tons of things before that

i will agree with Pokemon
it was risk that worked to both companies advantage.

it showed other networks and studios. that you can import animation, and it will grow in popularity.

I agree that Pokemon is likely what made anime popular in the US, but I think Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon contributed to it. However, it's definitely Pokemon that made it take off- those two titles only lead to a trickle of new anime being shown on TV- Pokemon caused at least 8 new titles to be shown in the next few years. And caused anime to KEEP being put on TV.

Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z are definitely the two most-well known anime ever released in the U.S. Following those two are Cardcaptor Sakura, Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. I believe those are the most popular because not only were the shows amazing, [I actually just don't like Digimon...] but all the shows were available on channels that didn't need cable to work. I didn't have cable while growing up, but I was still able to watch these shows.

Originally Posted by amam2217

Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z are definitely the two most-well known anime ever released in the U.S. Following those two are Cardcaptor Sakura, Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. I believe those are the most popular because not only were the shows amazing, [I actually just don't like Digimon...] but all the shows were available on channels that didn't need cable to work. I didn't have cable while growing up, but I was still able to watch these shows.

I think this sums up what I think. Me and my friends knew these as little kids ;D

I think it was Voltron that made anime popular. And I know you're thinking that's not an anime! It is, it has a different name in Japan called Go lion or something. I remember watching that when I was a kid. So did Ronin Warriors, brings back memories.

it really depends on your definition of popular and how far back you want to go. . . if you want out in the open main stream, I would say maybe Sailor Moon for girls and Dragon Ball for boys. But you have to remember how many of you or your parents watched Speed Racer? Transformers? Voltron? Kimba the White Lion? and so on. I personally think that Sailor Moon and the like are only the anime's that burst through to wide spread popularity but the Voltron and others of their time are what really got peoples attention in the first place.

Hmm, I don't know much about anime. Except for the fact that I enjoy watching it. loll. It started for with DBZ. (Yeah, yeah, yeah guy thing I know.) Then came Digimon, which I still think pwns pokemon even to this day. (Gonna get hate mail for that! lol) I absolutely love Bleach. My girlfriend and her sister, watch a crap load of anime and im struggling to keep up. There a lot of shows that we have lined up to watch (if we ever get the time that is) and there will be lots of pizza and lazy days in our future!

I would think Sailor Moon would be what brought the popularity. It was around for a looooong time and usually when someone mentions anime, that or DBZ usually pops up first.(Though recently, Naruto's been the one they mention. It's like..'no, I'm not a Narutard. xD') Even though, I would also accredit the other Toonami animes like Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, DBZ, etc.

Originally Posted by Violet Lace

I think Sailor Moon. Macross may have been on before that (I never watched it), but I think Sailor Moon was the first to be really popular in America.

Yes I agree! A lot of people watched it when it aired in America :yes:

Originally Posted by amam2217

Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z are definitely the two most-well known anime ever released in the U.S. Following those two are Cardcaptor Sakura, Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. I believe those are the most popular because not only were the shows amazing, [I actually just don't like Digimon...] but all the shows were available on channels that didn't need cable to work. I didn't have cable while growing up, but I was still able to watch these shows.

Sora also agress with this....though Sora did like the first season of digimon XP
and Sora didn't have cable either, so YAY KidsWb...booooo 4kids >0<
Sora does remember the funny stuff that 4kids would come up with though....like crappily photshopped outtakes that were so random....especially those Yu-Gi-Oh! ones XDD

I don't think it was just one anime. I think it was a combination of all of them. I don't think you can really put it all on one anime because there was more then one anime available at the time.

plus there were popular anime in America long before Sailor moon and DBZ both. look at all the anime movies release years before the tv shows.

i belive it would be a combination of well recognized shows like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Escaflowne, Gundam, and Yugioh. but probably Pokemon the most.

though, cannot forget shows from older days like Voltron, Thundercats, Speed Racer, and Ronin Warriors.

Well, I think that Toonami and Adult swim was what ultimately made anime popular in the US. A lot of us remember watching Sailer Moon, Pokemon, and Cardcaptor Sakura but I think we were a bit ahead of the times. I think what Ultimately made anime explode onto the mainstream was Dragonball Z. There are countless people I can think of that got their anime cherry popped by DBZ. Some people who haven't seen any other anime than DBZ. After that Shonen Jump made a second comeback with Naruto which kind of had the same effect as Dragonball Z. That is my thought at least.