Ever since the premiere of Astro Boy on NBC in 1963, anime has appeared in the North American mainstream in spurts. From the arrival of Speed Racer in the United States in 1967 and Akira's U.S. premiere in 1989, to the global domination of Pokemon and the success of Cartoon Network's Toonami animation block in the late '90s, anime and anime-influenced cartoons have traditionally grabbed hold of the public consciousness stateside for measurable stretches of time.

This was truly was a banner year for anime's arrival in the American mainstream, and next year is looking to be even bigger. This year saw the ending of Dragon Ball Super's original Japanese airing, with the series' English dub scheduled to run into next year. That will be accompanied by the animated sequel film, Dragon Ball Super: Broly. And that's to say nothing of the series' protagonist, Goku, receiving a balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The revived Toonami extended its programming block to a full seven hours recently, with the latest Naruto series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations premiering this past September. Netflix has continued to expand its own anime offering, with Devilman Crybaby premiering this past January to widespread critical acclaim.

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This year also saw an explosion in North American-produced animated series heavily influenced by anime. Netflix this year released the debut season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the last four seasons of Voltron: Legendary Defender and Season 2 of Castlevania. Even Star Wars is getting in on the anime-inspired action with its latest animated series, Star Wars Resistance, and a series of shorts aimed at retelling the franchise's history in Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventure. Anime is unavoidably a growing part of American pop culture, and next year looks to see that growth reach even higher heights.

Recently, Netflix announced that they were handling the American streaming premieres of classic anime series Ultraman and Neon Genesis Evangelion in spring 2019. Days later, Adult Swim announced they were entering a partnership with anime streaming site Crunchyroll to create Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an anime series set in between the 1982 original film and Blade Runner: 2049, helmed by Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe and slated to air sometime next year. Fresh off the news Castlevania would be renewed for a third season, executive producer Adi Shankar announced he was developing an anime adaptation of the popular video game franchise Devil May Cry.

NEXT PAGE: Anime Goes Live-Action in 2019 and Beyond

Anime's influences next year aren't limited to animation alone. Netflix is developing live-action adaptations of both Cowboy Bebop and Avatar: The Last Airbender, the latter with the original creative team. Yukito Kishiro's popular manga series Battle Angel Alita gets a Hollywood adaptation directed by Robert Rodriguez and executive produced by James Cameron this February. American pop culture is currently riding a wave of Japanese inspiration that has permeated the mainstream at arguably unprecedented levels.

A lot of this comes with the passage of time. Filmmakers and writers behind the current wave of anime adaptations, and producers responsible for bringing anime to the United States, are among the first generation of American anime fans. Now in more positions of creative control, this enables them to channel their interests into their respective mediums, thus projecting anime into the mainstream. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, for example, had vocally noted that the Pacific Rim films were heavily influenced by his lifelong love of Japanese pop culture, leading to two Hollywood blockbusters with those sensibilities. Alita: Battle Angel came from James Cameron being a fan of the original manga series.

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Nostalgia is also a major factor in the latest anime renaissance. Voltron: Legendary Defender is an obvious example, being a revival of the original animated series from the '80s. Toonami had been defunct for years before Cartoon Network brought back the programming block after vocal fans made it known the brand was fondly remembered. This, of course, makes Toonami the largest branded programming schedule for the cable network, featuring sequel series for Dragon Ball and Naruto. Even Pokemon is getting back into the game, literally, after the success of its mobile game Pokemon Go and console game Pokemon: Let's Go, which comes in both Pikachu and Eevee variants. The franchise also got a new animated film in Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us this year, while next year's live-action film Pokemon: Detective Pikachu has already stirred up considerable buzz.

For long stretches, anime and manga have existed more on the periphery of American pop culture, thriving in the fringes. With geek culture irrevocably now part of the mainstream thanks to the overwhelming success of comic book adaptations on the big and small screens, it's only natural for anime and anime-influenced work to rise in profile. Perhaps the next big boom after superheroes in Hollywood comes from properties originating from Japan. If next year's lineup is any indicator, Hollywood is certainly betting on it.