| 1 | %%% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 5 | %%% |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Sometimes, Japanese-produced animation is more popular overseas than in its native land. Here are some examples of this phenomenon. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ---- |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Franchises with their own pages: |
| 12 | [[index]] |
| 13 | * ''GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff/{{Pokemon}}'' |
| 14 | [[/index]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | !!Real Life Examples |
| 19 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | * The relative popularity of anime vs. manga in different language regions can qualify: |
| 22 | ** In English-speaking countries, anime is more popular than manga, to the point that franchises such as ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', and ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' got tons more exposure when they were released as anime series. The ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' anime, which got a lukewarm reception in Japan, only helped the popularity of the series in the West. The United States has the largest number of anime watchers of any country, and the second-highest percentage by population behind Japan. |
| 23 | ** In French-speaking regions, manga is more popular than anime, to the point that both are colloquially referred to as "[[{{Pluralses}} mangas]]". This is especially the case in Quebec, where French-language manga is readily available but French dubs and subs of anime were very hard to come by prior to the rise of streaming, apart from a few nostalgic series such as ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'' (known there as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Albator]]'') and ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''. ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' aired for a while there on the French Creator/{{Teletoon}}, in both censored and uncut versions (just like in Europe), but other anime failed to follow suit. Manga and anime in general are hugely popular in France since the ''Series/ClubDorothee'' days, to the point that they have their own festivals dedicated to manga/anime, notably ''Japan Expo'', almost half of comic books printed there are manga, and there are even French artists making comic books and animated series [[{{Animesque}} in a similar style to anime and manga]]. The popularity of manga in France is especially pronounced, with it being the second-largest market outside Japan; anime, while popular in France, doesn't stand out in popularity when compared to other countries. |
| 24 | ** Manga and anime are also very popular in Canada. In French Canada, this is largely due to spillover from France and their own love for the media; Quebec (the French-speaking province) even hosts Otakuthon, one of the most widely-praised anime conventions in Canada. However, this also holds true in English Canada (most of the country), particularly in multicultural urban areas such as Toronto, where there is a large anime fandom presence from both the OccidentalOtaku base and immigrants from East Asia; while not the sole factor, many people also grew up with the "Bionix" anime block on Creator/{{YTV}} where they got acquainted with series such as ''Manga/InuYasha'' and ''Anime/GundamWing''. Anime North, held in west Toronto, is the second-biggest anime convention in all of North America and even attracts visitors from the US and other countries. |
| 25 | ** While anime continues to remain more popular than manga overall, manga has been experiencing a massive boom in popularity in the USA beginning in the mid-to-late 2010s, with several manga — such as ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' and ''Manga/DemonSlayer'' — regularly popping up on best-seller charts in the US and often [[https://www.cbr.com/japanese-manga-vs-american-comics-why-more-popular/ outselling America's domestic comic books]]. |
| 26 | * During UsefulNotes/TheNineties there was a ''huge'' demand for anime in Latin America after the success of mainstream series such as ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', ''Anime/SailorMoon'' and ''Manga/DragonBall''. There were therefore many series that received cult status in there, even when they were quite obscure in Japan or the US. These include ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'', ''Anime/BtX'', ''Manga/HellTeacherNube'', ''Anime/GhostSweeperMikami'', and ''Manga/KishinDoujiZenki''. It is especially noticeable in the case of the later show, ''Koni-Chan''. The series is practically unheard-of in Japan, but it's big in UsefulNotes/LatinAmerica. Try to Google "Koni-Chan", and you are more likely to find the [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing LatAm Dub]] than the original version. A theory on why anime became huge is due to how similar it is to {{telenovela}}s plot- and character-wise. |
| 27 | * ''Anime/DottoKoniChan'': The series comes from Japan, but is much more successful in Latin America, especially in Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. Their localized dub is superlative, turning what Japan considered a rather mediocre Gag Series into a hilariously quotable fan favourite for [=LatAm=] fans. For reference, there is more information on the Spanish version of Website/TheOtherWiki about this series than on the English and Japanese wiki combined. |
| 28 | * Because Latin America -- and Mexico in particular -- mainly dealt with European or even Japanese distributors instead of American ones, many shows that where heavily edited in America arrived uncut in Latin America and received red carpet reception over there.[[note]] It helps that Latin American censorship rules are more lax too [[/note]] The List includes ''Anime/CardCaptorSakura'', ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', ''Manga/ShamanKing'', ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', and many more. |
| 29 | * Anime in the Arab world has become extremely popular since Creator/{{Spacetoon}} was launched in the early 2000s, with series like ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', and ''Manga/CaseClosed'' being a massive hit with Arab audiences, along with other already successful series globally like ''Manga/DragonBall'' or ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Also the massive amount of anime that was broadcast by Spacetoon allowed relatively obscure series to gain several Arab fans, like ''Anime/MamaIsAFourthGrader'' or ''Manga/BabyAndMe''. |
| 30 | ** Since Creator/{{Spacetoon}} launched its late night block for teenagers and young adults, Creator/SpacePower, animes like ''Manga/BlackCat'' or ''Manga/OnePiece'' get a great reception among the Arab public. |
| 31 | * Many romance anime have a [[BettyAndVeronica female romantic foil]]. She's always a close friend, often a ChildhoodFriend, to the male lead -– unlike the female lead, who [[ManicPixieDreamGirl enters his life out of nowhere]] and [[OppositesAttract has a clashing personality]] -– and is either a {{tomboy}} or just less feminine than her rival. This type of character [[DidNotGetTheGirl almost never gets the guy]] in anime, so they're apparently not popular in Japan. But Westerners, especially Americans, '''adore''' them, and often [[DieForOurShip resent the female lead for getting in her way]], or for being too [[YamatoNadeshiko feminine]] and/or {{tsundere}} compared to their preferred character. |
| 32 | ** ''Literature/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'': Nanami, Sorata's classmate, who's in a similar place in life and becomes his best friend. Bolstered by her [[TheWoobie many other struggles]]; she wants to be a voice actor but keeps failing auditions, and her parents aren't exactly supportive. [[spoiler:This makes the fact that she doesn't get the guy seem especially unfair.]] |
| 33 | ** ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'': Minori, GenkiGirl and softball player. This one has more to do with [[AmericansHateTingle polarization]] of [[{{Tsundere}} Taiga's personality]] than anything else. [[spoiler:Doesn't get the guy, though you could probably guess that from the title.]] |
| 34 | ** ''Manga/YourLieInApril'': Tsubaki, Arima's ChildhoodFriend, and aggressive member of the baseball team. Arima only ever has eyes for Kaori, [[spoiler:[[DeathOfTheHypotenuse but after the latter dies]] it's implied that Tsubaki might end up with him eventually.]] |
| 35 | ** The Facebook page dedicated to ''Manga/TomoChanIsAGirl'' has 60,000 likes as of late November 2018, most of them originating from English-speaking fans; the amount of fanarts of this same manga in online galleries, which correlates with popularity in Japan, barely exceeds the single digits. |
| 36 | * Having a protagonist, supporting character, or even a villain who's a [[TestosteronePoisoning huge musclebound badass]] is practically a guaranteed ticket to massive popularity for that character or show in the United States. As a general rule, while audiences back home don't mind anime protagonists who are [[{{Bishonen}} highly androgynous teenage boys]] or young men, American anime/manga fans greatly prefer their male characters (and to a lesser extent, their [[ActionGirl female]] [[AmazonianBeauty characters]]) to be tough, hardcore, and '''MANLY'''. One need only look at the other shows on this page for examples, like [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Might Guy]], [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Alex Louis Armstrong]], [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]], [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia Stain]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Kenpachi Zaraki]], [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]], and pretty much [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure the entire JoJo family line]], just to name a few. |
| 37 | * In the 1990s, most of the Polish (younger) audience first encountered anime, namely the series ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'', ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', ''Manga/DashKappei'', ''Manga/TigerMask'', ''Anime/MajokkoMegChan'' and two of the ''Anime/TimeBokan'' series (''Anime/{{Yatterman}}'' and ''Yattodetaman'') via Italian-based station Polonia 1. They're still recalled fondly with a trace of nostalgia. |
| 38 | * Argentina and some other countries of Latin America had a LOT of love for 2 Mecha shows that are obscure in Japan and non-existant elsewhere: ''Anime/{{Albegas}}'' and ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}''. These two shows were planned to be dubbed as part of Voltron in the 80's but got dubs made in Argentina when those deals were off. |
| 39 | * Australia is a region that REALLY loves anime, from 60's era when The Samurai sparked a major interest in Japan, to the modern era where its one of the few regions to air the English dubs of Yu Gi Oh from start to finish. ABC 3 (And its new succesor ABC Me) airs lots of anime that would never see airtime elsewhere even on Toonami on Adult Swim in the USA, like Anime/VampireKnight and Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica with very little editing for kids. |
| 40 | [[/folder]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Genres]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | * For some reason, a number of MagicalGirl shows and old-school shoujo series have done quite well in Europe and Latin America, but are nearly forgotten in their native Japan (due to being a CyclicTrope) and just can't make it in the US (due to MoralGuardians). Examples range from ''Anime/MajokkoMegChan'', ''Manga/TokimekiTonight'' to more mainstream fare like ''Manga/SailorMoon'' and the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise (the latter two ''are'' popular in Japan, too, though). |
| 45 | * It cannot be overstated how much anime fans in the west ''love'' the [[ShonenDemographic shōnen genre]]. The majority of anime popular outside of Japan (''Anime/DragonBallZ'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/OnePiece'', ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' [[LongList and so many more]]) are Shonen, and have more or less defined what "anime" even means to western audiences. |
| 46 | * Not all Europeans like those particular genres of anime and manga, especially when different countries have different morals, but {{Hentai}} and {{Ecchi}} in general are this in Europe, to point of some adult television channels there even chose [[TooHotForTV to air hentai and ecchi that are raunchier than even AT-X is allowed to]]. Since nudity (be it sexual or artistic) and erotic literatures and plays were done in Europe since Ancient Greek and Roman times (excluding the Middle Ages), most Europeans are so familiar with nudity (to point of having actual nudist beaches) that neither hentai, nor ecchi got much scrutiny there. Quite an {{Irony}}, considering Europe, while having a sizable anime and manga fandom, isn't known for particular vocal anime or manga fandom. |
| 47 | * On a similar note, {{Seinen}} shows like ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' and ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' also gained popularity with many of those same audiences due being seen as just "Shonen but [[DarkerAndEdgier edgy]]" by a lot of western anime fans. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Individual Creators]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | * Creator/GoNagai's SuperRobot anime: |
| 53 | ** Particularly ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' are hugely popular in Spanish-speaking countries and also in Italy. There is even a [[http://ceo.upc.es/extras/eventos/mazinger/mazinger.htm life-sized replica]] of Mazinger-Z in an abandoned estate near Tarragona, Spain. |
| 54 | ** ''Grendizer'' is also incredibly popular in French-speaking countries, where it's known as ''Goldorak''. |
| 55 | ** It's also popular in Canada (particularly in Quebec and New Brunswick) and in Arabic-speaking countries, many of whom first got the bug from the French translation as they were former French colonial possessions with notable numbers of French speakers. It did get an Arabic dub as well! |
| 56 | ** In the same vein, ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'' in Japan was just another HumongousMecha anime created by Nagai, and it never became so popular like his other HumongousMecha. However, when it was aired in Argentina as ''[[DubNameChange El Vengador]]'', it enjoyed instant success and enduring popularity. |
| 57 | ** It was also popular in Italy, enough to be a vital part of a 2015 Italian film entitled They Call Me Jeeg. After Grendizer and Jeeg became hits there, distributors bought the license for every SuperRobot show that they could get, resulting in the mecha genre being extremely popular in the country. Particularly popular shows included Great Mazinger (the Italian dub is considered to be SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing), Daitarn 3 (whose AlternativeForeignThemeSong was one of the more well-remembered theme songs there), Daltanious (it was released on DVD a few years before Japan did), Gaiking (which had an Italo-disco opening), Voltron (which was dubbed twice, once uncut as ''Anime/GoLion'', and once with the American edits as ''Voltron'') and even the original Mobile Suit Gundam (which was redubbed in 2004 to fix its translation). In fact, some shows with incomplete dubs (most notably Mazinger Z, Gaiking, Getter Robo and Gakeen) had their dubs finished for home video releases. Even ''Anime/BraveRaideen'', which was never broadcast in Italy back in the day, received two dubs (one extremely faithful to the original version, and one with heavy Woosleyisms) when it was released on DVD due to it having a cult following in the country. |
| 58 | ** ''Groizer X'' is another notable Go Nagai big international hit that didn't get as much love as in Japan, especially in South America, where it is known as ''O Pirata Do Espaco'' (Brazil) and ''El Justiciero'' (Argentina). |
| 59 | * France loves Creator/LeijiMatsumoto so much, he's actually a ''knight'' there! Before being knighted, he collaborated with French electronica duo Music/DaftPunk (both of whom were fans of ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'') to create ''Anime/{{Interstella 5555}}''. |
| 60 | ** The movie Anime/HarlockSpacePirate was a worldwide box office failure, grossing only $18 million against a $30 million budget. It didn't look that way in France and Italy, [[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr3083096581/ where it grossed $5.8 million and $6.6 million respectively]], which is not only more than in Japan ($4.4 million), but in Italy it is the highest grossing anime movie of all time. |
| 61 | * For a good few years, an anime's popularity in America was directly correlated to whether or not a show was aired on Creator/AdultSwim, which was Creator/{{Toonami}}'s SpiritualSuccessor (and even became the home of Toonami after its revival). ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', ''Anime/TheBigO'', ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'', ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', and ''Anime/WolfsRain'' were major pillars of the American anime community for some time through the late 90s and 2000s. With the shift to online streaming in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, this trend has fallen off. |
| 62 | * Any anime series aired on Creator/NickJr in the early 90s is very popular with people who remember watching them as kids. |
| 63 | * In Indonesia, an obscure mangaka named Ueda Masashi is very popular for his 4-koma gag mangas such as ''Kariage-kun'' and ''Kobo-chan''. |
| 64 | * The work of Creator/RumikoTakahashi became wildly popular in the Western world, especially in the United States. During TheNineties and the TurnOfTheMillennium when anime was starting to get attention in America, her works ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' and ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' were GatewaySeries to anime and manga in general. Takahashi, however, has expressed surprise at how Western audiences, especially Americans, love her work so much; she admitted in interviews that she didn't expect foreign audiences to understand all the Japanese cultural references. |
| 65 | ** She's also ''adored'' in France and Belgium, to the point that in 2019, she was awarded the Grand Prix de la ville lifetime achievement award by the International Angoulême Comics Festival -- making her the second woman and second Japanese person ever to win the almost-exclusively Franco-Belgian award. April 2023 saw her top this by being officially knighted as a ''chevalier'' of the French Order of Arts and Letters. |
| 66 | * In recent years, the works of Creator/OsamuTezuka has gained a major following with European audiences (such as Spain and Italy). Most notably France, where Osamu Tezuka is really loved by French audiences due to manga becoming as popular as FrancoBelgianComics in that country. During Spring 2021, Tezuka Productions announced a 12 volume manga series called ''Team Phoenix'' which is an [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover Avengers-style crossover of various Tezuka characters]] by Spanish artist Kenny Ruiz. |
| 67 | ** Similar to Europe, some of Tezuka's works is also very popular in Mexico and Latin America. In Spanish-speaking countries, Astro Boy and Unico are one of Osamu Tezuka's most popular characters in the Spanish anime and manga community. Especally since the [=LatAm=] Dubs for the 1980s Astro Boy anime and ''Unico'' (known as "Unico, el pequeño unicornio") has the [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing dub actors putting extra effort into their performances.]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | !!!'''Specific examples''' |
| 72 | |
| 73 | %%% This section has been alphabetized%%% |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:#-C]] |
| 76 | * ''Anime/ThreeThousandLeaguesInSearchOfMother'' ended up being very popular in lots of countries (from Website/TheOtherWiki). The series was dubbed into several languages and became an instant success in some countries, "traumatizing" kids from many countries like Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Venezuela, Colombia, Germany, Chile, Turkey, Italy, the Arab world and Israel. In Israel it was broadcast as a marathon each and every summer holiday, managing to traumatize enough kids, that at least some of them made parodies of it when they grew up. compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHkgleNoksE the original]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvvtulTrT1Y the parody]]. |
| 77 | * ''VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}}'': |
| 78 | ** Many Western fans love Sumire, to the point where most of them were devastated when [[spoiler: she lost the Starlight Queen Cup]] in episode 176. |
| 79 | ** ''VideoGame/AikatsuStars'' flopped in Japan because the target demographic simply couldn't get used to it over the old ''Aikatsu!'', but it has a dedicated Western fanbase. Some of them love its' unique take on the ''Aikatsu!'' concept, while a few of them watch the show for the romance elements involving the girls dealing with their feelings for the boy idol group M4. |
| 80 | * The localized versions of the ''Manga/AiShiteNight'' anime were quite successful in some European countries; especially in Italy, where it spawned a live action sequel named ''Series/LoveMeLicia'' that lasted four seasons, had some of the characters' dub actors take the roles of the characters themselves, and the singer of the Italian theme song played the main character -- they made her join Bee Hive (her boyfriend's band) as a singer in the show. |
| 81 | * The film versions of ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' and ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' are both revered classics in the West, regarded as landmarks in the medium and among the first breakout anime titles to garner critical attention outside of the pre-existing {{otaku}} community. |
