It's Adventure Time: What I Love About TV's Best Modern Cartoon

For those who grew up in the 'golden age' of anime television during the 90s, the current state of the anime medium here in the West has become a sorry sight for sore eyes. Back in the day, the likes of Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moonwere the sole reason children from across Europe and the USA would run home from school and park their noses about 3 inches away from the television screen ready to catch up on the latest adventures of their favourite anime's. 

The bright colours, unique story-lines, detailed backstories and connected toys, games and cards turned anime from a small cult-like phenomena into an obsession for an entire generation. Now the anime genre has returned back to it's relatively niche status in the Western hemisphere, with only the likes of Attack on Titan and One Punch Man holding up the baton of pure anime.

However, what if the legacy of the 90s golden age is a lot more prominent than may at first be apparent? What if anime's influence has't been reduced, just transformed? Notable works from a number of contemporary western animations have been subtly influenced by the anime genre. From The Simpsons, South Park, and of course, Adventure Time, all have been heavily influenced by Japanese anime; here's how...

Adventure Time: The Beauty of Limitlessness

Written by Creator Daniel Blick on Creators.co

Writer of the "Harry Potter" franchise, J.K. Rowling, once said that when writing for the fantasy genre it's paradoxically much more important deciding what your characters can't do, than deciding what they can. This helps ground the story in some level of relatability and makes sure there are still stakes to be had in a world where hypothetically anything can happen.

The same can be said for the animated genre, too. "The Simpsons" may have always revolved around wacky and crazy storylines, but at the end of the day Homer always returned home to his wife and three kids. This pattern can be found in more recent animated series too, for example the extremely popular "Bob's Burgers". This show also exhibits a pretty quirky tone, but at the same time finds itself grounded in a sub-urban setting, surrounding the pretty banal story of a middle-aged man trying to keep his business afloat whilst at the same time successfully raising his kids. Since it's inception, however, "Adventure Time" has been dancing to the tune of it's own drum.