Any other anime fans happy that more and more studios are starting to create series in this format? It used to be unheard of besides theatrical movies like Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust/ GITS/ Princess Mononoke etc etc....

To name a few series that are in widescreen...

Last Exile
Heat Guy J
Noir
Chobits
Haibane Renmei
Vandread
Arjuna
.hack//SIGN

I dunno. I mean the majority of anime is first shown on tv so I can understand why it's in the ratio it is in.

Widescreen TVs are becoming more popular here, so I'm sure they're popular in Japan. That's probably why they're going widescreen, most all HDTV programming is widescreen as far as I know.

That is true. But that just means that newer series will be released in widescreen. Not much of the older stuff. and for a good reason. This isn't the sort of thing were it is in Widescreen in it's first release and then modified to fit a 4:3 tv like it is the case in films.

The last South Park episode was widescreen anime.

Stolen from a thread in animeondvd.com forum

16x9 Animorphic Widescreen:
.Hack//Sign
Ah My Goddess - The Movie
Akira
Arjuna
Banner of the Stars II
Blood - The Last Vampire
Card Captor Sakura - The Movie 1 & 2
Castle In The Sky
Chobits
Cowboy Bebop - The Movie
Escaflowne - The Movie
Figure 17
Ghost In The Shell - The Movie
Grave Of The Fireflies
Haibane Renmei
Heat Guy J
Jin-Roh
Junker's Come Here
Kiki's Delivery Service
L/R
Last Exile
Lupin The 3rd - The Secret of Mamo
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Mahoromatic 1 & 2
Mazinkaiser
Metropolis
Mobile Suit Gundam - Char's Counterattack
Millenium Actress
Ninja Scroll 10th (Cropped Version 16x9)
Noir
Patlabor WXIII
Princess Mononoke
Revolutionary Girl Utena - The Movie
Sakura Wars - The Movie
Samurai Deeper Kyo
Samurai X - Reflection
Soul Taker
Spirited Away
Spriggan
Sugar
Tenchi Forever
Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust
Wings of Honneamise

Upcoming:
Ghost In The Shell - Stand Alone Complex

Non-animorphic Widescreen:
Armitage III - Polymatrix
Kai Doh Maru
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Death & Rebirth
Neon Genesis Evangelion - The End of Evangelion
Patlabor 1 & 2
Perfect Blue
Samurai X - Trust & Betrayal Director's Cut
Tenchi Muyo - Daughter of Darkness
Tenchi Muyo In Love
You're Under Arrest - The Motion Picture
Vandread
X - The Movie
Zaion

Anime or not Anime:
Animatrix
Final Fantasy - Spirits Within

I think they're already more popular in Japan. I've noticed in several episodes of Tenchi Muyo that the TVs are widescreen.

Japan was very fast to adopt widescreen TVs. I've had one myself since 99 and when you walk into an electronics store, it's widescreen galore. DVDs don't have the "Full Screen" or "Widescreen" selection (it's wide) so people are are just used to it.