How did you get exposed to anime?

[EricDent]

I am borrowing a question from "Hey Answerman" from Anime News Network (you can answer his question by e-mail if you want at answerman@animenewsnetwork.com).

Just wondering this question. How did you get exposed to anime, and what has kept you interested in it?

Please answer in a couple of sentences or more.

Here is mine for example: I got into anime back when anime was first being shown on TV. I am talking about shows that I did not know were anime until much later. Shows like Starblazers (Space Battleship Yamato), Tranzor Z (Mazinger Z), Thundersub (Blue Noah), Battle of the Planets/G-Force (Gatchaman), and Robotech (SDF Macross, SDC Southern Cross, GC Mospeda). Back then I had no idea that they were anime, I just thought they were really cool cartoons. I never really got into true anime fandom until I started collecting VHS tapes. Of course most of them were stuff like Godzilla, and Star Wars, but I did have all the Iscandar season on VHS at one time. Oh BTW the people who complain about high DVD prices should be glad you did not have to pay $20 for a 2 episode VHS tape (which was dubbed, if you wanted subs you paid at least $30 per VHS), so lets see that is 52 divided by 2 for 26! VHS tapes at $20 each=$520 before tax...Anyways back to the subject. Then I started watching stuff on Cartoon Network back when they showed Toonami at midnight, with stuff like Tenchi Muyo!, Blue Seed, and others. Of course about that time is when DVD started making a good impact, so I switched to that format (I have yet to bother with the Starblazers thing though I did sell all of them). Soon my DVD collection started going out of whack, when I noticed that more and more often I bought DVDs of anime, instead of normal movies. I recently have started that trend again with Mangas. Of course you could say that I was not a "true" anime fan until I went to an anime convention, which I did 2 years ago. Then I took the big step, of cosplaying at the same convention the next year.

The things that keep me interested in anime are the same things that drew me in. Great looking animation, cool stories, nice looking characters (especially some of the ladies), and just the sheer cool factor that comes with anything from Japan. Which is one country I have always been interested in be it Godzilla, Ninja, Samurai, and of course anime/manga.

Of course since I am an older anime fan I don't understand certain aspects of certain types of fans. However I think that something is going to happen in the near future that may or may not affect the avalibility of anime as a whole in all countries (not just the US). In the meanwhile I will continue to buy DVDs, Mangas, figures, posters, T-Shirts, etc of my favorite shows (and a few others I have yet to see).

[gokusaiyan44]

First time i saw anime was when toonami first came out then i got addicted.

[EricDent]

Um, again please write more than just 1 sentence.

The full question is: How did you first get exposed to anime AND what has kept you interested in it?

[Ominous Gamer]

Um, again please write more than just 1 sentence.


Girlfriend had Inuyasha all over her MySpace page, so I decided to watch all 157 TV episodes.

[Kaditsu]

I was a big fighting game fan in the early 90's, so when I saw a Street Fighter II Animated Movie in Woolworths, I was so excited, plus for some reason it was a 15! Wow! An animated movie that was a 15? I watched it with much pleasure.

A few years later and I catch Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network, and before I knew it I find out that it was an Anime and that I had actually watched Anime a few years before in the form of the aforementioned SFII Movie. After that I started to look into other Anime (I remember the next one I watched was a six-part series called Angel Cop, followed by some classics like Akira and Tank Police on the Sci-Fi Channel) and I haven't looked back since. My shelf unit of Anime is packed of old VHS tapes and plenty of DVD boxsets that are so cheap nowadays.

[holy_jumbo]

Like most people I started watching anime on tv when I was a kid, DB, Sailor Moon, Pokemon among others.
A few years later, when I was around 13, I got interested in drawing. At that time a collection named "How to draw manga" got my atention (I got most of it but I had a few problems with the last ones). Besides teaching the drawing thecniques it also theached how to write the stories (what type of characters, plots, etc.) and the culture of Japan, which included most of manga and anime terms and the most famous authors biography and works.
After that I started watching anime in it original state and buying manga.

