I know it’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when manga and anime were not popular in America. As a matter of fact, there was a time when they were unheard of.
When I was in Jr. High, manga was just about to take off. There was a comic book store near my house where I could pick up copies of early translated imports from Eclipse, Studio Proteus, and Dark Horse, such as Bubblegum Crisis, Ghost In The Shell, Dominion, and Venus Wars for as little as 25 cents a book.