Anime burst onto the scene in September of 1963, when NBC syndicated a dubbed version of the Japanese series Astro Boy. Robot anime like Gundam and Macross became instant classics within the 80s, as well as the robot genre of anime is still among the most heard about in Japan and worldwide today.

Within the 1980s, anime was accepted within the mainstream in Japan, description here and experienced a boom in production (It should be noticed that, manga has considerably more mainstream exposure than anime in Japan). The mid-to-late '90s, on into the 2000s, saw an increased acceptance of anime in overseas markets.

There are various books available that can help in perfecting the anime drawing style. Such books come complete with information and instructions on the styles utilized in anime.

A common approach will be the large eyes style drawn on many anime and manga characters, credited to the influence of Osamu Tezuka, who was inspired through the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse and from Disney's Bambi.

While not all anime have large eyes many western audiences associate anime with large detailed eyes as many shounen or boy comics and shoujo young girl comics depict their characters with large eyes.

Other stylistic elements are common also; often in comedic anime, characters which are shocked or surprised will perform a "face fault", by which they display an extremely exaggerated expression.

In anime the lines are often influenced more from a stylistic look from brushwork, rather than that of the calligrapher's pen. This really is best demonstrated within the anime Karekano.

The anime can also be edited to alter cultural references which could not be understood by a non-Japanese person and certain companies may remove what might be perceived as objectionable content.

Anime also provides a window into another culture. Anime seems to function very effectively as a cultural ambassador.