[Da Big Boss]

14 years ago, When I was 4, Some people were selling Anime VHS. So my big brother bought one,I was watching it with him and I like ir. Then few months later I started watching DBZ and I also like it.

[Vishkugeta]

When I was 3 years old, it showed Digimon, Sailor Moon, Monster Rancher, Pokemon, Medabots, Yu-Gi-Oh and DBZ on TV. I liked Digimon at first and my older sister said when she was a kid she used to watch sailor moon so i just watched it sometimes when it was on. I hated Monster Rancher, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, DBZ and Medabots at the time but soon when I was bored, me and my cousins started watching them more and we liked them but we still hated Monster Rancher and Sailor moon. :p

[Lord Kalmana]

i have to say, i first started watching Anime through the first season of Pokemon when it first aired on Kids WB (Ironicly, i just stopped watching a lot of the shows on Nick)

[holy_jumbo]

When I was 3 years old, it showed Digimon, Sailor Moon, Monster Rancher, Pokemon, Medabots, Yu-Gi-Oh and DBZ on TV. I liked Digimon at first and my older sister said when she was a kid she used to watch sailor moon so i just watched it sometimes when it was on. I hated Monster Rancher, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, DBZ and Medabots at the time but soon when I was bored, me and my cousins started watching them more and we liked them but we still hated Monster Rancher and Sailor moon. :p
Sailor Moon is for girls so that's normal but Monster Rancher was really cool. In fact, I think I'll watch it in the original form one of these days.

[ultimateGoHaN99]

toonami. everything on there was great sailor moon gundam and definitely dbz

[Ominous Gamer]

When I was 3 years old, it showed Digimon, Sailor Moon, Monster Rancher, Pokemon, Medabots, Yu-Gi-Oh and DBZ on TV. I liked Digimon at first and my older sister said when she was a kid she used to watch sailor moon so i just watched it sometimes when it was on. I hated Monster Rancher, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, DBZ and Medabots at the time but soon when I was bored, me and my cousins started watching them more and we liked them but we still hated Monster Rancher and Sailor moon. :p

thank you for making me feel old, reminding me Digimon is now 10 years old; and I remember when it first came out.:confused:

[catgrrl]

I was exposed to anime rather young, but didn't actually know it. I guess if you count Transformers, I remember seeing the movie when it first came to America, then watching the show. My aunt (who's 15 years older than me) had a BETA tape of Nausicaa (I think I might have been 6 or 7 then). Again ,I didn't know this as "anime" but just another cartoon I loved.
Later years, in high school a friend of mine let me borrow her Sailor Moon sub. Oddly enough, not long after it began on CN. And it's been downhill from there. I'll admit CN/AS has helped alot, but I've also relied on friends and a local comic book store for tips on what to watch. And the local video rental store is what got me into my favorite anime: Escaflowne. :heart:

What keeps me watching? I love pretty colors! Just kidding...I really do love the attention to detail many shows have. I'm more into the action-based ones, or those that have a bit of comedy to them. As a girl, I'll admit the romantic ones get to me too, but only if there is some comedy moments. Not yet have I got into the overly-pschyobabble stuff (I've argued several times with friends over my views on EVA and it's overratedness).
I think I'll be watching for a long time. Well, until I have little ones, then some of the DVDs have to go into hiding! :D

[Vishkugeta]

Sailor Moon is for girls so that's normal but Monster Rancher was really cool. In fact, I think I'll watch it in the original form one of these days.

I'm not a girl though. :confused: I didn't really hate monster rancher, I just never watched it.

[Da Big Boss]

I'm not a girl though. :confused: I didn't really hate monster rancher, I just never watched it.

LOL!

-
Anyways, I first started to watch Digimon when I was 7.

[SpiritOfFire]

Basically Toonami, but that doesn't fly anymore. Fansubs are doing a spectacular job at keeping my interest, which was probably what you were fishing for.

