WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS DONE TO ME?!

One common misconception about japan is the idea that anime nerds are seen as normal there. Otaku culture is endlessly mocked, and politicians use them as a bit of a punching bag. So, for doraemon to be so widely known, you know its gotta be a classic.

Hi O'laverly

This is a hard one to answer, but id say it goes roughly like this: Doraemon is prolly the most influential series of all time. Not because its the best, but because its one of the first. Everyone ... adults, children, parents and grandparents know who that is. Its comparable to mickey mouse in american culture, almost, and its not just recognized in otaku culture or among kids. It was part of the first wave of manga and anime inspired by American comic books broight over during the ocupation of Japan. The industry owes it a lot... ironically ive never seen it.

Hi O'laverly

Naruto is definitely the most well known in the U.S. next to Dragonball

Waver

The big three from Shonen were Naruto, One Piece (which is the biggest by far), and Bleach. Gundem and Dragon Ball were also big.

grant pflum

It’s literally one piece if you just search a little it will tell you the best selling manga in Japan is one piece. Not just in the shounen genre but overall even dragon ball. I know that hurt some of you HXH fans but just because it’s number 1 in Japan doesn’t change HXH being your favorite.

Erik johnson

GREAT link! Thanks, Duncan!

Spaz Boys Comedy

Actually, the Anime Man did a video about this a while back that might be of interest to you. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCif9ekRpk4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCif9ekRpk4</a>

Duncan MacLeod

One Piece is the top ongoing series and has been for decades. Aside from that, Love Live, Tiger and Bunny (WAAAY bigger than it is here), Madoka Magica, and Code Geass (my personal #1).

Duncan MacLeod

In Japan I mean especially since super’s return in 2015

Jaime Arredondo

Dragonball and One Piece and Cowboy bepop- however Everybody and their grandma know who Goku, Gohan and Vegeta are.

Jaime Arredondo

I know everyone else has said one piece but I have to agree in terms of popularity of over 20 years and influencing others I would rank it up there. I really like the vegabond manga but that's probably never going to be finished.

i think Code geass was very popular in Japan as well

Florian Krause

Cowboy Bebop is one anime that is good to watch. I would not say it is the best but it is one of my top 5 to watch. Yes it is an old anime but it has aged well over the years. I have not seen much of one piece but it is a slower to get in action anime then most

he would love hajime no ippo!

YES cowboy bebop

REALLY interesting! Thanks for that breakdown, My Friend. 😊

Spaz Boys Comedy

That’s interesting; I figured it must be much more of a common passion in Japan... Fortunately for me, I couldn’t care less who calls me a “geek”, “nerd”, “weeb” or whatever. I’m proud and happy you guys got me into anime. 😊

Spaz Boys Comedy

in existence right now according to google theres about around 35000 Anime and Theres still so many Good Anime you gotta Watch Baldman...Like...Trigun and Trinity Blood and Parasyte...and Heroic Age...and Eyeshield 21 and Hajime no Ippo and Samurai 7(based off of a True Story) and Ninja Scroll also known as Basilisk...I watched that as a kid its really Gorey from what I remember you can think of the MC as a Adult Rated Samurai Jack....or a White Afro Samurai....without an afro...

Meelog Malterion

In Japan anime is more normal and manga is even more normalized here, but I've seen that in the west, being interested in anime and manga definitely makes you a nerd and or geek, especially considering how many you have watched.

One Piece is so weird to me, but I guess Japanese culture is on that same level, so it makes sense.

Zhalterrix

Wow! I’d forgotten about that one! We watched a BUNCH of clips of that on the reaction streams... All I have to do is make a comment about “Jimmy” and it tweaks a lot of the gang! 😂

Spaz Boys Comedy

I cannot - and will not - call you out as wrong on that!! 😂

Spaz Boys Comedy

I know Detective Conan/Case Closed is absurdly popular over there, to a point where a town and train station were renamed after it. I'm not sure I'd recommend reacting to it because it's also absurdly long (and still running if memory serves) but it's definitely got to be mentioned.

Connor Brennan

You are all wrong! The most influential anime in Japan is clearly HENTAI! Tell me what’s more entertaining than seeing drawn out sex?!

