First in America

To understand why anime came to the United States, we must know what the first anime show to cross the ocean was. Depending on whether one counts movies or not, the answer differs. If one includes movies (or basically, something shown in theaters,) then the first would be "Hakujaden", which translates to "Tale of the White Serpent". It would end up being released in America in 1961 under the name "Panda and the White Serpent." This movie would end up being followed by a series of five more movies, released year after year in the U.S. However, unlike their popularity in Japan, they floundered in the theaters in the U.S. It would be more then two decades before Japanese Anime found it's way back to the big screen.

However, one of the movies released, "Saiyuki," or as released in English, Alakazam the Great, created a possibility for Japanese comics (now called manga (pronounced mahn-ga)) to become anime. This would lead to the first anime showed on American Television, "Astro Boy", which was first shown on New Year's Day in 1963. "Astro Boy" was its English release name, its original Japanese title was "Tetsuwan Atomu", or when translated, "Mighty Atom." By the end of 1963, "Astro Boy" was a smash hit, and had led to the production of three more TV anime. By the end of the 60's science-fiction anime had become very popular in the United States. Though Anime would never get as popular in the United States as it would Japan, "Panda and the White Serpent," and "Astro Boy" would lead the way for the anime culture now existing in America.