it’s interesting to think that for most of my early life, i didn’t consider myself to be asian american. as i look back on the asian american media that i’ve consumed, i spent a long time watching shows like pokemon, american dragon jake long, jackie chan adventures, super robot monkey team hyper force go, and later anime such as naruto and others from a detached, impersonal lens. i believe that this caused me to participate in a lot of unhealthy stereotypes of asian folks, effectively boiling down most of my knowledge of asian culture to ninjas and dragons, lolita, plushies, ramen and etc. (note: most of these items listed coming from japanese pop culture) the list could go on. it probably didn’t help that many of the folks that consumed these types of media with me weren’t asian, and probably played into the fetishization of asian culture without me realizing it.
now that i’m aware of my asian identity, i look at these shows with a much different lens. who is the target audience? what is the makeup of the fandom like? what do folks from these cultures think of the way they’re being portrayed? are there inaccuracies that could easily turn into misinterpretations and harmful stereotypes? who wrote the script? who was cast as the actor/voice actor? what were the intentions behind the making of this show?
what shows/movies/animes/etc. did you watch growing up with connections to asian american culture? i’ll list a few of my favorites below in no particular order (note: some of these may be cringey, and that’s okay):
- pokemon
- teen titans
- winx club
- teenage mutant ninja turtles
- digimon
- rugrats
- jackie chan adventures
- american dragon jake long
- pucca
- super robot monkey team hyper force go
- sagwa
- sonix x
- static shock
- ben 10
- xmen: evolutions
- grim adventures of billy and mandy
- the simpsons
- fruits basket
- ouran high school host club
- naruto
- hetalia
- haikyuu!!
- death note
- dragon ball z
- yugioh
- samurai champloo
- michiko to hatchin
- baccano!
- code lyoko
- bakugan
- hi hi puffy amiyumi
- avatar: the last airbender
- samurai jack
- codename: kids next door
- the powerpuff girls
- invader zim
- power rangers
- the fairly odd parents
- atlantis
- treasure planet
- my life as a teenage robot
- mulan
- lilo and stitch
- aladdin
- wendy wu: homecoming warrior
- kung fu panda
- totally spies
- xiaolin showdown
- kirby: right back at ya!
- hamtaro
- hello kitty
- kim possible
- kappa mikey
- bobobo-bo bo-bobo
- soul eater
- vampire knight
- black butler
- rave master
- bleach
- one piece
- special a
- d.n.angel
- chobits
- zatch bell
- hidamari sketchx365
- my little monster
- kimi ni todoke
- say i love you
- princess jellyfish
- lucky star
- blood+
- magical DoReMi
- the vision of escaflowne
- aquarion
- puella magi madoka magica
- spirited away
- kiki’s delivery service
- my neighbor totoro