Anime How did you get into anime?

[Ryuujin]

I was thinking about how I got into anime earlier today, took me a long time to remember, but I did... My friend had just got the DBZ VHSs (not the US released ones) from somewhere and invited me over to house for the weekend and I saw it on top of his tv. I asked him about it and he said it was like a grown up cartoon with blood and guts and stuff. He asked him if I wanted to watch some and he showed me when Gohan turned SSJ2 during the Cell Games(That's why I used to like SSJ2Gohan so much). I fell in love with DBZ and didn't like any other anime for a long time. There's my story. I was just seeing how other people started watching anime. Lataz

-OD

[Kent]

Well although I think this topic has come up before.

I love the topic.

I consciencly got into anime when my cousin came to my house for thanksgiving, 7 years ago as of this thanksgiving. On a side note: I used to be a big pot head and the first time I got high, was the same night that I watched anime for the first time, on thanksgiving night.

I watched two movies, the macross movie, rick hunter could remind me of its name.(it was awesome) And the original vampire hunter d. (also a classic)

Ever since, I was into it super hardcore.

I said consciencly into anime because I am not counting the stuff I watched as a kid, like any robotech or ronin warriors, which was long before I was aware of the idea of "anime." back then, it was just cartoons.

[James]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]I guess I got into anime mainly because of Teknoman. That was on more than a decade ago...so I was very young when I saw it.

But I became a big fan at that time. And then I started watching other animes. There was a Wizard of Oz anime series actually...very childish, but I watched that when I was little.

I saw nearly the entire series. And like Teknoman, that drew me in.

Since then I haven't watched much anime. A few movies...one or two episodes here and there. I'm hoping to get back into it though, if I have the money that is. ^_^;;;[/color][/size]

[Dan L]

That's kind of like asking me "how did you find otakuboards".. the thing is.. I [i]really[/i] don't remember.. at all.. I mean.. one day I just ended up here.. insulting you all on my first post, and then growing to love the place. Of course.. I'd never think of making that kind of post again ^^;.. (this was way back in v.2. before I even knew that the words "Deus Ex Machina" existed..)

Anime is kind of the same thing to me.. I don't really remember how it happened.. but I kind of blame the sci-fi channel for showing it.. (I think my brother and I started gradually watching it on there)

[amibasuki]

[FONT=arial]some of my guy friends were raving about DBZ back about 2 years ago. I didn't wanna hear a bit of it, since I had seen Sailor Moon dubbed a couple of years before then, and I thought it sucked. I didn't want to give any more anime a chance, cuz I thought it'd all suck like I thought SM did (no offense to SM fans, I don't dislike it now as much as I used to). but somehow they finally convinced me. once I started actually paying attention to it, I loved it (this was during the Cell saga). I don't like much stuff other than the Cell saga though; dubbed, anyway. after DBZ, Anna brought home Fushigi Yuugi from Tori (Queen Asuka). I was skeptical about that too though, since the only other shoujo-ish anime I had seen was SM. but I loved Fushigi Yuugi also. those two anime got me interested in others. and that's my long-winded version of how I got into anime ^_^.

I also learned a valuable lesson: don't judge something from just one angle. Different perspectives really help. :lecture: :D[/FONT]

[Syk3]

That's a good question, but I remember it like it was yesterday...

I think it was 6th grade. Yeah, seems right. My friends started collecting these cards, and when they asked me to join, I told that that I wasn't interested, that I'm not into that kind of stuff. I was wrong. No, it wasn't Pokemon cards (bleh) but Ani-Meyham DBZ cards, and I started collecting them almost immediately for some reason. Of course, now that I started collecting the cards, I wanted to watch the show. Granted, this wasn't the one on Toonami -- there was no Toonami. I started watching it when Radditz first came down, when Space Ghost was hosting it. o_O Anyway, I really got into it, and until about the middle of 9th grade. I finally got over DBZ and started watching other anime like Cowboy Bebop, then lived happily ever after.

[Jinzouningen17]

Hmmm, if I'm not mistaken, the first anime that I remember seeing was Voltron. Now THAT was probably one of the hottest animes of the 80's that I had seen as a kid.