| 82 | * ''Franchise/AstroBoy'': Compared to the United States where Astro Boy is almost completely unknown to modern viewers of anime and manga. A large majority of the western fanbase comes from Australians, partly due to being one of the few countries outside Japan that got the 1982 series. |
| 83 | * ''Anime/{{Astroganger}}'' is seen as BileFascination in the West because it was made by the same team behind the notoriously bad anime ''Anime/ChargemanKen''. However, it is one of the most beloved anime series in the Middle East where it's known as ''Jonker'' (جونكر). Voice actor Khalid Al Sayed [[https://www.arabnews.jp/en/arts-culture/article_34511/ states that]] ''Astroganger'' is the work he's most well-known for. It is also so beloved in Syria that Syrians [[https://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/68813 cried]] watching the final episode. |
| 84 | * ''Manga/AzukiChan'' is generally well-loved in Japan especially among '90s kids, but it also got much bigger love from Taiwan and Indonesia after it was aired in Japan. |
| 85 | * In the wake of ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', ''Anime/AttackerYou'', a 1984 volleyball-themed comedy-drama manga and anime, was so popular in Italy and France, the local dubs were so popular that they single-handedly increased enrollment in girls' school volleyball teams. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'''s anime adaptation is much more popular in the States than it is on the other side of the Pacific (in Japan, it did very poorly in ratings and DVD sales). This is due to the fact that it takes place in America, and [[ShownTheirWork accurately depicts Depression-era New York City]], including an ''[[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing outstanding]]'' [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing English dub]] that used the proper regional accents. |
| 87 | * ''Anime/{{Bakugan}} Battle Brawlers'' as a whole caught on more in North America than it did in Japan, resulting in the creation of SequelSeries ''Bakugan: New Vestroia'', which debuted in Canada and the US far earlier than in Japan. |
| 88 | ** Even so, its success in Belgium is quite a sight to behold. When Cartoon Network (the one that was airing the show in the Benelux went through a period of reformation) [[UsefulNotes/FlemishTVStations VT4]] (a network that only airs in Belgium) picked it up and ended up airing it about as much as Pokemon. They have still aired ''Bakugan: New Vestroia'' on Summer 2014 (and the fact that they re-aired the show on 2015 just after their attempt to cancel it proves that it will take a long time before they cancel the show for good) and the game is still played there. Then again, seeing [[ImportFilter as anime rarely made it in Belgium at the point of airing]] it is not all that surprising. |
| 89 | * ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'' was so popular in North America (especially in Canada) that ''Anime/MetalFightBeyblade'' was produced with Western audiences in mind. |
| 90 | ** One of maybe three Shonen anime series (the other two being ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' and ''Anime/DuelMasters'') to be popular in India. |
| 91 | ** The franchise as a whole is HUGE in Latin America, easily on par with ''Anime/YuGiOh'' not just as an anime but also as a tabletop game. |
| 92 | * The 1979 anime ''Anime/{{Bannertail}}'' was popular in Spain and Germany during the 80s and 90s. |
| 93 | * While it is very well-regarded in Japan, ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' quickly found an enormous following in the West and especially American audiences. As many other examples on this page prove, Americans seem very receptive to the "darker-than-coal-on-a-moonless-night" tone and the story of a musclebound heavily scarred barbarian slaughtering his way through entire armies of men and demons alike with a sword the size of a helicopter rotor. |
| 94 | * ''Anime/TheBigO'' did poorly in Japan and ended up only making 13 of a planned 26 episodes. However, its overseas popularity was enough that it was UnCancelled four years later for another 13 episodes co-produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}}, Bandai Visual, and Creator/CartoonNetwork. Keiichi Sato, the show's designer, said this was ''[[BatmanGambit exactly what he expected]]''. |
| 95 | * ''Manga/BlackTorch'' was only a modest success that was hardly talked about in Japan; in France however, it was one of the best-selling titles of 2018 to the point the author was invited to the 2019 Japan Expo. |
| 96 | * The {{Cyberpunk}} manga ''Manga/{{Blame}}'', despite receiving a mostly lukewarm reception in Japan, maintains a strong cult following in western countries, notably France and Germany. Tsutomu Nihei (the creator) admits to having been heavily influenced by western styles in the creation of his {{Manga}}. The series has even [[http://www.myspace.com/blameindustrial inspired a German Industrial/Electronica band of the same name.]] When the animated adaptation was released, it was pushed to the largest distribution channel for Western media: Netflix. |
| 97 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is popular all over the world. Although America considers it a "Big 3" manga (along with ''Manga/OnePiece'' and ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''), it's rarely been that in Japan, although it always appears in the top half of the Japanese industry's "top 50 list" of volume sales. |
| 98 | ** For a character example, Toshiro Hitsugaya is [[EnsembleDarkhorse regularly in the top three]] in Japan (a few polls put him at #1); while in [[AmericansHateTingle North America]], he's overall less popular and [[TheScrappy a sizable portion absolutely hate him]]. Conversely, [[BloodKnight Kenpachi Zaraki]] is extremely popular with many American fans, but only made it as far as 9th in the character polls. Interestingly, Kenpachi is a big, brutish, ugly badass who wins almost all the time, whereas Hitsugaya is a short, cultured, boy genius {{Bishonen}} who [[TheWorfEffect jobs almost all the time.]] Fortunately for fans on both sides of the Pacific, both are apparently well-liked by the [[Creator/TiteKubo creator]], as they're two of the most frequently appearing captains. |
| 99 | ** And guess which character is Mexico's favorite? Chad, [[ButNotTooForeign half-Japanese and half-Mexican]], has a big fanbase over there and some of Latin America. In fact, most of the arrancar are loved in Spanish-speaking countries as well, despite being (usually) villains. |
| 100 | ** In Brazil, the most popular character is possibly Kisuke Urahara. People make Urahara-themed hats to sell in the events, and boy, do they sell well. |
| 101 | ** In the villain category, Baraggan Luisenbarn appears to have picked up a sizable American fanbase, as noted on the Bleach character page. This may be similar to Kenpachi's popularity compared to Hitsugaya; like the two heroes, Baraggan is [[LargeHam much more evilly bombastic and over-the-top]] than Aizen, king of DullSurprise. Having a OneWingedAngel resembling the GrimReaper and having an incredibly scary ability certainly helps. |
| 102 | ** [[BrilliantButLazy Shunsui]] [[ChivalrousPervert Kyoraku]], who just scrapes into the top 20 in Japan, has a fanbase that possibly rivals Kenpachi in America. This is quite ironic, considering the two's personalities are about as different as [[BloodKnight night]] and [[MartialPacifist day]]. Also quite appropriate, when you consider that they embody something that would look meh for Japanese fans, but totally awesome for Americans: '''MANLINESS.''' |
| 103 | * ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' was fairly popular in Japan, and has a cult following in most of the west, especially in America. However, Spain positively ''adores'' this series (especially the anime), and was dubbed into some local languages there. |
| 104 | * In Hong Kong, A few select ''Anime/BraveSeries'', as well as the Eldran Trilogy (one of them being ''Anime/ZettaiMutekiRaijinOh''), are fondly remembered there. In fact, most who comment about them on Website/YouTube clips for these series are from those who watched it in Hong Kong (Dubbed in Cantonese of course). The ''Brave Series'', especially ''Fighbird'' is fondly remembered in Korea. |
| 105 | * ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' sold poorly in Japan, resulting it being CutShort with only 8 of a planned 13 episodes made for OVA series, but was a hit in America. |
| 106 | * ''Manga/CandyCandy'', an old-school shojo series, is also considered to be a classic in Japan, but in Latin America and in Europe (especially in France, where it is the first shojo to be shown there), the series' fame is ''enormous'' and it's fondly remembered by people who grew up watching the series. Same thing happens in Catalonia, everyone knows ''Candy Candy'' and everyone loved it. |
| 107 | ** The show also get popularity in Indonesia, even some people are don't know about this anime, but some of them are known this show. It get even has Manga and Yes, [[https://youtu.be/91na3M7ZyB8 the opening and ending song]] that has been translated to Indonesia are considered memorable by fans. |
| 108 | * The anime adaptation of the ''Anime/CaptainFuture'' books was really loved by German (and French) viewers back in the days. |
| 109 | ** Heck, ''Captain Future'' is a double-example. Started out as [[Literature/CaptainFuture a series of American pulp novels]] that basically nobody today remembers (and which cost an arm and a leg to get anymore), was adapted into an anime which was then dubbed and broadcasted in France and Germany where it became extremely popular. |
| 110 | ** The German version having a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3zCL1uxoR8 brandnew kickass soundtrack]] (due to legal issues) probably also helped the series to become so popular. |
| 111 | ** Also reached cult status in Latin America, due to the Mexican SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing and how it was exhibited in TheEighties. Now man, MANY adults in their 30s or even 40s still adore it. |
| 112 | ** Many French speakers who grew up in the late '70s-early '80s also have fond memories of it. |
| 113 | * ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'': |
| 114 | ** He tend to be quite popular in Europe, especially in Spain. It helps that Tsubasa himself ends playing on one of the most successful teams in Spain's history: the FC Barcelona "Barça". |
| 115 | ** The anime is '''very''' popular in South America. Some professional players even cited the show as the reason why they started playing soccer in the first place. |
| 116 | ** The anime is very popular as well in Indonesia, the people who watched it back when it was airing, still remember the series and the opening themes to this day, as well as all the jokes about how the series can spent an entire episode just for one kick of the ball. |
| 117 | ** ''Captain Tsubasa'', while massively subject to DubNameChange (it was known there as ''Olive et Tom''), was huge in France too. |
| 118 | ** Under the DubNameChange of Captain Majid, Tsubasa was beloved throughout the Middle East. Proof? The Japanese Self-Defense Force (during their stay in Iraq), brought fire trucks decorated with Captain Tsubasa. These were left untouched by terrorists during their stay. |
| 119 | ** ''Captain Tsubasa'' was also extremely huge in Italy under the DubNameChange ''Holly e Benji''. |
| 120 | ** ''Captain Tsubasa'' was huge in Mexico, but during its heyday in the '90s, nobody would know it by that name. The series is still known mostly by its DubNameChange ''Súper Campeones'' (Super Champions). Notably, the opening credits for the series were the Italian title cards, which means that Mexicans were mostly watching a Japanese series with a Spanish DubNameChange with the Title Screen showing the ''Italian'' DubNameChange. Ow! |
| 121 | ** ''Captain Tsubasa'' was also highly popular among Polish kids in the early nineties. |
| 122 | * ''Manga/CaseClosed'': |
| 123 | ** ''Case Closed'' is very popular in Germany. All movies have been dubbed into German and the anime to around 330+ episodes. The manga is one of the top-selling in the country. The only series it holds a candle to is ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' in Indonesia, a country where ''Detective Conan'' also happens to be quite popular. |
| 124 | ** The ''Detective Conan'' anime is so well-loved by older fans in Chile, that a Chilean cable TV station not only continuosly aired re-runs of the abandoned ([[TroubledProduction for VERY messy reasons]]) first Latin American Spanish dubs, but purchased the rights to the series and, as of 2014, started to work on dubbing what's left of it... |
| 125 | ** Together with ''Doraemon'' and ''Dragon Ball'', ''Detective Conan'' is consider the true "Big 3" in Vietnam. You can't go to a book store and not see piles and piles of at least two of them, often all three. This has to do with the fact that they are the first manga to reach Vietnam and thus a big part of the 90s kid childhood. |
| 126 | * ''Manga/CatsEye'' and ''Manga/CityHunter'', two series by Tsukasa Hojo, were somewhat popular back in the day in Japan and are considered classics of the {{Shonen}} genre. Yet, their popularity is ''gigantic'' in Europe, especially in France, Germany, and Italy. While the former is obscure in the Americas, the latter garnered some fame there, especially in Latin America thanks to it being shown in the now defunct alternative satellite channel Locomotion. |
| 127 | * While the ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' manga has been well-received worldwide, its anime adaptation is a different story. It's highly controversial in its native Japan due to various factors, including its "cinematic" animation style, various changes from the manga, and the use of inexperienced voice actors. As the series was ''very'' heavily advertised, it suffered from large amounts of HypeBacklash, highly underperformed on Blu-Ray, and even spawned a ''petition'' to be completely redone. In the West, however, the ''Chainsaw Man'' anime is an absolute phenomenon and is more universally well-received, quickly becoming the "new big thing" in the OccidentalOtaku fanbase generating a huge NewbieBoom for the franchise as a whole, and spawning massive numbers of homages, fanart and cosplay. Much like ''Bleach'' before it, it's considered one of the new "pillars" of Shonen Jump anime in the US while its situation in Japan is much more questionable. In particular, the "cinematic" style was a huge point of criticism among Japanese fans but is considered [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt one of the show's selling points]] among Western fans. |
| 128 | * It's an understatement to say how much France loves ''Manga/ChisSweetHome'' being among the first countries to have it published where it received a dub for all seasons, an event that promoted the 2016 series and received French exclusive merchandise. |
| 129 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' was originally released in the U.S. [[NoDubForYou only in a subbed version]], but was popular enough for a dub of both the first series and ''~After Story~'' to be released. Indeed, it's far more popular than [[VisualNovel/{{Kanon}} the rest of]] [[VisualNovel/{{AIR}} the trilogy]] in the English-speaking world. There are also a good number of Spanish-language ''CLANNAD'' fanfics. |
| 130 | * The ''Literature/CoffinPrincessChaika'' anime quickly became a cultish SleeperHit in America and the overseas anime fandom in general, mostly due to Chaika herself -- she comes off as a cute-yet-badass foreigner, a character type that unsurprisingly appeals to non-Japanese anime fans -- but also because of the quirky and [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore often brutal]] fantasy setting. Meanwhile, in Japan... the second season was cut short due to abysmal sales of the first. |
| 131 | * ''[[Manga/ChuukaIchiban Cooking Master Boy]]'': Many Chinese love it as this manga and an anime adaptation showcase various rare Chinese cuisines. Even [[https://twitter.com/kei_chan89/status/1181976328465108993?s=21 someone from China cooks a signature Chinese food]] from the SignatureScene of the anime (and the ancient recipes of course). |
| 132 | * ''Anime/CorrectorYui'' received cult status in Latin America, especially in Mexico and Brazil after airings on Cartoon Network. The United States was ripe to receive this show and offer this treatment; but sadly, this case is an aversion because the English DVD release was halted after only half the series was released due to poor promotion resulting in poor sales. |
| 133 | * ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': [[PresumedFlop Contrary to popular belief]], the anime was well-received in its native Japan, but in the West and ''especially'' North America, it's one of the most-beloved anime of all time. It's often used as a GatewaySeries for people who think all anime is [[{{Mukokuseki}} big eyes]] and [[GiantMecha giant robots]]. This is mainly due to all the American movie tropes (especially from [[TheWestern Westerns]] and [[FilmNoir Noir]]) used in the series, the acclaimed English dub (to this day often held up as ''the'' best anime dub) and the fact that the protagonist isn't a little boy, but a huge badass. It's almost as if it was made for a Western audience. |
| 134 | * ''Anime/CrayonShinChan'': |
| 135 | ** It was a huge hit in Spain, ''especially'' in Catalonia. In fact, in some Spanish regions ''Shin Chan'' competed against the main news broadcasts, and ''won''. Some of the movies were screened on cinemas, and even many of the ''Shin Chan'' videogames were localized. |
| 136 | ** Both the ''Anime/CrayonShinChan'' manga and anime were popular in Korea and Indonesia, even though in both countries the anime was heavily censored in order to allow kids to watch it. The manga, oddly enough, was not and went without age ratings until the 15 years and up tag was put on the cover several months after broadcast. |
| 137 | ** To an extent, as many other anime series started airing on certain Catalonian local networks, it [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids grew in popularity]] and aired on several other local networks around the country [[MoralGuardians until it jumped into political ground]] and was kicked off first from a Madrid local network and then from several other provincial stations. Eventually, the show was sold to and aired by a national network and then its popularity faded… [[ExecutiveMeddling wonder why]]... |
| 138 | ** One of the reasons for the series' very high popularity in Catalonia might have to do with the fact that the late Yoshito Usui, ''Shin Chan'''s creator, became good friends with the Catalan translator, to the point that Usui would vacation in (and have characters visit) Barcelona. |
| 139 | * ''Anime/CreamyMamiTheMagicAngel'' was successful in Japan for sure, but European viewers went crazy over it. In the 80s, Italian and French little girls were seized with the compulsion to take wooden sticks, lift them and yell an unintelligible incantation in hopes of becoming charismatic older girls. |
| 140 | [[/folder]] |
| 141 | |
| 142 | [[folder:D-E]] |
| 143 | * For a character example, ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'''s November 11 was [[EnsembleDarkhorse more popular]] in the United States than in Japan. |
| 144 | * ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'': The anime adaptation bombed in Japan, resulting in its cancellation after 12 episodes. In America, however, ''Deadman Wonderland'' became a SleeperHit and rivaled ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' as the most watched show on the early days of the revived Creator/{{Toonami}} block. |
| 145 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'': Both the anime and manga were well-recieved in Japan when they came out, but after the 2000's, it was mostly forgotten. This is decidedly ''not'' the case in the west, primarily in the United States and Canada, where the anime is seen as a GatewaySeries into anime as a whole. ''WebVideo/BennettTheSage'' theorises Death Note's international popularity to be due to the universality of its setting, the rise of the internet in everyday life and the western anime fandom, the place the western media landscape was in at the time and the disaffection felt following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. |
| 146 | ** If we speak about a certain anime faction that can be found in several countries, we can say that {{cosplay}}ers are in love with the very polemic Misa Amane. Misa's character design is pretty cute and it's actually not that hard to bring to real life in cosplay, so many female ([[CrossDresser and some male]]) cosplayers of ''several'' nationalities have embraced her. In fact, the model Francesca Dani started as a cosplayer -- and one of her signature cosplays is Misa. |
| 147 | * In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Inosuke has become a greater hit with overseas audiences than with the Japanese fanbase. While he does have many fans in Japan, his popularity isn't as consistently high as other characters in the series. Meanwhile, fandoms in other countries have embraced him much more wholeheartedly; a notable example is how Chileans adopted Inosuke as their [[MovementMascot mascot]] during the social movement against president Sebastian Pinera in 2019. |
| 148 | * ''Anime/DeltoraQuest'': The anime, being based on a bestselling Australian series of fantasy novels, is one of the most popular anime in Australia. |
| 149 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': |
| 150 | ** Chiaki J Konaka's influence on the franchise, the Cosmic Horror elements in particular, are received much more favorably in the west than they were in Japan. Tamers reception was decidedly mixed in Japan, compared to its generally favorable reputation in non-Japan Asian countries and the States. |
| 151 | ** The franchise also has a big fandom in Latin America, where the anime is fondly remembered by 90s kids alongside more popular anime like Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball. It helps that the Latin dub was mostly accurate to the original dub and didn't have much of the Gag Dub of the English Dub (they even had the original music and songs from Kouji Wada and co in, which was a godsend for many). |
