BW Gaming World
For those who do not know, Anime refers to hand-drawn and computer-generated animation that originated in Japan. The earliest Japanese animations date back to 1917, with innumerable stories seeping into the culture of the country. Since the 1980s, anime has become popular across the globe, and it is not surprising to see that by 2016, anime accounted for more than 60 per cent of the world’s animated shows. Everybody is well aware of the assistive robot Doraemon and the adventurous little boy Nobita or the notoriousness of the friendly Ninja Hatori. Dubbed in not just Hindi but also vernacular languages these animes were popular with children and kids alike. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most popular shows that originated in Japan.
Naruto
This show was the winner for the Best Female Vocal Performance in an Anime Television Series and OVA in a Supporting Role for BTVA Award in 2014. Currently brought to India by KC Global Media through JioTV, this Japanese manga series is the brainchild of Masashi Kishimoto. Naruto Uzumaki is a young Ninja who has only one dream – to become the Hokage, the leader of his village. The legend goes that an enormous nine-tail fox ambushed the village on the day Naruto was born. The 4th Hokage of the community sacrificed himself, thus having relevance for Naruto and his motto in life.
Dragon Ball
The Dragon Ball series is India’s most-watched anime show, and the 2000s kids have grown up on the adventure in Goku’s life. Goku is always on an adventure to rescue his friends from troubled situations and he trains himself to be able to deal with any upcoming problem. Characters like Vegeta have also gained popularity from this show and Goku’s training time, fights, competitions, planet-shattering battles with Super Saiyans and trips to different worlds are the key factors that made this series so popular. In fact, it has led to many spin-off series that were loved equally.
One Punch Man
Currently available on JioTV in India, One Punch Man is an award-winning show that won the Sugoi Japan Award and the Spanish Manga Barcelona award in 2017. Saitama, the hero of One Punch man can win over any villain with just one punch. He is hilarious, yet powerful and fights the antagonists well. However, he gets bored with these easy victories and wants more adventures in life and goes on to destroy monsters with his apprentice Genos. With such amusing themes, it has become extremely popular with young viewers.
Spy × Family
The Spy X Family is essentially a comedy but relates to some real as well as historical events in Japan. This one has been written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. It tells the story of Agent Twilight, who is the greatest spy of his time in Westalis. He needs to assemble a fake family to carry out a mission where he has to infiltrate an elite private school. He ends up with a psychic child and another legendary assassin who is in hiding and needs the protection of a family. How this crazy family goes on different adventures is what keeps the young viewers bound and glued to the screen.
Pokemon
This longest-running anime show has announced that Ash Ketchum and Pikachu’s story will be ending in the final season which will air at the end of 2023. The show will now focus on other characters, but it has created quite a buzz. The 90s kids remember not just growing up watching anime shows, but also collecting cards of various Pokemon and exchanging them. Pokemon follows the trail of Ash Ketchum who lives on a different planet where animals with special power co-exist with humans. These pokemon or animals are captured and trained for combat. And viewers love these showdowns.
