The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, created by Nagaru Tanigawa in 2003, is a popular light novel series and anime that explores themes of existentialism, time travel, and alternate realities.

Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka in 1963, is considered the first modern anime and helped to popularize the genre both in Japan and around the world.

The Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century saw the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the modernization of Japan.