| 152 | ** Although Digimon is pretty much just a childhood curiosity in current Spain, there was a time at the Turn of the Millennium in which the franchise was a complete juggernaut there, thanks especially to a masterful merchandising campaign, some excellent dubs by distribution company Arait Multimedia, and an uncharacteristically smart broadcasting by RTVE (as well as the effects of The '90s' Mon fad). To illustrate better the point, and in an example of how deep even the mightiest can fall, in the old rivalry between Digimon and Pokémon, the latter was considered the underdog there. According to insiders, no Spanish TV's kids programming has ever come near the share RTVE got back then with Digimon and probably none will ever do. |
| 153 | ** The first season, particularly the first half, has a fairly large cult following in Finland amongst people that grew up during the late '90s and early 2000s, mostly thanks to the [[SoBadItsGood unintentionally hilarious]] dub provided by Agapio Racing Team. The second half of ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure Adventure]]'' and first half of ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 02]]'' are also notable for having a lot of care and effort put into the second Finnish dub, especially in comparison to the original dub. |
| 154 | ** Albeit it has diminished a lot since ''[[Anime/DigimonFrontier Frontier]]'' season ended, the franchise appears to still have enough followers in Indonesia that the country is one of very few in the world, if not the only, to have dubbed nearly all of the Digimon anime seasons, including even '''''[[Anime/DigimonUniverseAppMonsters Appmon]]''''', which has no signs of getting an English dub. Currently the only season still lacking an Indonesian dub are [[Anime/DigimonAdventure2020 the 2020 Adventure reboot]] and ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame''. |
| 155 | ** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure2020'' didnt impress Japan and was not a hit in USA but was a major sucess in India where it aired on Cartoon Network. |
| 156 | * The ''Literature/DirtyPair'' series is very popular in the United States, to point where [[https://twitter.com/KaelanRamos/status/1261111729297244161 the movie version become ranked #1 of Animerica's America's top seller charts of July 1994]] and was even referenced in some American media such as ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. They're also got almost all the animated installments dubbed into English (the only other language besides Japanese in most [=OVAs=]), albeit they weren't able to get the TV series dubbed until 2021 via Kickstarter campaign due to M&E tracks being somehow misplaced. In that campaign, it was funded after a few days but was able to reach all its stretch goals hours before backing ended. |
| 157 | * ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'': |
| 158 | ** While obscure in some Western countries (with its low popularity in the USA and Canada contributing heavily to its lack of presence on American-dominated websites such as Website/TVTropes), ''Doraemon'' is very popular in Portugal, as it has been running for more than a decade non-stop and in the beginning of the 2000s was actually voted the most popular show of the network where it first aired. What may surprise people living outside of ''Doraemon'' influential sphere is that it beat stuff that is mainstream in other areas (such as North America), like ''Anime/SailorMoon''. A few of the movies have also been released over there. |
| 159 | ** In fact, it's also one of the most popular anime in Spain. It's been broadcast continuously since the early nineties, sometimes on two or three channels at the same time. In fact, it's usually the most watched show on Boing, Turner's free-TV kids channel. |
| 160 | ** ''Doraemon'' was also well-liked in Italy, which was the first western country to adapt the anime. It was one of the few countries where the original 1973 anime was exported. |
| 161 | ** It's also ABSURDLY popular in Indonesia, for starters, it's one of few anime series that is still aired in Indonesia, with ''Manga/CrayonShinChan'' and ''Manga/DragonBall'' also counted for. During school and national holidays, Doraemon movies and anime are always aired regularly alongside newer western animated movies. Lots of merchandise is named after the series. This makes it rather popular amongst old and young children alike, even those that are born long after the initial run. |
| 162 | ** The series is also treated with godlike stature among kids in Indonesia's neighbor Malaysia. And the local TV stations that air the show give the same treatment to the series as the Indonesian TV station does, and that's saying a lot: Said TV station, [=RTM 1=], [[ScrewedByTheNetwork screws other popular cartoons]] regularly and Doraemon is one of the channel's long runners. And when the TV station finally dropped the show, it was immediately picked up by the other TV station who likes to screw other popular cartoons regularly, [=NTV 7=], and managed to remain to become one of the channel's long runners as well.[[note]] This channel aired both the 1979 series and the 2005 reboot[[/note]]. Popular opinion that the show has the best Malay dub in said country [[note]]Fans of anime (or any animated works in general) in Malaysia tend to lament sub-par dubbing and long-running ones tend to get screwed regularly due to ExecutiveMeddling. AnimationAgeGhetto is strong in Malaysia [[DoubleStandard unless it is 3D]][[/note]] shows how influential it is there. |
| 163 | ** ''Doraemon'' has been hugely popular in Taiwan in the four decades since his introduction, to the point where the titular cat was an unofficial mascot of the country. The first ''Doraemon'' theme park was also opened in Taiwan in Taoyuan back in 2010, and he's a mascot for everything from portable electric fans to motor scooters, is a regular sight in the country's famous and widespread convenience stores, and popularized dorayaki (his favorite snack) as a street food. |
| 164 | ** ''Doraemon'' is also quite popular in India, where dub is the highest-rated children's show in the country. |
| 165 | ** Sophia from ''Doraemon: Nobita's Mermaid Legend'' movie is ironically popular in the West, likely due to many fans comparing her to Ariel from ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989''. |
| 166 | ** ''Doraemon'' is so popular in Malayasia and Singapore that when an English release of ''Anime/StandByMeDoraemon 2'' was announced for those regions by ODEX, ''Doraemon'' was one of the top trending tags on Twitter worldwide that day. |
| 167 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 168 | ** In North America, ''Dragon Ball'' didn't become popular until the late '90s, and its heyday was in the early 2000s. However, it was mostly ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' that made it big there. The show gave Creator/CartoonNetwork some of its best ratings ever (with the show playing on the channel for almost 10 years), and spawned a huge merchandising sensation with T-shirts, action figures, gummies, activity books, trading card games, stickers, board games, video games, birthday party supplies, Halloween costumes, home videos, and more, all in mainstream stores, a feat not accomplished by any other anime not named ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokemon]]''. Its popularity continues to this day with its DVD boxsets still on UsefulNotes/WalMart and Target store shelves years after they came out, which is rare for even mainstream American shows, much less a kids' anime. The show's enduring popularity with older teenage/young-adult audiences also helps this (and not just for nostalgia either), to the point that they became the ''primary'' American demographic for ''Dragon Ball'' down the line and uncensored dubs of the various series are considered "default" and "standard". |
| 169 | ** ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' is also just as popular in the U.S., since it was marketed very carefully, saving the first 15 (unpopular) episodes until the end (with a 20-minute summary covering the story). Creator/{{FUNimation}}'s ''[=DBGT=]'' [=DVDs=] were their #2 selling [=DVDs=] in 2013, and a few episodes of the show was even released to Game Boy Player. It also had its own merchandise! |
| 170 | ** The original ''Manga/DragonBall''[='=]s success in the U.S. mostly rides on ''DBZ'''s, but it was still a modest hit, got good ratings when it was on, and its [=DVDs=] are still among [=FUNi=]'s most popular. |
| 171 | ** ''Dragon Ball'''s popularity in the West is the main reason ''Film/DragonballEvolution'' got made, and the reason that ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' is continuing into the Buu Saga. |
| 172 | ** ''Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods'' received a limited theatrical release in the U.S. at about 700 screens, where it had sold-out showings and made $2.5 million at the box office, making it the highest grossing anime movie in the U.S. not released by a major studio.[[note]]20thCenturyFox's brand and logo were on the film, but it was technically [=FUNimation=] and Screen Vision that handled US distribution.[[/note]] It also made $2.4 million in its first week of home video sales. Because of its success, the new ''DBZ'' movie could receive an even bigger release. |
| 173 | ** It might be the best selling manga of all time when global sales are added up, but possibly nowhere was it bigger than in Portugal. It was one of the first well-done anime to reach Portuguese television. Every nineties kid watched it (and for some years after too), and at its peak it transcended age and gender. Universities would stop classes because all students would be watching ''Dragon Ball''. Even old ladies would watch it like if it was a soap opera. It should be noted that the Portuguese dub was very special. Many might have called it unprofessional or unfaithful. Most would praise its humor, personality, and randomness. |
| 174 | ** Nobody doubts ''Anime/DragonBallZ'''s popularity in North America… unless you grew up in Latin America, where the popularity and exposure of the [=LatAm=] dub absolutely ''dwarfed'' the comparatively tiny American fandom (and ''DBZ'' is ''still'' North America's most popular anime!). In recognition of this, Funimation actually sells the Spanish dub in specialty shops that cater to [=LatAm=] immigrants or their kids. |
| 175 | ** Notably, ''Dragon Ball'' started showing sometime around 1995-96, quickly growing huge during its run. By the late '90s, most teens in Latin America already knew about ''Dragon Ball Z'' but it wouldn't be until 1999 that ''DBZ'' would finally air in Latin America. Many kids ended up watching the unsubbed/undubbed [=OVA and movies=] ''in Japanese'' even if they couldn't understand a thing! |
| 176 | ** ''Dragon Ball'' is ''insanely'' popular in pretty much ''all'' of South America. But special mention must be made of the absurd popularity the franchise has specifically in Mexico, where ''anything'' ''Dragon Ball'' related is absolutely adored... yes, even '''''Anime/DragonBallGT'''''. To put into perspective how big the Latino fanbase for ''Dragon Ball'' is, just look at how much money ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'' makes in [[http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=dragonballz2014.htm South American countries]]. Keep in mind that ''Battle of Gods'' is a short anime movie and had limited screening and it still debuted in some countries as the ''#1 movie in the box office'', and even beat out movies like ''Flight'' and ''Captain Phillips''! Needless to say, ''Dragon Ball'' has a Latino fanbase so large that only ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' and maybe ''Anime/SailorMoon'' can be brought up in terms of what anime can be considered as to having the largest Latino fandom. |
| 177 | ** Don't forget the rest of Europe, particularly, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. There are surprisingly large fanbases for ''Dragon Ball'' and ''Dragon Ball Z'' in those countries still to this day. Mainly due to the fact that ''Dragon Ball'' and/or ''Dragon Ball Z'' are seen as a GatewaySeries for many people in Europe. |
| 178 | ** ''Dragon Ball'' is the most notable anime franchise to achieve relevance among general audiences in Hungary. Its initial cancellation sparked a large outcry, and it remained popular despite being off the air in the following decade. Even after the anime market had crashed during the 2010s, certain TV networks decided to reach back to the franchise, producing dubs for ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' and re-airing ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' because they knew people would watch them. The fact that the franchise is broadcast at all in a media environment that otherwise doesn't see much potential in Asian animated productions is a testament to its popularity. |
| 179 | ** On a character level, Cell. In Japan, he's considered the weakest of the major ''DBZ'' villains (behind Frieza and Majin Buu, and not counting [[HeelFaceTurn Vegeta]]). In the West, he's easily the most popular. On that same note, the Cell Saga is the most popular story arc in the West, whereas Japanese fans consider it the weakest saga due to Goku being benched through most of it, all the Western media-inspired elements, and perhaps above all how [[DarkerAndEdgier unrelentingly dark in tone it is.]][[note]]With that said, that doesn't mean it's not ''liked'', since Japanese fans still like Cell even if not as much as Frieza and Buu, they appreciate some developments like Vegeta becoming a Super Saiyan and Gohan achieving Super Saiyan 2 form, Android 17 and 18 are well-regarded as characters, and Trunks is [[BreakoutCharacter VERY popular]], getting his own TV special, his normal timeline self membership in the main cast of ''GT'', story arc in ''Super'', and prominence in the [[VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse Xenoverse]] [[VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2 games.]][[/note]] |
| 180 | ** In Mexico, the ''Dragon Ball Z'' dub is ''insanely'' popular, and the original cast is revered to this day, whatever they said being considered gospel. To put an example, when ''Dragon Ball Kai'' was dubbed by a new cast, the ratings ''plummeted'' and it was quickly pulled out of circulation, being replaced by ''Dragon Ball Z'' re-runs. Much fan outcry lead to the announcement that the ''WHOLE'' series (in order to tie-in with the dubbing of the Buu saga) was going to be done by the original cast. Much fan rejoicing happened afterwards. When rumors began to circulate that there was '''NOT''' going to be a ''Dragon Ball Super'' Latin American dub (or worse, that it was going to be dubbed by the ''Kai'' cast) the outcry was so massive that it forced Goku's voice actor, Mario Castañeda, to record a video stating that the original cast was indeed going to dub it. Take into account the anime was '''not even complete''' when the dub was announced. |
| 181 | ** And since it bears repeating a final time: In the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' fandom, demanding the addition of Goku (usually alongside Shrek of all characters) is a common meme parodying frivolous or obscure character requests -- since, you know, he's not actually a video game character and therefore has no chance of ever getting in the roster. But when polls were taken of various countries for most-desired newcomers, the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/89febq/latin_american_nintendo_website_smash_bros_switch/ winner of the ballot in Latin America]] was -- you guessed it -- Goku, and by a pretty big margin, too, having as many votes as #2 and #3 put together. Once again: what qualifies as a stupid troll response in any other country, even its home one, was the most popular response by far in Mexico. |
| 182 | ** On a level within a country, ''Dragon Ball Z'' is also [[https://kotaku.com/why-black-men-love-dragon-ball-z-1820481429 known]] for having an especially large fanbase among black men and teenage boys within the US, with characters from the show often name-dropped in rap songs. A number of black ''DBZ'' fans have compared its story, in which an underdog hero rises up to make something of himself after learning about his long-forgotten, super-powered heritage, to the working-class black experience, while also loving it for its over-the-top action and for its emotional earnestness, with frank discussion and exploration of emotion often seen as taboo among young black men. |
| 183 | ** In November 2018, there was the crowning achievement for ''Dragon Ball'' in North America: A giant Goku balloon made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGwmZq2XVdc its appearance]] in the '''''92nd Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade''''', making history as the first anime/manga character to ever appear in a major American holiday celebration! Since 2018, the Goku balloon has been brought back yearly for ''UsefulNotes/MacysThanksgivingDayParade''. As many comments have noted, ''Dragon Ball'' has officially transcended fandom and made it into mainstream American Pop Culture. |
| 184 | ** While Copy-Vegeta in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is considered an uninteresting and lame villain in Japanese version due to being just a Vegeta clone, he is much better received in the English dubbed version due being cast by Brian Drummond, the original voice of Vegeta as a form of CastingGag, causing a hilarious in-universe example of two Vegeta voices clashing against each other. |
| 185 | * ''Manga/DragonHalf'''s anime adaptation wasn't very well-received in Japan (the reason only two OVA episodes were made), but its combination of being a [[QuirkyWork quirky]] take on typical fantasy anime tropes, a total lack of seriousness, and a beloved GoodBadTranslation resulted in it becoming a beloved classic in North America. When Seven Seas announced that they licensed the manga, alongside Creator/DiscotekMedia licensing the [=OVA=] for a re-release, North American fans were absolutely ecstatic. |
| 186 | * ''Manga/EatMan'': While it was somewhat popular in Japan, both series got a ''HUGE'' fanbase in Argentina, where even the somewhat rare manga got a release, due to both shows running several times on the alternative satellite channel Locomotion. When Locomotion reached Mexico it also got quite popular, although never at the same levels as in Argentina. |
| 187 | * ''Manga/ElfenLied'': |
| 188 | ** The series was so bloody and full of nudity that in Japan [[OtakuOClock it was only allowed to air on midnights]] on satellite TV, to the point that ratings-wise its only purpose was to advertise the DVD release. In America, the show turned out to be so shocking and spectacular it spread through pure word of mouth from anime club to anime club, which led so many people to buy ADV's DVD release it ended up as one of ADV's top selling series of 2005. |
| 189 | ** It also left a strong impact on Hungarian anime fans, coming out on top of a fan dub poll in the late 2010s, which lead to the production of an unofficial but professionally made, fan-funded dub for a 2020 online release. Notably, it beat ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' among other titles in the poll. |
| 190 | [[/folder]] |
| 191 | |
| 192 | [[folder:F-G]] |
| 193 | * ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' has a huge following in Italy, where it is known as ''Ken il guerriero'' ("Ken the Warrior"). Not only did they get the entire manga translated, it is also the only country in Europe where they got all 152 episodes of the anime TV series dubbed in their language (the French dub only got to Episode 90, and that was mainly a GagDub). Due to the franchise's popularity there, the Italian release of ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage'' has actually gotten plenty of pre-release hype, with a press conference held hosted by Tetsuo Hara (via a video message), an exclusive new cover art (different from the other European releases) and the same pre-order bonuses that were given out in Japan. |
| 194 | * Even the biggest Japanese anime fan probably hasn't seen ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' and has no idea what the phrase even means. However, thanks to the executives at Creator/AdultSwim absolutely adoring the anime, this strange and obscure OVA became a well-acclaimed and beloved staple of the anime community in the West, with the six-episode series going on to heavily influence shows such as ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' and ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The production of [[Anime/FLCLProgressiveAndAlternative two additional seasons]] almost two decades later is a direct result of the [=OVAs=] continued popularity outside its home country, with [adult swim] financing the episodes in a similar manner to the aforementioned ''Anime/TheBigO''. |
| 195 | * ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 196 | ** The ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' PragmaticAdaptation of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has enjoyed enormous success in the West, serving as one of Funimation's main titles and acting as a GatewaySeries for many, many anime viewers. It was successful in Japan as well, but the manga upon which it is based outperformed it considerably. The manga is popular in the West, but only with people who actually ''read'' manga, which is already a niche market. And while [[TruerToTheText the more direct manga adaptation]] ''Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'' was a smash hit with Western anime fans -- to the point that the 2003 adaptation has become passe in some fan circles -- it never matched the ratings or popularity that its predecessor received with the general public. |
| 197 | ** For a character example we have Maes Hughes, the overprotective [[DotingParent doting father]] who is generally adored in the West, despite his relatively small role compared to other military characters. [[spoiler:[[SacrificialLion His death]] is probably the most iconic tragic end in all of anime, but only to Westerners.]] His [[AdaptationExpansion increased amount of scenes]] in the 2003 anime likely contributed to this. |
