Most agree that the history of anime in the United States began in 1961, when Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke and The White Snake Enchantress, both produced by Toei Animation, became the first two anime films to receive documented releases in the country under the names Magic Boy and Panda and the Magic Serpent, respectively. Anime is a style of Japanese animation that attracts an enormous audience through its complex art, fluid movement, and emotional storytelling often involving superhuman elements.Norquvvatova, Makhbuba; Saidova, Markhabo (2023-03-11). "The effective ways of combating monopoly in business sphere in condition of digitalization". Современные тенденции инновационного развития науки и образования в глобальном мире. 1 (1): 205–210. doi:10.47689/stars.university-pp205-210. ISSN 2250-3811. It has since found success with a growing audience in the region, with Astro Boy often being noted as the first anime to receive widespread syndication, especially in the United States. Although a handful of titles were translated before 1970, such as Speed Racer and 8th Man, anime did not achieve widespread popularity in the US until the 1990s. This period, commonly referred to as the "anime boom", is credited with cementing anime's relevance in popular culture outside Japan. Since then anime has achieved mainstream popularity in the United States, becoming a prominent part of the country's contemporary popular culture by influencing American fashion, music, video games, advertising, inspiring collaborations between anime franchises and major American brands and shaping the interests and consumption habits of viewers. Japanese animation has expanded far beyond niche fandoms, with franchises such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and many others contributing to its widespread appeal among American audiences.
From its popularity in 1961 to the late 1980s, anime was introduced to American audiences through translated and English-dubbed versions. During the late 1980s to the late 1990s, the focus shifted toward localization, where anime was adapted to suit American cultural preferences and audience expectations. From the late 1990s to the present, anime has entered a new phase characterized by experimental collaborations between American and Japanese creators, blending creative styles and production techniques from both cultures.
While several anime series have originally been distributed by pirates and fansubbers in the past via bootleg releases from the late-1990s to mid-2000s, such practices have rapidly declined since the early-2010s due to the advent of legal streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video, Hidive, and Crunchyroll, which simulcast new anime series often within a few hours of their domestic release.
Pre-1980s Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka, was one of the first Japanese anime imported to U.S. TV and received wide attention in 1963 in Japan, and later that year in the U.S. Many anime titles would receive dubbed into English during the 1960s, often broadcast on syndication or sometimes as Saturday morning cartoons, due to the quickly growing popularity of animation on US television screens. In January 1966, Tetsujin 28-go, renamed Gigantor, debuted on New York's WPIX-TV. It had a mixed reception, with reviewers such as Variety magazine giving it a menacing review, with writers calling it a "loud, violent, tasteless and cheerless cartoon" which was "strictly in the retarded babysitter class".Variety, 26 January 1966 American International Television Productions released an English dub of Prince Planet around September 1966, however, it lacked popularity due to the growing popularity of color television and excessive violence. The same dubbing studio had also worked on The Amazing 3 in 1967, which was broadcast on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles.
Later in 1967, Speed Racer would be dubbed by Trans-Lux Corporation in syndication, becoming very popular, and would be one of the most popular anime in the U.S. until the 1990s. After the release of Marine Boy in 1969, there would be no new anime titles released in America until 1978.
Due to the extreme popularity of Star Wars in 1977, In 1978, Sandy Frank Entertainment released an Americanized version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, to capitalize on the space craze caused by Star Wars, retitling the show as Battle of the Planets. 85 of the original 105 episodes made the US revised version, along with cuts of elements of graphic violence and profanity. The show reached a high level of success, airing on over 100 network affiliates during after-school hours by 1979. That same year, Space Battleship Yamato would also receive an Americanized version, rebranded as Star Blazers.
1980s
Basic cable provided a frequent broadcast outlet for juvenile-targeted anime during the 1980s, in particular Nickelodeon and CBN Cable Network (now as Freeform).
In the early 1980s, CBN aired an English dub of the Christian-themed anime series Superbook and The Flying House, as well as the female-aimed drama series Honey Honey and an uncut, Honolulu-dubbed version of Go Nagai's super robot series Mazinger Z (aired as part of a Japan-focused, public-affairs program). In the late 1980s, after the station had been renamed as "The Family Channel", it would also air dubs of Wowser and Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater version of Swiss Family Robinson.
Nickelodeon aired anime such as The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Belle and Sebastian, and anime also later formed a major component of the network's preschool-aimed Nick Jr. block, including Maple Town, Adventures of the Little Koala, Noozles, Maya the Bee, The Littl' Bits, and Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics. Pay-TV channels also aired anime occasionally: HBO broadcast numerous anime television series based on Western literature, including Gisaburō Sugii's Jack and the Beanstalk and the World Masterpiece Theater versions of Little Women and Tom Sawyer, and Osamu Tezuka's Unico features aired on the Disney Channel.
