Anime How have you changed as a fan?

[Magus]

I'm bored and losing my mind so yeah...

[quote]This is a question for people who have been fans of the genre for atleast five years or more. How have you personally changed as a fan? Do you watch more or less than you used to? Do you find yourself favoring Anime over Manga and so on.[/quote]

I think I started watching anime when I was about 17 and that was mainly what was on Toonami. I was 56k user so I definately didn't really have much to watch. Anyway, I'm probably more picky than I have ever been since all I really look for is anime with action (Samurai type action is a first priority), and then there are so many things that can turn me away from a series in a blink of an eye. Also, while I'm no longer a 56k user I do find myself watching less anime than what was aired on Toonami. I still watch my favorites (and keep up with Bleach and Naruto on some occasions) but I'm gradually losing interest in anime, this is due to the lack of anime for me and me not willing to open up to new stuff. I'll open up to something new on rare occasions but I've pretty much learned my lesson after trying to give Highschool of the Dead a shot (I should've learned my lesson after watching Evangelion).

I know I've "schooched" around the question a bit but you get the picture. Edited December 5, 2010 by Phenom

[The Tentacle]

I've been into anime for nigh onto 20 years now but I can't really say that my tastes have changed much.  I tend to go with anime over manga and I stay far away from a lot of the "mainstream" stuff like Naruto and DBZ mostly for the sake of being an iconoclast.  I usually prefer sci-fi and fantasy series but I'll watch the occasional samurai or slice-of-life show.  The one change in my tastes that I can note is my willingness to try out niche titles like Mushishi or Kino's Journey.  

[CaNz]

well my first "animes" came from watching Saturday morning cartoons, with Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Cardcaptors and more that I don't remember so well (this continued until I valued sleep on weekends more than bad 4kids anime dubs... basically when i was a teenager) during that time I had fallen in love with toonami and when it came out adult swim. Those two blocks really immersed me in Anime, and it helped that the first show i really watched on toonami was Gundam Wing (still my all time favorite).

after a few years and through better TV station deals I watched some great stuff on SyFy with Ani-Mondays and Action Channel (some movie network) with ani-midnight.

I had been Browsing the internet at libraries but I didnt have my own computer hooked up to the internet until believe it or not.... Senior year of high-school! that was three years ago now, since then the floodgates have opened. I have changed from just the normal TV animes to pretty much anything that catches my interest, including comedies (never knew they existed before... the only ones I ever saw on TV was Gokusen and FLCL)

one thing that never gets old for me is giant mechs hitting each other. I have kept up to date with as many of the Gundam TV shows that I could find. there have been a few disappointments, but for the most part I am proud to be a dedicated Gundam fan.

[araina rinu]

[color="#006400"][font="Tahoma"]hearing others say that toonami then adult swim makes me laugh because thats exactly how it started for me as well!! heck i didnt even know i was watching anime i just loved cartoons lol

it all began with sailor moon (/swoon) then pokemon and dbz, but finally one fateful night it was cowboy bebop on adult swim. i came in rather late into the series, and it was the episode where [spoiler]faye meets julia[/spoiler]. i was hooked and learned that it was an anime.

in the beginning i only watched whatever was on tv, it was my only option, so it was the old adult swim lineup, cowboy bebop, gundam and gundam 0083, outlaw star, so i didnt have a particular type. now i favor almost anything, i mean i dont enjoy horror or zombie ones, but thats not exclusive to anime x_x and i dont think i would ever choose to watch just a romantic/soap opera type anime... i guess you could safely say there has to be action involved somewhere in it.[/font][/color]

[rotlung]

I see a trend and i'm going to continue it. I too started watching Toonami, Adult Swim and the like. These were great stuff. Sailor Moon, DBZ, Gundam Wing, Cowboy Bebop and all the others still strike a chord with me today.

However I can definately say that my tastes have changed. Granted I started watching somewhere around 14 (and I'm now 26) and didn't know most of what I was watching was edited. I can deal with the dubbing to the extent but I really opened my eyes when i saw a DBZ uncut. I was surprised how much they cut out of the series for the US tv. I basically have looked for anime that wasn't edited or pumped full of fillers where before I was perfectly happy with whatever I was watching.

To be honest the main reason I've lost interest in Naruto and Bleach was due to they had a ton of fillers and didn't even try to hide that they were fillers. Currently the only long ongoing series that I'm still actively watching is One Piece (mainly due to very little filler and the filler that they do have is entwined into the story rather well) I've actually been on the hunt for new series that peak my interest. Some have been great and other are down right terrible but I at least give them an episode or 2 to hook me.

