Line #24 FollowTheLeader/AnimeAndManga


1	* While there were waves of TV anime releases in the US in the 60s and 80s, anime was largely an underground movement in the States before the success of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', which led companies to look for more Japanese material to localize in 1995, including ''Anime/RoninWarriors'', ''Anime/SailorMoon'', ''[[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Eagle Riders]]'', ''[[Anime/TekkamanBlade Teknoman]]'', and ''Manga/DragonBall''. The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' phenomenon several years later advanced it further, resulting in the localization of not just more {{Mons}}-flavored shows, but also the {{shonen}} genre in general. American TV producers have tried to cash in on this as well, but, not wanting to pay for an existing series, create their own. For proof that this rarely ever works out, look no further than ''WesternAnimation/DragonBooster''. One "American anime" that did find success, however, was ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''.
2	* The success of ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' paved the way for direct-to-video anime anthologies of popular Western franchises, animated by different well-known studios. So far, Franchise/{{Batman}} got in the act with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight'' and ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' with ''Anime/HaloLegends''. ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' and ''Franchise/DragonAge'' have also followed suit.
3	* ''Manga/AttackNumberOne'' was the first anime to feature a feminine sports team. Its follower ''Anime/AttackerYou'', rehashed its formula, added a healthy dose of comedy and ''ecchi'' humor, and turned it into an 80's version which gained quite some popularity.
4	* The runaway international success of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' led to the creation of other post-apocalyptic-world-overrun-by-hideous-monsters shows like ''Anime/DecaDence'' and ''Anime/KabaneriOfTheIronFortress''. Also, the [=PS4=] / PC / Xbox One game ''Extinction''[='=]s premise of playing as a warrior trained to [[LastStand defend what's left of humanity from]] [[AttackOfthe50FootWhatever giant creatures]], leaping around to pull this off, is more than a little similar to ''Attack on Titan''[='s=].
5	* ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'' has a similar basic premise to ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}''. A modern world filled with anthropomorphic animals where carnivores and herbivores live together in the same city and both works have a friendship/relationship between a rabbit and a canid (fox vs wolf) as well. Beyond that, the two works sharply diverge in story focus, theme and tone.
6	* ''Manga/BlackClover'' is a highly derivative work, noticeable by avid shounen readers very quickly that it takes chunks of the ideas behind ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/FairyTail'' and ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'' to mix them together and come up with a plot of their own. It has an {{Expy}} plot of ''Naruto'', dumb but determined and social pariah main character decides that he wants to get the highest rank in his country, another of the ''Fairy Tail'' guild, down to even similar [=HQs=] and settings similar to ''Deadly Sins''.
7	* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' has spawned several impersonators, notably ''Manga/BlackCat.''
8	* ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' has a follower of sorts in "[[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1289 Cybot Robotchi]]" AKA "Robby The Rascal". Both feature a horny, awkward BunglingInventor with a PunnyName living in a small town in the middle of nowhere populated by weird people and animals, who creates a robot with huge powers but the mindset of a kid (and a lot of other silly and bizarre inventions). HilarityEnsues, etc.
9	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'''s impact on Shonen manga is, well... impressive — to say the very least, its influence now impossible to not see in almost any work in the subgenre. Although not the first employ the vast number of the tropes its most associated with, it became the [[TropeCodifier de facto]] face of them. To this day, Shonen, and various Anime in general that use elements from, pay homage, or parody, this series and continue its legacy. For proof, one need only look as far as these three anime — often considered the most current and direct of its spiritual successors: ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'', ''Franchise/OnePiece'', and ''Franchise/{{Bleach}}''.
10	* ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' was a massive influence on the later {{Cyberpunk}} genre, and inspired several futuristic action/sci-fi works such as ''Film/TheMatrix'', ''VideoGame/{{Oni}}'' and ''VideoGame/PerfectDark''.
11	* ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}'' follows ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' almost to the letter.
12	* The success of ''Literature/DirtyPair'' and ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' in the mid-late 1980's led to a wave of GirlsWithGuns anime, often episodic shows which involved teams of good-looking women, top-secret missions, intense fight scenes, and fast car chases. Examples include the Manga/YoureUnderArrest franchise, as well as Manga/GunsmithCats, Anime/BurnUp, Anime/MichikoAndHatchin, and Manga/GunslingerGirl. While it is not ''as'' common as back then, they are still being made into the 2020s, with ''Anime/LycorisRecoil'' a recent example.
