Technically, "anime" is just the Japanese word that refers to animation as a whole, but obviously we're not gonna be talking about Looney Tunes in here. Outside of Japan, anime refers specifically to animation from that small, densely populated island nation. For a time in the United States the term Japanimation was used instead, and animated media from Japan was hard to come by. Sure, there would be some breakout exceptions that grazed against the edge of the mainstream like Akira, but it wasn't until the Toonami programming block on Cartoon Network started airing the powerhouse duo of Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon in 1998 that anime really entered the pop culture consciousness.
Just let Moltar from Space Ghost explain to you, kid watching Cartoon Network in the 90's (that's you), why these shows are so cool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sof9NXUQ4jIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBJz-xmr1qk
Thanks in large part to those two shows anime exploded in popularity in the US, and before long distributors would be desperately importing anything they could find that might hit that same level of popularity, a small portion of that airing on TV while the majority was released on ridiculously expensive VHS tapes, and later DVDs (seriously, 20 or 30 bucks for four dubbed episodes was normal for the time). For a long time Toonami was THE place to watch anime in the States, with many memorable shows gracing the programming block: Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo!, Outlaw Star, Big O, Zoids, etc.
Heck, even the first episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion aired on Toonami as part of Giant Robot Week in 2003. Just let T.O.M. ("Toonami Operations Module") tell you, youth watching Cartoon Network in the early 00's, about these cool shows that you should totally check out that for reasons unexplained aren't going to be aired in their entirety:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2EIirisKck
BTW, if that T.O.M. guy sounds familiar, then you've already watched some great anime. Perhaps Cowboy Bebop, where T.O.M.'s voice actor, Steve Blum, portrayed Spike Spiegel.
Rather than make this whole opening thread about Toonami, though, I'll just let this guy explain how Toonami helped bring anime mainstream (it would be remiss of me to not mention that Adult Swim also began airing anime, such as Full Metal Alchemist and Paranoia Agent; anime increasingly began airing on other channels hoping to mimic Cartoon Network's success).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp_Er4N_HTo
There's also this quote from Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis:
Anime influenced kids in the ‘90s and ‘00s due to packaging like Toonami. Those kids are now in their 30s and making their own TV shows. They want to make stuff similar to what they watched when they were kids. Hence, you get shows like Steven Universe, Owl House, She-Ra, Kipo, OK K.O., Rise of the TMNT, etc. It’s clear that anime has influenced an entire generation of cartoon creators. Anime can be kid-oriented, but can also veer into adult themes.
As kids, many show creators were watching the adult stuff, so they’re trying to recreate what anime does in the American market. Unfortunately, the people in charge didn’t grow up with anime, so they often miss its value.
Source
Ever since, anime has made more and more of a pop culture impact, and there's more and more convenient ways to find and watch shows you've never seen before (even DVDs and Blu Rays are reasonably priced now!). Streaming especially did wonders for making anime more affordably accessible than ever before, and now one can watch their favorite shows on services like Netflix, HBOMax, Crunchyroll, Funimation, VRV, etc. Toonami itself is still around, too, though now on Saturday Nights on Adult Swim.
EDIT: SOOOOOOOOOO I had way more typed up and my computer died, leaving me with nothing to show for about thirty minutes of work, so for right now I'm going to leave you with some animation that Studio Trigger (founded by former Gainax employee Hiroyuki Imaishi, perhaps most well-known for directing Gurren Lagann) has provided for Western animated shows:
Hiroyuki Imaishi (Director of Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Kill La Kill)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw8Jz-N8fXAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXt9XgxM7zo&list=LL&index=3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0WdUsip1is
Takafumi Hori (Studio Trigger Animator Who Really Liked Steven Universe and Wanted In, Probably Why Some SU Alumni Worked on BNA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LMGVx31zso
Yoh Yoshinari (Creator of Little Witch Academia, Director of Brand New Animal... and Clearly Not a Fan of Power Puff Girls Z [Which Was a Thing])
(He Does Like My Life as a Teenage Robot, Though)
Posts
The description on the YouTube page reads
I could still try to find a grainier version for that retro charm.
