Anime Fun Facts

About to confide some dark secrets to you, kids... Did you know... That Quentin Tarantino was the first person Miramax considered for the translation of the script of Mononoke Hime? That the Dr.T character in the Slam Dunk manga and anime represents the author himself? That the aforementioned author, Takehiko Inoue, used to be Tsukasa Hojo's assistant? Now we know where he got the habit of putting himself in his own works... That the broadcasting aircraft, the cityscape, the opening music for ep.1 and the names Priss and the replicants in Bubblegum Crisis are taken straight out of the movie Blade Runner? That Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hakusho) and Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon) are married to each other? That in Macross Plus ep.2, Isamu is dressed exactly like James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause? That Akemi Takada, the character designer for Orange Road, Creamy Mami, Patlabor and Urusei Yatsura, among others, used to be married to Kazunori Ito, script-writer for Patlabor, among others? That there is a museum for Osamu Tezuka, who is considered the father of manga? That on average, the Japanese take twenty minutes to read three hundred pages of manga? That the last names of the characters in Maison Ikkoku are those of subway stops in Tokyo? That Mononoke Hime became the highest grossing film of all time in Japan, above such classics like E.T.? That Neon Genesis Evangelion was the first anime to win the Anime Grand Prix three times in a row? That Nausicaa had been voted best female character in the Anime Grand Prix every year since 1984, the year the film was released, until Rei Ayanami from Evangelion came along? That Yu Watase's (Fushigi Yugi) favorite character is the series' villain Nakago? That Tenchi Muyo started out as a sequel of sorts for Bubblegum Crisis? That in the French version of Maison Ikkoku, all the characters are constantly getting drunk on sodas and fruit juice because censorship wouldn't allow the words beer and alcohol in a cartoon? That the cover of Eric Clapton's album "Pilgrim" was illustrated by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, character designer for Evangelion? That the first ever TV series in Japan was Tetsuwan Atom, a.k.a. Astro Boy, based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka? That the AT Field in Evangelion is an actual term used in psychology, which refers to the mental barriers erected by autistic children? That there exist two movies by AIC (Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force) which assemble many characters from their different series and that you can see Sylia Stingray in Super Deformed? That the Japanese clap prior to praying? That the most popular Sailor Moon character in Japan is Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury? That manga forms a third of the printed material in Japan? That the theme of three sisters is used very often in anime, and that in almost all cases some of their characteristics can be traced back to the Three Fates of the Greek mythology? Most notable examples include Urd, Belldandy and Skuld from Ah My Goddess, or Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho from Five Star Stories. That in Japan lovers write their initials under the picture of an umbrella, instead of inside a heart? That the story of Disney's Lion King is suspiciously similar to that of a much earlier work by Osamu Tezuka? That black cats are considered good luck in Japan? That the Japanese believe males get nosebleeds if they are turned on? That in Versailles no Bara, it is possible to see the Eiffel Tower even though it wasn't constructed until about a century later? That the last names of the characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to WWII warships? That in Japan, young boys or effeminate males are usually voiced by female seiyu? The most notable example is Megumi Ogata, the famous seiyu of Shinji Ikari, Kurama and Sailor Uranus. That the flight base New Edwards in Macross Plus is inspired by Edwards, a US Air Force base in California? That the tickets for the first movie of Evangelion sold out in less than five hours? That Ginga Eiyu Densetsu, also known as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, isn't actually a TV-series, but a 90 episode OAV series? That when the manga of Please Save My Earth was published in Japan, three girls tried to commit suicide hoping to be reincarnated on the Moon? That in Japan more than forty new anime appear on television per week? That Yu Watase and Naoko Takeuchi are very close friends? That in the French version of Sailor Moon, Haruka is voiced by a male while Sailor Uranus remains female? That Megumi Hayashibara (voice of Ranma-chan, Rei Ayanami, Lina Inverse, Faye Valentine, and many more) is the most popular seiyu in Japan, having won the best seiyu category in the Anime Grand Prix a record nine times? That the only reason the heroines of Cat's Eye wear bodysuits is because the author thought it was easier to draw? That in Japan more paper is used for printing manga than for making toilet paper? That there exist live movies of Maison Ikkoku, Lupin III, City Hunter (with Jackie Chan in the title role, no less), Cat's Eye and Versailles no Bara, the latter in English? That the movie Tonari no Totoro became so famous in Japan that Studio Ghibli adopted Totoro as its mascot? That the Japanese voted Osamu Tezuka as one of the people they wanted to see the most on postage stamps?