There’s a mini controversy as to which Japanese animation came first, but there’s no questioning Japan as the inventors of cartoon animation. That “mini controversy” was between Katsudo Shahin and Namakura Gatana, two short filmstrips from the early 1900s. There have been long debates ever since the issue came about, but the latter is considered by many as the earlier work.
Nevertheless, they are the fathers of animation, not just in Japan, but in the whole world as well. Their list of descendants, which all experienced international superstar status, included the likes of Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Yuyu Hakusho (Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files), Slam Dunk, Rekka no Honō (Flame of Recca), Ranma ½, Shin Seiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Ruruoni Kenshin (Samurai X), and Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist).