Bakugan; Japanese Anime Cartoons Continue Popularity in America
The popular Cartoon Network program, Bakugan, is the latest in what has become a wave of Japanese Anime cartoons that have enjoyed tremendous success in the American cartoon market.
Bakugan is similar to its predecessor Pokémon, in that it has accessories like a board game, and action figures that accompany the cartoon. Bakugan also boasts more interaction between players, as rolling the action pieces requires a bit of skill.
The plot or basic synopsis behind the cartoon is focused around an alternate or parallel dimension of Earth, and a people known as Bakugan. One evil Bakugan takes an important artifact for use and personal gain. The artifact explodes and splits into two “cores”. The Bakugan are destined to be at odds with each other until the artifact can be found and brought back together.
A classic good versus evil plot develops for the popular Bakugan cartoon, and the episodes fall nicely in line with each other. The Bakugan Battle Brawlers are characters from the cartoon who play a supporting role.
Each Battle Brawler has magnetic cards (which fell from the sky in the cartoon) that are worth point values in the board game. Brawlers roll their action figures toward the cards in hopes of stopping atop the magnetic portion of the card. The action figures contain a magnet as well, when rolled over the card the figures transform into creatures.
With all of the moving parts and the elaborate plot of Bakugan, it is tailor made for the American viewing public. There are some similarities between Bakugan and other successful anime adaptations like Pokémon, Street Fighter and so on.
Non-cartoon shows like Power Rangers alluded to the future of Japanese-American adaptations for television.
One thing is for certain, the throng of Japanese anime cartoons on American television appears to be here for the long haul.
Bakugan is similar to its predecessor Pokémon, in that it has accessories like a board game, and action figures that accompany the cartoon. Bakugan also boasts more interaction between players, as rolling the action pieces requires a bit of skill.
The plot or basic synopsis behind the cartoon is focused around an alternate or parallel dimension of Earth, and a people known as Bakugan. One evil Bakugan takes an important artifact for use and personal gain. The artifact explodes and splits into two “cores”. The Bakugan are destined to be at odds with each other until the artifact can be found and brought back together.
A classic good versus evil plot develops for the popular Bakugan cartoon, and the episodes fall nicely in line with each other. The Bakugan Battle Brawlers are characters from the cartoon who play a supporting role.
Each Battle Brawler has magnetic cards (which fell from the sky in the cartoon) that are worth point values in the board game. Brawlers roll their action figures toward the cards in hopes of stopping atop the magnetic portion of the card. The action figures contain a magnet as well, when rolled over the card the figures transform into creatures.
With all of the moving parts and the elaborate plot of Bakugan, it is tailor made for the American viewing public. There are some similarities between Bakugan and other successful anime adaptations like Pokémon, Street Fighter and so on.
Non-cartoon shows like Power Rangers alluded to the future of Japanese-American adaptations for television.
One thing is for certain, the throng of Japanese anime cartoons on American television appears to be here for the long haul.