[TheSkipper]

The first anime to expose herself to me was Sailor Moon. then it happened again with Kikio

[DBZ-metalhead]

The very first anime I ever saw was a movie called Candy. It was shoujo anime, and one of my little sister's favorite movies. I was around 5 years old back then. All I now remember of the movie were the very sappy storyline and the sugarcoated intro which haunts me to this day. By the time I knew what anime was, I was 12 years old and had seen Sailor Moon, Magic Knights Rayearth, Pokemon (lol), Digimon and DBZ. DBZ really got me hooked because I had never seen such a violent cartoon. Thanks to internet, I watched all the episodes, played all the budokais, but my thirst for anime didn't subside. I basically just inputted the letters A, M, V to youtube search and watched pretty much any anime I could see an amv of.

[Timothy2035]

My first anime would be Starblazers in the 1970s. I didn't know it was "anime" at the time. I just thought it was a cool "cartoon", until I learned what anime's distinction is.

[TheSkipper]

I must be really old, my actual first anime was first on HBO in the seventies, called Galaxy Express. (Movie)

[holy_jumbo]

I'm not a girl though. :confused: I didn't really hate monster rancher, I just never watched it.
That's what I said, since you're not a girl it's normal that you don't like Sailor Moon.

[supermarioman]

My First exposure to Anime was the U.S version of Rockman.EXE Axess. That show was awesome. I didn't know what Anime was until I looked It up. What really got me hooked on Anime was Last Exile. Still my favorite Anime to date.:up:

[Kayro Shin]

I started watching anime in the mid 90's. My first anime was either Dragonball or Sailor Moon, but it was only several years later, that I found what anime was (to me those were just cartoons, but with alot more quality) =P

[Vishkugeta]

That's what I said, since you're not a girl it's normal that you don't like Sailor Moon.

Oh. lol, got confused. :p

[Da Big Boss]

Oh. lol, got confused. :p

I also got confused :p.

[catgrrl]

The first anime to expose herself to me was Sailor Moon. then it happened again with Kikio

"Anime babes...they make me think the wrong thing!"

;)

[EricDent]

Didn't HBO start in the early '80s? I seem to remember back when it first came around. BTW it seems a few people started with Leji Matsumoto animes (Star Blazers/Galaxy Express/Blue Noah/Captain Herlock, Queen Esmereldis).

I also remember when Digimon, Power Rangers, and Pokemon first came on the air...of course I also remember when Robotech first came on the air...

Just a quick reminder, there is at least one anime show that people seem to forget about that may have been a part of their youth. I am talking about The Flying House or Superbook. These two Christian shows were both made in Japan, so therefore are anime. Also an anime is Transformers, since after all it also was animated (by Toei) in Japan.

[SpiritOfFire]

Why do people always wrongfully Romanize people's names? Like Reiji(Leiji) Matsumoto, Haruko(Halko) Momoi, Shouko-tan(Syokoton), Romi Paku(Park).

[Mack_Tien]

A friend of mine started me off on anime. I was about 8 or 9, and we watched, Ninja Scroll, Akira, SF the movie, and Fist of the North Star movie. Everything about these shows were different than what I was watching on Fox and the ol' WB. After this DBZ was making its first television appearance, and I watched countless times the same 20+ eps. I also remember seeing Dragonball a couple years later like 5 am Saturdays, but I realized it was Dragonball about 3 or 4 years ago, when I ran into Pioneer DB tapes.

After this my interest remained peak, primarily with shows like Gundam Wing, Ronin Warriors, DBZ, Sailor Moon, Transformers, Kira? the White Lion. I regret not watching Yu Yu Hakusho when it came out, I'm not a big fan of Inuyasha because CN would repeat the same 40- 50 episodes, but I like the ending theme songs so I watched to wait. The soundtracks are an added interest for me. My favorite anime theme song is Number One from Bleach.

Oh yea, Cowboy Bebop is another anime I liked on CN.

[holy_jumbo]

It's Kimba the White Lion, Mack.