My taste has definatly moved away from the mainstream and has actually moved more towards Manga. (when I intially tried to read right to left I has issues at first but it has gotten better) Mainly due to the story being just the story and not random filler or special crossover episodes (yes I'm talking to u One Piece just stick with the story)

[Joey]

Well, let's see. When I first started watching anime/reading manga, I merely went off of suggestions and reviews that were posted online. I was also a lot more picky than I am now. I think I've learned from over the years (mainly from the gaming industry) to not rely on others thoughts or opinions on picking a show or book to read. Now when I go to the store, I usually buy just about anything that I think I could like based on story, animation screenshots on the box, studio and director/writer. I still go off of suggestions from friends some times, but now the only time I read reviews is after I finish a show/comic/game. It's much more enjoyable without bias. :)

[fujyoshi]

my anime history is quiet interesting, I started wit toonami too may I mind most. I was heavily into tenchi muyo when I was 10 and started on volron when I was about 6 or 7 since video games and anime were kinda alternate in my life I had to get back into anime a little after I entered high school. Back then was like I said in the 4kids bankrupted topic that if it wasn't for sucky 4kids I woulda never gotten back into anime xD I mean sure there were others but I just had to look further to find them. That was mostly when I started watching stuff online and by the time I was a senior in high school I was full on anime otaku I guess you can say. Yea we all used ta call ourselves otaku at some point in our fandom <,< Anyway I was(and still am) a yaoi fangirl by 17 as well so that kinda answers my username question. Right now I'm pretty mellow wit my fandom I think theres certain things I look back on and kinda laugh about xD Who's ever gotten into a spat over the "dreaded C word"? I've been there too xD

[Zesty Orange]

Wow... First post ever.


I started out watching cartoons and stuff that I didn't even know that it was anime. I suddenly thought of watching shows online. And from there onwards, I crashed dived into the world of anime. I started spending lots of time on the computer watching anime. But my grades stayed he same though, I never really studied much at home (I know what you're thinking but my grades are above average). And because of watching lots of anime, I learned a few basic Japanese phrases and have taken in an interest on Japanese culture. Learned to draw anime characters. Started going to anime conventions. Met lots of anime loving friends. In short, my world expanded ... but then I dunno if it's in a positive way or a negative way.

[fujyoshi]

^ thats actually what happened wit me xD by the time I was a senior in high school I was watching more anime then studying for tests and I still passed and graduated wit As and Bs.

[Lemon]

The first anime I watched was when I was about 4, Sailor Moon and Pokemon. Time passed, and I started to get addicted. After about late 3rd grade or early 4th, I became literally, Addicted to anime and manga. I was obsessed with so much different Genres. Not much people thought I was weird, since it turned out, well, i'm not the only one in the class who is obsessed with anime and manga. It was pretty fun through Elementary, I guess.

[Milkycat]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][color="#708090"]I think Sailor Moon is a first for most. It was for me :)
I was watching that as early as...hmmm 97' ish? I didn't even know what it was, but I liked it. Then I went to my first anime fest at a local comic store, made some friends, and watched some more anime, it was the first time I saw more heavy stuff, like X.
X will always be my most precious and favorite anime. It was really my foundation as a fan.

As the years passed and I got older, I actually began to watch less and less anime. I'm still a fan, but only watch occasionally when the mood hits me, or if I feel nostalgic. It's mainly my art that keeps me going at this point.

I must say though, that I recently got addicted to Kuroshitsuji. It's like, the perfect anime for me. [/color][/font]

[Jax Rhapsody]

I remember watching anime as a kid before I really knew what it was. I started watching DBZ before CN got the license to show it, back when it was on Fox's sister channel [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPN]UPN[/url] or whatever it would be called in your city. Which was also the channel to air Sonic Underground. That and the stuff Fox and the WB aired in the 90's to early 2000's like Fighting Food-On's. Of course I seen what CN had to offer at the time. I mean what did the USA have to offer that was as advanced in art style? I watched USA toons too but only a few of them actually had decent art. Such as anything from Detective Comics, Big Guy and Rusty, Xyber 9, NASCAR Racers and so on.

Hell yeah, I still watch and read. Even though CN has been airing stuff I didn't think they ever would, I feel like I'm going to eventually find something better than whats on TV o not as dubbed or americanized(made "safer" to Read or more PC or whatever) because it seems like Viz and Shonen are about as bad as the anime dubbers. I want to have a decent collection of both anime and manga. I think this site has helped change me as a fan. My number one stuff to look for is always something with giant mechs in it like D.I.C.E. or Gundam. Then there's also stuff to hit the other senses like Dessert Punk, RODTV, Trigun, Ultimate Muscle. Sometimes it's best just to watch or read it. Some people say they don't like trying new stuff. I didn't like Death Note but I watched it just to see. I tried to endure Witch Hunter Robin. Just make your self watch or read something. I wish it hadn't took me so long to start getting One Piece Manga. I should have started buying them when CN stopped airing it. I just get a tad intimidated with long run books. That's why I don't buy comic books.