The A-Wave: How Japanese Anime influenced American Culture
Kaaaaa…Meeeee….Haaaaa…..Meeeee….HAAA!!!! In 2004, that one word started a whole trend. On 1 January 1963, one of the earliest anime TV series in Japan, Tetuwan Atomu aka. Mighty Atom, premiered on Fuji TV (Lu 184). It was created by Ozamu Tekuza (Lu 184). A few months later, the National Broadcasting Company purchased a syndication package of the show and renamed it, Astro Boy. It quickly became a hit in the U.S.
. Japanese anime has been around since the 1930’s. The first Japanese animation was produced in 1917, however, there is no record about what it was called and the story of it (Iwabuchi). About 50 years later, anime has become a subculture of Japanese culture and is currently very popular among high school and college students. And due to anime’s rising popularity, it has become a major influence on many things in American culture. I think that Japanese anime has had an impact on American movies, animation and fashion.
Over 6,000 of films is based on an anime or manga
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One thing that used to differentiate anime and cartoons was the way it was drawn or animated. However, after anime began to get popular in America, the cartoon slowly started to integrate some of the styles seen in anime. Ozuma Tezuka, creator of the ‘big-eye style’ on the anime, influenced art styles that was used in shows like ‘Kim Possible’, ‘American Dragon: Jake Long’ and especially ‘Teen Titans’.
Anime has also inspired some cartoon studios to create anime. A great example is RWBY, created by American web-studio team, Rooster Teeth. Show like RWBY has gained high popularity with Western audiences for their animation styles and the plot. However, due to that, some animated cartoons like ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and ‘The Legend of Korra’ are occasionally mistaken for anime due to their similarities. (Wikimedia