[EricDent]

Well sorry about that was not sure how you spelled his name. It said Leiji in the Intestella 5555 DVD. Which BTW is the music of Daft Punk's Discovery 1997 set to anime, and was seen (at least part of it) on Cartoon Network along with a couple of Gorilaz music videos.

[althea008]

I first heard anime through the television. I was interested by it because grade schoolers talk about it everytime. I was interested myself so I did watched the 1st episode of Naruto and so on. Its really great and addictive. I just can't wait to watch there upcoming episodes.

[Senliten]

Long ago in a galaxy not so far far away.. A young lad stumbles upon a movie. The movie never seen before this lads eyes was that in titled "Akira". The lad becomes curious as to what type of movie this is seeing it was nothing he seen before. The young lad uses the power of the 56K to look for the movie name. And stumbles upon its movie type. Then became more curious and noticed other titles in a bewebtube format. On a channel called Cartoon Network. Which late at nights showed a thing called "Toonami" It was then there the young lad became interested in that of Anime.

Story short. After my pokemon/monster rancher viewing days (as in during KidsWB only days). I stumbled upon finding a VHS Tape of the movie "Akira" which then pretty much got me more into Anime. Seeing how i thought at the time being Pokemon and Monster Rancher were just. New Age type cartoons. But found out they were anime and not cartoons. After so I began getting hooked on anything Anime related. Be it Dubbed, Subbed, Not for Children's Eyes, and for Children/Teens Eyes.

What kept me hooked into it is the many variations and culture of origin itself. Thinking back then it was American Made. it was originated from places like Japan. Korea, China, and so forth. Finding out then it was not an American Based show got me even more into wishing to learn more and keep me hooked.

[EricDent]

So obviously you also figured out that Pokemon & Monster Rancher are also anime shows I hope.

Lot's of people here seem to have the Toonami influence, it is too bad that lately that block is kind of getting a bit shafted.

[SuthernBell]

Like you , Eric , I was watching stuff I didn't know classified as anime. That was long ago. After a time I stopped watching toons ..I guess with work and starting a family I lost interest. When my son starting becoming interested in anime and games from his peers I was completely out of the loop. So to kinda get an idea what the kids were watching and playing I began to do the same...and I found
I enjoyed it. plus it was a feather in my cap to be the only mom that could play
DBZ and win! or be able to discuss a show and give a good take on it.

Not only did it help keep me informed about what the kids are viewing and playing and nothing is hidden...they know I'm objective and will give something a genuine chance . There are some things i have felt were too mature for them ( but not for me :noob:)

I don't know all the names and histories of certain things but I'm having fun
and hey , who wouldnt want to hang out at the house of the mom who played halo 3 on heroic and has her own collection of anime that gets raided. I know
where they are and what they are going. Guess just having them want to be here where i can see things is the plus..so the games n anime helped me in that respect...Plus.. I like it

[The_coolio234]

my cousin told me about dragon ball z before and ever since i have never stopped liking dbz

[Mack_Tien]

Like you , Eric , I was watching stuff I didn't know classified as anime. That was long ago. After a time I stopped watching toons ..I guess with work and starting a family I lost interest. When my son starting becoming interested in anime and games from his peers I was completely out of the loop. So to kinda get an idea what the kids were watching and playing I began to do the same...and I found
I enjoyed it. plus it was a feather in my cap to be the only mom that could play
DBZ and win! or be able to discuss a show and give a good take on it.

Not only did it help keep me informed about what the kids are viewing and playing and nothing is hidden...they know I'm objective and will give something a genuine chance . There are some things i have felt were too mature for them ( but not for me :noob:)

I don't know all the names and histories of certain things but I'm having fun
and hey , who wouldnt want to hang out at the house of the mom who played halo 3 on heroic and has her own collection of anime that gets raided. I know
where they are and what they are going. Guess just having them want to be here where i can see things is the plus..so the games n anime helped me in that respect...Plus.. I like it

Sounds like you're having fun, miss. Your childrens' friends are probably psyched to come over your house, I know if I was younger and my friend mom was into games and anime, I'd been over there as much as possible. You also have a pretty awesome connection with your children too, as many parents become lost in the source of what their kids like or what they are doing.