| 198 | ** Characters who are renowned most for their badassery, such as King Bradley, Scar or Olivier Mira Armstrong, are naturally appreciated more in the West. Alex Louis Armstrong is loved for being a pile of muscle who's also among the friendliest characters and the [[LargeHam largest of hams]]. |
| 199 | ** Western FMA fans ''love'' Greed. Already an impressive EnsembleDarkhorse in the 2003 anime where he has little screentime, he became the most popular homunculus by a wide margin in the manga/''Brotherhood'' fandom and often scores as the most popular character outside the Elrics, Roy and Riza. No surprise as he's a rebellious, hammy, snarky hunky JerkWithAHeartOfGold who becomes an AntiHero, and a creative unconventional take on the "deadly sin." While he's a fan-favorite worldwide, he doesn't rank as high in the Eastern fandom where Ling gets more attention of the Greedling duo and Envy is the most popular homunculus. |
| 200 | * ''Anime/FutureBoyConan'': |
| 201 | ** It was very popular in the Arab world and still is today. The dubbing was performed by Arab Audio and Video Center, which was based in Kuwait. The cast included a number of Kuwaiti TV stars such as Jassim Al-Nabhan, Ali Al-Mufidi, and others. Conan's name [[DubNameChange was changed]] to Adnan, Lana's was changed to Leena, and Jimsy's was changed to Abbsi [[CulturalTranslation so that they could]] [[{{Woolseyism}} have names similar]] to Arabic names. Unlike most Arabic dubs of anime, ''Future Boy Conan'' has retained most of its plot details without any altering. |
| 202 | ** It was popular in South Korea and became the favorite anime for South Koreans who attented elementary schools in the early 1980s, especially with the help of the localized opening theme song that has a military band vibe. |
| 203 | * ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'': |
| 204 | ** The anime has gained massive popularity in East Asian countries, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, in which many fans still fondly remember watching this as children and it led some viewers to watch F1 races themselves when the series first aired in Taiwan. |
| 205 | ** It also gained popularity in Italy, mainly because it is based on UsefulNotes/FormulaOne racing where the sport is ''very'' popular here, due to racing teams like the legendary Ferrari team. |
| 206 | * ''Manga/GanbareKickers'' in Japan was canceled after 26 episodes due to low ratings, because it was simulcast with the more popular ''Captain Tsubasa'', which had a similar plot. However, when it was exported to Europe, the series was a '''HIT''' in Germany and Austria, becoming the most popular sports anime in those countries eclipsing ''Captain Tsubasa''. |
| 207 | ** It was also a Major Success in Spain where it is still a beloved series. |
| 208 | * Anime/GForceGuardiansOfSpace is very much seen as the lesser of the 2 Sandy Frank's DuelingDubs of Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman pretty much everywhere... except Latin America where it got a great dub and is seen as THE version of Gatchaman in the region. By contrast, the more popular Anime/BattleOfThePlanets is very much forgotten and almost lost media in Latin America. |
| 209 | * ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'' is both infamous and beloved by Brazilians who saw it broadcoast unedited on the "U.S. Manga" block on the TV Manchete network during the 90s/2000s. Children watching got to see one of the most gory, violent anime in history and ended up fascinated, traumatized or both. |
| 210 | * As strange as it may seem, ''Anime/GhostStories'' has real fans in Latin America (where it was known as "Historias de Fantasmas") who enjoy anime in a non-ironic way. Unlike the English Main/GagDub, the Latin Spanish dub made in Argentina remained faithful to the original script, but with [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing genuinely good voice acting]]. Along with that, the series was broadcast on Creator/CartoonNetwork from 2005 to 2007, becoming part of the childhood of many Latin American kids (and why not say it, traumatizing several with its creepy episodes). It's definitely considered a cult classic. |
| 211 | * UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}ans really, ''really'' adore ''Anime/GhostSweeperMikami''. It was exhibited in the mid-'90s and was so popular that the word "Yokoshima" (alluding to local ButtMonkey Tadao Yokoshima) made its way in mid-'90s Chilean slang. |
| 212 | * A major example in Japanese animation is ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin'' (known also as ''Silver Fang'', which may be considered a sort of unofficial English title), which was released in most Nordic countries and Hungary in the 1980s. While this release was dubbed and heavily edited, the series gained notable popularity at least in Finland (and probably at least in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden as well). Eventually the popularity resulted in [[http://www.gingasite.net/gng/vhs_dvd_section/dvd_editions.html uncut DVD releases in Finland and Sweden in 2003 and in Denmark and Norway in 2006]]. In addition to this, the animated adaption of the sequel, ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'' was released in both Finland and Sweden in 2006 just months after the series had reached its conclusion in Japan. While both series have been fansubbed in English, neither of them has had any official English release. Finland even went as far as to publish the original manga series translated into Finnish, despite it meaning they had to go through major issues to get the materials for the release and reportedly, some color pages needed to be collected with help of fans. |
| 213 | * ''Manga/GirlFriends2006'' is one of the best known YuriGenre manga outside of Japan, much loved and praised by fans for being one of the most realistic potrayals of a budding lesbian romance in the genre. Its digital version keeps popping up in the Best Sellers list of J-manga even long after it was first released internationally, and both volumes of its Omnibus collection debuted in the top 10 of the New York Times Best Sellers list for manga. Due to this, it may be surprising to learn that the manga [[http://okazu.yuricon.com/2012/06/17/interview-with-yuri-manga-artist-morinaga-milk/ only has a fraction of its international popularity in Japan]]. |
| 214 | * Anybody remember ''Anime/GoalFH''? You might know it as ''Goleadores'' instead. It was pretty popular in Latin America around the time of the 1994 FIFA World Cup... perhaps not as popular as ''Captain Tsubasa'', but it's well-remembered. However, outside of Latin America not many people know it. The number of times it is mentioned in this wiki can be counted on one hand and you'd probably still have about four fingers left when you're done counting. ''It doesn't even have an article'' (not even a ''stub'') at the English Website/TheOtherWiki. Goes ''way'' beyond "obscure," more like almost non-existent'', really... |
| 215 | * ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': |
| 216 | ** Definitely ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''. While certainly not ''un''popular in Japan, it was the first ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' work to get any real exposure to the rest of the world, and the combination of action and {{Bishonen}} leads helped it become an international smash hit. ''Gundam'' as a franchise eventually dwindled in the overseas markets for varying reasons, which is rather unfortunate since it wasn't until 15 years ''after'' the show ended that Sunrise decided to acknowledge ''Wing's'' popularity with more sequels and merchandise. |
| 217 | ** ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' suffered from atrocious ratings in its initial run in Japan, which led to the series getting canned after only thirty-nine episodes, thus making it the shortest ''Gundam'' series to be shown on TV (even ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', the only other ''Gundam'' series to get the plug pulled from under it, went on for forty-three episodes). However, Western mecha fans very quickly fell in love with the series, [[NoExportForYou despite the lack of a Western localization]], and is generally considered a classic in the genre. In fact, this attention, coupled with its appearances in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' franchise and spinoff manga ''Under the Moonlight'', has led to a reexamination and subsequent [[VindicatedByHistory vindication by history]] of the series in Japan. |
| 218 | *** Some of this can be attributed to the MerchandiseDriven nature of the meta-series. Before Bandai America started releasing their own re-branded-for-America kits, most fans who entered into the franchise with ''Gundam Wing'' usually found a number of ''Gundam X'' models among the wares at import stores. Many young fans had kits like the X Divider and Ashtaron models without ever seeing the show and then sought it out later on. |
| 219 | ** According to [[WordOfGod the director of]] ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'', he [[InvokedTrope fully anticipated]] this response to the character Flay Allster and even intended her as the kind that would specifically appeal to Western audiences. [[SubvertedTrope Unfortunately for him]], something went horribly wrong and she achieved [[AmericansHateTingle the exact opposite]] response, becoming very popular with many fans domestically but an [[TheScrappy object of loathing]] for many overseas ones. |
| 220 | ** Proportionally speaking, the Master Grade line of Gundam model kits sells incredibly well in Australia. |
| 221 | * The first season of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' was a modest commercial success and cult hit in the US, even landing a brief stint on cable via the Independent Film Channel. In Japan, where the manga is more popular, the first season was sold as a ''[[{{Feelies}} pack-in bonus]] for the {{licensed game}}s''. |
| 222 | * ''Manga/HaikaraSanGaTooru'': The anime gained popularity in France, Italy and Arabic-speaking countries while it's being largely forgotten in its native country. |
| 223 | * ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'' was really popular in Canada, even having exclusive merchandise there such as clothing and a pasta line by Heinz. |
| 224 | * ''Anime/HanaNoKoLunlun'' was successful enough in Japan, but its success in France, Latin America, and especially Russia far surpasses that. |
| 225 | * ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' (renamed ''Knockout'') was very popular among Filipinos due to their obsession with boxing which is brought the by international popularity of Manny Pacquiao. Like ''Manga/SlamDunk'', it always get a rerun on GMA. |
| 226 | * The manga series ''Manga/HappyHappyClover'' (known as ''Happy Clover'' in France) has gained a cult following in France sometime in the mid 2010s. The French translation company "Nobi Nobi" has also made a few posts on the company's Facebook page featuring the characters. The series also has become well-liked by French readers and parents due to the setting and how great the characters are. |
| 227 | * ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': [[MsFanservice Mikuru]] comes last in popularity behind the other two girls in Japan. In Spain, this is reversed; Mikuru is either the most popular, or near enough. |
| 228 | * ''Anime/HeidiGirlOfTheAlps'' was aired for first time in Spain in 1975 (renamed [[DubNameChange Heidi]]). Nearly forty years later it still enjoys the occasional rerun, and it is still one of the few anime shows (together with ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/ThreeThousandLeaguesInSearchOfMother'' -- a.k.a. ''[[DubNameChange Marco]]'' -- ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'', ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' and ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'') that everyone in Spain knows about and recognize by name, even people who are not anime geeks. And "Rottenmeier" has become synonymous with "uptight, straight-laced hag". It is also one of the most popular anime ever in Italy, as it had a huge following between the 70s and early 90s and most Italians who were children at the time remember watching it. |
| 229 | ** Its popularity also reaches to Latin America, where it's similarly loved like Spain, Germany (where it got audioplays and all), Turkey, Greece and even South Africa, where it was a huge hit in [[The80s the Eighties]] and its imported AlternativeForeignThemeSong is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOH2tDTfo4k quite]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6XSkb7ZDQc popular]] [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdb3l6_heidi-in-afrikaans_shortfilms with covers]]. |
| 230 | ** The series is also beloved in Belgium where it gained a CGI reboot by Studio 100, and an entire land in Plopsaland De Panne including a dedicated roller coaster. Heidi and Peter are even meetable characters at Plopsaland and other Plopsa Parks across Belgium. |
| 231 | * ''Anime/HelloSandybell'': |
| 232 | ** The anime was very popular in France. |
| 233 | ** It was very popular in Sweden, as it was one of the first anime to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZu1KeKoYLA ever]] be licensed and dubbed there. It helped shape an entire generation's view of the medium. |
| 234 | ** The anime is also so popular in Hungary that googling it will often lead you to Hungarian-language sites. |
| 235 | ** It aired in Mexico and Cuba during the 80s and is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVVO5PYgzUI beloved]] there for nostalgia reasons. |
| 236 | ** Thanks to SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing, the anime was beloved in Arab countries, particularly UsefulNotes/{{Syria}}. Most Syrian children who grew up in The80s are familiar with the Arabic-dub theme song. The anime is such a significant part of Syrian culture that even ''[[Literature/ThePianistFromSyriaAMemoir The Pianist From Syria]]'' [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p32.png mentions]] it. |
| 237 | ** It is also adored in [[https://newsweek.ro/timp-liber/povestea-lui-sandy-bell-desenul-animat-japonez-care-golea-parcurile-si-locurile-de-joaca Romania]]. It aired there during The90s, and the French dub was used. ''Anime/DragonBallZ, Anime/SailorMoon'' and ''Hello! Sandybell'' were the three major GatewaySeries for young Romanians into anime. |
| 238 | * The ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' TV series was so popular in America that they're the primary reason Geneon produced the ''Hellsing Ultimate'' [=OVAs=], a more faithful adaptation of the Hellsing manga. |
| 239 | * ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': |
| 240 | ** Combined some with MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales due to its use of NationalStereotypes, if a fan is from a country represented by a [[MoeAnthropomorphism nation-tan character]] in canon, chances are very good that nation-tan will be said fan's favorite character -- hence why [[{{Eagleland}} America]] and Canada are much more popular in Western fandom than in Japanese fandom. The popularity of some [[{{Shipping}} pairings]] also tend to fluctuate from fandom to fandom; Prussia/Canada is almost nonexistent in Japanese fandom but very popular in Western fandom, and vice versa with most Japan pairings. Additionally, France/England appears to be more popular among fans from the UK than America/England, the most popular pairing in both American fandom and just behind England/Japan in the Japanese fandom, and Russia/China is hugely popular with, you guessed it, the Russians and Chinese. |
| 241 | ** The ''Hetalia'' fandom, it its heyday, was ''the'' anime fandom amongst female Western anime fans, particularly those in the [[BoysLove slash]] and cosplay scenes. It received insane amounts of fanworks and was one of the biggest cosplay subjects at conventions for years. |
| 242 | * ''Manga/HiFiCluster'' struggled in the rankings in ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' in Japan. In the English-speaking world, however, it received enough votes to make it a permanent part of the English ''Shonen Jump''. Unfortunately, this didn't save the manga from being CutShort after only 21 chapters. |
| 243 | * A downplayed example: in France, ''High School! Kimengumi'' is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as other 1990's anime series like ''Dragon Ball Z'' or ''Sailor Moon'', thanks to its ''Club Dorothée'' adaptation during that era (locally, it was known as ''Le collège fou fou fou''). If you're English-speaking, chances are that you never ever heard of it, except ''possibly'' as a bit of trivia, or if you're a hardcore fan of old-school anime with NoExportForYou. |
| 244 | * ''Manga/HikariNoDensetsu'' is a popular {{shojo}} manga about rhythmic gymnastics in Japan during the mid 1980s. Despite its high production values (being produced by Creator/TatsunokoProduction, the same anime studio that produced ''Anime/SpeedRacer'', mentioned below), the anime adaptation was a huge flop in its native country and was CutShort after only 19 episodes. But in Italy, where the series was renamed ''Hilary'', the anime was extremely popular and still is to this day; they even released the manga there. The anime series also gained popularity in France, Spain and Germany. |
| 245 | * ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' became a popular school drama anime in Korea as the Japanese high school environment in the story was received pretty well for the Korean audience despite the general ban of Japanese pop culture in the late 1990s.[[note]]This was the time when Japanese anime automatically meant hentai among Korean adults.[[/note]] Its popularity in Korea became noticeable as a teen anime with quality localization without any erotic context. The Korean cable TV channel for cartoons, Tooniverse, created a whole new opening theme song that became the milestone achievement for Korean anime fans, while KBS adapted the original opening and ending theme songs with faithful Korean translations. |
| 246 | * ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': Whether the 1999 or 2011 anime adaptation is more well-known varies by region. To compare: In Japan, the 1999 anime's popularity is modest compared to the 2011 anime: |
| 247 | ** The '99 anime is very popular in Latin America (where it aired on the channel Creator/{{Locomotion}} in the 2000s) and Arabia (where it aired on Creator/{{Spacetoon}}), to the point that Website/YouTube searches often bring up the Latino or Arabic dubs and many comments on [=HxH=] related videos being from Latin users. It is also considered one of the most memorable anime in Indonesia. Particularly for its [[TranslatedCoverVersion well dubbed opening]]. Some even consider the new openings still can't hold a candle to it. |
| 248 | ** Filipinos also remember the 1999 anime very well. It might not be a surprise, considering how Creator/YoshihiroTogashi's other major work, ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', is beloved there as well. |
| 249 | ** In the United States, however, the 2011 series has become a darling of anime fans and reviewers alike, being praised for its writing, characters, animation, and pacing. So popular is it, that Toonami is currently airing the English dub. |
| 250 | * Honoo no Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei is popular in Korea, where it's known as Dodgeball King Tongki (피구왕 통키). |
| 251 | [[/folder]] |
| 252 | |
| 253 | [[folder:H-M]] |
| 254 | * ''Manga/HonooNoAlpenRose'': The series was very popular in Italy and the Middle East, as opposed to its lack of success in Japan. |
| 255 | ** It even received a second dub in Italy as the first one was heavily {{bowdlerise}}d, removing all references to UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo as well as some....intimate scenes between Jeudi and Lundi. |
| 256 | ** In France, the anime received mild success because it was part of many childhoods during The80s. |
| 257 | ** In the Arab world, it was one of the first {{shojo}} anime ever shown (the other being ''Manga/{{Lady}}''), and the [[spoiler: theme of Jeudi reuniting with the Brandels and saving them from the [[ArmsDealer Toulonchamps]] particularly resonated with a lot of Arabs, since in their culture family is highly respected]]. It's so popular that many Arab fan-sub groups work to keep it's legacy alive. |
| 258 | * ''Huckleberry Finn Monogatari'' is mostly obscure in its native country of Japan, but in Italy, it has found some success under the title ''Il mio amico Huck''. In fact, in Italy, the series aired a full [[ShortRunInPeru two years before it aired in Japan]]. |
| 259 | * ''Anime/IdolDensetsuEriko'' is a lot more well known in the Arab World since it was aired on Creator/SpaceToon, and also hired well known Arabic singers to dub over Eriko and Rei's idol songs. Outside of Japan[[note]]Where the anime was so successful it warranted a sequel series[[/note]], the Middle East is the only place where it's remembered fondly. |
| 260 | * The obscure ninja-themed comedic anime ''Manga/IganoKabamaru'' is basically forgotten, but it gained cult status in Greece and Arabic countries, of all places. |
| 261 | * ''Manga/InuYasha'': |
| 262 | ** Both the manga and the anime became very popular in North America during the early to mid 2000s; the series' EstrogenBrigade in North America is also much larger than its intended audience of [[ShonenDemographic teenage boys]], and it was once considered the most popular girls' anime, matched only by ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. The anime is particularly popular in Canada, as it and ''Anime/GundamWing'' helped kick off the airing of teen-oriented anime on the Creator/{{YTV}} network, and it helps that both shows were dubbed in English by Creator/TheOceanGroup, which is a Canadian company based in Vancouver. |
| 263 | ** Is '''absurdly popular''' in Latin America, people of all ages enjoyed it, marking the childhood or adolescence of many and it is one of the main references when it comes to talking about anime, apart from being a mandatory cosplay at any convention and being an immense source of fanfics. This is not surprising, considering that [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf another previous work by Rumiko Takahashi]] also became extremely popular there. |