Now the thing that got me deep into anime was definetly Dragonball Z. When I first saw the Saiya-Jin saga on one of the local channels around here back in like 1996, I got hooked. Ever since then, I've been trying my hardest to get my hands on all types of anime such as Sailor Moon, Akira, Ninja Scroll, and stuff like that.

And the first sub-titled anime that I ever seen was Dragonball Z, the Cell games saga. Actually, the first episode I got to see subbed was "Exploding Cell Juniors". I'll never forget when I had ordered it on the net from animenet.org back in 2000 after my 19th birthday. That was the first time I ever got to see what everyone was talking about(with the subs being better than the dubs)and I knew right then that I was hooked.

So yeah, Voltron is what got me started in anime, but Dragonball is what got me hooked. :D

[::Ex-Soldier::]

Meh. I just read about it on the internet at around...7. And thus, it began.

[Sere Tuscumbia]

OMG!! It's been so long since Voltron, that I forgot all about it! I used to watch that! ^^;;

Really, one day when I was sick, I was flipping channels, and came across one of the old animes (I think it was Macross . . . ) and was like "Woah . . . cool."

I eventually found my way on the anime path, but have recently deviated from my path and gone searching on the manga path. Anime doesn't hold as much flair once you discover the mangas . . . ^^;;

However, Voltron, ThunderCats, and several very old animes that I can't remember the names of anymore shall always hold a place in my heart . . . ^_~

--Sere

[Semjaza]

Well I had seen Robotech and the countless other shows that were translated for TV here... such as Voltron. My uncle had the entire Robotech series on tape, as well as some Sentinels (not sure of the spelling) and import stuff. I was only like 6 or something though, so I really don't know that it all got me into anime. I have a soft spot for Robotech still.

When I was a bit older, but still pretty young I found his Vampire Hunter D tape... I know a lot of people don't consider that a very good anime, but this was still over 10 years ago. I'd never seen a animated anything as violent or as dark as that, and it caught my attention. I still didn't really buy much of the stuff though.

I mostly bought manga after this point though... GitS, the entire Appleseed collection, Ranma 1/2, Akira... etc. I started buying anime because of manga though, so I guess that's what got me into it.

[Mist]

[color=crimson][size=1] I admit it. I got into it by Sailor Moon. I loved the look and the grace, but didn't really care much for the storyline, so I moved on by checking out other animes. My friend worked at an Anime Rental store, which was great, and he hepled me find a lot of greta animes. (Cowboy Bebop in particular!) I guess that's that, then.[/color][/size]

[Rhys Mayiessen]

Hmmm...I think I started watching anime when I first saw Pokemon which was in grade 5 or 6. Yeah and then it all started I forgot about Pokemon (which I thought was stupid after a few years sorry to people who like Pokemon) then I started to watch DragonBall Z and Digimon...Yeah so that's how I think it all started.

[Kent]

I was just now thinking and looking at alot of the other post here.

And well, if we are gonna consider the cartoons we watched as kids, long before we knew them as anime, as the beginings of when we started watching anime; then I think I would have to say I started when I was about 6 years old.

Watching ronin warriors, transformers and robotech.

That would mean Ive been watching for about 15 years now and my taste in anime hasnt changed much at all. But I still sorta think that watching robotech as a kid for any of us, isnt really the start of our anime watching.

I would say the begining would have to be the first time you watched and were conscience of the fact that it was a foreign cartoon refered to as anime, and not a mainstream part of american society.

But like I said, when our anime love started is completly up to the person posting. If you think watching sailor moon as a little kid or macross in second grade is the begining, then thats just what it is.

Plus the topic is really about when your love for anime first developed. So if it was with robotech in '86, then thats when you first got in.

How ever you look at it. I think its funny to see how everyone got into it.

Especially anyone who started with the pokemon, sailormoon, dbz, trio.

Those are probally responsible for getting more people into anime than any others. Except maybe macross.

But either way, I find it funny cause I got into anime on none of those three. Does that make me odd or rare? I doubt it, but I personally want to know what got rick hunter into the anime scene. Was it the old school cartoons like robotech, long before we had ever heard the word "anime"?

Well, we'll see, hopefully.

