Okay, so I know I originally said I wanted to focus solely on American cartoons, but Martin Mystery is truly an honorable mention. The art style perfectly matches with anime, and there are several tropes that this show utilizes that adds to its mimicry. I loved this show as a kid, despite how scary I thought it was. If you haven’t watched it (or even heard of it before), try to imagine Ben-10 meets Scooby Doo!

This series is based on the Italian comic book series Martin Mystere by Alfredo Castelli. The show, however, was developed by companies in France, Italy, and Canada. The art is by the Image Entertainment Corporation who also animated Totally Spies. There was also a crossover episode of the two series titled “Totally Mystery Much?”

Martin and his step-sister attend high school in Quebec. They work for a secret organization called The Center which protects humanity from all things supernatural. They are often with two other Center agents, Billy, a small green alien, and Java, a caveman from 200,000 years ago. From the intro sequence, you can get a pretty good feel for the show. (This video has the intro and credits.)

The show ran from 2003 to 2006, but there was a hiatus in between the three seasons. I remember watching this show (I think it was broadcast on Nickelodeon in America), and I think it literally scarred me. Here is an example of why I feared this show:

Upon re-watching the first episode, I immediately saw several anime tropes being used.

Speed Lines, Cross-Popping Vein

The show subtlety uses speed lines to exaggerate character reactions. (These two girls were shocked because Martin had a bunch of icing in his teeth.)

In another example, Diane is extremely mad at Martin; he got icing on her shirt. She undergoes a face deformity to further express her anger. She also has one of the most common tropes: the cross-popping vein.

Hit Flash, Super-Deformity

Immediately after, Diane proceeds to hit Martin in anger–a typical sibling quarrel. Before the punch lands, we get a hit flash.

This is common in anime. Sometimes it is difficult to animate the fight scenes, but more often, hit flashes are used to cover violence while showing that it is still happening. It would change the scene and make it much more serious if we saw the punch land.

The two continue to fight, but instead of showing the fight normally, both characters go through a super deformity to show the action.

This, again, is being used to change the fight into something more kid-friendly. I also think this is used in this particular scene to show how the fight between the two is childish, since they are siblings.

Burning with Anger

The group heads to The Center’s headquarters, where they see Billy. Martin and Billy do a secret handshake, and it makes Diane angry.

The flames engulf her to express her anger, though she is not literally on fire.

These are just a few tropes that are expressed in only the first episode of the show. This show was very forthcoming in wanting to establish its anime qualities. It may be one of the cartoons that use the most anime tropes; it shows its effort to do more than adapt the animation style. Though it has no representations of Japanese culture, this show has earned its spot of being very closely confused with Japanese anime.

Have you watched Martin Mystery before? Let me know what you think in the comments, and thank you for reading Cartoons and Anime. 🙂