| 264 | ** The anime is ''very'' popular in Vietnam as chances you would see comments from Vietnamese speakers are high in the internet, and to the point the OST is also used in Vietnamese media and films (though it probably doesn't include credit and permission however). |
| 265 | * ''Anime/JeanieWithTheLightBrownHair'', an anime based on the life and music of Stephen Foster, was a genuine failure in Japan, yet the reality is reversed in Italy. OH BOY this anime was a big success with Italians (though not at the level of some anime). It was also popular in the Arab world for a while, too. |
| 266 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 267 | ** While mostly overshadowed by the later parts of the series in Japan due to being before Stands and [[MinorityShowGhetto featuring a completely non-Japanese main character at a time when such was viewed as anathema]], Part 2 is widely considered to be one of the best by [=JoJo=] fans outside Japan, who enjoy its protagonist's absurd levels of HotBlooded and CrazyIsCool. In fact, Joseph being regarded as the best main character is one of the few things that the English-speaking fandom can come close to a consensus on. Some StupidSexyFlanders may or may not also be involved with Part 2's popularity, what with all the memetic degree of MachoCamp and HoYay / LGBTFanbase resulting from having the testosterone-enriched equivalent of a CastFullOfPrettyBoys, plus all the hilariously [[{{Stripperific}} oversexualized male designs]] and fabulous posing involved. A major part of this is that the anime adaptations of Parts 1 and 2 were made with an awareness that they were relatively less popular, and so the creators set out to improve them--the shaky and frequently OffModel early artwork was replaced with high-quality animation, the pacing was significantly tightened, with more extraneous scenes being cut or altered, and so on--while also wrapping up their combined plots in a scant 24 episodes. Conversely, later Parts tended to stick as close to the manga as possible, which was especially visible in the adaptation of Part 3 (traditionally the most popular Part), and led to them often absorbing the flaws of their original stories. |
| 268 | ** Until the 2012 anime adaptation, Italy was the only western country where it attained significant popularity. The series has a strong cult following around the world though. 1/5 of the cast is Italian and one of the 8 parts takes place in Italy. Italians love [=JoJo=], and [=JoJo=] returns the favor. |
| 269 | ** Meanwhile, the French are big fans of the series as a whole, despite the first translation being by editor J'ai Lu (who was notoriously bad with its manga imprint, not only having usually borderline {{blind idiot translation}}s, but also using extremely cheap paper and ink). Araki was even invited to do a fine arts exhibition in 2009 at the Louvre (which houses the Mona Lisa as well as countless other priceless works of art). |
| 270 | ** The 2010s adaptations have caught on like wildfire among anime fans in the US and UK, partially due to being set in a WorldOfHam and the massive amount of NarmCharm that comes with it. In fact, this sudden burst of popularity not only led to many new [[Memes/JoJosBizarreAdventure memes]] being created ("It was I, Dio!" and parodies of the "ToBeContinued" format are among the more popular ones), but the show being aired on Toonami. |
| 271 | ** In the era of Stands, ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'' is considered to be the series' border Dork Age in Japan following the beloved ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'', but in the west this is reversed, with Jotaro being considered a NinetiesAntiHero compared to the more sympathetic Josuke. |
| 272 | ** Of course, in Japan the most popular arc is the Italian tour that is ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]''. Most of the western fans never grew fond of this arc before the anime in 2018, partly because of the Japanese-to-Chinese-to-English fan translation of the manga that plagued the internet for years, which is more well known for being the "Duwang" scans of ''Diamond is Unbreakable''. |
| 273 | * Although ''Manga/JunjouRomantica'' is by no means lacking in popularity, there is a significant amount of Western fans who enjoy the [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming Egoist]] storyline and avidly dislike the rest of the manga. |
| 274 | * ''Manga/KarakuriCircus'' was not too shabby in Japan, but when its French publisher stopped it, French manga fans on the Internet ''went utterly bonkers''. |
| 275 | * ''Anime/KazeNoShojoEmily'' is very popular amongst Arabs, received a fan made Arab-language CompilationMovie and was many Arab children's introduction to ''Literature/EmilyOfNewMoon''. |
| 276 | * ''Anime/KimagureOrangeRoad'' has a huge fanbase in Spain, it is one of the famous "Telecinco anime" that aired during the golden age of anime in Spain and it has two dubs, both are very well done but it had to be redubbed because the old dub used name changes from the Italian dub where it was also very popular. |
| 277 | * ''Anime/KillLaKill'', which has been given tons of attention in the US and the UK, partly because Mr. Hiroyuki Imaishi himself supervised it. Let's just say that after the smashing success of ''[[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren Lagann]]'' and ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', Imaishi is revered to godlike levels in the States. |
| 278 | ** Character wise, there's Kaneo Takarada, a one-off antagonist who pretty much owns Osaka and literally fights with cash. He became quite popular with Western audiences, some of whom proclaimed him to be the "King of Dosh" or the "Lord of Capitalism" or other such epithets. Studio Trigger admitted to being very confused by this. |
| 279 | * Despite controversy, with Kimba fans accusing Disney's ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 The Lion King]]'' for ripping it off. ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'' has gained a large following with Americans audiences, due to being one of the very first anime to hit the western market. Alongside being one of the earliest English dubs of Japanese anime alongside ''Anime/AstroBoy'' and ''Anime/SpeedRacer''. |
| 280 | * The anime of ''Kinnikuman Nisei'' in North America, where it was called ''Anime/UltimateMuscle'', so much so that 4Kids bought two additional seasons. In Japan, the series flopped due to a controversy over the recasting of Kinnikuman. |
| 281 | ** The original ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' had a cult following in Catalonia, where all 137 episodes were dubbed in Catalan. This was the only country that finished their Kinnikuman dub. (France bailed out around 57 due to Brocken Jr.) |
| 282 | * ''Anime/KocchiMuiteMiiko'' is incredibly popular in Indonesia under the title ''Hai, Miiko!'', to the point where in 2013, Ono Eriko herself went to Jakarta for a meet-and-greet event -- even she is astonished at how well-received the series is in Indonesia. |
| 283 | * While ''Manga/{{Kodocha}}'' was popular in Japan, Italy went nuts for this anime. It is named ''Rossana'' there [[note]]In Italy, they used to rename characters with western names to make them more appealing to the audience as Japanese culture was still new for the common viewer[[/note]] and its popularity was ''enormous''! On Wikipedia, the Italian page is twice as long as the English or Japanese ones and even the main characters have their own separate pages, and the Italian dub is one of the very few to have all the episodes dubbed in Italian. It was also one of Italia 1's most popular anime. |
| 284 | * ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'' popularity in Mexico reached such a level that [[https://i0.wp.com/codigoespagueti.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Komi-san-libro-escolar-en-Mexico.jpg?resize=1280%2C853&quality=80&ssl=1 appeared in official school books.]] |
| 285 | * ''Manga/{{Lady}}'': |
| 286 | ** ''Lady Lady!'' and its sequel ''Hello Lady Lynn'' are very popular in European countries, especially in France and Spain. Yoko Hanabusa even appears at [[https://www.japan-expo-paris.com/en/invites/yoko-hanabusa_634.htm?cid=e712012-07-06%2F cons]] in France. |
| 287 | ** The anime is also so popular in Italy that in May 2023, 35 years after it aired in the country for the first time, Italia 1 broadcasted a [[https://www.animeclick.it/news/98987-milly-un-giorno-dopo-laltro-la-serie-vintage-torna-su-italia-1 remastered version]] of the Italian dub. It even recieved an Italian comic independent of the manga. |
| 288 | ** The Gulf States/Middle East's favourite shojo anime to this day. It was especially popular in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, and is still well known there years after it's initial airing. As a FandomNod, Creator/YokoHanabusa introduced an original Arab character in the sequel manga. |
| 289 | * ''Anime/LaSeineNoHoshi'': The anime is [[https://www.meganerd.it/la-stella-della-senna-origini-e-curiosita-dietro-la-maschera/ well-loved]] in Italy's {{Shojo}} fandom. It aired during a time where most {{Shojo}} shows were SchoolgirlSeries and SliceOfLife, so an action-packed [[SuperheroStories/AnimeAndManga Superheroine Story]] was a breath of fresh air and received warmly. |
| 290 | ** The anime was so popular that it in February 1984, it received an [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lsnh2.png Italian]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/l2_23.png comic]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lsnh.png adaptation]] (different from the Japanese one) in ''Corriere dei Piccoli''. |
| 291 | ** Even the most popular Platform/{{YouTube}} videos of the anime are in Italian or use its Italian name, ''La Leggenda della Stella della Senna''. |
| 292 | * ''Manga/LegendOfHeavenlySphereShurato'' is a fairly obscure series in Japan, owing to the fact that it was basically ''Saint Seiya'' with a Myth/HinduMythology [[JustForFun/XMeetsY spin]]. In Brazil, however, it became a CultClassic as it was shown in the country during the 90s anime boom there -- and on the same channel that aired ''Saint Seiya'', no less! |
| 293 | * ''Anime/LittlePollon'': ''Olympus no Polon'' was a comedic manga that spoofed Myth/ClassicalMythology, which spawned in the early Eighties an anime series, "Ochamegami Monogatari Kolokolo Polon". "Pollon" is obscure in its home country and almost everywhere else, but in Italy was renamed ''C'era una volta... Pollon'' ("Once Upon A Time... Pollon'') and gained a strong following that more or less goes on to this day: it is considered a prominent example of kids' programmes in the '80s, and they even got to publish an Italian version of the decades-old original manga! |
| 294 | * Creator/StudioTrigger hit this trope again with ''Franchise/LittleWitchAcademia''. This OVA's American-styled coming-of-age adventure story, thematic similarity to ''Literature/HarryPotter'', and high-quality animation made it an instant hit in the US when it streamed on Crunchyroll. A Kickstarter campaign to fund a sequel made over 4 times its $150,000 goal, from almost entirely English-speaking fans. Trigger really needed that money, because [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-12/little-witch-academia-tokyo-event-cancelled-due-to-low-ticket-sales the Japanese fans hadn't given them much.]] |
| 295 | * The anime ''Anime/LucyMayOfTheSouthernRainbow'' is obscure in most parts of the world. But people in UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} [[https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/delicious-sa/naaz-on-pulteney-caspian-culture-on-a-plate/news-story/0291d0dfc214221f67af5251d79275f4?amp LOVE]] this anime where it was known as "The Immigrants" (مهاجران). It's the reason many Iranians know about Australia, since it's about a British family that arrives there through ship. |
| 296 | * ''Franchise/LupinIII'': |
| 297 | ** No one doubts the franchise is popular in its native Japan –- after all, it's been around for over 50 years -– but its popularity in Italy is downright ''legendary''. For more concrete examples… |
| 298 | *** Italy was the only country other than Japan to see a legal release of the [[Anime/LupinIIIPart1 original series]] prior to 2013. They've also put out more of the annual specials than any other country. |
| 299 | *** There's a way of holding a cigarette in one's mouth at an angle that Italian slang calls "Jigen-style". |
| 300 | *** Italy aired ''Anime/LupinIIITheItalianAdventure'' before it aired in Japan due to its large fanbase, and yes, it's set in Italy. |
| 301 | ** In the Philippines, it was such a mainstream crossover hit with normally non-anime-watching demographics that it was even remade as a short-lived licensed live-action primetime series. It's one of the only places to see a release of the Japanese live-action movie ''Strange Psychokinetic Strategy''. |
| 302 | * ''Anime/MDGeist'': |
| 303 | ** In an [[http://www.mania.com/jam-project-session_article_117217.html interview]], [[Music/JAMProject Hironobu Kageyama]] said this: |
| 304 | --->'''Kageyama:''' Last year, I realized that the show’s preferences between American fans and Japanese fans are different. I realized this during a panel at Otakon. An American fan asked us a question about “MD Geist” which I sang a song for. That was a show that couldn’t draw any attention from Japanese fans at all. ''[laughs]'' |
| 305 | ** Of course, American fans' love [[SoBadItsGood may not be for the reasons he thinks]]... Or maybe [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic it is]]. |
| 306 | * ''Anime/MacrossII'', as the only entry in the ''[[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross Macross]]'' franchise not to have significant involvement from the original creative team, has been mostly [[CanonDiscontinuity shuffled aside and ignored]] in Japan. In North America, however, it happens to be one of only two ''Macross'' sequels to avoid NoExportForYou status[[note]] (the other one was ''Anime/MacrossPlus'')[[/note]] and it was popular enough to get a series of [[TabletopGames RPG books]] and an [[OELManga English-language]] manga sequel. |
| 307 | * The rather obscure [[SuperRobotGenre super robot]] anime ''Anime/MadoKingGranzort'' was a staple of many childhoods during the 90s in Serbia, of all places. It turned out to be a welcome answer to the [[HumongousMecha mecha]] itch started by the American [[{{Macekre}} versions]] of mecha anime like ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', ''Anime/SaberRiderAndTheStarSheriffs'' and ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'', even airing in the original Japanese with subtitles. More mecha anime followed on the channel that originally broadcast ''Granzort'', 3K - the third channel of the public broadcaster RTS (including some pretty well known OVA [[CultClassic cult classics]] like ''Anime/GallForce'') but none of them were as well remembered as ''Granzort'' was. |
| 308 | * ''Anime/MagicalDoremi'' is big in Taiwan, to the point where the show still airs to this day on various kids' channels alongside [[WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol newer]] [[WesternAnimation/ShimmerAndShine kids']] [[Animation/PororoTheLittlePenguin productions]]. Merchandise of the show was also being sold as late as 2012. |
| 309 | ** The show is extremely popular in the Middle East, which dubbed three out of the four seasons. The opening theme (Which is the ending theme in the Japanese version) is one of the most iconic Arabic Anime openings. |
| 310 | ** Spain also loved the show a lot, dubbing all the seasons except the Naisho OVA and having a very faithful and well done dub. |
| 311 | * The anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Major}}'' was first noticed in the West in 2013 in the wake of the 2012 World Series victory of the San Francisco Giants in Major League Baseball (the series being a baseball-themed anime), wherein an anime fan who loves the Giants created a custom series opening using one of the series' theme songs (it would be repeated in 2015, following the World Series win of the Giants the year before). But it's in the Philippines -- predominately a basketball-obsessed country -- that has one of the biggest fan bases, with Facebook fan groups discussing not just the series and its characters but also baseball in general, since it was picked up as one of the anime series shown on digital TV channel Yey! as part of its anime programming block. If one checks each of the online fan groups, chances are one might notice the pictures of some or many of those who have watched it who are now part of community youth and school baseball teams as a result of watching this series, a catalyst of an ongoing national revival of this sport, the first to be introduced to the country by the Americans, after years of inactivity. |
| 312 | * ''Anime/MamaIsAFourthGrader'' is huge in Arabic countries despite the changes they made in their dub (for example, Mirai being Natsumi's sister from another planet instead of her future daughter). It's more popular in the Middle East than the rest of the world. |
| 313 | * ''Anime/MapleTown'': |
| 314 | ** While the series is forgotten in some parts of Europe and the United States, the series is very popular and beloved in Spain (known as ''La aldea del Arce''). Spain is also one of the few countries that has been able to gain a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/la_aldea_del_arce_patty.jpg home video release of the series on both DVD and VHS]]. In Spain, the anime gained a complete DVD set, unlike other countries. [[https://i.imgur.com/TRbFCna.jpg Some Patty and Bobby figurines were also exclusively made in Spain]]. |
| 315 | ** ''Maple Town'' is also beloved in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. |
| 316 | * ''Anime/MayaTheBee'': |
| 317 | ** The series is very popular in both Germany (its native country) and Latin America. It's also quite well-loved in Chile and Belgium ([[Creator/Studio100 which currently holds the rights to the franchise]]). |
| 318 | ** And Spain became very popular. Actually it is one of the few series (together with ''Anime/HeidiGirlOfTheAlps'', ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/ThreeThousandLeaguesInSearchOfMother'' -- a. k. a. ''[[DubNameChange Marco]]'' -- ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'', ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' and ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'') that everybody knows of, including non-anime geeks. |
| 319 | ** The series is HUGE in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qKi2yRdjCg Poland]] to the point that Maya's polish actress (Ewa Złotowska) [[ImageSong made cover songs]] (Mostly polish children's songs) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRfFXW8sAS8&list=PLovpfRqq7UMaVHkW0hjZ8QgUq25F6WJbm&index=2&t=0s sang by Maya herself in 2013.]] Creator/Studio100's newest indoor theme park was even called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ntYomTFqk "Majaland Kownaty" which opened on September 29, 2018 in Poland.]] Polish singing group "Akcent" made a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blA6y6cvcvY "Pszczółka Maja"]] which became very popular at teen/adult clubs, while Polish music group [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUUzEy-S4Hg Amadeo made a remix of the show's theme song]]. [[PeripheryDemographic The franchise also has a very dedicated adult fanbase in the country.]] |
| 320 | ** The series has been enjoying popularity in Greece since the early 2000s when Modern Times bought the distribution rights to it, getting many books and [=DVDs=], the theme song being featured in "Children's TV Favorites" [=CDs=] (as well as an instrumental karaoke version) and being one of the company's biggest franchises in general. |
| 321 | * ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'': The Anime adaptation has a surprising number of fans in the West, which begs the question why no TV station wants to air the show. |
| 322 | * ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'' flopped ''miserably'' in Japan (to the point that its 2nd season was cut down to ''8 episodes'') but managed to gain an impressive following in the US where it's considered a great comedy. |
| 323 | * ''Manga/MizuiroJidai'' was kind of a failure in Japan but the anime was quite popular in Italy, where it was broadcast once in early 2000s. Around 75% of videos of the anime on the net are in Italian. The main reason is, probably, the media uproar that went out after an episode about the main character having her first period was [[{{Bowdlerization}} heavily edited]] so her issue was a nightmare she had last night, with subsequent complaining from a lot of people. |
| 324 | * Fujiko F. Fujio's ''Manga/{{Mojacko}}'' is somewhat average in Japan and is obscure in the West, but is very popular in the Philippines when it was aired in the late nineties that it was regularly rerun. The most likely explanation is the slapstick hijinks and adopting Filipino pop-culture references to the dub. This caused people to think that Doraemon which was aired shortly after as a ripoff of Mojacko, but it did help paving the way for Doraemon's own fanbase in the Philippines, also large in its own right. |
| 325 | * ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' is a modest success in Japan, but in the US it [[http://goboiano.com/original/2543-can-you-believe-this-former-hentai-series-is-a-new-york-times-best-seller%253F climbed 13 times]] the New York Times' manga best seller lists, going head-to-head with such juggernauts as ''One Piece'', ''Naruto'' and ''Attack on Titan'' and sometimes coming on top! Not bad for a raunchy harem comedy starring [[CuteMonsterGirl monster girls]] made by some dude from Website/{{Pixiv}} who was a former hentai artist. |
| 326 | * ''Anime/Moomin1990'' is quite popular in the Nordic countries and Poland. It's still airing in Finland as of March 2024, albeit on a different network. It also aired in Norway from 1993 to at least May 2014. |
