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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nuclear Platypus" data-source="post: 3368315" data-attributes="member: 17507">Anime is as much of an influence on D&D as sword and sorcery, Lewis Carroll, Michael Moorcock, science fiction, the Bible and other religious texts, all the cheesy kung fu flicks that used to play on Saturdays, etc. were on the original version. If anything, its merely in a loop just as the GIs brought comics to Japan after WW2 or the Japanese took American animation like Warner Brothers or Walt Disney and gave it their own twist, which the West returned the favor later on (see also cowboy movies). Astro Boy, the first anime? Updated version of Pinnochio with some pop sci fi references (like Aasimov I suppose). Samurai Champloo? More or less a Western like Cowboy Bebop before it. It's not like things in the States are all that original either - Transformers were based on at least 2 different toy lines (from Japan too), He-Man was supposed to be a tie-in toy to the first Conan movie, etc.Anime hardly did anything first. Arthur became king of England after pulling a sword from a stone at a young age but that's probably because of Uncle Walt's movie so there goes the "pre pubescent child hero" argument. Admittedly there's more than a few fairie tales with child heroes like Momotaro (Peach Boy), Hansel and Gretel, Jack the Giantkiller and even Lil Red Riding Hood. The posing? Feh. We've all seen the showdowns at high noon in the middle of the street on some Western show or another, often with a tumbleweed blowing between them. There's the classic Superman pose mentioned earlier and countless kung fu movies that even suggest that "Your Four Season Style is no match for my Five Element Fist!"The funky faces / stress lines or whatever they're called? No less than Wile E. Coyote holding a sign up that says "Uh oh." as he falls off a cliff or Steamboat Willy aka Mickey Mouse shaking his fist in frustration.Goku and Dragonball was originally based on a famous fairy tale (Journey to the East) but to up the ante, they beefed everyone up and kept doing so as the series progressed. Sounds like power creep to me. Sure Goku (or most anime heroes) are dumber than a box of frozen peas but they win because they don't give up. And also the good guys always win.It's just part of evolution or better yet, like cooking. Borrow the parts you like, changing them if desired and dump the rest. Consider the history of the American automobile - lumbering dinosaurs of the 50's and 60's that became overrun by the imports during the 70's only to adapt somewhat to the 80's and 90's.This "anime influence on D&D" is just chasing your tail.</blockquote>

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