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From Teen Titans to Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi

The first time I saw something Japanese featured in an American cartoon was through Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi on Cartoon Network. It followed a pair of Japanese rock singers named PUFFY (but renamed Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi because, nice try, Diddy. I mean, due to copyright issues. which are Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura trying to break into the U.S. market after their success not only with their 90s-2000s hits but also with the opening and ending songs of Teen Titans, another series I loved during my teen years. Fun fact: thanks to illustrator Gabriel Picolo, Teen Titans has recently been revived in a college-themed version that’s awesome.

I remember being so curious about how they did it, how these two musicians managed to blend cultures and succeed.

Limited Anime access in Latin America

In Latin America from the ’80s to the early 2000s, anime was pretty limited. We only had access to the classics: Dragon Ball Z, Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Evangelion, Digimon, and a few others. But honestly, that was probably just 5% of everything Japan had to offer in terms of entertainment. And back then, the internet wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is now, let alone social media.

“These are the cartoon groovies we grew up with in our childhood (the music videos with all kinds of music), only this time, in Japan. I don’t think you’ve ever seen anything like this in your lives.”

The Powerpuff Girls Anime (Demashita! The Powerpuff Girls Z)

Years later, I found out that The Powerpuff Girls, a big hit in Japan, was given an anime adaptation. The characters looked beautiful, especially their transformation sequences. But to be honest, the story didn’t catch me, and the villain designs felt weak. I guess many people agreed, because the show flopped. Still, I prefer watching this version over the 2016 reboot, which is just… disappointing.

Did Japan watch Hanna-Barbera TV shows?

Then I started wondering: were American shows ever aired in Japan during the ’60s or ’70s? And yes, some of them were. Titles like Wacky Races, Yogi Bear, and Scooby-Doo were on-air, but they didn’t reach the same level of popularity as they did in the U.S. That’s because Japan’s TV screens were already full of homegrown hits like Astro Boy, Ultraman, and many others that we never got to see in the West. Some, like Speed Racer (originally Mach GoGoGo in Japan), took years before making it overseas.

Oh! And I almost forgot, Tom and Jerry regained popularity and will be getting a Japanese version soon! There are some episodes available on YouTube, but it is not like the original 1940s version we knew. You will like it, and the vibe is very ”kawaii desu”.

Shifting visual styles

What fascinates me most is seeing how graphic design styles shift when adapting U.S. cartoons to Japanese aesthetics. The contrast is wild compared to what we were used to watching. The same happens with anime openings and endings; they often get heavily edited in different regions, sometimes losing their original meaning entirely. Localization makes the

These adaptations often reflect Japan’s unique visual storytelling, prioritizing fluid animation, clean geometry, and emotional cues. For fans like me, seeing Scooby-Doo redesigned through a Japanese lens felt like uncovering a parallel universe where childhood nostalgia meets neon-soaked anime aesthetics.

And then…

I based this post on a great article I found, which includes some cool video clips. Highly recommend checking it out: 👉 https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/japanese-intros-for-hanna-barbera-cartoons/

Curious about how Japanese City Pop music fits into this cultural exchange? Read my City Pop post here.

That’s all for now.
Thanks for reading—and don’t forget to follow me on socials: @lipinverse ✨💬🎌