Anime may be a niche genre, but its influence can be found in mainstream cinema. Many American movies are influenced by anime, and their writers and directors have been open about discussing the imprint anime has left on their films.
Other filmmakers, however, have not been as forthcoming with the impact anime has made on their work. Some have completely denied any sort of homage or influence, like in the case of Paprika and Inception, while others admit they knew the anime property existed, but still claim their intention was not to rip it off. Either way, fans of anime are quick to point out the obvious parallels and themes pulled from their favorite series.
The 2012 sci-fi Looperis a time traveling thriller about hired guns, or "loopers," who kill mob targets from the future. The director, Rian Johnson, is not only a self-confessed anime fan, but he also readily admitted to using elements from the 1988 classicAkiraas inspiration for his film. Looper's Cid, a young boy who goes on a rampage as his psychic power rages out of control, feels like a younger version of Akira's Tetsuo.
Perhaps one of the most infamous cases of obvious anime influence is that of Satoshi Kon's 2006 film Paprika on Christopher Nolan's 2010 film Inception. In both movies, characters are able to break into the world of dreams. Depending on the dream walker's intentions, they can either help others heal psychological wounds, or they can cause serious damage.
Both films blur the line between dreams and reality, and there are some striking visual similarities between the two. Namely, both include scenes in which the dream world physically falls to pieces when touched, as well as hallway fights that defy gravity.
While some people do believe that Nolan intended Inception as an homage to Paprika, he has never been directly quoted as giving Kon any credit. It's hard to say if Inception is influenced by anime, or if it's a blatant rip-off.
Darren Aronofsky's acclaimed thriller Black Swan supposedly cribs from Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue, to which he may have bought the American rights. Aronofsky's movie shares multiple plot elements with Perfect Blue, as both films star young women with overbearing mothers and creepy doppelgangers who torment them.
While the semblances between the two are fairly noticeable, Aronofsky denied that Perfect Blue influenced his work:
Not really, there are similarities between the films, but it wasn’t influenced by it. It really came out of Swan Lake the ballet, we wanted to dramatize the ballet, that’s why it’s kind of up here and down there, because ballet is big and small in lots of ways.
Director Darren Aronofsky allegedly bought the rights to the American version of the Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue. While Aronofsky never actually made a live action Perfect Blue film, there are some clear parallels to the anime in movies he did make.
Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem For A Dreamis about drug addiction, and has some shot-for-shot similarities, particularly during the bathtub scene in both films.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a comedy about a slacker musician who has to battle his new girlfriend Ramona's seven evil exes. It pulls from a variety of nerdy sources, including manga.
In an interview with GamesRadar+, Scott Pilgrim comic writer Bryan Lee O'Malley said:
Yeah I was influenced by a couple of Japanese comics. The two biggest ones were Beck [and Nana]. Beck was about a struggling rock band, and then also Nana which is like a girl’s comic, it was kind of more real-life.
It was about twenty-somethings kind of just living their lives, trying to hold down jobs. I was going through that period in my own life, so it was kind of eye-opening to see comics with that subject matter.
Did O'Malley also see the anime versions of Beck and Nana? That's unclear, but its safe to say their themes made it into Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
When The Lion King premiered, it was immediately met with comparisons to Kimba the White Lion, the first anime to ever air on television. Both movies feature a young lion protagonist, a wise baboon, a lioness love interest, a bossy bird, not-so-bright hyenas, and a black-maned villain with eye issues.
For the most part, Disney denies ever having heard of Kimba the White Lion, and refutes all claims of using it as inspiration. Instead, they claim The Lion King was based on a combination of Disney's earlier film, Bambi, and Shakespeare's Hamlet. Not everyone buys this – in fact, a petition was signed by hundreds of animation professionals, asking Disney to admit the influence.
Animator Tom Sito did not say the film was inspired by the anime, but he did admit most of the artists had probably seen Kimba:
I mean the artists working on the film, if they grew up in the ‘60s, they probably saw Kimba. I mean, I watched Kimba when I was a kid in the ‘60s, and I think in the recesses of my memory we’re aware of it, but I don’t think anybody consciously thought, "Let’s rip off Kimba."