i was kind operating under the assumption that this was the 11th episode counting the recap/introducing the hinata character was ep 1 but nope there are three more eps this season so its looking like 2 eps of fireworks factory and 1 of aftermath and bridge to the next season.
with an intermission of Slime Diaries to scratch the "let's build a fantasy monster town full of friends" itch before the 2nd cour in July. so basically all fireworks factory there
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz4rLmNm0G8
The best action moment so far was Nezuko kicking that dude's head off, but the crazy animation for the spider kid boss fight comes close. Zenitsu doing his one thing that he can do, and then Tanjiro using Fire Breathing + Nezuko's explosive blood was fuckin' crazy.
also the 6 armed temari demon was dope and I'm mad she died so quickly!
DBZ was originally a UPN show, I think, and later on WB
https://youtu.be/EP6FKs1JsnE
Seems like a fairly unique setting, very action packed from the looks of it
This will be here until I receive an apology or Weedlordvegeta get any consequences for being a bully
I'm assuming the "fuck tropes" moment has happened by now?
was voltron an anime? that was the first one I watched, it was big for a while
I worked a lot more on the OP and my computer suddenly cut-out...
yeah i think that it was probably syndicated and it aired in my market at 11 am on sundays two episodes in row, but only ever got to the Ginyu Force landing. which was maddening, man TV was so fucking weird and opaque back then.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
Man. That was something. I think Chainsaw Man is a kind of refinement of some of the ideas of Fire Punch, and overall I think I like it better, but there’s some stuff in Fire Punch that made me go whoaaaa what the fucccckk
of course that is how it would happen because that's how it happens for a lot of people their age. they're in a heightened cartoon romcom shouneny world but they still act like modern teenagers in an honest way that a lot of other stories in the genre that are this popular don't, not this frankly.
at the same it's a perfect setup-punchline joke as a chapter. at once it was sweet, exciting without being prurient or exploitative and hilarious. reading the comments on reddit though a lot of people feeling a big disappoint and not understanding the joke, but come on how else could this series handle it and be true to the tone?
Chainsaw man is better told and a better overall story. Fire punch meanders a little in places. But it's still pretty damn good and unique.
Yeah, 100% agreed. I think Chainsaw Man is helped by Denji being kind of a charming dope, whereas Agni is... not THAT much of a character for most of the comic?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdEu8a6TEbY
Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball (not Z), and Samurai Pizza Cats are the anime I remember seeing on network TV in the pre-Toonami times.
Speaking of Imaishi, he directed the opening sequence for the cartoon OK K.O!, which should be immediately obvious to anyone whose seen anything he's ever done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNpMeYjp8A8
OK K.O.! creator Ian Jones-Quartey put one of his characters in a Little Witch Academia outfit in the show itself as a small thank you.
The crew of Steven Universe gave the characters Lapis Lazuli and Peridot parts of Kamina's costume and never had them fuse into a Kamina wtf.
They did add the most blatant Utena reference (in a show full of Utena references) towards the end, though:
Oh, and can't forget this:
But anyway.
What's a sakuga?
A cherry blossom too young to say their name right.
Oh, alright...
A fancy, higher budget bit of animation, "used to highlight an important scene".
Unlimited Sakuga Works
How'd I do?
I wonder how many kids saw this and shortly thereafter learned about the works of Junji Ito from people who caught the reference online.
Unlimited Blade Works' big fights are pretty much all sakuga, so you did better than you thought
I knew what I was doing. I still regularly rewatch my favourite fights from that show.
Voltron is one of those interesting cases way back when anime would sometimes be heavily altered before release in the US, sometimes even splicing in footage from unrelated shows. Voltron itself was primarily created using the anime Beast King GoLion.
Which I still prefer over Macross cos the soundtrack slaps so hard. I can't give it up even though the dubbing is cringe.
And by first I mean I saw episodes on tv as a kiddling.
Wait, it's actually out? I actually would consider this a sign of the apocalypse, if so.
They straight up turn a character into Captain Harlock
There is a MAD I would post that I found of his work...but some of you guys are watching Gurren Lagann for the first time and it would be full of spoilers.
I assume you mean when Lars
became