Majority of these titles aired in syndication were licensed and dubbed by Haim Saban's Saban Entertainment with Shuki Levy providing original dub scores. Saban continued to successfully license and localize Japanese media (such as Power Rangers and Digimon) well into the 90s and early 2000s.
In 1981, Roger Corman's New World Pictures oversaw the production of an English dub of the first Galaxy Express movie Bonjour Galaxy Express 999, shortened the name to Galaxy Express, distributed it theatrically. The dub changed some of the original Japanese names into more recognizable American names, like changing Tetsuro to Joey and Harlock to Warlock. Corman also edited out 30 minutes of footage, and Antonia Levi, the author of "Samurai from Outer Space", said that his dub was "highly edited and too damaged to watch". Faring similarly poorly was Manson International's 1984 edit of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, released theatrically by New World as Warriors of the Wind; a mainstay on HBO during the mid-to-late 1980s, this edited version is said to have so displeased Miyazaki-a renowned Japanese Filmmaker and co-founder of Studio Ghibli that he would insist that all future American releases of his work be unedited.
In 1983, Stern Electronics released a Dragon's Lair clone known as Cliff Hanger, which contained footage from the Lupin III films The Castle of Cagliostro and The Mystery of Mamo. As Cliff Hanger predated any proper Western release of Lupin media or Hayao Miyazaki films, and the popularization of anime in the West generally, it became notable for first exposing many Americans to anime.
In the mid-1980s, super robot and space opera anime were very popular. Series such as Voltron, The Transformers, and Robotech were successful in ratings and also commercial successes through selling merchandise. Mazinger Z fared less well, airing in syndication in 1985 in a heavily edited and dubbed version (not the Toei-commissioned dub previously broadcast on CBN) titled TranZor Z. Faring even worse was the first American release of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball in 1989. Harmony Gold produced a partial dub of the first five TV episodes and two movies (The Curse of the Blood Rubies and The Mystical Adventure), which were edited into an 80-minute film. The dubs were syndicated across America to independent television stations such as WPSG Philly 57 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and WGPR-TV in Detroit, Michigan, but failed to find an audience.
Between 1988 and 1989, the OVA series Bubblegum Crisis was one of the earliest fansubs, with AnimEigo later acquiring a license to distribute and dub the series.
In 1988, Streamline Pictures became one of the first companies dedicated solely to anime dubs, most notably dubbed versions of Twilight of the Cockroaches and three more Miyazaki films: My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, both released initially as in-flight entertainment for Japan Airlines passengers traveling from North America to Japan, and Castle in the Sky. The Totoro dub would eventually be released theatrically and commercially in the United States in 1993, and all three movies would later be redubbed by the Walt Disney Company as part of the company's deal with Studio Ghibli.
Lensman: Secret of The Lens, based on the Lensman novels by E. E. Smith, was first dubbed by Harmony Gold in 1988, and re-dubbed by Streamline Pictures in 1990; some of the voice actors voiced characters in both dubs. The Harmony Gold dub used remastered music and some music tracks came from their past movies Robotech II: The Sentinels and Robotech The Movie: The Untold Story, while the Streamline Pictures dub used the original Japanese soundtrack.
In 1988, AnimEigo, following Streamline Pictures' lead, began distributing more anime with the slogan "Anime your way!" Their first dubbed anime was Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01; renamed MADOX-01 for the British release in 1995, it was only released on VHS in 1989, due to its content not being suitable for television or theatrical release. The company also dubbed the 4-episode OVA Vampire Princess Miyu that same year, which was later adapted into a 26-episode TV series by Tokyopop (and later by Maiden Japan in 1997).
In the mid- to late 1980s, anime films such as Akira, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, and MADOX-01 were dubbed by companies including MGM, what is now 20th Century Studios, New World Pictures, and AnimEigo. Even though these films were not very successful at the time, due in part to limited release, critical reception was positive, and Akira found a cult following. Most of these films received higher-quality dubs later on.
1990s
The 1990s was the period in which anime reached mainstream popularity in the U.S. market and the terms "anime" and "manga" became commonly known, replacing "Japanimation". Companies such as Funimation Productions, Bandai Entertainment, 4Kids Entertainment, Central Park Media, Media Blasters, Saban Entertainment, Viz Media, Pioneer LDC, and ADV Films began licensing anime in the United States.
Dragon Warrior, an adaption of the video game series, aired in 1989 in Japan; in 1990, it was broadcast in the US by Saban. The show was unsuccessful in the US and was not released on home video. Saban later dubbed and adapted the 1990 anime Kyatto Ninden Teyandee as Samurai Pizza Cats and aired it in syndication in 1996. In 2002, Saban's rights to the show expired, after which Discotek Media obtained the rights (which it still owns currently).