Brother E

There are not much differences in appreciation of Great anime between west and Japan. So i would say the most of the top animes on Myanimelist are also among top animes in Japan. Like FMAB,HUNTER HUNTER,AOT,Steins Gate, Gintama .Yet,due to strong OTAKU fan base in Japan, a lot of ANIMEs WITH STRONG oTAKU sense is much more popular in Japan like Sword art online, love live and othesr. I recommond using this list to choose .,<a href="https://myanimelist.net/topanime.php" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://myanimelist.net/topanime.php</a> ps: I strongly recommend Stens Gate , whcih is among top 10 on myanimelist. Yet, I don't recommend Gintama, sice its a very special show, which has tons of references about movies,anime,cultural and historic events ,what is popular in japan at thar time in every episode. So people outside of Japan won't get any of those eferences. Even the story setting itself has some deeper meaning if you know japan's history. Chinese Subtitles have notes along with the line for most of the references or jokes. Yet, Idon't see that on English subtitls. What is more Yet, Its supring that 6 of Gintama series are still among Top 15 internationally !

Matsumoto Erkin

One of us &lt;3 As for my favorite animes.. I can't think of any right now, there's too much good stuff out there. I'd say my fav is "Beck" a Rock manga! Tons of references about real life bands, guitarists, bassists. Characters are awesome, so the storyline. The Manga is perfect. For the anime i can't say. But there's a live movie with real actors which is really well made (since it's not an anime with super powers and shit i guess it was easier to do with real people)

One of the most popular is Tokyo Ghoul,Attack on Titian, and several others. Although in Japan I know they have very few anime that last more then 1 season. Most of the time anime is always sessional people go through periods of their favorite anime.

Well asides from the big famous shounen ones, Gundam definitely must be up there. It has so many series, so much merchandise and all those model kits. It's been going on longer than I've been alive. Detective Conan too is insanely popular in Japan. It has just as many episodes as One Piece. It even has an airport and town named after it. Look <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0zHT4NtkMU" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0zHT4NtkMU</a>

Hexigoon

you kinda missed the point of what he was asking a bit. just cause it's the highest selling doesn't mean it's the most influential, if he wanted a list of highest selling anime he could have done a google search

Chrome

oh yeah and before I forget Detective conan is so popular a town and train station was renamed after the series look it up if you wanna have some fun Conan o'brian visited it recently it's called Conan Town

Chrome

the most influential series would probably be Dragonball Z toriyama's more sharp looking style fundamentally changed manga and anime's visual look forever, before Dragonball Z anime had a more soft and curvy look to it then after Z it became more sharp and edgy looking, Gundam is by far one of the most popular mecha series you'll find literal giant statues dedicated to the franchise japan loves it's mecha, for none action focused series I'd say Rumiko Takahashi and her series like urusei yatsura and Ranma 1/2 are kinda responsible for harem series she layed down the foundation for a lot of that stuff, and of course at the moment one piece besides dragonball is the current most popular series in japan but who knows what will happen when it finally ends if it'll have the same staying power as one piece

Chrome

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises</a> This gives you a list of all the highest grossing media franchises includes many anime and manga. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_manga" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_manga</a> This is also the top selling manga list of all time giving you a better idea of where everything stands as far as manga.

:-D

Spaz Boys Comedy

That's very cool! So I'm not the only old dude geeked out for anime. :-)

Spaz Boys Comedy

DBZs been around for like 33 or 34 years now...Plus Goku has his own Holiday....Goku Day May 9...and Piccolo day May 13...the day Piccolo picks a number out of a box and destroys a Random city...Technically May 9th is Piccolo day but it got changed in the Dub also it kinda makes sense that May 9th is Goku Day since its the day that he Killed King Piccolo...also 5 and 9 are pronounced as Go and Ku in Japanese....so theres that...

Meelog Malterion

Adding to the discussion here, I met a Japanese man who's over 40 years old and still reads One Piece. He was a busy guy who basically managed Japanese teachers in my city. He told me it's not that uncommon in Japan to see older people reading it.

Mody Ari

Attack on titan is obnoxiously popular in japan as well

DxShadow

As my friend put it "One Piece is the best anime ever, you just have to get through the first 100 episodes" 😂😂😂

Mody Ari

Im sure you have heard the whole one piece and dbz stuff, but jojo’s bizzare adventure has been going for 30 years and people in japan compare it to star wars in the us.

