kittenlava

Remember when anime was this bizarre subculture that was difficult to explain? Now everyone and your mom knows about Dragon Ball Z and probably watches it on the reg, too.

One of the most physically massive hallmarks of our changing times is the Goku Balloon. This absolute unit is ready to make his debut in the most American of American pastimes, the Macy’s 92nd Thanksgiving Day Parade. He’ll float alongside more recognizable staples of Western pop culture like Snoopy, the concept of bowling, and (consults smudged writing on hand) Pikachu?

This heckin’ chonker is 56 feet tall, 70 feet wide, and a joint collaboration between parade balloon artists (note to self: switch careers) at Macy’s and Toei Animation. We are in awe at the size of this lad, who is debuting to bring publicity to the upcoming Toei film, Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

Check out the video of Goku’s test flight below. To watch him live, tune in to Verizon’s YouTube live stream on November 22 starting at 9 AM EST until noon or borrow an Old Person’s cable TV subscription. If you tell them it’s so you can watch Goku from Dragon Ball Z, they might even want to join you.

my therapist:

From the mouth of a One Percenter -

Like, Cartoon Network showed stuff like YuYu Hakusho, .hack//sign, Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Tenchi Muyo, and Rurouni Kenshin every weekday after school on their Toonami block. 

I remember rushing home after school in second grade to watch Rurouni Kenshin. That was 7 year old me’s favorite show. 

You think Pokemon is popular now? HA! In the late 90′s, it was every parent’s worst nightmare. It was on the cover of Time Magazine for fucks’s sake. EVERY kid was obsessed with it. No exceptions. At least, until Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh came around…

You could wake up on Saturday mornings and watch highly Americanized butchered versions of Shaman King, Tokyo Mew Mew (”Mew Mew Power”), and most infamously, One Piece thanks to 4kids. 

An anime getting an extremely butchered Americanized dub was a very real, legitimate threat that could happen to any show.

Staying up late enough to watch Inuyasha was considered a rite of passage.

Teenage girls flocked to Barnes and Noble to read entire volumes of Fruits Basket and Fushigi Yuugi in the store without paying for them.

All of the kids cartoons tried to cash in on the craze. I’m sure everyone remembers Avatar and Teen Titans, but trust me when I say that you DON’T want to remember Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi and Kappa Mikey.

Hayao Miyazaki won an Academy Award.

Final Fantasy VII was considered the greatest video game ever made.

Some people still called it “Japanimation”.

So many fucking magazines. Off the top of my head: Animerica, Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat, Newtype USA (the best one by far), Anime Insider, Beckett Anime, and Beckett Anime For Girls (The most cringeworthy one. Of course I had every issue!)