Forum - View topicAnswerman - Anime References in Western Media
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mdo7
 Posts: 7075 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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No BS, anime/manga references in western media is becoming more common, even some obscure or cult anime (or non-mainstream anime titles) are even getting referenced in them like for example, Pantheon had references to Ghost in the Shell and Paranoia Agent at the beginning of the 1st episode. Pantheon's plot line as fans said has been compared to Serial Experiment Lain. I mean I'm sure there are other western media that are throwing references and nods to anime in there now and then.
As a long time anime fan, I'm quite impressed we came a long way for anime/manga medium to go from obscure to very visible amongst the mainstream. |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1552 |
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We’re a long way from the names Kei and Yuri showing up on a display screen in one of the Star Treks
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quoss
Posts: 77 |
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I think you mean they "trawl" for those kinds of claims. Same pronunciation.
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pushknife
 Posts: 26 |
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I wouldn't call shows that aired on Adult Swim obscure. |
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Fluwm
 Posts: 1133 |
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There are a bunch of Dirty Pair references in TNG, apparently Mike Okuda (among others) was a big fan. (Or at least he's the one most fans point to, not sure if he's ever publicly confirmed or denied.) The cool thing about this particular rabbit-hole is that anime, itself, has a long history of referencing Star Trek. The original NCC-1701 popped up in Dirty Pair before TNG even premiered, iirc. I'd be very curious if anyone knows which anime was the first to reference Star Trek. The oldest I'm aware of is only a kinda-sorta-reference: the Musai being an upside-down Enterprise in the 1979 Gundam. Last edited by Fluwm on Mon Mar 31, 2025 12:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Dr. Wily
Posts: 465 |
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I think the simple fact is that anime fans are growing up. I mean, back in the 70s/80s, anime was really niche in the West, the few shows that made it mainstream usually got messed around with and made into new more "American" forms like GoLion being made into Voltron. But the generation that grew up watching DBZ on Toonami (or anything like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the other various anime that aired on TV in the 90s/early 2000s) are in their 30s and maybe even 40s. And then in many cases, gone into various fields in the entertainment industry (or industries like sports that get them on TV) which lead to the kind of references we're seeing now. And the trend will only continue with anime only becoming more and more mainstream on streaming. Stuff like trademarks are always gonna be an issue, but you're definitely gonna see more writers and producers that love anime push for stuff to appear in their shows.
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mdo7
Posts: 7075 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Maybe I should clarify on the term obscure. Ghost in the Shell is not that obscure in today's world, and it wasn't that obscure when it was shown on Adult Swim back then. But for Paranoia Agent, well remember back then anime was not quite mainstream and streaming was still in it's infancy, even some anime that was shown on Adult Swim doesn't automatically translate into mainstream stuff like on the same level as DBZ, Naruto, One Piece, etc... That's what I mean by obscure or probably cult-level awareness. The fact that Pantheon was able to have a storyline that was reminiscent of Serial Experiments Lain in there is amazing itself because that anime was not broadcasted on Adult Swim at all, and that anime is well I can't say it's obscure but it's not mainstream-level tier anime in the US. So that's why Pantheon surprised me the most when it comes to a nod to lesser well-known anime like Lain, that's what amazes me. I can say the same for Steven Universe for throwing in Revolutionary Girl Utena homages/references in there because that anime wasn't even broadcasted on Toonami nor Adult Swim (although we later found out that CN had considered adding Utena into the Adult Swim line-up, it never got a chance), and yet thanks to Steven Universe, Utena has gotten a lot of new fans for that. So yeah, Utena was so obscure prior to Steven Universe, and after that, that anime got new life from new fans and Steven Universe and Rebecca Sugar deserve a big thank you from the Utena/anime fanbase for that. Now, if an American animated series made a subtle nod or references to something like Armored Trooper VOTOMs, Aura Battler Dunbine, Blue Comet SPT Layzner, or even Space Runway Ideon (which could happen in the near future) would blow me away because those anime titles I mentioned aren't even mainstream in the US. The US animators that may throw in references to these titles I mentioned would've had to watch those anime and ;eave all of us that are fans of these titles impressed and mind-blown the same way Utena fans were mind-blown to see Steven Universe did that. Hell, I would be blown away if an American adult animated series throw in a homage/reference to Escaflowne.