Gigamac24

In Japan it has to be One Piece It is consistently for over 20 years in the top list of their ratings

Yuion

Curtis you've just opened Pandora's box for anime fans. Thank goodness we know how to talk civilized with one another about anime here. But about the question it's honestly really simple it's the big three of anime one piece and naruto and bleach in both manga and anime. I don't count the dragon ball franchise or hunter x hunter or any other old anime that are still going or that's it done because it's done or it's irrelevant but for the modern time it's those but more one piece since both bleach and naruto are done but their still up there.

Aidan

You need to react to Code Geass:Lelouch of the rebellion,such a awesome series

Neon Genesis Evangelion is probrably up there. It was a true game changer

Yea we gotta get you into the sports anime aswell Baldman Like Eyeshield 21(American Football) and Hajime No Ippo both are about 150 episodes but Ippo is separated into 3 seasons and a Movie Eyeshield 21's more about Friendship and the journey they all got through then Hajime No Ippo which is about Ippo...and the ultimate Anime in Dirty Jokes(but no no Nudity) is called Seitokai Yakuindomo its about 1 high school guy and hes surrounded(but not in a harem type of way) by a bunch of girls with really messed up senses of Humor....and the Ultimate in Randomness from what iv Seen has to be Cromarti Highschool....they have a Gorilla...and one of the Characters even looks like you...

Meelog Malterion

:-D

Spaz Boys Comedy

For anime that have characters that almost every japanese person would have heard of would be: Evangelion, Jojo (Parts 3 and 5 in particular, and also a big one because of how long the series has been running.), Dragonball, Naruto, One Piece, Detective Conan, and then the long running children shows like Doraemon, Shin Chan and Kitarou.

Jake Young

Basically all the most popular manga series are action-based shonen anime with the exception of Haikyuu which is about high school volleyball - which I'd recommend massively btw

Tpoints

Currently the top 5 in terms of monthly sales usually involves One Piece, Haikyuu, MHA, Attack on Titan, Black Clover - these are the most 'trendy' manga/anime rn. In terms of all time influence - Bleach, Naruto, One Piece are considered the 'big 3' along with Dragon Ball

Tpoints

without googling it I think the most popular in Japanese is probably the Gundam Series Im not a fan havent even seen an episode of it but the Gundams are the descendants of the very first anime one of the very first also being a Mecha anime)Giant Robots) and robot suits but from what I remember Astro Boy was actually one of the Very first to be recognized as "anime" as we know it today but I have no idea what the Japanese like...and I dont think you have to have watched Cowboy Bebop to appreciate Anime iv seen the first 5 or so episodes of it and got kinda bored the one thing I do know about anime is that Dbz had a massive Influence on the West and even the East and plenty of huge Animators like the writer of Onepiece and Naruto and more pay respect to Akira Toriyama even though he may be as good as writing as Goku is at fighting in normal life he sucks guy one forgot that SSJ2 existed and he accidentally wrote out so many characters plenty of which he could of brought back but just hasnt...but we still love him...also from what Iv heard he kinds sour cause people like DBZ more then some of his other Anime and Manga that have been around just as long

Meelog Malterion

When I saw the notification the first thing that came in my mind was AA meeting, and then I read the description :D

Douglas Streck

I gotta tell you guys, reading all these comments has really got me even more hype for the anime we'll be seeing in the future. There's several titles in here I haven't even heard of before, along with a BUNCH that I already am pumped to see!... I gotta start taking better care of myself just so I can live long enough to see a good hunk of the anime I want to watch with you guys! :-D

Spaz Boys Comedy

Yea, I gotta make the time to get watching the Ghibli movies!

Spaz Boys Comedy

Wow! That's interesting to know it stacks up that favorably against those two legends!

Spaz Boys Comedy

:-D

Spaz Boys Comedy

I would say One Piece, HxH, and Bleach

codebreaker1298

I would say One Piece, Berserk and HxH

The Overlord of Ice

I'm not totally sure, Curtis. XD But I know I would like you to watch Code Geass, or Ancient Magus Bride, ot Devil is a Part Timer. They are all three pretty awesome in their own way. Cant wait until you do.

ONE OF US

Lachlan Ferrand

Love Life, Idol Master, Madoka Magica and Code Geass as well as other Gundam shows. Id really recommend you check out Code Geass at the very least. Love Life you coud do for fun and to just be more edjukated about popular anime. Madoka is incredibly popular although I personaly dont really agree on it being that great.

