Frieza: Comic books have Superman. When it comes to anime/manga, what 1 character has had an impact upon japanese manga/anime like Superman had to American comic books? Two that come to mind, when I think about this, are Astro Boy and Goku, but perhaps they aren't the ones who have had the biggest impact upon japanese anime/manga. Who do you think has?
Every field always has its “big man,” its figurehead, its originator. Rock has Elvis, wrestling has Hulk Hogan, video games have Mario and, yeah, comics have Superman. They might not have been the first (or even the greatest in a lot of people’s eyes) but they’re the ones everybody thinks of first.
Astro Boy would seem like the logical choice. You can't get much more "#1" then the creation of the "god of manga." He was even the star of the very first anime TV show, right? And he's inspired however many imitators and tributes (I'm looking at your, Mega Man!) I also wonder if the dominance of mecha in this field might have a lot to with the kid's robotic nature.
But that ASTRO BOY movie last year didn't do too well, even in Japan. Maybe this is more of a generational thing?
See, I might’ve said Goku. He basically is Japan’s answer to Superman, anyway. An orphaned, exiled, absurdly-powerful alien who's raised on Earth and defends from his fellow, evil refuges? Which one am I describing there, you know? The moving movement’s certainly faster than a speeding bullet and the kamamaya’s certainly as powerful as locomotive. And, lord knows, he's famous the world over.
But I wonder if this might also be a generational thing. Sure, he’s big in the eyes of guys my age, but how relevant is DBZ to kids these days? Say, anybody born after ’95? Has KAI been doing a good job of keeping it relevant? Has Goku been eclipsed by Pikachu?
I bring that up, because I'm sure some older fans would really want to give Speed Racer as an answer - - and they might have had a point at one point - - but I'm sure most of you are going to disagree. His hour may have passed, just Astro Boy and Goku's may have.
Anyway, keep the questions coming. Seriously, I’ll answer anything you ask me in this column.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here.
I think Goku is a def. possibility as even the younger generation has heard of DBZ. Hell, my dad (who is in his late 40s) said he remembers watching a bit of Dragon Ball when it came to the US. However, I'll take a step away from this topic as I think a number of fans can agree with me saying that while anime/manga have stand-out characters the mediums are more about stand-out titles (ex. Akira, Eva, Astro Boy, DBZ, etc.).
Sorry that I keep asking questions for this segment but I have another:
Sports anime/manga: good, bad, or just plain ugly?
The litmus test for me has always been what non-fans associate with the medium/genre. Astro Boy / Superman had their time in the 50s, Akira and...well probably Superman still...had the 80s, Goku and Batman had the 90s, Pikachu and Spiderman in the 00s.... I don't know if comics have theirs for this decade yet, but Naruto is definitely a contender for manga.
Some are good actually
Speaking as someone who isn't into sports, there are some sports manga I enjoy. Nononono (ski jumping), Baby Steps (tennis), Teppu (mixed martial arts), and I enjoyed watching the Ookiku Furikabutte (baseball) anime.
And on-topic, I'd actually say for wordwide-ness, Goku is a top contender. But I also think alongside him and Astro-boy, the title characters for Captain Tsubasa and Saint Seiya should be mentioned, although both series had little popularity in the US.
As to the question i agree with the 2 choices, but there are other possibilites who are equaly popular or perhaps even more.
Doraemon and Totoro, i think every little kid in Japan has heard about them, as well at pretty much every place in the rest of the world
in Spain per example i think Doraemon and Shin-chan are a lot more famous than any other anime character, they even have exclusive spanish produced films released there.
Like Superman, Goku remains relevant. There's a reason why DBZ airs so much that they just went ahead and remastered the series. I also imagine that little boys in Japan wear Goku underwear just like little boys in America wear Superman (or Batman) underwear.
It depends on how you are really asking the character. If you are asking who do people know the most then gokkou or Pikachu would be a good answer. If you are asking which character has had the most influence INSIDE the world of anime, effecting the direction in which the later stories are told (either being in the same vein or purpossly in a different vein) then I might have to pick something like speed racer, akira, or astro boy or maybe even eva.
Superman does both for comics, certainly everyone the world over knows who he is...but he also influenced the way superhero comics are written even today. I mean batman was basicly the anti-superman (normal guy no superpowers but still a crime fighter) and you could even say the same for spiderman since he was supposed to be kind of an everyman superhero (movies did this very well). I am not sure anime has one character that fills both these roles the way superman does.
Man...I love this site honestly you don't get real intellecutal questions and conversation like this at other sites....I get so tired of the, the sky is falling anime is dieing, who would beat who threads...
And to ask another contriversial question (I just love stirring the pot) when Japan was trying to outlaw loli manga, the argument from many of the people against it was that it keeps the people with the urges from doing things to real children, since they can read the manga instead. One mangaka even did that argument in manga form. (http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/06/10/kentaro-miura-vs-tokyo-loli-ban/) crazy argument or maybe some merit. (and I promise to ask a less icky question next time).
Popular thinking would be that it's Goku. Especially with Dragon Ball's direct influence on Naruto and obvious other series like One Piece and Bleach. Although I would not be made with Astro Boy either. In a lot of ways, you can see how he's influenced not only hero driven character series like DB but to a lesser degree, mech series like Gigantor and thus Mobile Suit Gundam and so on. In addition to children based series like Pokemon. But that is quite a leap...
@sotyfan16 said:
Sports mangas are sort of a nitch thing and not everyone is going to dig them, however if you normally don't like Sports manga or anime, then I would suggest Eyeshield 21. It's the sports series for people who hate sports series, its far more like your typical shonen series like Naruto or One Piece than like a typical sports series.