There’s a long history of Japanese-French animation, going back to at least Ulysses 31 in 1981. There’s a tonne of anime (Dragonball Z, Nicky Larson/City Hunter) which I remember seeing on French TV maybe a decade before it appeared on cable/satellite in the UK, at least. Vs the US, yeah maybe it’s a weird statement. But vs the rest of Europe? Not so much.