When most of the older crowd thinks of Japan, memories of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Pearl Harbor, feudalism, and Samurai warriors come to mind. However, this country’s younger generations have alternate views of the sleeping giant of the far east. Both technology and entertainment are considered “a step above” when it comes to Japan, its culture, and its progression, thus meriting the incessant coveting by America’s “pop” crowd.

At the heart of the pop culture American acceptance of Japan is the Anime & Manga movement. Anime, Japanese cartoons, and Manga, Japanese comic books, have become so popular in the United States among the 18-25 crowd that they are not just carried by American stores, but also get subtitled and carried by mainstream cable television networks.

Famous Anime & Manga

Naruto

One of the most famous Japanese-turned-American anime/manga series is Naruto. Naruto is the story of a young child born with an extraordinary power buried within him, and his quest to become a master warrior to protect his village.

By using the “jutsu” or life force sealed within him, Naruto trains to become not just a strong warrior, but one of the greatest “hokage” (military leader of a village) ever to live. So popular was this anime in fact, that this ongoing series is still “dubbed” (voiced recorded in english) currently on Cartoon Network.

Akira

One of the first mainstream successes of Japanese anime is the feature-length movie Akira. Based in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, Shotaro Kaneda and his “bosozoku” (Japanese biker) gang find themselves at war with a rival gang amidst the all encompassing World War responsible for the state of the “Neo-Tokyo” they inhabit. I could go on for hours about the plot and premise of Akira, but i’d rather you check the movie or manga series out. In current news, Leonardo DiCaprio is producing a movie on the Japanese anime, tentatively slated for release in 2011.

Shonen Jump Bleach

No need for discussion about Bleach, just check the vid! Hands down, this is my favorite anime; the Japanese culture fascination with death, life, and the afterlife is similar to my own.