[Manic Webb]

I've always watched anime before I even knew it was anime. But when I first figured I was watching anime, well...

I was in the 5th grade when Sailormoon first aired on American television. It came on at 2:30pm, right when I got out of school. It was the only afternoon cartoon on, so I ended up watching it everyday. Eventually, I saw somewhere in the closing credits that it was based off of a Japanese comic book. This was the first time I realized that there are Japanese cartoons.

Then when I was in 6th grade, Dragonball Z started to air on network television. (this was all before Toonami started to air it). I had only seen about two episodes of Dragonball prior, so I barely recognized the main characters. While watching DBZ, I knew it was a Japanese cartoon. It just didn't look like it was animated in an American style.

I started to see a few commercials for Akira on TV. The commercials sad it was an "anime" from Japan. Bingo, the Japanese style of animation has a name-o.

I really got into anime when I noticed a local PBS affiliate station was airing uncut anime on Sunday nights. I remember then airing Tenchi Universe unct, Key: The Metal Idol, Urusei Yatsura (my favorite anime), Please Save My Earth, a Ranma movie, and a few others. The station stopped airing anime earlier this year, after they ran through some Catgirl Nuku-Nuku show and Dirty Pair Flash.

Now I watch anime on the International Channel.

It's funny, because I got into anime without spending a dime. Most of the anime I've seen was paid for by viewers like me. :)
I've bought a few movies, but that's about it. I might actually buy Fruits Basket and Slayers/Next/Try, though. time will tell.

[Guest Imsirion]

My first anime encounter was a real long time ago. There was a show I used to watch, I have no idea what it was and all I can remember is little scenes and bits. I didn't know it was anime at the time, but I remember it being a mecha. I also remember a bunch of guys in jump suits that got into mecha's and fought monsters or something. Whatever, it was to long ago. Second encounter, many years later, pokemon:confused: I saw kids play the game at school and I soon got the game which led me to the show. I watched only the first season. But 3 years ago is when I actually got into anime and discovered it. My friend got me into it when I was at his house and I saw an Animerica magazine. I started asking questions and he explained what little he knew and then he told me about DBZ. Really started off on that and here I am today. A well educated hooked anime fan who moved on to better things and greater knowledge:) Seems though my friend who started me off on it is slowly loosing intrest, and gives me funny looks when I talk about terms and such that he dosn't know about because (I dont know why but) I always do "research" on anime and constantly read about it. My favorite hobby........:drunk:

[Guest Hikaru Ichijyo]

:D Ah I remember it almost as clearly as my first steps or first group of friends. My first anime which started the craze for me and probably in many ways corrupted my being was Super Dimensional Fortress Macross aka to the people in the USA Robotech's first generation. After that I started to begin watching Voltron, Astro Boy, Gigantor, and eventually Dragon Ball when it started in the Late 80's. That's how I got hooked and never looked back after words. :drunk:

[Deedlit]

[color=009966]When I was about three years old, my mom brought home a movie called [i]Little Nimo.[/i] Even though I didn't know it was anime--actually, I didn't even know what anime was. :cross:--, it was still my favortie movie.
About four years later, I got into Sailor Moon and LOVED it! :D (although over the years my love for it kinda dwindled). Then when I was in third grade, my friend brought some Pokemon cards over to my house and started teaching me about the game. I loved the game, and then I started trading cards with my other friends. Now that I reflect on it, I wonder how the creators made it so.....addicting....
Then when I was in sixth grade, my friends started telling me about DBZ. I had already seen a few episodes of it from the Frieza Saga (which is, in my opinion, one of the worst sagas of the show), so it left a bit of a bad impression. But I gave it another chance and watched the Cell Saga, and I was hooked! Then I started drawing pictures of DBZ characters, and that was what got me to draw anime. Then in the spring, Queen Asuka let us borrow Fushigi Yuugi and Nadesico, and that is what sealed my love for anime! ^^:D Ever since then, I started watching (and drawing) more and more anime, and that's how it happened. ^_^[/color]

[amibasuki]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Deedlit [/i]
[B][color=009966]When I was about three years old, my mom brought home a movie called [i]Little Nimo.[/i] Even though I didn't know it was anime--actually, I didn't even know what anime was. :cross:--, it was still my favortie movie. [/color] [/B][/QUOTE]
:drunk: :therock: [font=arial]you can't be serious. that was an anime movie? I dunno about that.....