| 327 | ** Granted that the Moomins are a Finnish creation and have always been popular there, starting from the very first comics. As for Poland, they actually [[WesternAnimation/TheMoomins had their own stop-motion series]] back in the day. |
| 328 | ** It was also very popular in the former Yugoslav countries, where the series is far more likely to be recalled if one were to ask about "Mumijevi" (the name for the dub, which [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents had to be changed]] from the more obvious "Muminovi" to avoid negative connotations surrounding Muslims in the aftermath of the Yugoslav War when the dub was recorded) than the novels. |
| 329 | * While it's had plenty of success in Japan, American fans embraced ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' even more, with the series becoming a staple of American anime fandom more or less as soon as the anime made its debut. It's also much more of a critical darling in America. While it's seen as a fairly ordinary shonen series in Japan, western critics see it as a fresh and unconventional take on superheroes. It probably helps that the series is a distinctly Japanese take on a distinctly [[{{Superhero}} American premise]]. |
| 330 | [[/folder]] |
| 331 | |
| 332 | [[folder:N-P]] |
| 333 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 334 | ** Since the English translation of the manga debuted in 2005, it has pretty consistently been ''the'' most popular Japanese comic in America, necessitating American fans to coin the term "Big Three" to refer to it, ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', and ''Manga/OnePiece''[[labelnote:†]] (this one wasn't actually very popular with the American ''buying'' public at the time due to a backlash against the [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids]] dub of the anime, as well as the manga's ill-advised decision to [[DubNameChange change a major character's name to fit that dub's continuity]], but it was THE most popular one in scanslation circles; once 4Kids lost the anime to Creator/{{Funimation}}, sales of the manga picked up noticeably)[[/labelnote]]. Only nine years later, as the series neared its end, did any other series[[note]] (specifically, ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'')[[/note]] come close to consistently knocking it from the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. In Japan, while the series is far from obscure, it's never sold anywhere near as well as ''Manga/OnePiece''. |
| 335 | ** Character Examples: |
| 336 | *** [[TallDarkAndHandsome Sasuke]] [[RevengeBeforeReason Uchiha]] is a BaseBreakingCharacter in the Western fandom with a tendency to be outright hated more than loved, but the Japanese are quite fond of him (more with female fans -- due to shipping and enjoying his dark yet handsome concept -- than male fans, who ironically share the same level of contempt for Sasuke as the West). The situation is completely reversed with [[EmotionlessBoy S]][[NoSocialSkills ai]], who fares as a significantly less liked character in Japan than in the Western fandom. |
| 337 | *** Kabuto and Orochimaru are also more well liked in the West (where they're generally regarded as more interesting villains than the actual BigBad) than they are in Japan. |
| 338 | *** Might Guy (or "Maito Gai") is mostly ignored by the Japanese fanbase, whereas in America he's become one of the most popular characters in the series. This is likely due to him being very manly, which appeals much more to the western fanbase than back home. |
| 339 | * While ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' is fairly popular in Japan, it's also one of the best-selling manga in America and one of the few that can put a dent in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s numbers. |
| 340 | * Among the female pilots of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', fiery, outspoken, and aggressive [[{{Tsundere}} Asuka]] [[BrokenAce Langley]] [[FieryRedhead Soryu]] has traditionally been embraced by Western fans far more than the taciturn, quiet, and repressed [[EmotionlessGirl Rei Ayanami]]... whereas in Japan the opposite is true (though Rei is still quite popular in the US and Asuka very popular in Japan, too; it's just a case of one edging out the other). If it ever came down to female protagonists in general for a western audience, the winner would go to Misato Katsuragi, especially for her being portrayed as an adult working woman with relatable quirks, including things such as an active romantic life and a love for alcohol. The characters' difference in reception between regions has been so significant that even WordOfGod has commented on it. |
| 341 | * The 1980s version of ''[[Anime/{{Gigantor}} New Tetsujin-28]]'' is immensely popular with Arabs, which is evident from all the videos on Website/YouTube having comments in Arabic. |
| 342 | * The Creator/FujikoFujio series, ''Manga/NinjaHattori-kun'' was successful back in the day in Japan, but once it ended, it faded into obscurity. But in India, the show is so popular that it led to the reboot of this series as a joint venture between India and Japan -- namely for the Indian feed of Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. |
| 343 | * ''Anime/NinjaSenshiTobikage'': In its English dub format, ''Ninja Robots'', was briefly very popular in India, and has its share of fans in Australia. In its Spanish dub format, ''Robots Ninja'', was also briefly popular in Mexico thanks to it being shown right before Dragon Ball Z for a couple of months. However, it has remained a bit obscure ever since, its only attempted rerun ending in disaster, being cut short after only three episodes. |
| 344 | * ''Manga/NintamaRantarou'' is quite popular in Spain (one of the few countries outside of Asia to broadcast the series) and has been dubbed into various regional languages such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian and Balearic. |
| 345 | * ''[[Anime/IeNakiKoRemi Nobody's Girl Remi]]'' was a ''huge'' failure in Japan and was credited to have nearly killed the ''Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater'' series, but found success in Latin America, where it received a superlative Mexican dub and is remembered quite fondly there. It is also very familiar to French speakers. It enjoyed a modicum of success in Indonesia, partially due to (or perhaps ''[[SpecialEffectFailure despite]]'') its 3D feature. |
| 346 | ** The ''original'' ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ie_Naki_Ko Ie Naki Ko Remi]]'' anime, unrelated to the WMT (though sometimes mistaken as a part of it) and aired in 1977-1978, was and still is '''adored''' in Latin America. Among certain older demographics, the most climactic events of the story (such as [[spoiler:the death of Mr. Vitalis, as well as his animals, and Remi meeting his mother]] are so well-known, quoted, and referenced, they are downright ''memetic''. Singing the ED theme ("Tun-tun-tun-tun, caminar, tun-tun-tun-tun a correr!") is basically a shibboleth among Mexican Gen-Xers. |
| 347 | * ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'', a 2011 obscure web-published manga about a [[NoSocialSkills socially-]][[ThisLoserIsYou awkward]] [[TheWoobie girl]] [[HilarityEnsues cluelessly trying to become more sociable]] and popular. [[Website/FourChan /a/]] was single-handedly responsible for making it popular outside of Japan. It has led to an interesting phenomenon where many people went to Japan and bought the paper copies of the 1st volume (without knowing the language) [[ColbertBump just to support the author]].[[note]] The manga is first published in a free-access web anthology.[[/note]] Even in the cover the overseas fanbase is acknowledged, talking about its popularity on "the English-speaking 2ch". In fact the authors has stated it was no other than Website/FourChan that ''saved the entire series'' from being CutShort due to poor sales. |
| 348 | * ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'' is obscure in Japan, reaching average rankings on the Oricon charts, it was a huge SleeperHit in North America, with some volumes being featured on ''The New York Times'' Manga Best Seller List on their first week of sales. Volume 0 took this trope up to eleven when it toppled {{Long Runner|s}} ''Manga/OnePiece'' and close-to-long-runner ''Manga/FairyTail'' on its first week! [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-10-05/new-york-times-manga-best-seller-list-september-23-29 The numbers don't lie!]] It was even ''one ranking short'' of toppling ''Manga/SailorMoon''! |
| 349 | * ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' is already quite popular back in Japan, however its popularity in the west has outright exploded, especially with the release of the anime, due to a combination of both HotBlooded themes and satire on over-the-top Shonen Manga, yet still being an AffectionateParody, being anticipated to be one of the biggest hits since ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. The [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt amazing]] [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome animated]] anime adaptation has helped the Western fandom grow even further. The second season's switch from Creator/{{Madhouse}} to Creator/JCStaff has stunted its popularity a bit, however; and the fact that this studio swap occurred gives some evidence of its large gap in popularity between the west and Japan. |
| 350 | * ''Anime/OneStormyNight'': The film has gained a cult following with the [[LGBTFanbase LGBT community in western countries]], especially in the US. The film gained very positive reactions and reviews with the gay community in the western anime community. Some really admired how charming the relationship between Mei and Gabu was in the film, along with the fact that ''Arashi No Yoru Ni'' is as close as an animated children's film can get to having a positive depiction of a gay relationship between two male protagonists. |
| 351 | * Japanese fans (and the creators) have pretty much forgotten about ''Manga/OutlawStar'' and while it's not as popular as its fellow {{Space Western}}s ''Cowboy Bebop'' and ''Trigun'', it is still well-known in the United States, airing on Creator/AdultSwim, and getting multiple re-releases right up until the 2012 death of [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Bandai]]'s American branch. One theory why it's so popular is that the premise is basically the anime version of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' (which came later; the similarities are so great that fans have repeatedly asked Creator/JossWhedon about it). Having a kickass intro doesn't hurt, either. [[http://www.toonamifan.com/toonamioutlawretro1.html Here's]] a more detailed analysis. |
| 352 | * ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' was a flop in its native country of Japan, but North America gave it ''plenty'' of attention. Americans found Panty's and Stocking's [[TheLadette rude, crude, and openly-sexual behavior]] refreshing in comparison to what had been perceived as a deluge in [[SweetnessAversion overly cutesy]] {{moe}} [[TheIngenue protagonists]], loved having a MagicalGirl anime that [[{{Seinen}} adult males]] could proudly say they're a fan of, and its sadistic, vulgar sense of humor was a positively received love letter to Western {{animated shock comed|y}}ies like ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' - matter of fact, Gainax themselves said that ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' was the main inspiration for the show. An unanimously acclaimed English dub also helped its case; to this day, Creator/JamieMarchi and Creator/MonicaRial[='=]s performances as the two titular heroines are regarded as some of the finest in their careers. No surprise, when Creator/StudioTrigger announced a second season 12 years after the infamous GainaxEnding, the American anime community went into mass hysteria. |
| 353 | * The anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'' received [[BrokenBase a mixed reception]] in Japan due to the changes made from the original manga, which is considered a classic. Reception from American anime fans was overwhelmingly positive by contrast, much to the surprise of the Japanese. Creator Hitoshi Iwaki certainly didn't seem to mind. |
| 354 | * Back when Paravision (a Paraguayan TV network) was first founded, they grabbed the rights to many of Viz Media's anime (''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/ZatchBell'' and ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'') along with ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' and other old anime and aired them on prime time... to total apathy. Thus, it was decided they would air their cartoons on weekday mornings to comply with their contracts (A dubious move, since the SaturdayMorningCartoon was a thing of the past by then) because they had flopped so hard...only to find out said cartoons shot up to the sky in ratings. Now Paravision is the go-to place for your anime fix. Their success also caused Telefuturo to bring back ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''. |
| 355 | * ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' garnered similar critical acclaim to ''Akira'' and ''Ghost in the Shell'', above, in the West on initial release. Unlike those, however, it took a bit longer for ''Perfect Blue'' to earn its status as a classic in the medium in the West. Several factors contributed - [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Manga Entertainment’s license expiring]], Creator/DarrenAronofsky buying the film rights (and directing a film with [[Film/BlackSwan very similar themes]]), the death of Creator/SatoshiKon and renewed interest in his work after the smashing success of ''Paranoia Agent'' (above) and ''Anime/{{Paprika}}'', the [=#MeToo=] movement making its themes all the more timely. But when the film underwent lavish rereleases from the likes of GKIDS, Anime Limited, and Madman in the Anglosphere, and Seven Seas [[LateExportForYou finally licensed Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s original novel for English translation]], it finally earned its keep. All this and ''Perfect Blue'' still remains fairly obscure in Japan (the same ''cannot'' be said for Takeuchi’s novel, however). |
| 356 | * ''Anime/PiccolinoNoBoken'' was quite popular in Israel since many young Israelis grew up with it. |
| 357 | * ''Anime/PrettyCure'': |
| 358 | ** While the English dub of ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' wasn't quite a success in Canada, it was the number one show for Pop Girl in the UK. You can still find fans that grew up with the dub even years after its last broadcast. |
| 359 | *** The series was also huge in Taiwan and Hong Kong as the result of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NwS5mLfOyI Twins' cover of the theme song]] becoming a BreakawayPopHit. |
| 360 | ** ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'' is big in Italy, to the point where there are more videos of the Italian dub of the show than there are of the original Japanese version of the show. |
| 361 | ** ''Anime/SmilePrecure'': While Cure March was decently popular in Japan, she is the most popular character among kids who watched the ''Glitter Force'' dub. |
| 362 | ** ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'': Cure Ace was hated by many viewers in Japan [[spoiler: after she was [[StrangerBehindTheMask revealed to be a new character named Aguri and not Regina]] as most people predicted]], which caused so much backlash that merchandise sales for the franchise dropped. Among viewers of ''Anime/GlitterForceDokiDoki'', she is the most popular member. Cure Diamond also seems to be pretty with viewers of that dub as well, to the point where her Cure Doll is Amazon's top pick for ''Glitter Force''. |
| 363 | *** ''Doki Doki'' is also the most popular series in Taiwan, to the point where the top-selling ''Pretty Cure'' items on Taobao (China's answer to [=eBay=] or Amazon) are all from that series. |
| 364 | ** ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' was one of the least popular seasons in Japan because of viewers being confused by the mix-and-match themes of the show, the show having a RomanticPlotTumor and because of ''Anime/YoKaiWatch'' taking away a big chunk of ''Pretty Cure'' viewers, as it was the new hit anime at the time. In Western countries, it's more well-received by older fans, to the point where some clips subbed in English of the series on [=YouTube=] have almost a million views. |
| 365 | ** While ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' was the second worst-performing season in Japan [[note]] the only one to do poorer was ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar''[[/note]], it's one of the most popular seasons among Western fans (second to only ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'' in popularity) because of its good writing and interesting premise. |
| 366 | ** ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure'': Emiru Aisaki and Ruru Amour were two of the show's most popular characters in Japan, but they weren't as popular as Hana Nono was. In western countries, Emiru and Ruru are the most popular characters from this particular incarnation of the franchise among older viewers, with many Western fanfictions and fanarts based on ''Hugtto'' being about these two. |
| 367 | ** ''Anime/StarTwinklePrettyCure'': |
| 368 | *** The series didn't perform as well as its predecessor ''Hugtto!'' did in Japan, but among Western fans of ''Pretty Cure'', this series is well-loved, with many Westerners calling it their favorite ''Pretty Cure'' series. |
| 369 | *** Cure Cosmo is popular in Japan, but she's even more popular outside of Japan, with many Western fans saying that she's their favorite cure from this incarnation. Also, during Yuni's first official birthday celebration, many Western fans gave birthday messages in English to her and drew fanart using the Japanese hashtag for her birthday. In addition, one of the first results for Pretty Cure on Google is "Pretty Cure Yuni". |
| 370 | ** When the new ''All Stars F'' movie was announced, there were showings announced for most countries on this list, most notably Italy. The movie got shown on Lucca Comics And Games 2023 along with the return of the franchise after stopping dubs at Heartcatch due to Saban getting the rights. |
| 371 | * ''Anime/PrincessSarah'' and ''[[Literature/LittleLordFauntleroy Little Prince Cedie]]'' were so incredibly popular among Filipinos that the network that distributed the show in the Philippines created a live action movie for both series and a TV Series for the former specifically based on the anime to cash in on it. In fact, the former got reaired again on Philippine Television (on the same network it aired years ago), thanks to some local memes involving the characters. |
| 372 | ** ''Princess Sarah'' was also popular in Saudi Arabia, where it was called Sally. |
| 373 | * ''[[VideoGame/PriPara [=PriPara=]]]'' is huge in South Korea, with merchandise sold everywhere and the anime getting higher ratings than it did in Japan. And while Dorothy is the most popular character in Japan, Aroma is the most popular character in South Korea, when she debuted on the arcade game in the country, very long lines that lasted hours long were formed to play the game, which lead to fights among fans, which went on for weeks after the update. |
| 374 | * The manga ''Manga/{{Psyren}}'' mostly had subpar ratings during its run at ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' and only mediocre volume sales, but it still got licensed very early on by Western publishers because it showed promise. It also seems to be immensely popular with Western readers of scanlations as it ranks 1st to 25th place on major scanlation sites (which include virtually every manga ever made), a far higher position than almost every other series from WSJ. This has not quite translated into ''sales'', however. |
| 375 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': While the magical girls are all extremely popular in Japan, there's a noticable divide between Madoka and Homura and the other three in terms of popularity. In the west, however, Mami and especially Kyoko (Sayaka suffers a bit from AmericansHateTingle) are just as popular as Madoka, if not more, while Homura's popularity is cranked up to eleven. |
| 376 | [[/folder]] |
| 377 | |
| 378 | [[folder:Q-S]] |
| 379 | * While it's considered more or less niche in Japan, ''Anime/QueensBlade'' has a considerable fandom in Spain and Latin America, despise neither the series nor related material was released there. |
| 380 | * ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': |
| 381 | ** Akane Tendo (or, [[DubNameChange "Adeline"]]) is one of the most popular characters in France. |
| 382 | ** As far as the series goes, it was quite popular in France and the USA. In the latter country its popularity was especially prominent during the heyday of early to late 90s anime fandom, being a GatewaySeries for many American anime fans during that period. |
| 383 | ** As popular as it already is among older demographics in the USA, it is particularly prominent among millennials in the Spanish-speaking markets--particularly since it ran on open-air TV channels throughout many Latin American countries, where the romantic entanglements proved as fun as the action, if not more, and a large segment of the audience considers it a childhood favorite. |
| 384 | * ''Manga/Reborn2004'' is one of Japan's most popular anime and it shows at conventions but compared to is ''MASSIVE'' fanbase in Latin America (especially Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina), its native land just can't hold a candle. Oh God, where to start? A good 20% of doujins of the series are in Spanish and on there are more than 3,300 fanfics of the show in a Latin language on Fanfiction.Net. Many forums and Facebook groups are in Spanish. If you go to an anime convention in Mexico or Brazil, there ''will'' be Reborn! cosplayers! The anime is also a big hit in Spain and definitely France. While nowhere near as big as in the Latin countries, it's still not obscure in the US because it was one of the most popular shows on Crunchyroll. Latin America eventually got a dub which is notable because the show has not been dubbed in USA. |