13	* The term "{{Moe}}" was coined in the mid-to-late '90s, and many other shows had moe elements, but ''Manga/KOn'' was the first instance of an entire show being described as such, and was a big enough hit that it spawned a wave of other "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" shows.
14	* Manga duo Creator/FujikoFujio gained success with ''Manga/LittleGhostQTaro'', which inspired a boatload of imitators following the formula, many of them from the Fujiko duo themselves. The best-known and the longest-running of that is ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'', which itself inspired imitators.
15	* The surprise success of ''Manga/LoveHina'', a manga about a loser who, through hard work, [[TookALevelInBadass learns martial arts]], becomes successful, slowly wins the women in his life, and finally gets to marry his first love, gave rise to a ton of low-quality HaremSeries where a [[UnluckyEverydude loser]] meets several women who immediately fall in love with him for no clear reason.
16	** ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' preceded ''Love Hina'', and Tenchi itself was preceded by ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', which was preceded by ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', which can reasonably be called the originator of the Harem genre.
17	* If something in the OtokonokoGenre follows the premise of a "guy infiltrates an [[OneGenderSchool all girls school]] in drag, {{Harem\|Genre}} disguised as {{Yuri\|Genre}} ensues" there's a good chance it was inspired by, if not ripping off, ''VisualNovel/OtobokuMaidensAreFallingForMe''.
18	* ''Anime/PrettyCure'', has done this three times:
19	** To attract fans of Bandai's own ''Aikatsu!'' franchise, ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' not only used cards that contained clothing inside as the collectible item, but included two songs the Cures sing to purify their enemies[[note]] "Shiawase Gohan Ai No Uta" and "Innocent Purification"[[/note]].
20	** ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' was made to cash in on the successes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen\|2013}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'', which became more popular than ''Pretty Cure'' in 2014, by focusing on a princess theme. [[note]]Ironically, Bandai did release merchandise of both ''Frozen'' and ''Sofia the First'' in Japan.[[/note]]
21	** ''Anime/KiraKiraPrecureALaMode'' seems to be this to ''[=PriPara=]'', which made more money than ''Pretty Cure'' in 2016. There are insert songs sung by the characters OncePerEpisode, segments at the end combining live action and animation [[note]] [=PriPara=]'s ending themes, except "Mune Kyun Love Song", "Rainbow Melody" and "Growin' Jewel", have live action clips in them, while Pretty Cure uses live action cooking segments that the characters commentate on.[[/note]], main characters with similar hairstyles [[note]] with Cure Whip having similar hair to Laala, Cure Macaron having similar hair to Sophie and Aroma and Cure Chocolat having similar hair to Hibiki[[/note]] and a mascot who is not child age.
22	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
23	** Originally, Double Team in the anime used the rapid afterimage trick, after ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' became popular, now it works like Shadow Clone Jutsu. Note that Double Team is called "Kage Bunshin" (Shadow Clone) in Japan. If it wasn't more obvious, Ash's Froakie liked to smash Water Pulse balls (which were ''never'' balls but rather wave attacks) into foes just like Naruto uses his Rasengan.
24	** The immense popularity of the anime series lead the creation of many other {{Mon}} series inspired by videogames or toys, such as ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', ''Anime/MonsterRancher'', ''Anime/{{Medabots}}'', ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'', among others.
25	** The anime's success also lead to a boom in anime adaptations of video games in the early 2000s, including ''Anime/BombermanJetters'', ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' and ''Anime/SonicX''.
26	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' [[OlderThanTheyThink wasn't the first-ever]] DarkerAndEdgier MagicalGirl series, but in its wake came a wave of darker MG shows, including ''Anime/DayBreakIllusion'', ''Anime/SelectorInfectedWixoss'', and ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero''. It's gotten to the point where some fans automatically assume that an upcoming darker MagicalGirl anime is "a ''Madoka'' ripoff" (whereas a lighter MG show is "a ''Anime/PrettyCure'' or ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' ripoff").
27	* ''Anime/SailorMoon'' inspired a deluge of shows based on the MagicalGirlWarrior model that it popularized, at the same time that it followed the trail blazed by [[Creator/ToeiAnimation the same animation studio's]] earlier ''Manga/CuteyHoney'', which both preceded it by nearly two decades.
28	** This then came full circle when the final TV series of the original ''Sailor Moon'' anime, ''Sailor Stars'', was followed in its time slot by a reboot of ''Cutey Honey'' called ''Cutey Honey F'' (or ''Flash''), which used many of the same staff and subsequently came to be regarded by many as a ''Sailor Moon'' knockoff.
