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

[Skelington]

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.

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

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.

[Luneward]

I personally don't like women in anime. There just seems to be a few set personalities they have. Shy girl/girl who pretends to be cat/angry girl/always cheerful girl.

I'm not sure how that's different from your average TV show/series. Most characters are based on some kind of archetype. And a lot of shows - particularly sitcoms - never vary hugely from the archetypes presented. Anime really isn't any different than what is shown on normal 'live' television, the format and medium is just different. There's some really good, some really, really bad; but most of it is just barely watchable dreck.

[cz75fan]

But since I play WoW, or talk about it quite a bit, people assume I'm a gamer and therefore I know everything about Zelda, Final Fantasy, Mario, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Assassin's Creed... I know NOTHING about those games as I just don't play them. Am I expected to educate myself on these things to be a "proper gamer" or will I just never fit in with the kewl kidz?

Here I'll make it easy for you. FF gone down hill since 6. Zelda stopped being good after OoT, and Mario's last adventure was Mario 64. All Dragonball games are crap and the same; Pokemon snap and stadium were the only stand outs both of which were awful.

Assassins Creed is... beats me.

Summation done.

[Remilia]

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.

An Otaku in Japan is very shunned upon by the way.

It was supposed to be a joke sending the message of: "you'll never know what you're gonna read here!"

No, that'd be fun stuff forum, :P.

[semaphore]

Anime is seemingly growing in popularity. However, dvd and bluray sales are in the tank. That's due to Fan Subs out of Japan and the access of the episodes the day after they air in Japan.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc is not sound logic. And besides western TV shows are on the airwaves for free too, do you also think that's what causing their DVD/Bluray sales to be less than <insert arbitrarily invented imaginary sales figure>?

Also, fansubs is the reason why there's even a market in the West for anime in the first place. But the quality of fansubs overwhelm commercial productions so much that I used to search for fansubs even for DVDs I actually own.

---------- Post added 2013-01-03 at 09:00 AM ----------

But since I play WoW, or talk about it quite a bit, people assume I'm a gamer and therefore I know everything about Zelda, Final Fantasy, Mario, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Assassin's Creed... I know NOTHING about those games as I just don't play them. Am I expected to educate myself on these things to be a "proper gamer" or will I just never fit in with the kewl kidz?

You're expected to not care about what some anonymous strangers in trade chat think about your lack of knowledge on pointless subjects.

[cz75fan]

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.

Unless you find your self equal to those interviewed on Otaku no Video... NO. No you're not. Unless you're Japanese, live in Japan, AND share the previous in common. No... no you're not.

[LiiLoSNK]

Otaku is a derogatory term for an obsessive shut-in that has no meaning when americans use it like modern people calling themselves "so nerdy" for something like playing tetris. You're probably thinking of weeaboo, which is someone who obsesses over japan.

I thought weeaboo was the offensive one? I've been linked to videos from comic-cons, anime-cons, and similar conventions where people call themselves otakus and hold signs with the word on it.

Every time i've read the term weeaboo, it's been used as an insult.

[Kurioxan]

But since I play WoW, or talk about it quite a bit, people assume I'm a gamer and therefore I know everything about Zelda, Final Fantasy, Mario, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Assassin's Creed... I know NOTHING about those games as I just don't play them. Am I expected to educate myself on these things to be a "proper gamer" or will I just never fit in with the kewl kidz?

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

[PizzaSHARK]

Pokemon and Digimon are barely even qualifies as anime.


I think that's a retarded thing to say (no anime = have no life? wha? it used to be the opposite! :indignant. But over the 2000s when the fansub scene took off in conjunction with bittorrent and internet filesharing in general. It's gotten sufficiently popular and widespread that it's simply taken as a regular element of life for certain demographics.

One that isn't and doesn't have to be shared by everyone, mind you, but nonetheless one that is widespread enough to be accepted as normal among large demographic groups.

semaphore watched Japanese cartoons? You're kidding.

I'm not sure how that's different from your average TV show/series. Most characters are based on some kind of archetype. And a lot of shows - particularly sitcoms - never vary hugely from the archetypes presented. Anime really isn't any different than what is shown on normal 'live' television, the format and medium is just different. There's some really good, some really, really bad; but most of it is just barely watchable dreck.

True. But you couple that with boring or too-simple plots and characters and over-the-top action sequences and it's easy to assume it's just for kids. There have been a few cartoons I really enjoyed, but most of them were either something I stopped enjoying as I grew up, or watch very occasionally because sometimes it's fun to watch some dude get punched at supersonic speeds through three walls.

