The interplay between the West and Japan is fascinating.

While Japanese pop-culture ( particularly Manga ) is more culturally insular than some, American stuff still seeps through in comix from time to time.

By and large Amerikomi are sold to American expats and folks on Army bases. Some mangaka have a fascination with other cartoonists abroad, but most ( like most Japanese readers ) don't bother with them. So in the long run American films; whether its Rocky or Alien have a much bigger influence on Manga than comix do.

But at various points the influence has been present. The Japanese edition of England's 19th century humor magazine Punch pretty much taught the comix vernacular. ( The English Punch also gave us the word "cartoon" as we know it today. )

In the prewar period some American comic strips ( particularly Blondie and Bringing Up Father shaped 30s and 40s Manga.

But the "magical girl" genre is a case of American TV shaping Japanese pop culture. This girl who adores a mere mortal but whose attempts to "help" f*ck up his life is the direct descendant of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched.

When I discovered Anime/Manga that girl was Lum-chan from the series Urusei Yatsura.

But that's typical of last-wave Anime fandom. These are the last generation of fans who needed an insider connection in the few years between the exposure of Anime to geeks and its general dissemination through English speaking cable-TV. Lum was widely adopted by last-wave fans as THE magical girl.

Dante