The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been an American tradition for nearly a century
The annual November tradition sees the streets of New York filled with ominous inflatable likeness of beloved kids characters, as well as perky pop performers playing popular hits.
This year, however, the parade was infiltrated by an oversees menace: anime.
Alongside mainstays like Charlie Brown and Bugs Bunny, Goku, the star of the Dragon Ball franchise, made his debut as a big New York balloon.
Goku x Rockettes: Top 10 Greatest Anime Crossovers#MacysParade #ThanksGoku #DBSuperBroly pic.twitter.com/fRS7Ga4oZZ
— Funimation (@Funimation) November 22, 2018
Goku takes NYC—making history in his first-ever appearance in the #MacysParade! #DBsuper pic.twitter.com/8p6dJm9bo9
— Macy's (@Macys) November 22, 2018
Witnessing History 😭. #Goku is here! #MacysParade #HappyThanksgiving #GokuTakesNYC #DragonBallSuperBroly pic.twitter.com/Yt7NpP5Cts
— Toei Animation (@ToeiAnimation) November 22, 2018
Obviously, this went down a storm online, as anime nerds on Twitter lol’d at fuddy-duddy news presenters getting befuddled by Dragon Ball lore.
Al Roker said “Goku”, “Super Saiyan”, and “Broly” pic.twitter.com/dKWdtIbwoD
— kyle amato (@kyle_amato) November 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/Eli_bebe_dbz1/status/1065632406886072320
In that video, they say that Goku is about to “become a movie star” – Wikipedia lists 20 animated Dragon Ball movies so far, along with the live-action American adaptation Evolution from 2009.
Goku wasn’t the only anime character in attendance – Pikachu also had a giant balloon.
Hey Pikachu! Let’s Go to the #MacysParade! pic.twitter.com/xihci28sDG
— VIZ (@VIZMedia) November 22, 2018
Goku and pikachu are the only 2 anime characters ever to get a balloon in the #macysthanksgivingparade pic.twitter.com/EC1T28OZ1r
— dbstruth (@dbstruth) November 22, 2018
Pikachu actually first appeared in the parade all the way back in 2001, during the first wave of Poke-Mania.
