide what is mainstream makes it so :P

[Immitis]

hey remember speed racer? astro boy? thundercats? pokemon? megaman? all anime. anime has been popular in america since like the 80s

[Gothicshark]

Some people who are really into anime really make me cringe. There is nothing wrong with watching anime but there are people around who try to fit as many japanese words into their vocabulary and watch anime constantly for the sake of it being anime. We get it, you like foreign things from a county half the world doesn't understand. That doesn't make it very pleasant to constantly get japanese things shoved in our face.

That would be a Weebo, and not an Otaku.

Anime is merely a type of cartoon. It's no different from someone saying they like retro video games or football/soccer. In the OP's story you could have told your co-workers you played World of Warcraft and possibly get the same result back, despite you, me and everyone else on these forums thinking World of Warcraft is the most normal thing in the world.

Cartoon is a misleading term, because a Cartoon is only intended for children, many Animated shows are designed for both children and adults, and some are even intended just for adults. The reason why Ralph Bakshi is considered an Animator and not a cartoonist, and his Animated films where never called cartoons was the mature themes, and intended audiences.

I personally watch what I want to watch. I don't deliberately look for anime to watch, but if something crosses my path I will watch it. In all fairness all I've seen so far was Claymore (which was awesome) and Death Note (which was okay-ish), but generally anime isn't something I really enjoy watching. Nothing against the people who do like anime though. It's simply not my cup of tea.

So you are not an Otaku, and you are not even a fan. So why are you posting this?

Not sure what links furries to anime though. The two ''fandoms'' have nothing in common.

EDIT:
While my post had nothing to do with anyone in this topic;


*Cringe*

Furries being a strange lot, they have been drawn to some animes because of Anamorphic charters. aka Catgirls.

[Deafknight]

Why would anyone watch Community and It's always sunny in Philadelphia? their plots are so boringly normal... see, I can play that game too... just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's crap... and yes making good anime into good movies costs alot of money... they do something that normal cinematography can't do without spending hundreds of millions...

Wait what ? Community and Sunny have gone completely apeshit since their respective second / third season.

[Immitis]

Wait what ? Community and Sunny have gone completely apeshit since their respective second / third season.

i dont think you know what that word means O-O i doubt they started flipping out and smashing people