29	** In the same vein, ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' practically set the trend for the [[GenderFlip genderflipped]] HaremGenre. It also brought {{Miko}}s into the mainstream.
30	* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' kickstarted the "pretty boys in armor" subgenre, such as ''Anime/RoninWarriors'', which is pretty much ''Saint Seiya'' [[RecycledInSpace based on Feudal Japan]], and ''Manga/LegendOfHeavenlySphereShurato''. The latter series was so much like its insperation that it had quite a tough time differentiating itself from its hugely popular predecessor and got OvershadowedByAwesome.
31	* SuperRobotGenre shows like ''[[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28]]'' already had their own success, but it was ''Anime/MazingerZ'' that solidified the concept of piloting a robot (via a cockpit within its head, rather than [[TheKidWithTheRemoteControl remote control]]) and started a revolutionary trend that attracted [[MerchandiseDriven toy makers]] and captivated children. Such influence would eventually lead to all sorts of landmark works that keep the said genre alive and relevant to this day. Pretty much ''every'' HumongousMecha show created after 1972 owes something to ''Anime/MazingerZ'', either because they copied the tropes established by this series or because they tried averting them, subverting them or deconstructing them.
32	** ''Manga/GetterRobo'' was the first CombiningMecha and ''Anime/{{Raideen}}'' ''almost'' was the first TransformingMecha. Both concepts have been imitated, subverted, ripped off, deconstructed and reconstructed countless times since the seventies by countless mecha shows. Some examples are: the ''Anime/RobotRomanceTrilogy'' (''Anime/CombattlerV'', ''Anime/VoltesV'', ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'')[[note]]Admittedly the Anime/RobotRomanceTrilogy had the same director as ''Anime/{{Raideen}}, Creator/TadaoNagahama[[/note]], ''Anime/{{Zambot 3}}'', ''Anime/{{Daitarn 3}}'', ''Anime/UFOWarriorDaiApolon'', ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'', ''Anime/SpaceWarriorBaldios'', ''Anime/GoLion'', ''Anime/{{Dangaioh}}'', the ''Anime/BraveSeries''...
33	** One of the most shameless ''Mazinger'' rehashes was 1983's ''Psycho Armor Govarian'', which was a case of ''Mazinger'' creator Creator/GoNagai copying ''himself''.
34	** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' started another trend in the HumongousMecha shows, creating the so-called RealRobotGenre and being imitated by dozen of shows, mainly in The80s. It set the stage for every RealRobot show to follow from ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms'' to ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' to ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. Examples include: ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', ''Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss'', ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'', ''Anime/PanzerWorldGalient'', ''Anime/FangOfTheSunDougram'', ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}''...
35	*** ''Macross'' itself spawned a few imitatiors of the "Transforming mecha vs. Alien Invasion" concept. Two of them were so much like it that Harmony Gold was able to combine all three into ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''.
36	** The EstrogenBrigade created by ''Anime/GundamWing'''s CastFullOfPrettyBoys have lead many other mech shows to include Bishonen character designs. It's telling that Creator/{{Sunrise}} had the respective character designs of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' character be created by Clamp and Yun Kouga, who have previously worked on ''shojo'' romance works.
37	** After the runaway success of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', a ''lot'' of anime were released which revolved around a world where an apocalyptic event happened a few years ago, and now psychologically unbalanced kids are forced to pilot giant robots to defeat alien invaders. Often these will involve religious imagery and a conspiracy to cover up how dangerous piloting a mecha actually is. Examples include ''Anime/{{Gasaraki}}'', ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis Tokyo 2040'', ''Anime/BrainPowerd'', ''Anime/ArgentoSoma'', ''Anime/{{Betterman}}'', ''Anime/{{Geneshaft}}'', ''Anime/FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' [[note]]''Fafner'' was produced by the same people so the leaders follow themselves with this one[[/note]], ''Anime/RahXephon'', ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', and to a certain extent ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico''. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad however, as many of these shows are absolutely beloved by the mecha fandom and the ''Evangelion'' connections are much looser and more vague than a trend chaser wave might suggest.
38	** An interesting subversion of this comes from ''[[Anime/GaoGaiGar King of Braves GaoGaiGar]]''. While a lot of SuperRobot series following ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'' tried to copy its style, whether it be in character drama or enemy designs, ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' was almost a ''violent'' [[GenreThrowback throwback]] to the genre's roots drawing much from ''Manga/GetterRobo'', ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'' and the like. It has since left its mark on the genre, helping to keep the popularity of the HotBlooded hero type that such series became famous for.
