When did anime become so popular with normies?

>>36801679
This image and variations on the tag "when did anime become popular with normies" gets posted here so I often I'm starting to believe this image is photoshopped

>>36801679
You haven't seem shit yet.
Just wait until the olympics.

>>36801679
Anime is semi-mainstream.

>>36801679
it pretty much always has. noticed lots of black dudes watch DBZ and Naruto. Every other twitch female streamer claims to watch anime.

The late '90s, early 2000s thanks to Toonami. A lot of people who started watching anime on Toonami as a child grew out of anime by middle school and became norms. Most normies that watch anime now started watching this decade because of 4chan. Lots of normies post here and then become interested in anime because it's so prevalent.

>>36801715
It's not, Snoop Dogg loved it and thought it was cute. I think he talked about it on his Facebook page too.

>>36801679
Since forever?

Well, I exaggerate. My earliest exposure was Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman), Star Blazers (Spaceship Yamamoto), and Force Five: Starvengers (Getter Robo).

I believe Transformers, Tranzor Z, Voltron, and Robotech (Macross) created the first mainstream interest in the US. Akira was huge as well.

>>36801679
what is nep doing?

>>36802262
yeah, blacks are enormous weebs