What was your first experience with anime?

[blueknight]

I think I saw this kind of topic here years ago but I don't think I got to post because it was way too old back then.

My first anime experience was probably in the mid nineties. I'm not sure if Sailor Moon and Pokemon was around at the time but the sci-fi channel had been showing anime movies on Saturday at midnight. I flipped through the channels and saw some of it. One night I decided to stay up to see a full movie. It was called Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. It was the weirdest movie I have ever seen.

The next Saturday I saw another weird one. I don't remember the name but I remember that it had some kind of train that flew through the galaxy or something. I was hooked in some ways because whenever the Sci-fi channel played a movie I stayed to watch.

I guess I'm different (not sure how different) because I stumbled onto anime with a movie and fell right in rather than taking it slow by watching a few episodes of a show here and there. I actually thought the new things I saw strange at first but after a while I learned and understood much better. Now I don't get surprised as much and many of the shows seem normal.

[michael]

It was a few years ago now, can't remember exactly how long. My online friend Elaine is a huge SM fan and often in our group conversations she'd only be half paying attention, the other half telling us what was going on in the episode she was watching at the time. Then I left the group but remained friends with Elaine, and eventually I thought I'd like to give it a try since it obviously meant so much to her. I watched the episodes online in the proper order, in the Japanese version with subtitles, over a long period, and since then I've tried a few other animes as well but never found one that hooked me in the same way.

[blueknight]

While the movies i watched before got me started with anime, Sailor Moon was a major turning point in my anime watching history. Around 96 or 97 I started watching Toonami. It just so happened that was around the time Sailor Moon was on. At first I didn't understand then soon after watching more I couldn't stop. Unfortunately I kept my anime watching a secret mainly. Thinking my family wouldn't understand.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I remembered the name of the anime about the train. It was galled Galaxy Express 999. I should allso make another correction. I thought the Urusei movie was the weirdest movie I've seen at that time then Adult Swim played Neon Genesis Evangelion.

[Jess-chan]

The first anime I ever saw was Sailor Moon, before knowing what anime actually was. The first anime movie I saw was Tenchi Muyo in Love, which is my favorite anime movie! The Sailor Moon R movie was the first anime I saw subbed.

[Freya]

My first kinda-sorta experience (but I don't think it really counts, since it's an American show they made out of footage from three different anime) was many, many years ago when I had chicken pox and spent most of my time on the sofa watching a friend's videos of "Robotech" that she taped off TV.

My first experience with real anime was when I was in a video store and fell in love with the cover of the Mermaid Forest OVA (the original one, which they don't even make anymore, not the later remake). It was like forty bucks, which of course I couldn't have afforded on my own, so I asked for it as a present. I'd never sat and watched anything before that which wasn't in English, so it was a new experience, but I loved it. I actually still have that video. I wonder if it still plays? *should work out how to transfer it to DVD at some point, if it does*

[supremegoddess]

I remember watching Pokemon and Digimon and Dragonball Z from time to time as a kid when it was on television. Sailor Moon (dubbed) too, which I loved (though as I got older it became irregular, moving to a 6am time slot before disappearing altogether). I didn't really know it as anime though.

So I suppose I've been an anime watcher since the mid to late 90s, rediscovered reawakened anime junkie since 2005 (with Sailor Moon, that dubbed US atrocity)

[xXmariisa23Xx]

My first experience with anime was when I was a child (about 5 to 9 years old). I loved watching Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Digimon, and other anime shows in english on tv. But I didn't really deeply understand it back then nor did I know it was japanese animation and called "anime".

But that was my childhood experience. My REAL experience (as in the birth of my obsession and joy of anime) happened when I was 11 or 12 years old. After grade 5, I decided to not like my fave anime series anymore because I was being bullied for liking them (teased, bugged, etc.), but then in grade 6 or 7. I was browsing the internet, found a Digimon forum and joined it. I had fun there and I fell in love with Digimon and those shows all over again. I felt so happy and glad, and before that my friend also showed me YouTube and I got into it and thus watched my english Digimon on there and stuff.

Then one day, I decided to look up info on Sailor Moon through Google. I suddenly found the information and summary about Sailor StarS and I felt curious of why it wasn't dubbed in english... so out of curiosity. I searched for episodes of that season (subtitled) and I FOUND THEM! Thus, my love for anime was reborn, my actual first dedicated experience was made. I felt so happy. Now I'm obsessed with Naruto. And I kept my anime obsession secret for 2 or one year... I was shy to tell my parents and anyone I knew... but I felt happy. Nowadays (at age 15), I'm pretty much a proud otaku and those bullies have gone to another school... -w-

[BTTF Rini]

Hmm... I have to say my original, first experience was probably Pokemon. I was loving the games and watched the show a bit, but never watched it really. I really hated the show.

But then, Digimon came along. Digimon was probably the very first, serious experince I had with anime. I'm one of many out there that shows more love to Digimon than Pokemon. lol All this happened back when I was maybe 11 or 12. I'm not entirely sure there.

As far as my memory serves, that's my original experiences.

My first serious love for anime probably came around 2004, when I learned what anime was with Yu-gi-oh. Strangely enough, Yu-gi-oh promted me to find out that forgotten anime, as Sailor Moon and to search for Digimon.

To this day, I actually have Yu-gi-oh to thank for rekindling the love for anime. And, I have Digimon and Sailor Moon to thank for my earliest, original love for anime, back when it was just awesome cartoons on TV then.