Irimu

Well i know that the manga for one piece is by far the best selling and from what ive seen the ones with the most advertisments and events in japan are one piece and pokemon. On an unrelated note ive heard from someone who lived in japan that alot of people are getting sick of dragon ball 😂 also are you ok? The bags under your eyes look almost bigger than the goosh man

Darkslifer#27

Depends what era you're asking about, the 80's and 90's had huge influencers. But Japan is mainly influenced on manga rather than anime. A series I recently finished was "Great Teacher Onizuka", which is a comedy that perfectly depicted the 90's in Japan - and was very popular at the time. You would love it (a good taste is the first episode which is double the usual length of an anime episode). A big manga influence is Berserk, which influenced dozens of other manga and games we see today (Ultimately anime too). They have a good anime adaptation release in the 90's. A lot of anime which are popular are not your average shonen (naruto, hunter x hunter, my hero academia - shonen is just a genre aimed at teenage boys, usually a battle type show). But there are a lot of other anime which I know you would love. Netflix has a lot of new titles they are releasing there. Such as Devilman crybaby (18+/R rated), Erased, Kakeguri, etc. (Most anime will be done by season with usually 10-13 episodes each). A big anime right now other than the main ones is Re:Zero, one of the characters birthdays in the show is a big thing, people dress up as the character in real life when her birthday comes around. Highly reccomend this anime (has 25 episodes and I've heard season 2 is coming out 2019 hopefully *fingers crossed*). In the end, doing polls with a lot of choices chosen by the Goosh would be the best way to go.

Loro Lukic

If only there was a goosher from Japan to tell us.... Being popular is not always equal to affecting the culture. Though, I think, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumia is amongst the huge titles. You know, animes about schoolgirls will never be the same after it. Also, everyone loves studio Ghibli and it's works have had a big impact on the world and Japan, too.

Also Curtis, don't feel bad for thinking about anime lol I've done so for 16 years now and regret nothing at all. It's one of the few things I really have a passion for and always will.

Its not our fault you're easy to corrupt.

Darkslifer#27

Lol you're one of us now, no going back

I would certainly say Evangelion has had a great deal of influence in terms of the layers a series was given, or at least from that point forward more was paid attention to when it came to story and development of characters and such. Cowboy Bebop certainly influenced the anime community I feel as a whole because of how non "anime" it is. I would say as far as me personally, the series that has most impacted me would be FMA 2003 ver. simply because that was one of the first series I watched that had soo much more complexity to it then other series of it's time.

ONE OF US, ONE OF US!

They also like sports animes alot from what I've heard, but it's normal. They're suprisingly very motivating and competetive

I don't know exactly which animes are more popular in Japan since I don't live in Japan, but I remember my colleague (who was japanese) once told me usually the most popular series there are the iconic ones like code geass, mobile suit gundam,neon genesis evangelion stuff like that. But I also know even though they love One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Bleach,Fairy tail all of these popular anime and they know they're the most popular outside of Japan, I think they overrate Gintama over all of these. They're more into fun and "kawai" stuff (and they also like the classics). But it really depends, everybody in Japan watches Anime and reads Manga. They're from all ages so kids might like something else and elders might like something else its totally normal

Of the shounen (mostly for young males) it's one piece. However i don't think shounen is the most popular anime genre in Japan as oppose to Europe and USA.

Jojoekage

Well if I had to guess which ones are the most seen and most popular it’s probably gonna be the more mainstream ones like Fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood, Death note, attack on Titan, hunter x hunter, or one piece and dragonball or something :) they are the one that top the most lists anyway. But I don’t really know about the culture stuff since I don’t really know much about japan and anime in general tbh.

Anna Lena Ciplajevs

I’d personally say Dragonball saga but what do I know.

The Nuclear Reactor

I think, One piece is number one. I might be wrong, though 😅

Its hands down One Piece, I haven't personally been to Japan but apparently merch of it is round every corner, it's used for other companies as advertisements, it's mad. There is this amazing video by 'super eyepatch wolf' called 'the appeal of one-piece: where to start' in which be compares manga sales to superman and batman and it really emphasizes the enormous sales difference between them.

one piece is the most popular in japan easily but dragon ball takes the crown worldwide.

Ghoul

Weaboo sama 😁

Jojoekage