| 385 | * ''Anime/RedBaron'' is a 1994 anime of Creator/TMSEntertainment that was not very successful in Japan and is practically non-existent in the rest of the world. Except in Latin America, where it is considered a cult show and has many fans to this day. In particular, Latin American fans love its [[https://es-la.facebook.com/ElBaronRojoAnime/videos/el-bar%C3%B3n-rojo-opening-hd/1334307146632954/ opening theme]]. |
| 386 | * While ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'' was a smash hit in Japan, its fame in Europe is a sight to behold. ''Especially'' in France and Italy, with the author Riyoko Ikeda formally honored. |
| 387 | * ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': |
| 388 | ** One of the manga's greatest virtues is how easily managed to surpass cultural barriers to become popular all over the world, specially Latin America and Western Europe. But probably the most iconic example is Spain: The anime arrived there in the summer of 1998 under the name "El guerrero samurái" ("The Samurai Warrior") and became the most watched program of the TV channel it was in. It became an instant classic for Spaniard anime geeks, which is specially surprising when you consider it aired on Saturday mornings (luckily, with no censorship). The manga came one year later and the rights were acquired by the Spanish branch of Glénat, a French publisher. Glénat Spain was at the brink of bankruptcy when they started to publish it, but the success of the manga was so big that practically single-handedly made them the biggest manga publisher in Spain. Thanks to that success, Glénat could acquire other big hits like ''Manga/LoveHina'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'', ''Manga/OnePiece'', and many more. Plus, in 2010, they published a special reprint (the same one started in Japan that same year) and ''still'' managed to top the manga charts in Spain. Wow! [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Spaniards Love The Samurai Warrior]] indeed! |
| 389 | ** The English TV dub is also apparently a popular source for [[FanVid MADs]] in Japan, many featured on Website/NicoNicoDouga. [[MemeticMutation FUTAE NO KIWAMI AAAAAAAAH!!!!]], indeed. Also, the controversial second OVA was in fact funded partly by Creator/ADVFilms, due to the popularity of the TV series and first OVA series in America. |
| 390 | * While the anime fandom in the USA has lost most of their love for it, Anime/RoboTech is extremely popular in Latin America and seen as one of the best shows of all time. It was a key GatewaySeries in the region. |
| 391 | * ''Anime/SaberMarionetteJ'' is a cult hit at best outside its native country... except in Latin America. Most of the episodes found online are from the Spanish dub. |
| 392 | * ''Anime/SailorMoon'': |
| 393 | ** While ''Sailor Moon'' was popular in its heyday in Japan, the show is just one of a series of many within [[ShoujoDemographic a demographic]] with many other popular Magical Girl shows that became popular. In the West, and ''especially'' in North America, its one of the most influential girl shows in history even after thirty years, and the Sailor Moon character herself is one of the most recognizable and iconic superheroines to Western audiences. The [[AlternativeForeignThemeSong original English dub theme]] became a staple of 90's mainstream pop culture, and Americans even tried to create [[WesternAnimation/ToonMakersSailorMoon their own version of the show]] at one point. |
| 394 | ** The anime was one of the first anime series ever distributed in Russia, and while its current status has been relegated to cult classic today , it spawned a whole ''generation'' of Russian otakus back then. To the point that many current committed otakus and even casual anime fans in Russia today are not only in their thirties and forties, often crediting Sailor Moon as their gateway series, but a significant portion of otakus in the country are still Moonies despite the series being relegated to cult popularity today. Even many of younger generation of otakus often seek out the series and in turn become devout Moonies in turn and the series is famous enough even Russians unaware of anime can recognize the titular protagonist. |
| 395 | *** The Dark Kingdom, a group of villains from the first season of ''Sailor Moon'', is impressively popular among Russian fans (female fans, at least), so much that it often overshadows the show's actual protagonists in fanfiction. This is likely related to the fact that many fans discovered {{yaoi}} thanks to Zoisite and Kunzite. |
| 396 | ** The show was also a massive hit in North America, to the point that even people who have never seen a single episode of the show can recognize the main character on sight. However, its popularity differed on either side of the border –- in America, the show first ran in syndication (meaning viewing times varied), so it didn't build up much of an audience until Creator/CartoonNetwork aired it with a consistent schedule on the Creator/{{Toonami}} block, but Canada aired it from the get-go on major network YTV where it was a smashing success. YTV got to air the 17 "lost" episodes that concluded the ''R'' series some two years before America did. In fact, when the series was rescued and redubbed by Creator/VizMedia, they made sure to mention YTV on Twitter. |
| 397 | *** Sailor Moon's popularity in Canada deserves special mention, as by the late 1990s it had become a full-on pop culture phenomenon over there that was getting dues in other media - the most famous example the Music/BarenakedLadies song "One Week".[[note]]"Gotta tune to ''Sailor Moon''/It's got the "boom" anime babes that make me think the wrong thing."[[/note]] Most of the original toys and merchandise wound up in the Great White North as a result, with Canadians even getting some merch that Americans didn't. In fact, its popularity in Canada is a major reason why Cartoon Network salvaged ''Sailor Moon'' and put it back on air despite its previous failure in syndication; they figured the series had to have potential in the states if it's managed to become so incredibly popular in Canada. Thus the multiple NoExportForYou situations Canadian Moonies have been stuck with over the part few years are particularly stinging. |
| 398 | *** Back in the US, Viz admitted that pre-orders for their uncut [=DVDs=] were the '''absolute highest''' in the company's history. Now what was that you said about shows for girls not selling well?. |
| 399 | ** Among fans whose first experience with ''Anime/SailorMoon'' was the Creator/DiC dub, the Ail and Ann episodes in ''Sailor Moon R'' are much more popular than they are elsewhere. This is probably due to the fact that those episodes had much more faithful translations than any other storyline (no one is quite sure why, though). They also didn't have the annoying pop-culture references that the English dubs of ''S'' and ''[=SuperS=]'' were deluged in. The entire storyline was released in a VHS boxed set in the late nineties, something which was unheard of at the time. |
| 400 | ** The series was also huge in Italy. The first season and ''Sailor Moon R'', airing back-to-back in 1995, were so successful that when ''S'' and ''[=SuperS=]'' were brought over in 1996 they were aired in a primetime block, and in 1997 ''Sailor Stars'' aired mere weeks after finishing in Japan. Unfortunately the series, already suffering from a questionable adaptation, was also the target of MoralGuardians which caused in turn even more censorship, up to a disastrous butchering of the finale; reportedly, it's one of the reasons author Naoko Takeuchi decided to retire the rights for many years afterwards. Despite the long hiatus the popularity has endured, to the point Italy was chosen to be the first country for an international relaunch of the series in 2010, and an Italian artist has drawn a lot of the official art for international merchandise since. |
| 401 | ** The series also gathered huge popularity in Indonesia, to the point where if you ask any Indonesian about "Japanese female superhero", the first thing in their mind is usually Sailor Moon. |
| 402 | ** Sailor Moon was also very popular in Malaysia, to the point where it is the only anime with a dub whose quality rivals that of ''Doraemon''. The anime even got a Malay cover of ''Moonlight Densetsu''. Sailor Moon had the distinction of being the first anime in Malaysia to have it's theme song covered in Malay (an even now, it holds the distinction of being one of the very few animes whose theme song has a Malay cover)[[note]]However, because the song was performed by an Indonesian because every Malaysian TV station had an Indonesian TV station partner as part of a friendship program launched by both the Malaysian and Indonesian government back in the day, after Malaysia ended the program Indonesians tried to lay claim to the cover, leading to a FandomRivalry of a ridiculous kind.[[/note]] |
| 403 | ** The series is also quite popular in Latin America, possibly being one of the Big 3 of the golden age of anime in Latin America along with Manga/DragonBall and Manga/SaintSeiya. You just have to walk down a street in Mexico City or Santiago de Chile and you may find a guy selling merchandise from the series in a street stall. Part of this is due to its wide dissemination (it was broadcast in almost all Latin American countries during the late 90s and early 2000s) and its excellent dubbing, with a memorable voice cast and without any censorship or editing, apart from broadcast all seasons. The voice cast was so iconic that the vast majority of them returned for the Anime/SailorMoonCrystal dub. |
| 404 | * ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': |
| 405 | ** Both the manga and the anime were well received in Japan, and they're quite the CultClassic. But it achieved its greatest success in Europe and Latin America, where it's ''really, really'' big, thanks to the [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing excellent dubbing]]. |
| 406 | ** Ask a Latin American fan in their twenties or thirties (and if you're lucky, ''maybe even in their early fourties'') about it, and it's highly likely that they will mimic their favorite attacks and correctly give you their dubbed names. And that's just the start... (the Brazilian cast said the show was marked the start of fans seeking who were the dubbers, and that their voices still get emotional responses when recognized as being from ''Saint Seiya'') |
| 407 | ** The same thing can be asked to an Indonesian or Spaniard fan, with similar result. |
| 408 | ** Basically ask any male (and quite a few female) Chinese anime/manga fan of ages 20-30, they can at least quote 2 lines from the show. Pegasus Meteor Punch and Cosmos were so popular it had meme status in China even before memes were classified. Just watch this {{affectionate parody}} of one Chinese comedy show about a bunch of guys doing an online profile for their Japanese manga artist friend living in Shanghai. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJSPUGEFsaY See it here]]. |
| 409 | ** The same thing happened in Portugal. While its potential success was compromised by ''Dragon Ball'' and completely random network reschedulings, if you ask someone in their 20s to 30s about the show (you have to use the name ''Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco'', meaning "The Zodiac Knights"), they'll totally remember the campy and narmy dubbing. It also saw a revival in the late '00s. |
| 410 | ** In Italy the series is very popular, especially thanks to his dub (See {{Woolseyism}}). While Japanese audiences don't like the filler Asgard arc, it has been well received in Italy. |
| 411 | ** In France as well the series was exceedingly popular. To the point that [[VideoGame/SaintSeiyaOugonDensetsu the first NES game]] got a release only in Japan and France. |
| 412 | ** Taurus Aldebaran (who is Brazilian) is the ButtMonkey of ''Manga/SaintSeiya'''s Brazilian fandom. He is almost universally regarded as the weakest Gold Saint and a boring character, but fans just love to make fun of him, to the point that no one hates him truly, just loves to pretend they do. |
| 413 | * ''Manga/SakigakeOtokojuku'' is popular in Thailand, Taiwan and China, of all places. Even the former President of Taiwan Lee Teng-Hui [[https://www.mutantfrog.com/2007/09/28/japanese-cultural-influence-in-taiwan-cosplay/ cosplayed]] as Heihachi Edajima. |
| 414 | * When ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'' was dubbed, rumor has it that the studio dubbing it did not receive any scripts or audio, so Creator/SabanEntertainment took it upon themselves to write a completely new script, inserting countless clever pop culture references and jokes that weren't present in the original, creating a GagDub that was so well-received that even the ''show's original producers'' agree that it's superior to the original animation. The show remains far more popular in North and Latin America than it does in its native Japan. |
| 415 | * ''Anime/TheSecretGarden'' (dubbed under the name الحديقة السرية) remained popular years after it first aired in many Arab countries, including Algeria, Syria and the UAE, for being part of many children's childhoods. Just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyWUlkKD_yY look]] at the reception it got on the official Creator/{{Spacetoon}} channel. The theme song is also extremely memorable amongst them and merely looking up the Arabic title on [=YouTube=] will lead you to Arab YouTubers performing their own covers of it. |
| 416 | * ''Anime/SecretOfCeruleanSand'' is quite a obscure anime in most of the world, but has a huge fanbase in Norway, mainly because it had a Norwegian dub that was shown as a Saturday morning cartoon. The license has gone out, though, and [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes trying to find copies]] (even in Japanese) is an absolute pain. |
| 417 | * Creator/WorldEventsProductions actually pulled this off ''twice''; nobody remembers ''Anime/SeiJuushiBismarck'' in Japan, but most kids of the 80s will at least remember the name ''Anime/SaberRiderAndTheStarSheriffs'', and probably have a few nice memories of the show (not to mention having that damn theme song stuck in their head). Due to some [[GagDub Gag Dubbing]], ''Saber Rider'' is fondly remembered in Germany and some other European countries as well. |
| 418 | * ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'' is popular in Spain to the extent the Spanish dubbed manga was released before the English one, and it gets a lot of fanart and [=AMVs=] from there as well |
| 419 | * ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' was a flop in Japan, but became a cult classic in the western anime fandom that still evokes discussion to this day. |
| 420 | ** In particular, if you join a ''Lain'' fan group in social media, you will notice how 1/4 of the fandom is Brazilian, 1/4 is Mexican and 1/4 is Argentinian. This was because ''Lain'' got a Portuguese and a Latin American Spanish dub that was aired on satellite TV in that region. |
| 421 | * ''Manga/SgtFrog'' was at one point incredibly popular in France and Italy. |
| 422 | ** According to commentary in the ''Manga/SgtFrog'' manga, Kululu was very unpopular in Japan due to being a {{Jerkass}}, a MadScientist who kept tricking people into being test subjects, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being yellow]]. However, Western countries like America love {{Jerkass}} characters, making Kululu a lot more popular overseas. This is {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in one chapter where Keron sells merchandise of Keroro's Platoon and Kululu's merchandise goes virtually unsold. |
| 423 | * ''Manga/ShamanKing'' is extremely popular in Russia, with it becoming a cult phenomenon among Russian kids of 2000s. When a teaser trailer of 2021 reboot was released on Website/YouTube, the whole comment section was filled with Russian comments. The opening of this anime became a well-known meme on the Russian Internet. |
| 424 | * In Korea, ''Manga/ShugoChara'', which was known as ''Charac Charac Change!'' in the country, became a major Cash Cow Franchise that spawned many merchandise tie-ins. There were also many exclusive Korean songs written for the dub of the show. |
| 425 | * For English-speaking fans of the ''Manga/{{Sketchbook}}'' anime, the popularity of [[FunnyForeigner Kate]] completely eclipses that of every other character -- so much so that [[MemeticMutation people who have never even seen it know who she is]]. This may have something to do with SelfDeprecation. |
| 426 | * ''Manga/SlamDunk'' as well among Filipinos, as the Philippines is infamous for being [[http://www.aolnews.com/2010/06/10/pacific-rims-delves-into-basketball-madness-in-the-philippines/ basketball-obsessed]] unlike any other nation on Earth. It was a bit of a slow burner though. It fizzled out because it was overshadowed by ''Sailor Moon'' only to re-emerge years later on another channel where it finally took off. It's still HUGE in Spain and Latin America, and especially in South Korea as where the The First Slam Dunk movie became the highest grossing anime film of all time in the country. |
| 427 | * ''Anime/SonicX'' was much more popular in the U.S. and France than in its homeland; the third season never even aired in Japan. Given the fact that Franchise/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}} is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff already popular enough as it is in Western regions]], this comes as no surprise. |
| 428 | * ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' was HUGE in France to point that several French filmmakers (such as Luc Besson) were fans of the series. It does help that the character of Cobra was inspired by French actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon (for his appearance before his surgery). |
| 429 | * Appears to be {{Invoked|Trope}} for ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', as the anime began airing in America on Creator/AdultSwim[=/=]Creator/{{Toonami}} ahead of Japan. After ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', and ''Manga/OutlawStar'' did so well on the network in the past, it's not surprising. |
| 430 | * ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' is considered a pop-culture classic in America; just about everyone there has heard of it. Conversely, it is barely remembered in its native country of Japan (where it was titled ''[=Mach GoGoGo=]'') and is only known nowadays for being popular in America. In fact, the Japanese dub of the [[Film/SpeedRacer live-action film]] kept the American title and names of the characters. |
| 431 | * ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' is extremely famous in Southeast Asia. In particular, it is pretty much revered in Indonesia, and Indonesian ''Spy x Family'' videos rake in millions of views. It has gotten to the point where the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/SpyxFamily/comments/uoy5ab/indonesian_government_is_using_spy_x_family_for/ Indonesian government used the characters for their campaign]]. |
| 432 | * ''Science Fiction Saiyuki Starzinger'' was a smash hit in Sweden in the late eighties, where it was known simply as ''Anime/{{Starzinger}}''. |
| 433 | * In the American ''Literature/StrawberryPanic'' fandom, there is a good deal more fanart of Shizuma Hanazono than in Japan. |
| 434 | * ''Anime/StreetFighterIIV'' was cut short during its original run, lasting only 29 of its proposed 50-episode run. In Brazil, however, it is something of a cult classic -- everyone who watched it as a kid ([[AnimationAgeGhetto yes]]) has fond memories of it, and there are even some fans who mix up the backstories of the characters from the game series with their anime counterparts. It was one of the most popular shows on TV Network SBT's morning cartoon block. |
| 435 | * "Anime/{{Superbook}}" and "Anime/FlyingHouse" were GMA Network's biggest child-friendly hits of the 90s in the Philippines - the station was owned by Protestants, but the series' English dub reached every Filipino regardless of sect as a tool for religious teaching, as well as the fact that it was itself anime but with a Christian theme, justified because the country is majority Christian. When ABS-CBN took over the rights in the 2010s - as well as added in a Filipino-dubbed version of the reboot - popularity skyrocked, to the point the the former has its own fanbase of old and new viewers alike, in addition to a Filipino cover of "The Salvation Poem" being released, to the point of the series having official endorsement of church groups. The official local Youtube page has BOTH the English and Filipino language videos of the reboot series in addition to locally made content. |
| 436 | * ''Anime/SupercarGattiger'' was a short-lived anime that sank without a trace in Japan, but it became very popular in Italy. |
| 437 | * The anime series ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'' and ''Anime/GenesisClimberMOSPEADA'' are very obscure in Japan; however, they are both far more recognized in North America due to their inclusion in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''. The US DVD releases of both series in their untranslated form were subsequently imported into Japan for local re-release there. Reportedly, the Japanese reaction to the ''Southern Cross'' segment of ''Robotech'' was along the lines of "How the hell did they make Southern Cross ''watchable?''" |
| 438 | * ''Anime/SuzysZooDaisukiWitzy'', in Taiwan, somehow managed to attract a sizable following among women and resulted in the release of PeripheryDemographic items like ''cellphone charms'' and even ''electronic picture frames'' and ''digital stickers''. |
| 439 | * The anime for ''Manga/SweetBlueFlowers'' was CutShort after only one season due to poor DVD sales. The manga and its anime, however, have a lot of non-Japanese fans who enjoy its QueerRomance take on the YuriGenre. |
| 440 | [[/folder]] |
| 441 | |
| 442 | [[folder:T-Z]] |
