While most of these sources come from the Land of the Rising Sun itself, there's plenty of shows from America that have become fan favorites over there. So let's go over five of them here today, just to give you an idea of what to expect. But first a few honorable mentions.
Anything from Disney
Yeah this was a given. Everyone knows how popular Disney is in Japan, so where's the fun in showing off things that you guys already know about?
RWBY
Technically this isn't a TV show, but I think it does deserve a mention here. RWBY and any other anime-esque show are easy pickings for this kind of list. Not to mention the show already has a Japanese dub.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
...just be happy I put it in the honorable mentions...
And now, onto the list proper. Starting with...
Power Rangers
GEEKOUT ALERT
Why not start out with something that technically came from Japan in the first place? Now I hear you ask, "Why doesn't that qualify it to be on the honorable mentions list?" and to that I say "It's my damn list, I'll do whatever I please with it."
But yes, Power Rangers in Japan. For those who don't know, Power Rangers is merely an adaptation of the Japanese series called Super Sentai but with American actors replacing the Japanese actors, while keeping the Zord battles and fight scenes mostly intact.
Once the show's popularity skyrocketed, the show was dubbed into several languages, one of them being Japanese. Don't believe me? Here's the opening.
The Japanese dubs continued all the way up to Lightspeed Rescue. Once Saban bought the franchise back in 2010, the dubs slowly returned, with dubs of SPD, Mystic Force, Samurai, and just recently announced, Megaforce, being produced. Heck, SPD's dub went as far as to have the Dekaranger cast voice their American counterparts.
Okay, I think I've bored you guys enough. Let's look at some art.
Hot damn! Way to turn one of the worst seasons into a glorious spectacle of badass.
It wouldn't be Japan without some chibi-fied art, would it? Here's a bunch of US-exclusive forms called "Battlizers", excluding RPM, Samurai, and Megaforce down there.
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| "Ultimate Shinkenger Red" by Kawori You gotta love the Engrish and over-exaggerated grittiness in this picture.
Next up is...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Yes, those heroes in a half-shell have had quite the exposure in Japan. Pretty much since the debut of the 1987 cartoon, Turtle Mania has been in full swing. Now believe it or not, there actually has been quite a few Japanese exclusive bits of Turtle media, including a few manga, and an OVA called Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend, made to tie in with the Japanese toyline.
Yes, this shit exists. And it's AWESOME!
Now let's get on with the fan art!
Let's be honest here, most of these pieces of art could be mistaken for comic book covers. Not to mention it sums up each turtle's personality quite nicely. And is it just me or does Shredder look like a Robot Master from Mega Man?
Gotta give some love to the 2k3 Turtles; they were the first incarnation I was familiar with. Not to mention the Japanese opening of this series KICKS ASS.
And now we have the IDW iteration. I love it when artists do a solid color based on the color of their bandannas. Simplistic, yet stylish!
SUPERJAIL!
Remember when I made that throwaway line about Robotomy's art being good enough that you could compile an artbook full of fan art and send it to the creators? Well there's some truth in that. Superjail! was so popular over in Japan and South Korea, that a group of artists made an artbook entitled Superjail Anthology and sent it to creator Christy Karacas, who not only enjoyed it, but added a little "Thank you!" illustration to it.
So how could such a gory and violent show like Superjail! appeal to the Japanese? Well don't forget they have a MASSIVE Happy Tree Friends fanbase, and films like Tokyo Gore Police and Suicide Circle exist.
So let's see some Superjail! goodness, shall we?
For those unfamiliar with "Summaries" or "LOGs", these are collections of pictures uploaded in one file, which makes things less crowded. Here we have a collage of various characters, from main characters like Alice and Jared, to fan-favorites like Gary and Bird, Lord Stingray, and my personal favorite, Ash.
Of course you can't talk about Superjail! without talking about THE most popular characters on the show, The Twins. Why are they in the middle of exercising in the middle of the night? Who knows, but the art's amazing and that's all that matters.
If there's one thing Japanese fans of Superjail! like, it's the dystopian future version of The Warden. I guess evil(er) is sexy, who knows?
SOUTH PARK
Leave it to Japan to like a show with little boys swearing 24/7 and toilet jokes. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not the biggest fan of South Park. I know the show has a massive fan base, considering they're 20 seasons in as of this writing, but I'm just not a part of it. I used to be, but after that one episode with the Steve Irwin "joke", I swore off the show. But we're not here to discuss my opinions on shows, we're here because Japan.
Matt and Trey know they have fans in Japan. So much so, that they reached out to their Japanese fans to help out with an episode. The episode in question, Tweek X Craig, was devoted to this trend of Japanese fan art of American shows, specifically the shipping crowd.
And here's one of them. Please note that it's been a long time since I've actively watched the show and I can't remember everyone's names. I at least know these two from The Stick of Truth. Speaking of...
"South Nails 2" by Drink (That's seriously how Google Translate translated it)
Can this be technically labeled "chibi" even if the characters are technically already "chibi"? If you had no idea what South Park was, you'd claim this was from a kid's show.
I only include this because if there's one thing I remember from the show, it's all the fat jokes at Cartman's expense.
And finally...
WACKY RACES
I can hear you all going "Wait, what?" Well you'd be surprised to hear that this was one of THE popular shows in Japan back in the day, especially with Speed Racer debuting two years prior. Many anime creators admitted to watching it growing up, and there were quite a few anime and manga that parodied the show. In fact, it's well rumored that this was one of the inspirations for the Mario Kart series.
For those of you who don't know what Wacky Races was, it was a show from Hanna-Barbera detailing a series of rather absurd cross-country races with 11 competing cars. The one most fans remember the most is Dick Dastardly, your typical mustache-twirling villain that tries to cheat at every possible turn, only for the traps to backfire, which was followed by his dog assistant Muttley snickering at his failure. Speaking of...
Yes, even in Japan, they adore Dick Dastardly and Muttley. Out of all the Hanna-Barbera characters, he is the most popular out of them all. That may be the reason for a certain tennis-playing purple-clad plumber...
WAAAAH!
And then we have what could be considered somewhat of a main protagonist, Penelope Pitstop. She was so popular, just like Dick Dastardly and Muttley, she got her own spinoff series, which was just her getting captured and someone had to save her. It was the 60's, it was a different time...
Normally I don't include crossover art, but this one I couldn't ignore. For those who don't know who these guys are, Osomatsu-san is a continuation/revival of an anime/manga called Osomatsu-kun. Both focus on the misadventures of a group of sextuplets and boy is it downright surreal. Just look up bits of the show on YouTube, just don't watch with headphones.
Whew, this has been quite a trip, hasn't it? Well if you managed to make it this far without me boring you with facts no one gives a shit about, thank you. You have NO IDEA how much porn I had to shift through looking for art I could show off.
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