Star Trek has a lot of homages/nods/references in anime already for many years, and Dirty Pair wasn't the only one. And I'm sure you may have heard about what looks like we would've known about Wesley Crusher being an otaku from this scrapped idea which involved Dirty Pair. I mean yeah I can tell Star Trek production folks are definitely big anime fans, and we know Japanese animators are also big fans of Star Trek. So it does make me wonder, why hasn't Paramount/Viacom/CBS haven't thought about giving Star Trek the anime anthology treatment a la Star Wars: Visions? I mean we already have the OEL manga of TOS and TNG. I mean if Star Trek get an anime anthology for Paramount+, that would attract a lot of anime studio to get involved, I can see Sunrise/Bandai Namco Filmworks, Production IG, Wit Studio, Satelight, Madhouse, Artland, and A-1 Studio (A-1 did Space Brothers anime) would love to do segments for Star Trek anime anthology if that was to happen. Paramount should also considered doing a TMNT anime anthology too given that their recent animated series has so much anime references/homages in there and people including Screen Rant have wondered why hasn't TMNT gotten a full anime treatment other then that one-off OVA back in the 90's before Toonami debuted in the US. So Paramount/CBS got 2 franchises that has a huge potential to have a anime anthologies that could work well for Paramount+. Last edited by mdo7 on Mon Mar 31, 2025 1:27 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dmanatunga
Posts: 87 |
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Never forget when Robin Williams learned about Evangelion.
https://youtu.be/ZKBnGuwxFvE?si=9H3w2WKIK5GOhYsx |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6503 |
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Candidate For Goddess, Witch Hunter Robin, Reign The Conqueror, and Wolf’s Rain would easily qualify as obscure. Even if there are a few among us that may fondly remember these shows (or them airing on the block). They not were among the shows that stood the test of time. |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2776 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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Probably the anime references that most surprised me, though I didn't realize it until years later, was in M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. There's a scene where Samuel L. Jackson's wheelchair-bound character is in a comic book store & being belligerent, resulting in the store employee needing to wheel him out. At one point while being pushed Jackson shoves himself to a side, knocking something over to reveal what was behind it: A framed B't X poster that was originally seen in an issue of Newtype magazine.
The way it was revealed, being hidden behind something that Jackson knocked over, makes it seem like the B't X poster was purposefully put in that spot for the sake of the reference. However, Unbreakable predates any official English release of B't X by a few years (either the manga or the initial attempt at releasing the anime), so I wonder who on staff wanted to make sure that a B't X reference was included in Unbreakable, and the only guess I can make as to how that person even knew of it is that they were a hardcore anime fan at the time who watched VHS fansubs. Either that it was entirely by chance & someone just thought the poster looked cool. |
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Rob J.
Posts: 70 |
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Anime sure has come a long way in western pop culture since Ephram Brown wore a Ranma 1/2 t-shirt in the pilot of Everwood.
(23 years ago! Yikes!) |
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ninjamitsuki
 Posts: 657 Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology) |
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On a similar note, I remember when video games in TV shows always had lives and high scores regardless of genre, but now that creators actually grew up with video games you have things like an affectionate JRPG parody in Gumball. It's kinda surreal.
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Beltane70
 Posts: 4042 |
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I was going to mention this show as well since Ephram mentions that he’s a fan of Evangelion. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4906 |
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I'll give you most of those (though Witch Hunter Robin was fun at least), but Wolf's Rain has absolutely stood the test of time. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 3011 |
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I've got to admit that it's pretty good that there are plenty of anime references in today's media than like what it was in the past. Heck,there wasn't a lot of anime around when I was growing up. But,there is something I need to ask. How do the Japanese feel about it? What's their opinion of this sort of thing appearing in a lot of American media? I'd really like to know that.
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