It\'s not really all that odd, Anime is a huge part of their entertainment industry, certainly the most exported entertainment Japan has. Figure sales of DVDs, production rights, slews of models, books, and manga I can imagine Anime is fairly important to their economy. Having a big blue cat with some goober inside running around promoting their industry is no different then some jackarse in a big rat costume promoting tourism and selling the slew of merchandise Disney coughs up.
As far as Anime goes better art wise then their American counterparts. They also come up with some interesting stories far more original then Disney and such. Their animation often has a better story then most Hollywood garbage. Just check out some goodies like Princess Mononoke, Wings of Honiamise(sp), Graveyard of the Fireflies, Howl\'s Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Patlabor, Tank Police, Gundam (old stuff personally), Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Nausicaa, Spirited Away, Battle Angel aka Gunnm, Witch Hunter Robin, Macross, Bleach, Spirit of Wonder, Ah! My Goddess (life long favorite), and tons tons more.
Main issue I find with folk not liking it is the \"I don\'t want to read what I watch\" which is fine I spose but you miss out on alot of great work that way. And 9 outta 10 Dubs not only ruin it but wreck the real dialog. For me having it in japanese boosts the fantasy aspect seems like all these weird charecters are truly from some place else.