Anime in the U.S. dates back as far as the early ’60s with shows like Astro Boy and Gigantor. Other titles slowly made their way into American fandoms from Japan, with Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets hitting U.S. channels in the ’70s while Robotech took the cartoon-loving kids of the ’80s by storm.If the first t...

In its most basic form, anime refers to animation. Interestingly enough, the name itself isn’t an abbreviation of the English word animation. Instead, it’s how you say “animated cartoon” (written アニメ) in Japanese. To a Japanese viewer, anime is any cartoon, whether it’s made in Japan or not. Outside of Japan, however, ...