EDIT:I can't believe it *shakes head*. okay, so maybe it was done in Japan. it doesn't look that much like it's anime-styled though.[/FONT]

[Solo Tremaine]

The first anime I ever saw was Laputa, Castle in the Sky. I was about three, and I remember finding it very scary. Skip ahead nine or so years, when Pokemon first appeared everywhere, and then I started getting into the series. I kept telling myself I hated it, but I'd watch anyway. The same with Digimon. Then I saw Transformers: The Movie, Mononoke, Outlaw Star, Evangelion, Nadesico, Hamtaro, Transformers RiD and I became an anime nut. I have about 20 anime soundtracks now, too.

[Darkmoon]

What got me interested in anime...?

Well... the first anime's I remember seeing were those Curope (sp) and Hello Kitty ones... I found them boreing and didn't know that it was an anime. Like meny other's I didn't even know what an anime was, lol. Then I saw Sailor moon. I think I was in grade one. I liked it for a very short period of time. It seemed repetative to me so I left it (and my dad joked about it ALOT). I still didn't know what an anime was... At that time I liked watching rugrat's and such more than anything else. Later on Pokemon came out. I heard people calling it an anime. I wasn't sure why they called it that or what it really ment. But that was the first that I saw and heard of as an anime. After that I begane to recognize them. Digimon was next, followed by DBZ and Escaflone. After that I loved anime's. They seemed so cool (and still do). So I started reading about them on the internet and this lead to a sort of obssetion in a way :p. Yes, that's right. I'm obsessed with anime and proud of it (ah, not really, but anyways...).

[Kuririn]

If I can remember correctly it was Robotech that got me interested in anime. That show ruled.

I watched back when it was on Toonami a few years ago. It is one of the best anime I have seen to date. I remember wondering what would happen next. Oh it was great. But, Dragonball Z definatley made me crazy about it though. All the action and exitment. It's still a great show.

[amiboshi]

I got into anime when I was in I guess second grade and my Korean friend got me into Sailor Moon. I didn't get it on TV at my house, so I only watched it at hers, but I still loved it. After a while, I slowly forgot about it, until in 5th or 6th grade we got CN and I saw toonami. I started watching Sailor Moon over again, Gundam Wing, and I became obsessed with DBZ.

What really kicked off my love for anime was when I wandered into Media Play and saw Escaflowne on VHS, and I remembered I had loved that show when it was on Fox, so I started buying all the tapes. Then I bought more and more anime until I became really addicted. ;)

I also got hooked on manga when a friend showed me her Fushigi Yugi manga, and I fell in love with manga, too.... ^^

[Lord_Otaku88]

well i never really got into anime, because i have AlWAYS watched anime. The very first time i remember watching it, would be when i was in kindergarden, it was Speed Racer. I also watched(every day) Voltron, G-Force, Transformers, and Reboot. And thats my childhood, anime, man some things just don't change.....

[Solo Tremaine]

Reboot! I loved Reboot. But I really wish they'd release the two TV Movies on DVD. I haven't seen then yet *Pouts angrily*. Still, at least I got to see the end of Season Three, which CITV ruthlessly cut from its afternoon lineup. It's a strange programme, though, because even though it's onwed by AD Vision, it's not scrictly speaking Anime. It's computer animated. It's still good, though.

I'd liked 'non-anime' animation for a long time before that, though. Like... Dangermouse and Duckula. That, I guess, paved the way for me seeing Laputa. Remember the Moomins? I hated that with a passion.

[vegeta rocker]

Though i hate admiting it, Sailor Moon. I just remember loving the animation and then Blood Reign came along and well I'm here aren't I?
As for finding this place, i was on the mailing list for about a year before i realized it had a forum. If those e mails talking about the new newsletter had never gone out i wouldn't be here.....scary huh?
What might have sealed the deal on anime for me might be Dragonball though. Vegeta is my god. Though technically I think i have always been into it, speed racer and stuff. But i didn't know what it was until Sailor Moon.