For those University of Memphis students who still flip through the TV during Saturday morning cartoon time, it's a good bet that you will most likely find some form of anime or Japanese cartoon.
Maria Muldrow, a junior music business major, said that it was through her friend that she got into watching the anime "Yu-Gi-Oh."
"I think it's good," she said.
Like Muldrow, when most people hear about anime cartoons they think of "Pokemon," "Dragon Ball Z" or "Yu-Gi-Oh."
Yet there are more than just these shows. There are anime movies such as "Princess Mononoke" or "Spirited Away" and also comic books, or mangas, which most of the anime shows are based on.
"A lot of cartoons today are anime," said Stephen Tabachnick, English department chair and instructor of the Graphic Novels class.
"If you go to Borders there are three to four shelves of mangas and only one shelf of graphic novels," he said. "I love it."
Tabachnick also said the interest in manga comic books comes from the idea comic books in our society are seen as childish while in Japanese society, they are seen as something young adults would read.
"We are catching up with Japan in seeing that comics aren't just for children," he said.
One way young adults in Western culture read the mangas or watch the anime programs is through translations.
The more popular anime shows are translated into English and many of them appear on the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" that is on during the later evening to early morning hours.
Tokyo Pop is one of the leading publishers of English-translated Japanese mangas in the United States.
Through these efforts, anime TV shows and mangas are being brought to the United States.
"I don't watch them often," said Chris Pitts, a freshman sports management major. "I mainly like the artwork behind them."
While some people watch anime or read mangas for various reasons, such as anime being so violent, there are those who don't think much about it at all.
"I know that anime is Japanese cartoons and that my brother used to watch it and draw it," said Brit Ackermann, a senior liberal studies major. "That's about all I know."
While some don't know much about anime, there are those who just don't like it at all.
"I don't find them interesting," said James Davis, a junior biology major. "I like shows like 'ER' and football or playing my Xbox."
For those who don't know much about anime but would like to know more about it, The University has an Anime club, known as Anime 101, that meets on Fridays to watch different anime films.
