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{{quote|''"Domo Arigatou, Mister
A cultural movement in American pop-culture which had precursors in [[The Sixties]], but began fully in [[The Eighties]] and ending at the finale of the [[Turn of the Millennium]] (if it's really ended at all). The movement marked an intense trend towards heavy interest in Eastern Culture, especially Japanese, and its influence therein on American pop-culture.
Somewhat of a counterpart to the [[British Invasion]]; whereas the [[British Invasion]] marked a heavy influence of British music and musicians on the music industry, the
The Invasion can be noted to have begun as early as the release of [[The Magnificent Seven]] - a remake of the [[Akira Kurosawa]] film, ''[[The Seven Samurai]]'' - in 1960; its counterpart in the animation world came the following year with ''[[Alakazam The Great]]'' -- the dubbing of the [[Osamu Tezuka]] film, ''[[Journey to the West]]''.
Throughout the 1960s, films from Japan, especially [[Akira Kurosawa]] films, were brought over to the US -- at first through remakes, and then as the originals themselves. At the same time, cartoons that would one day be known worldwide as [[Anime]] were dubbed and shown on children's TV as novelty series - most notably, ''[[Astro Boy]], [[Speed Racer]]'', and ''[[Gigantor]]''.
Throughout [[The Seventies]], it was in animation during this decade that Japan began to exhibit its influence on American culture the most. Japanese animation companies had proven proficient enough - and most importantly,
Samurai films continued to be brought over, as a counterpart to Chinese and Hong Kong Kung-Fu movies, but were generally regarded as schlock entertainment, barring the works of Akira Kurosawa. "Ninja" entered the American Vernacular, and became exceedingly prominent in film, TV, and especially comic books. Finally, Japanese films were thrown a saving throw in the last years of the decade, in the form of a [[Sci Fi Fantasy]] film known as ''[[Star Wars]]''. Heavily influenced by Eastern philosophy and mysticism, Samurai aesthetics, and directly based on the works of Akira Kurosawa, Star Wars became the link between the east and the west in storytelling.
Following [[Star Blazers]] came the dub, ''[[Battle of the Planets]]'', and it became glaringly obvious to US investors that Japan couldn't just create inexpensive animation, but inexpensive ''gorgeous'' animation. [[The Eighties]] is impossible to imagine without Japan's influence, as pop-culture of the day was inundated with animation from Japan. Combining Japanese highly-detailed animation techniques with American investment
Just as the influx of
[[The Eighties]] brought with it, too, the rise of home [[Video Games]], and out of the rubble of the [[The Great Video Game Crash of 1983]] of 1985 came a small Japanese company who would drive the industry for the next 20 years: [[Nintendo]].
The latter half of the 1980s saw more and more imports of Japanese products, as well, with part of their marketability being that they
[[The Nineties]] saw the height of the Invasion, as interest in anything Japanese-related became hot-selling items, especially Japanese visual media. Fansubs became prominent in media black markets as a way to see "Japanimation" shows which hadn't been brought over to the US. Manga, originally published in left-to-right format in the US, emerged for the very first time, with the most prominent being ''[[Ranma
First, the rise of [[Cartoon Network]] and the establishment of [[Toonami]], an action-oriented animation block on TV first brought back shows like ''[[Thundercats]]'', and then rebroadcast the ''[[Macross]] Saga'' of ''[[Robotech]]''; following, it broadcast the original run of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', which proved successful enough to warrant the dubbing of ''more'' episodes which had never been dubbed before. The ''[[Pokémon]]'' TV series began airing on broadcast TV, as well, which attracted younger audiences. Finally, it was the broadcast of [[FUNimation]]'s newly-acquired series, ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' served as the [[Heroic Second Wind]] for Japanese animation. In the span of about two years, "Japanimation" went from being a dying fad, to the household "Anime" that is known today.
Japanese games, especially those from [[Sega]] and [[Nintendo]], flooded the market and re-centered the video game industry from California to Japan. Mario and Sonic, two Japanese creations, became the iconic generals of the [[Console Wars]], while ''[[Pokémon]], [[Street Fighter]], [[The Legend of Zelda]], [[Castlevania]], [[Final Fantasy]], [[Star Fox]], [[Metroid]], [[Kirby]]'', and others put the question into the mind of many Americans whether the US would ever regain prominence in the video game world.
The Turn of the Millennium brought with it the advent of [[The Internet]], and solidified the ubiquity of Japanese culture in the US. Suddenly, these strange foods like Pocky and Ramune become wanted items, which by the end of the decade would become relative mainstays in comic shops and gaming stores.
The full affect on visual mediums came to a head when American animation began to adopt [[Animesque]] qualities. Some shows, such as [[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]] and [[Totally Spies!]] played this to the nines, made as stereotypically Japanese as possible, sometimes including Japanese openings. Others, such as ''[[Megas XLR]]'' used the visuals as an obvious homage to their influences. Still others, now the vast majority, like ''[[Samurai Jack]], [[Ben 10]],'' and ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', simply were [[Animesque]] because that was the style the animators preferred, without any conscious effort to make an "American Anime."
Outside of the United States meanwhile, ''France'' and other Franchophone territories have also become a major hub for Japanese culture in the West. Though going as far back as the ''Japonisme'' of the 19th Century, its latest incarnations can be seen in the popularity of anime, manga rivaling local ''Bande Dessinee'' and the [[Animesque]] influence seen in some French animation. Given the influence French art had on Japanese anime, however, some tend to consider this mutual.
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