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anime
Japanese animation that, to Western audiences, is often known mostly for its large eyes, spiky hair, and tendency to drag on in sagas that never end. Some take the hint and actually end. Others, however, do not.
Some anime can be classified as 'adult'; although the less said about this the better, and God help you if you ask about it (though it might lead to unexpected developments: Kilngirl first got in touch with Doctor What because she wanted to know what hentai was, and the rest is board history). We will say it usually involves tentacles.
Although Japanese animated series and feature-length movies are older, they first came to the attention of Western audiences in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when various children's TV shows added them to their programs, sometimes without first making sure that they were actually suitable for children. They remained a niche phenomenon for another decade or so, but then hit the mainstream and have since the 1990s become a staple of popular entertainment.
Anime is loved and hated in roughly equal measures, as the gushing (and often shallow) enthusiasm of its fan base tends to result in an opposite reaction in other people. Let us just say that much of it is indeed crap, but then much of anything is crap, and the trick is to tell the worthwhile shows from the bad ones.
On this board, anime is a focus of two groups in particular, the Royal and Imperial Society for the Promotion of Nipponoscepticism and the Royal and Imperial Society for the Appreciation of Asian Culture & History. Contrary to what one might think, their perspectives are largely complementary, as the latter encourages a mature approach to anime rather than a naive, fanboyish one.