"anime is all the rage" is quite the stretch. With that language one could then say "watching YouTube is all the rage". Sure, when anime was new in the West (mid-80s) it was "all the rage" but today it is just...well...Anime. It's just a genre that some like to watch while others find pretty lame. It isn't anything special these days (because we've had it for so long..it just a thing that is just there) and so it is most certainly not "all the rage". Back when Akira showed up on VHS by Streamline Pictures (mid-to-late 80s) is when anime was "all the rage" and/or when Cartoon Network introduced "The Adult Swim" late-night stretch (mid-to-late 90s) of violent animes is when anime was "all the rage". It was a time when the West finally realized their home-grown cartoons were total shit (ie. anime showed adult content in adult situations -- it treated kids/teens/adults with respect). To be fair, the West had anime long, long before Akira, masquerading as West productions, but Akira was the very first to make jaws drop.