My Top 3 Anime-Influenced American Series
I know this is going to start a fight in the comments section, but I am defining animated shows that were created in the West but have strong influences from anime as American anime. I know people who say “anime” only applies to animated shows from Japan, and I know others who say that it means anything with that style of animation. These three shows are some of my favorites that were created outside of Japan but have an animation that was clearly inspired by Japanese anime. Like my other lists, this one is in no particular order.
3 - Teen Titans
“A team of five teenaged superheroes save the world from many villains around their city while experiencing things normal teens face today.”
Teen Titans was one of the earlier examples that I came across in my childhood that I recognized as American anime. Just looking at the character designs makes you think that it’s from Japan. Combine that with the awesome theme song that is sometimes sung in Japanese, and it can add to the confusion. The characters are a lot of fun and there are times when the story gets intense. Slade (Deathstroke) is a fantastic recurring villain, too. Plus, if you’re a preteen or teenager, it is easy to relate to some of the struggles these characters face. For example, the episode when Starfire undergoes her transformation and becomes even stronger after getting horns and tusks and hair in weird places is a great metaphor for puberty that many teens can appreciate. I know I did.
If you want to watch Teen Titans, unfortunately, it looks like you have to purchase the DVDs or the Blu-rays that were just announced.
2 - Avatar: The Last Airbender
“The world is divided into four nations — the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and and the Air Nomads — each represented by a natural element for which the nation is named. Benders have the ability to control and manipulate the element from their nation. Only the Avatar is the master of all four elements. The ruthless Fire Nation wants to conquer the world but the only bender who has enough power, the Avatar, has disappeared ... until now. His tribe soon discovers that Aang is the long-lost Avatar. Now Katara and Sokka must safeguard Aang on his journey to master all four elements and save the world from the Fire Nation.”
You all knew this one was coming. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantastic show that was a little slow to start and due to it airing on Nickelodeon, I know many who passed on it as they were “too cool” for that channel. However, this show is amazing for kids and phenomenal for adults. As Aang and the gang travel the world, they face a lot of problems including an entire city that doesn’t know the war's influence has reached their own city. The characters are timeless and the story incredible. Watching characters making difficult choices, such as Yue becoming the moon spirit to save everyone, gets you invested in the characters and the choices they make. However, the intense stories and serious moments are balanced perfectly by the light-hearted and comical moments such as when Sokka drinks cactus juice and starts hallucinating. Plus, I can’t help but appreciate a show that can take an episode to make fun of itself.
The follow-up series, The Legend of Korra, was received with mixed reception, but its third season is just as good as The Last Airbender and worth checking out in my opinion.
Avatar is also available on DVD or if you can wait a little longer, the complete series will be on Blu-ray in May.
1 - RWBY
“Using the power of Dust, Team RWBY led by Ruby Rose, trains to be the next generation of protectors called Huntsmen and Huntresses. Team RWBY trains to fight crime and monsters known as the Grimm. Together they will protect the world of Remnant.”
RWBY can surprise you. This is an internet show from Rooster Teeth and it’s important to note that it started out as a small project. The first couple of seasons look weird, but if you keep in mind that it is an internet show, it reminds me a bit of the old Flash cartoons people would make. Once you get past the odd aesthetics for the first couple of seasons (it improves drastically starting in season three) you’ll be able to enjoy great stories with great characters and freaking awesome weapons that have melee and ranged combat abilities such as Ruby’s scythe that doubles as a sniper rifle. Another great feature of RWBY is that the characters are based on fairy tale characters and literary characters. Ruby is Red Riding Hood, Yang is Goldilocks, Blake is Belle, and Weiss is Snow White. Part of the fun of this show is guessing who the characters are based on. One more thing to point out is the great cast that includes famous cosplayer Jessica Nigri as Cinder, and Vic Mignogna as my favorite character, Qrow.
If you enjoy RWBY, don't forget to enjoy the spin-off series RWBY Chibi that features more adorable versions of the characters in ridiculous antics.
You can watch RWBY on YouTube or RoosterTeeth.com for free! Season 5 just finished, so now’s a great time to binge and get all caught up before the sixth season premieres this fall.
What American anime shows are your favorites?