 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Pojo's Anime: Articles The End of the Anime Fad? Written by: ipmzero Anime has become very popular in the United States. The explosion of anime on TV, DVDs, and merchandise has grown in recent years. A lot of this growth can be attributed to the success of Dragonball Z on Cartoon Network. DBZ turned anime into a fad in North America. Anime had been on the continent for far longer, but mainly as an underground hit. There were exceptions of course, but Dragonball Z really brought anime to a mainstream audience in America. Some thought anime would fizzle out over time. Just look at the game show revival of the late 90s. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the Weakest Link were wildly popular for a time. You don't see too many game shows that are that popular right now though. The same thing is happening with anime. DBZ is not as popular as it once was. The series is winding down. Add that to the fact that no series will maintain a very high level of popularity for long. People simply lose interest. If you really think about it, there is no smash hit anime out right now. Yu-Gi-Oh is doing pretty well, but its mainly the card game that is popular. DBZ is nearing the end of its rope. Pokemon is all but dead. Is the anime fad ending? The answer to that question is yes and no. Anime as a fad is coming to an end. Anime in America, however, is far from done. As a matter of fact its dominating the competition. Turn on nearly any cartoon block and you will find that it not only contains anime, but is probably composed mostly of anime. It is coming to the point where there are more Japanese animated shows than American. Why is anime taking over? There are two good answers to this question. Firstly, Japan has an entire library of cartoons never before seen in North America. Logic dictates that its easier to pick out a good series and dub it than to have to create one on your own. This is apparently what networks are doing. Secondly, there hasn't been a hit American made cartoon in a while. I personally can't think of an American made cartoon I've liked in the past two years. The last American made series I enjoyed was Beast Machines. Beast Wars and Beast Machines are proof that good series can be made in North America. Its simply not happening. At least in my opinion. Anime will step further away from being a fad with the advent of The Anime Network: a twenty-four hour anime station brought to you by ADV Films. Anime on DVD pushes it yet another step further. Anime in America has morphed over the years in importance. It has went from being fairly obscure, to being a big hit, and now to being an accepted part of the television culture. So what now of anime? Will it fade and become just another genre to the American public like Sci-Fi or Horror? Will it ascend to new heights like DBZ did in the mid to late 90s? Only time will tell. |
||||||||||||
