Animes, the name for Japanese-animated TV shows, have become wildly popular in the U.S.

Most well-known anime series tell of magical worlds detailing humans who possess some sort of superpower, such as ninja skills or super strength. One such example is “Naruto,” a show about the world of ninjas and the struggle between good and evil. The show was originally a manga comic book series but gradually gained popularity and was made into an anime series. The show is considered to be one of the most popular anime shows, and with its sequel “Naruto Shippuden,” there are over 500 episodes and counting. 

Some students loosely follow anime. These people read or watch their favorite comics or shows from time to time, only occasionally watching the plot lines. Other students, however, are heavily engrossed in anime, devoting large portions of their time to the addictive action-packed shows and books.

One such student is sophomore Michael Ren, president of the Anime Club.

“Anime is basically storytelling,” Ren said. “I really enjoy watching these stories unfold, and there’s just a certain feeling you get off of anime that you just can’t get from movies.”

Ren said in the period of one year, he watched 80 different anime shows, and a website called myanimelist.net calculated that to around 29.5 days worth of TV.

“Anime doesn’t get old because every single one provides a different story, and the possibilities are endless,” Ren said.

Anime is usually a popular substitute to regular American-made cartoons because of the action and the various dubs from the original Japanese to English, Spanish, German and even French. In addition, the themes are often inappropriate for young kids, usually varying in age ranges and using mature language. This aspect makes animes different from standard American cartoons, which primarily targets younger audiences of ages 6-12.

In Asian countries, Anime and Manga have long been popular, but a reason for their rise, especially the rise of Anime in the United States is its thrilling action and its intense plotlines which include betrayal, courage, bravery and lots of ambition. Even though nobody can actually relate to the characters’ actions within the shows/comics, people can relate to the various problems that each character goes through.

With anime’s diverse elements and the action-packed long standing storylines, it’s no surprise that it is rising up in the ranks as a popular alternative to cartoons.