Source Image: Gage Skidmore, 'Comic Con Sign', 2007, Via www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/2168599682/
Anime, also known as Japanese animation, began in Japan in the 1960s. A lot of earlier artists associated with anime were often creators of popular Japanese manga. The first anime that made it to North America was ‘Astro Boy’ in 1963. Four seasons were made, but only two actually aired in North America.
Anime got more popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is when it exploded in North America. With shows like ‘Sailor Moon’, ‘Naruto’, ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and ‘Pokémon’ becoming staples in kids programming.
Even now, anime influences a lot of our TV shows and movies. From shows like ‘Avatar: the Last Airbender’ and ‘Teen Titans’ in its style to movies like ‘The Matrix’ that acknowledge the inspiration from works like ‘Ghost in the Shell’.
Even manga has influenced us in our storytelling. Particularly how it is structured and told.
Anime and manga have both influenced the gaming culture. Although, I think the video game that I can think of right off the bat is ‘Pokémon’ which was a cultural phenomenon by itself. With it having an expansive amount of video games, cards for the card game, as well as the anime itself.
Even in all of this it also influences our music and our fashion. In music, it influences our music videos to make them more anime-like. Whereas in fashion we have merch or cosplay.
Cosplay, also known as costume play originated in Japan in the 1970s. It involves dressing up as characters from anime, manga, video games, movies, and other forms of pop culture. It started to gain more popularity in North America in the 1980s.
Cosplay became more popular in the 2000s. Cosplayers would wear cosplays from TV shows and movies. This is also when cosplays got a lot more elaborate and creative. Nowadays you can use 3D printing to help make your cosplays and props.
It influenced us into having conventions. One of the earliest conventions was the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Comics Convention which took place in San Diego, California in 1970. This convention is now known as the San Diego Comic-Con, an event that people Cosplay at all the time. Although the first anime-specific convention documented was in the US in 1981 and held in New York City and it was called AnimeCon.
Here in Canada, we have Fan Expo as well as Anime Revolution. Fan Expo is our Comic-Con, which I’ve been to many times as well as Fan Expo.