Ask John: Are American Comics & Animation Popular in Japan?

Question:
Since Americans love Asian animation so much, are there any Asian followings of American mediums of animation or maybe comic books? I cannot think of any American animation truly worthy of foreign following (it is kinda sad) – but there are some great American comic books.

Answer:
I know that Spiderman and Spawn comics have been translated into Japanese, and AX magazine runs a monthly column on American comics, but generally Western animation and comics are not well known or popular in Asia or Japan. American animated films do screen in Japanese theaters, including the Disney films and films like The Prince of Egypt and Titan A.E., but I account for this not so much because these are animated films, but because they are American films, which consistently place higher in Japanese box-office receipts than domestic Japanese films do. Some American produced animated programs have and do air on Japanese television, including The Simpsons, Doug, Invasion America and X-Men (in fact, X-Men had an entirely new opening animation sequence created in Japan for its Japanese broadcast. This animation clip was eventually used as an ending animation in the American broadcast.) but none of these broadcasts have ever been hugely successful or popular in Japan. I can only guess that Japanese audiences are simply used to a particular type of animation and comic book storytelling and find the classic American styles interesting only as a diversion or novelty rather than something worthy of genuine interest. There are, of course, exceptions, especially within the anime industry. Masakazu Katsura, creator of Video Girl Ai and DNA², is a big fan of Batman. The influence of Batman can be seen in his Wingman and Shadow Lady manga series. Kia Asamiya is also currently at work on a Japanese manga adaptation of Batman. Akira Toriyama is a big fan of Superman, as evidenced by his establishment of a character called “Suupaman” in Dr. Slump and the Superman inspired origin of Goku in Dragonball Z. The Aeon Flux animation, which enjoyed mild success in the US, is little known outside the US, but Madhouse Studios, creators of anime including Wicked City, Ninja Scroll and Card Captor Sakura, was impressed with the series and invited Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung to serve as character designer and art director for the 13 episode OAV series Alexander Senki. Alexander is currently only available in Japanese language, but is scheduled for release in the US through Urban Vision. Alexander is a fictional history of the life of Alexander the Great. Although it is anime, it looks exactly like Aeon Flux. Here’s the link to the official site for the show: www.ani-alexander.com