| 443 | * ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' was well-received in Japan, but it never lived up to the hype of its predecessor, ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. In the West, however, where ''Evangelion'' is highly polarizing, ''Gurren Lagann'' is seen as one of the best anime ever made, and there's a bigger divide over which show is better there. Notably, in Japan, the series had to compete with thematically-similar contemporaries in the genre, and many of its most popular themes appeared not just in ''Evangelion'' but also in the very successful ''Anime/GunBuster'' before it. In the United States in particular, many of ''Gurren Lagann'''s competitors did not air (lacking Gainax's international pedigree), and ''Gunbuster'' was relatively unknown, making its own premises seem unprecedented. |
| 444 | * ''Manga/TigerMask'' is extremely popular in Italy under the name ''[[DubNameChange L'Uomo Tigre, il Campione]]'', with the anime being well known and still gathering new followers in spite of the age (it was originally aired from ''1969'' to ''1971''). Italy is also one of the few countries outside of Japan where the original manga was published from 2001 to 2007, with a new translation starting publication in 2013. The series also had a ShoutOut in the Italian dub of ''Manga/CaseClosed'', where one character (unfamiliar with wrestling), seeing the murderer being a masked wrestler, mistook him for Tiger Mask. |
| 445 | ** Incidentally, the RealLife wrestlers inspired by this series are practically unknown in Italy. |
| 446 | * ''Manga/TokimekiTonight'' is remembered quite fondly in Arabia. Also in Italy, in addition of having the anime aired, is the only country outside of Japan to have all 30 of the original manga volumes translated as well as the 9-volume spin-off manga. |
| 447 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', after its volumes got localized for North America very quickly started to dominate the New York Times' Best Selling list. Ranking up there alongside ''Attack on Titan'' and ''One Punch Man.'' |
| 448 | * ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', for whatever reason, turned out to be very popular in Serbia, despite how bad the dub was. |
| 449 | ** It was a such huge hit for Pop Girl in the UK that it occupied over 4 spots for the top 10 programmes of the week ''for months''. When Pretty Cure came to the channel they compared it to Mew Mew Power and the rest is history. |
| 450 | ** It was also huge in Korea, where it was called ''Berry Berry Mew Mew''. They got the whole series on VHS and many pieces of exclusive merchandise. |
| 451 | * ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''[='s=] anime was a moderate success at best in Japan, while in America it's a top-tier anime that earned a plum spot-on Creator/AdultSwim and is regarded on the same level as ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' as one of the most beloved series of the early 2000s. [[SpaceWestern Seeing a pattern here?]] Because of this, the ''Trigun'' movie, ''Badlands Rumble'', had its world premiere at Sakuracon in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}, months before the Japanese premiere. The ''Trigun'' '''manga''', however, is much more popular in Japan than in America. |
| 452 | * ''Anime/TsurupikaHagemaru'' is very popular in Malaysia and India. |
| 453 | * While the ''Manga/{{Unico}}'' series by Creator/OsamuTezuka isn't as well-known as ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'' in the West. Unico has gained a very dedicated cult following in the United States and Canada, due to the film adaptations (''Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico'' and ''Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic'') by Creator/{{Sanrio}} frequently airing on Creator/DisneyChannel throughout the 1980s and [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing a decent english dub]]. Western fans of the series even created a Website/{{Kickstarter}} on getting the original manga series an official english translation which was a success. Western fans even admits that Creator/BarbaraGoodson's performance as the titular foal in the english dub is superior to the original Japanese versions. There is even an American fansite called [[https://www.myunicofans.com/ "My Unico Fans"]] that was launched July 2021 entirely dedicated to keeping track on any Unico related news and information. A similar blog also dedicated to Unico hosted on Tumblr known as [[https://weloveunico.tumblr.com/ "We Love Unico!"]] and [[https://mynameisunico.tumblr.com/ "MyNameIsUnico"]] were also created around the same period. Both Americans blogs are very similar to the official Unico fanclub [[https://twitter.com/UNICOclub "UNICOclub"]] created by Tezuka Productions in 2015. |
| 454 | ** When Octas Inc. launched a Website/{{Kickstarter}} on an upcoming [[TheRemake re-imagining]] of the Unico series titled ''[[Manga/UnicoAwakening UNICO: AWAKENING]]'' on May 2, 2022. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1803389958/unico-awakening-manga-by-gurihiru-and-samuel-sattin The kickstarter]] quickly reached it's goal [[https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2022/05/04/unico-awakening-kickstarter-fully-funded-in-first-24-hours when the project was barely a day old]] [[note]] The project's initial goal was $50,000 but reached $63,000 and 581 backers on it's launch day. When the project closed June, 2, 2022, it reached $179,794 and 2,453 backers.[[/note]], with a large majority of backers being from America compared to Japan and other countries. The creators of the project (Creator/{{Gurihiru}} and Samuel Sattin) even announced [[https://twitter.com/UnicoManga the manga gaining both an English and Japanese release.]] As part of the campaign, American cartoonists and Japanese artists were gathered to create a series of [[https://comicbook.com/anime/news/check-out-this-first-look-at-unico-awakenings-incredible-artifacts-exclusive/ limitied edition collectibles]] all part of a series known as ''Unico: Awakening Artifacts''. One of the awards includes [[https://www.comicsbookcase.com/features-archive/unico-awakening-kickstarter an 8-page American Picture Book]] in the style of a Literature/{{Little Golden Book|s}} by Maddie Copp, and an American made mini-comic by Steenz. In interviews, Samuel Sattin (an American and writer of ''Unico: Awakening'') would discuss how ecstatic he was when Tezuka Productions quickly approved his pitch on a Unico reboot. An extremely rare opportunity that's very unheard-of in Japan and the manga industry. As a result, it became an official American-Japanese collaborated manga based on the works of Osamu Tezuka. The Kickstarter campaign was so successful that it caught the attention of [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2023/09/20/scholastic-debuts-kid-friendly-manga-line-with-a-reimagined-classic/ Scholastic on September 20, 2023]]. Unico is even featured prominently on [[https://kids.scholastic.com/kid/books/graphix/ Scholastic's Graphix webpage]] alongside ''[[ComicBook/DogManDavPilkey Dog Man]]'', ''Literature/WingsOfFire'', and Creator/JeffSmith's ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}''. |
| 455 | * ''Manga/UbelBlatt'' is much more popular in Europe, particularly France, than Japan. During a long [[SeriesHiatus Hiatus]], [[WordOfGod the author]] stated in an interview that the series would not be cancelled due to the large European fanbase. |
| 456 | * ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': |
| 457 | ** The show was huge in Italy during the 1980s and 1990s and while it's not as popular as it once was, it's still enough popular to be remembered by pretty much everybody who's in their forties and ''even in their early fifties'', with Lum being frequently cited as being the first erotic dream from many who were teenagers back in the day. |
| 458 | ** ''Beautiful Dreamer'' is a base-breaking movie in Japan, and was not well-regarded when it released because of its philosophical plot and departure from the series' formula. Overseas, ''Beautiful Dreamer'' is widely considered the best movie and some of the best ''Urusei Yatsura'' content of all because of its beautiful animation and, ironically, ''for'' its departure from the StrictlyFormula. |
| 459 | * The ''Manga/VampireKnight'' manga is fairly popular in Japan, occasionally getting in the top 10 seller list, but it has become a heavyweight in US manga sales, consistently being in the top 5 and spending three years as the most popular {{shojo}} title by a significant margin.[[note]] ''Vampire Knight'' snagged the top shojo spot in the US when previous #1 ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' ended, and lost it when ''Manga/SailorMoon'' returned to print. ''Vampire Knight'' is still a respectable 2nd place, though.[[/note]] [[Manga/{{Karin}} Other]] [[Manga/RosarioPlusVampire manga]] about vampires can be expected to rank highly in the charts as well. Including {{shonen}} manga. The New York Times Manga Bestseller List cements this. The only shojo title in America to knock it out of the top spot has been ''Manga/SailorMoon''. In one week in June 2010, new volumes of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', and ''Vampire Knight'' all came out on the same day, and ''Vampire Knight'' ''actually sold more copies than Bleach''. |
| 460 | * ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'': |
| 461 | ** The anime was quickly forgotten in Japan, but it's considered a classic in the West (especially Canada) to this day. |
| 462 | ** It was also hugely popular in Korea. As thanks for the Korean fans' support, in the new footage for the CompilationMovie a lot of costume designs were changed from generic medieval fantasy outfits to ones based on traditional hanbok. |
| 463 | * CombiningMecha series ''Anime/VoltesV'' was one of the early progenitors of the HumongousMecha genre, but tends to be far more obscure in its homeland compared to the other early mecha anime series. However, it became an adopted cultural icon in the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, and has a lasting legacy there. This is partly due to the fact that it was banned during the reign of the hated UsefulNotes/FerdinandMarcos, allegedly due to the fact that the show's BigBad reminded the dictator too much of himself. (Both Ferdinand's son Bongbong and one of the Filipino dub actors have claimed that [[MoralGuardians it was actually parent's groups (or a Catholic women's group) that pressured Ferdinand to ban the show]]). Surprisingly, a remake (''Series/VoltesVLegacy'') was made there, to great success. It's popularity in the Philippines is to the point that the country was part of the titular mecha's debut stage in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30''. |
| 464 | ** It is also popular in Indonesia, especially among Generation X people: It was distributed by using Betamax tapes in the '80s, and it also spawned many unofficial merchandises and fan creations. |
| 465 | ** ''Voltes V'' is so popular in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}} that the official Cuban Embassy to Japan [[https://twitter.com/embacubajapon/status/1543007290130714624/video/1 tweeted about it]]. |
| 466 | ** It also has a following in Italy due to the Italian dub. In fact, [[Website/TVTropes this very wiki]] features an [[ItAnime/VoltesV Italian version]] of the anime's main page. |
| 467 | * Due to the aforementioned ''Voltes V'''s popularity, other Super Robot shows that came alongside and after it also did well in the Philippines; like for example, ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'', taking its StarCrossedLovers ([[SayMyName "RICHAAARD!!!!" "ERIKAAAA!!!!"]]) premise in consideration. However, ''Anime/CombattlerV'' didn't, for it felt too similar to ''Voltes V'', even though it came first, largely because ''Anime/CombattlerV'' was aired in the Philippines ''twenty years'' after Voltes, when the latter has already entrenched itself in Filipino pop culture deeply. |
| 468 | * In Japan, ''Anime/GoLion'' and ''Anime/DairuggerXV'' are obscure, stereotypical early 1980s SuperRobot series. In America, ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'', its [[{{Frankenslation}} heavily-edited combined counterpart]], became a smash hit, and is ''still'' popular. Creator/MediaBlasters, the company releasing the [=DVDs=], mentioned it as its most popular title, by far, and the only thing currently holding back a live-action movie is a minor legal dispute between Creator/WorldEventsProductions and Creator/ToeiAnimation, while World Events continues to expand the franchise via comics and whatnot. The Japanese dub of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' even uses the American ''Voltron'' names rather than the original ''[=GoLion=]'' names. |
| 469 | * ''Manga/WeddingPeach'' was so big in South Korea that it became the highest-grossing character license of all time for its' toy manufacturer in the region, Mimi World, until ''Animation/PororoTheLittlePenguin'' came out seven years later. |
| 470 | * ''Manga/WithTheLight'' [[http://autistscorner.blogspot.com/2009/09/autism-manga.html seems to be exceptionally popular among American fans]] due to the "Autism and Special Needs" theme throughout the series. |
| 471 | * The 1980s anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWonderfulAdventuresOfNils'' debuted to great success practically all across Europe. Even in countries where Japanese animation has little to no staying power, like Hungary, it became one of the most well-loved cartoon series ever, and reruns on television to this day. Given that the source material itself hails from European literature (Swedish, to be precise) and the series doesn't have much in the way of the polarizing quirks nowadays associated with anime, this isn't so surprising. In fact, a lot of people don't even realize it's an anime because in many places, it was distributed by European companies. |
| 472 | * Another series that's very popular in Italy is ''Anime/{{Yatterman}}''. Sure, Japan remembers it fondly and remade the series in 2008, but Western fans are almost all Italian and Italy is the only other country in the world where all 108 episodes of the original anime were translated and broadcasted (other countries such as Poland use the Italian dubbing as basis), and later sold on DVD. It is also the only country where the [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action movie]] was dubbed and shown in theatres, even if only two years later and only for a very limited period of time. In the early 2000s there were even plans for an Italo-Japanese collaboration with Creator/TatsunokoProduction to create a new ''Anime/TimeBokan'' series, but that never came to be. Italians who were lucky to watch the film noticed that the final battle is somewhere in the Southern Alps... in Italy! That's right, Italy had the only real world set of the movie. |
| 473 | * Despite being huge in its country of origin, ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' is also popular in quite a few other countries: |
| 474 | ** The show is huge in Taiwan, where the show airs multiple times a day, has merchandise sell out frequently and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoAQDGvNAPg draws huge crowds to events related to the show]]. |
| 475 | ** It is also popular in Korea, to the point where the first movie based on the series made more money than ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' in the country. |
| 476 | ** Fidgephant (known as Morezou in Japanese), a Yo-Kai that causes people to [[PottyEmergency really need to use the restroom]], is one of the least popular characters in Japan and was complained about by many parents in the country. In North America, the character is one of the most popular Yo-Kai and is commonly used by Nintendo to promote the series. It helps that North American children really like ToiletHumor. |
| 477 | ** Hailey Anne is hated in Japan for bullying [=USApyon=] and acting like a spoiled brat. But in North America, she's loved a lot for having a strong passion for video games and anime, something which is relatable to most of the American fandom, as they are also pop culture geeks. |
| 478 | ** The series was such a success in Latin America that they got a dub of the second movie despite the fact that it wasn't dubbed in the USA or even elsewhere outside of Asia. |
| 479 | * The Toei animated ''[[Anime/YuGiOhFirstAnimeSeries Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' series (not to be confused with the TV Tokyo one that has over 200 episodes) was so unpopular in its home country that it left the air after a single season. In America, that season has become one of the fandom holy grails, earning the nickname of "Season Zero" and being the centerpiece of a cavalcade of fandom rumors, usually centering around intense violence, unprecedented fidelity to the original manga, or [[NoExportForYou it not coming to America]] because it was ''too much'' for Americans to handle. None of these things are actually true, but they helped "Season Zero" reach iconic status in the fandom, to the point that claiming to like it is essentially a badge of honor, maturity, and respectability. In Japan, it's just a curiosity piece, and even using clips for [=MADs=] is rare compared to the original, or even any one of the spinoffs. |
| 480 | ** ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' [[BrokenBase isn't exactly a favorite]] on foreign shores, but the perception of it is a lot kinder than in its native Japan, where it was universally panned. |
| 481 | * ''Anime/YumeNoCrayonOukoku'' was big in France, where it aired under the name ''Le Royaume des couleurs'' Reruns even aired into TheNewTens! |
| 482 | * ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' is fondly remembered in the Philippines (where it is re-named ''[[DubNameChange Ghost Fighter]]'') by the generation of males that came of age in the mid-1990s, as there was nothing else like it at the particular time when it first aired (this was just before cable TV, the internet, and disc-based movie/console-gaming piracy became mainstream in the Philippines in late '90s). Many other dubbed anime series had come before and would come after, which would be hits, but this particular shonen series singularly captured the imagination of an entire generation of Filipino schoolboys. The same can be said with Flame Of Recca, which came afterwards. |
| 483 | ** The show also earned a strong following in Brazil (airing first on the same channel as ''Saint Seiya''), particularly for its [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing dub full of amusing improvised quips that made the show seem very local]]. |
| 484 | * ''Anime/ZoidsNewCentury'' was a flop during its original run in Japan; however, it was much more successful in the West. |
| 485 | * ''Manga/ZombiePowder'' was a commercial failure in Japan, being CutShort after only 26 chapters due to low volume sales and creator Creator/TiteKubo dealing with personal issues that made it too difficult for him to work on it. However, the manga got a more enthusiastic following in North America when it was licensed in English in 2005, thanks to the appeal of its WildWest-inspired setting along with the rising popularity of Kubo's more successful manga, ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. |
| 486 | [[/folder]] |
| 487 | ---- |
| 488 | |
| 489 | [[folder:In-Universe Examples]] |
| 490 | * ''Manga/PeepoChoo'' bases much of its plot around fictional examples of this trope. The titular ShowWithinAShow ''Peepo Choo'' is an anime that in Japan was an adult-oriented MindScrew and is supposedly regarded by many as the worst anime in living memory, but it is a huge success in America after being redubbed as an ordinary kids' show and hyped as [[QuirkyWork an example of Japanese eccentricity]]. In the opposite direction, the manga features a fictional American HoodFilm called ''Brick Side'' which was a disastrous flop in the States but is worshipped by an AxCrazy yakuza boss who bases his whole lifestyle on it. |
| 491 | * ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' [[ConversationalTroping discusses]] this concept in-universe. Mahiro sees Cuuko reading a manga anthology and asks "Didn't that book only last six issues?" Nyarko explains that this trope applies on a galactic scale as well, since not only do AliensStealCable, but they consider Earth's entertainment the best in space. In particular, the anthology Cuuko was reading [[UnCancelled got picked up and continued]] by an [[NetworkToTheRescue alien publisher]] after its original cancellation. |
| 492 | * Naofumi Iwatani the titular [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Shield Hero]] from ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is seen as TheAntiChrist by The Church of The Three Heroes, [[ShieldsAreUseless as absolutely worthless]] by the other Three Heroes, and as an untrustworthy figure due to malicious slander spread by King Aultcray and rape accusations spread by Myne which had left him a social Pariah with a ZeroPercentApprovalRating in the kingdom of Melromarc when he was only just summoned there a few days prior. [[HeroWithBadPublicity Naofumi]] had to work exceptionally hard in order to [[ClearMyName clear his name]] and [[AlmightyJanitor clean up the messes left by the other Three Heroes]] in-between Waves during his time spent in the kingdom of Melromarc. [[spoiler:However, the trope comes into play within nations and villages who have a sizable population of [[ALittleBitBeastly Demi-Humans]] living in them who actually worship the Shield Hero [[GodInHumanForm like a God]] due to the fact that previous Shield Heroes were kind, compassionate, and protected the Demi-Humans during times of calamity, [[FounderOfTheKingdom and helped to establish two Demi-Human Nations for them.]] Had Naofumi been summoned to either Siltvelt or [[MeaningfulName Shieldfreeden]]: [[RightfulKingReturns he would have been greatly and warmly welcomed by the Demi-Humans who would see him as their King]], and give him whatever he would have asked for.]] |
| 493 | * Kuroyama Sumiji in ''Manga/ActAge'' is a rather famous director with a rather obscure style who's noted to have garnered much more success overseas than in Japan (it's detailed in the prequel oneshot ''Asagaya Geijutsu Koukou Eizouka e Youkoso''). Not that he seems to mind, as to him a director should simply say what he has to say without trying to adapt to the audience's expectations. |
| 494 | [[/folder]] |
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