39	** ''[[Anime/MashinHeroWataruSeries Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru]]'' and ''Franchise/SDGundam''[='s=] respective successes lead to a brief flood of shows with mecha that used [[SuperDeformed super-deformed]] proportions throughout the nineties. ''Anime/MadoKingGranzort'', ''Manga/LordOfLordsRyuKnight'', ''[[Anime/ShippuIronLeaguer Whirlwind! Iron Leaguer]]'', ''Karakuri Kengō Den Musashi Lord'', the ''Anime/NGKnightLamune40'' franchise, ''RPG Densetsu Hepoi'' and ''Gulliver Boy'' were all examples of this.
40	* ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' was a video game[[note]]it later received a short manga and anime[[/note]] that centered around UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars [-[[RecycledInSpace AS A VIDEO GAME!]]-], with large amounts of {{Fanservice}}. A manga/anime series entitled ''[[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-08-11/nobuhiko-okamoto-leads-aoi-sekai-no-chushin-de-cast Aoi Sekai no Chuusin De]]'' was created which has a similar premise, but with several differences. There's significantly less {{Moe}}, the characters are based on video game characters/franchises themselves instead of companies, and the console war is more specific, focusing on Creator/{{Sega}} vs. Creator/{{Nintendo}}.
41	* Although studios like Toei had been adapting classics of Western children's literature into anime feature films for decades, it was the success of [[Creator/NipponAnimation Nippon Animation's]] ''Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater'', known for its slow-paced but beautifully animated adaptations of Western literary classics and for early involvement by future giants of animation like Creator/HayaoMiyazaki [[GhibliHills and]] Creator/IsaoTakahata, that created a vogue for other examples of the genre on TV through the '70s and '80s and into the '90s, including ''Anime/BelleAndSebastian, Anime/TheSecretGarden'' and ''Literature/TheLittlePrince''. Nippon Animation itself expanded on the niche they popularized through other series based on Western kid-lit such as ''Anime/FutureBoyConan'' and ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics''.
42	* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' has at least one imitator, ''Manga/{{Shitsurakuen}}''. It's about a tomboyish young girl who gets accepted to an exclusive private school and wears shorts instead of a skirt with her uniform (although they came with the uniform, to her confusion). She sees herself as a knight defending the oppressed girls of the school, who are used as weapons/objects by the boys, especially the head of the student council. There is much HoYay and LesYay to be had, too. At least here there's a sci-fi reason for the weapons coming out of the girls' chests: the whole campus is a 3-D stage for a video game.
43	* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', created a new vogue for romantic comedies rife with wackiness and huge casts of characters, including ''Manga/TokimekiTonight'', ''High School! Kimengumi'', and ''Sasuga no Sarutobi'', not to mention "MagicalGirlfriend" series like ''Manga/VideoGirlAi'', ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' and ''Manga/{{Rizelmine}}''. Creator Rumiko Takahashi herself later revisited the genre with ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'' and ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''.
44	* As the manga ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'' gained popularity, other RomanticComedy manga based around the premise of a girl with a disability/disorder/problematic quirk being helped out by their male classmate who has feelings for them began popping up, some notable examples being ''Manga/TheGirlILikeForgotHerGlasses'' and ''Dignified Asleep Saeki''.
45	* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' launched a whole series of popular 'monster girl' shows following a couple of years later (about the time it takes to get an anime up and running). One of the most blatant is the light novel and later manga ''Monster Musume no Oisha-san'', or ''Literature/MonsterGirlDoctor'' (even the title is similar), which spawned an [[https://mon-isha-anime.com/ anime adaptation]] in July 2020. It's about a doctor in a medieval fantasy world with a lamia assistant (voiced by Creator/SaoriOnishi, Doppel's VA) who cures the ailments of several monster girls. Let's see: we have a tomboyish harpy with a short name and who wears minimal, a blonde centaur knight, a patched-up flesh golem, a shy-looking purple-eyed cyclops, a mermaid, a mature-looking voluptuous arachne (whose name even references arachnids thrice!) and a petite dragon girl (voiced by Creator/AtsumiTanezaki, Lilith's VA, and they're both petite monster girls). The fact that the author outright used ''Daily Monster Girl'' as inspiration for their work, along with how Z-ton, who did some parts of the 4-koma anthology, is the novel art illustrator and manga artist for ''Monster Girl Doctor'', likely is a large part of why there's so many similarities.

Context FollowTheLeader / AnimeAndManga