"'Is there something wrong with, after our work is done, hanging out and watching a little of The OC? Or singing karaoke? Or reading comic books? Does something have to been complicated and hard to understand to be culture? A hundred years from now, after we're all dead from the Yellowstone caldera, or the ice caps melting, or no more petroleum, or killer algae taking over the planet, when whatever remains of human civilization looks back at early twenty-first century society, who do you think is going to better describe what our lives were really like - an essay on the ways the media exploits us, or a single episode of Sailor Moon? I'm sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, give me anime, or give me death.'"
-Meg Cabot writing as Mia Thermopolis,
"Princess in Training"
Truer words cannot have been said, Meg. I may not have said much of the topic, but I can't help but say it. Tom Barry hearts anime. You can call me crazy if you want, but my childhood was mainly during the meteroic rise of anime's popularity in the United States. It all started off with reruns of the basics, "Speed Racer", "Voltron", and "Thunder Cats" (HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!). Of course, that was nothing compared to the popularity of "Transformers". If I was going to get a toy Transformer, I don't think I could have done enough asking for Optimus Prime, Megatron, and the rest of the Autobots and Decepticons.
The mid to late nineties starting rolling around, and though I was growing up, I was still an anime junkie. I don't think I would have survived if I had missed an episode of "DragonBall", "Digimon", "Yu-Gi Oh", or "Gundum". Of course, I grew up in the most exhausting era for parents, the era of "Pokemon". Had to watch the cartoons and the movies, get the games and the cards. Seriously, if you were my age back then, I don't think there was much of you who tried to smuggle your Pokemon cards or Game Boy into school for recess.
As the 2000's came, I sort of tuned out on anime. I believe that much of the children friendly anime really became and still is crap for two reasons. One, the American media is enthralled with anime, they will ship over the worst cartoons out there. Two, it's simply a case of bad adaptation. Poor dubbing, cut episodes, plots, or scenes, or not poor transformation of the cartoon from Japan to the United States would do it in.
And while anime does have a bit of down side, I'm not sure that many people realize just how much influence anime has has on American entertainment. Do you people know how many quality movies or TV shows have some degree of anime in it? I'm talking about longt-ime running shows and blockbuster movies. I mean "300", "The Matrix", "The Simpsons", the 2005 "War of the Worlds", "Blade Runner", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and even "Star Wars". All of those have to thank anime in some way for their inspiration.
But, the original anime has not been forgotten, thank God! Now that I'm older, I think I can fully appreciate more mature anime movies than I used to. Look at "Akira", "Ghost in the Shell", "Karas: The Prophecy", or "The Castle of Cagliostro". And I would be more than happy to scream from the highest mountaintop that I consider "Spirited Away" to be one of the best movies ever made.
And if that weren't enough, look at what's being done with anime today. They're being turned into live-action hit movies. Do I even have to guess how much money "Transformers" grossed. And if that weren't enough, Michael Bay spent his Writer's Guild of America strike drawing up a script for a sequal. Yay! And there's two sure-fire anime hits that are coming soon. This summer, "Speed Racer" gets brought to life, and with an all-star cast to boot (Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci, and Matthew Fox). Did I mention the Wachowski's, who used their anime influence for the "Matrix" series, directed, produced, and wrote this big screen ride? And look at 2009, when "Dragonball" gets a live version makeover. Some of the cast playing lead characters, I've never heard (who the hell are you, Justin Chatwin and Jamie Chung), but at least has actors I'm familiar with (James Marsters, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun-Fat). And the anime explosion is going to continue. After the animated version had some success in limited release in 1989, "Akira" will be brought to the big screen with real actors. I don't the dates or actors, but the mere fact that it is BEING PRODUCED BY LEONARD DICAPRIO means that will certainly kick ass. And even the original anime series to come to America will be getting a CGI makeover for a 2009 release. That's right, "Astro Boy" is coming back to America.
Alas, if there is one thing I can do to make anime even better than before in America other than scrapping those crappy remakes on TV by 4Kids Entertainment, well, I recommend taking one last look at what Meg wrote to come out of the mouth of Mia. More than any anime, I was a HUGE fan of "Sailor Moon". Yeah, I know, you're probably thinking something's wrong with my head. Again. Why the hell would I be lured in by the first anime to come to America aimed at girls? The fighting. The same can be said for just about every other male who watched that show at my age, too. After Cartoon Network lost its broadcasting rights to the show, I kind of forgot about from about 2003 on. It wasn't until 2007 that I was reunited with "Sailor Moon". I was just minding my own business, cruising YouTube, when something caught my eye. "Sailor Moon". It took me a while to connect the dots, but I figured why it sounded so familiar. I clicked on the link. At the moment, at the age of 21, was I once again enthralled by the adventures of Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina, Amara, Michelle, Trista, Hotaru, Rini, Darien, Luna, Artemis, and Diana. To be honest, I had the hugest crush on Amy, aka Sailor Mercury, *puts the brakes on* Too much information. Anyways, I'm hearing that the popularity of the show is on the rise once more, thank you, cult followings. It's becoming one of the most watched animes on YouTube, both with the dub (Yay!) and the original with English subtitles (YAY!). In August 2007, the Anime News Network held a poll of which of 50 animes fans wanted see most for Video on Demand service. Out of 3,973 votes cast, 2,535 votes, or 63.7% of the overall vote, went to "Sailor Moon" far ahead of second-place "Digimon" (1,641 votes, or 41.2%). And that includes the never released into English Season 5. *Fanboy scream* The most telling sign of popularity? MOVIE RUMORS! Once Joss Whedon dropped from the production of "Wonder Woman" some sites where abuzz that Whedon was being recruited for a "Sailor Moon" movie with a killer cast. Think of this, Mischa Barton as Sailor Moon, Alexis Bledel as Mercury, Julie Gonzalo as Venus, Amber Tamblyn as Jupiter, Deanna Casaluce as Mars, Danielle Panabaker as Neptune, Maggie Grace as Uranus, and A.J. Cook, Elisa Donovan, Amanda Righetti, Emma Caufield, and Rachel Blanchard as the main villians. Quality director with a hot ass cast. Sound too good to be true. Sadly, it is. Thanks to spelling errors and the list of too many names of those cast, it was quickly shot down. But how cool would it be if that were to happen? Let's say if "Sailor Moon" where to be resurrected. Not only would I be happy to see those actresses in mini-skirts, but I think it would be the peak of anime in America. So come on. Let America have what it wants. Give me anime, or give me death.