[Chrysia]

I thought weeaboo was the offensive one? I've been linked to videos from comic-cons, anime-cons, and similar conventions where people call themselves otakus and hold signs with the word on it.

Every time i've read the term weeaboo, it's been used as an insult.

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

[Cybran]

I personally don't like women in anime. There just seems to be a few set personalities they have. Shy girl/girl who pretends to be cat/angry girl/always cheerful girl.

Puma twins, Faye Valentine and Motoko Kusanagi are my favorites and they are none of the above.

[Remilia]

I thought weeaboo was the offensive one? I've been linked to videos from comic-cons, anime-cons, and similar conventions where people call themselves otakus and hold signs with the word on it.

Every time i've read the term weeaboo, it's been used as an insult.

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

[Time Sage]

An Otaku in Japan is very shunned upon by the way.

That's why the last line was "Never leave the house?" IT was a bit of self depreciating humor. The term has different conations in the US then the original Japanese, where fans use it to describe themselves. I've been to anime cons. The people there describe themselves as otakus. Heck I have a shirt from said con that mentions it.

[Cernunnos]

If the extent of the mainstream anime in the US is dragonball Z, Pokemon, Digimon, Yu Gi OH, Inuyasha, MAR, Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura, the I would have to say it went mainstream sometime in the 90s along with the rest of the world.

While the above are definitely anime, they are not my go to series when I think anime.

Neon Genesis, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ninja Scroll, Basilisk, Berserk, Elfen Lied, Blade of the Immortal, Rurouni Kenshin, Devil May Cry, Claymore, Akira, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Hellsing, Brave 10, Cowboy Bebop these are the ones that first come to mind for me when I think of anime. And I doubt most of those are considered mainstream.

[cz75fan]

Post hoc ergo propter hoc is not sound logic. And besides western TV shows are on the airwaves for free too, do you also think that's what causing their DVD/Bluray sales to be less than <insert arbitrarily invented imaginary sales figure>?

Also, fansubs is the reason why there's even a market in the West for anime in the first place. But the quality of fansubs overwhelm commercial productions so much that I used to search for fansubs even for DVDs I actually own.

Well, lets see, do you work in the industry by chance? Have you had late night drinking binges with Funimation Execs? Does you have a boss who flies to Japan every year to have dinners with production companies and Japanese voice actors?

I'm just wondering. Because everything I've been told by the people who make a living off of these things say that their numbers and feed back show my statements to have a huge on going effect, that the cost they are forced to release their product at is a financial hindrance over the internet.

[Chrysia]

Semaphore watched Japanese cartoons? You're kidding.

True. But you couple that with boring or too-simple plots and characters and over-the-top action sequences and it's easy to assume it's just for kids. There have been a few cartoons I really enjoyed, but most of them were either something I stopped enjoying as I grew up, or watch very occasionally because sometimes it's fun to watch some dude get punched at supersonic speeds through three walls.

You're really showcasing the type of anime you've been exposed to. There's a lot of different anime out there, spanning pretty much every genre. Seems you've only been exposed to the hyperactiony ones.

[Yunru]

Generaly a good anime has: Action, Drama, Horror, Vampire, Supernatural, Seinen, Adventure, Fantasy, Game, Romance (but not too much of it), Comedy.
And a bad one has: Comedy, Slice of Life, Sports, Shounen.

Generaly you will see only anime that makes money on tv (like pokemon and more).

[Al Gorefiend]

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

My first gaming system was a PS2 on Christmas of 2001. It collected dust and the only games I had for it was spyro and crash bandicoot. I was never into gaming as a child but more into sports, friends and Marvel. At some point in my life I became obsessed with Lord of the Rings and somehow ended up here But talk to me about things like Pokemon, Zelda or hell, even Mario and I'll be clueless to a deep extent.

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

[LiiLoSNK]

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

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

[PizzaSHARK]

Puma twins, Faye Valentine and Motoko Kusanagi are my favorites and they are none of the above.

While their characters were interesting, their character designs were "classic anime." Both Faye Valentine and Major Kusanagi dressed like strippers in almost all of their on-screen appearances. At least in Faye Valentine's case it was part of her character (she used her body to distract her marks), but I never heard any reasonable reason for Major Kusanagi to run around dressed like that.

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

You're really showcasing the type of anime you've been exposed to. There's a lot of different anime out there, spanning pretty much every genre. Seems you've only been exposed to the hyperactiony ones.

I've seen a few episodes of the "slice of life," variety and good god they're boring. I guess I'd like them if I was the age they were catering to, but I'm not 16 anymore.