[SuthernBell]

Thanks for the acknowledgment ...I try . Its a fine line sometimes between being
mom and being a friend. I don't want them thinking I'm the lax laid back kinda parent that wont get their butt but I also want to be in the know as much as I can. Seemed that this was a avenue that opened that I could use.I'll listen to something , watch or play it. It's really the only way I know so far that I can see exactly whats going on with all the media. Im not going to let media/or opinion influence me without giving something decent chance.( or the kids word ) In the process , as I said , I've gotten into it , too.

Who knows...couple years it'll be something else..lets hope I can keep up

[holy_jumbo]

May I ask what series you watch and games you play? I'm curious about it.

[SuthernBell]

on the 360 ive played blacksite , halo , assassins creed , and hitman. I still replay those..some others ive bought but havnt gotten into yet. Ive got a FF live game for this but been too lazy to set up my subscription.

ps2 (havent gotten a ps3 yet) played FFXII (completed)& dirge...i like the FF ones..dbz games..he beats me though( i think its the controller. ive bought him alot of games for this system and tried some..others i didnt think id like.

i watch elfen lied some trinity blood. ive seen all the narutos of course and current with the shippuden ones now. ive seen some bleach and deathnote .
theres one that i seem to catch but never see the name..has a samurai ..scifi plays some now too that ive seen..i dont know the names ( i like avatar) shh

Oh i just bought frontlines but havent started that yet..i decided to replay AC so i cant comment on it yet..but..it has guns so im probably gonna like it...

[holy_jumbo]

Is the "shh" because of Avatar? Don't worry about that, almost everybody here likes Avatar.:up:
And wow, a mom that likes violent things, my mom can barely watch them.o_O

[SuthernBell]

yeah..ive read where some dont consider avatar anime but i like it. so much out there. yesterday we went to a store that has a huge selection of anime. he picked out a series called banner of the stars..so we'll see..

oh yeah ive really gotten into these shooter games...probably cause i can hold my own more so than with the dbz ones..( must be the sniper scopes)

[holy_jumbo]

Well, Avatar is made in America so it's not really anime, but the creators wanted to make a show that looked like anime. And it's good so no one cares about that.

[EricDent]

Very nice, I wish my parents were interested in that stuff. It is pretty funny when they epically fail on Guitar Hero 3 on Easy. I think my mom might be a bit more interested in anime than my dad, cause I tried to let them watch Spirited Away, and my mom watched it, but my dad left. I also think that both of them would probably get a kick out of Death Note, since they watch stuff like 24, CSI, The Wire, and Law & Order.

[songokoumonkey4]

I got introduced with Fist of the north Star and Ninja Scroll..long time ago

[supermarioman]

So obviously you also figured out that Pokemon & Monster Rancher are also anime shows I hope.

Lot's of people here seem to have the Toonami influence, it is too bad that lately that block is kind of getting a bit shafted.
Dude, Toonami was freakin wicked back in the day.
I never watched much anime on It, Stupid me. But Reboot was amazing.

[Miang]

I think it was the Saturday anime specials on the SciFi channel I first noticed. My brother called out that there was an animated Castlevania thing on TV - turned out to be Vampire Hunter D but I still liked it and was interested enough to keep watching the timeslot. Some of the things they put there were better than others but there was some really neat stuff (say Akira) and I got into fansubs a bit after that.

[EricDent]

Yeah Reboot was pretty cool, I wish they would do a DVD of every season. There are rumors of an upcoming Re-Boot (little pun intended) of the show, or maybe it was a movie. The only problem is the voice actor of Megabyte died recently.

[hacell]

i started when i was 5 my brother was waching dbz and i liked it but did not know it was anime until i was 9 then i did some reaserch and started waching more.

[the stu]

Well sorry about that was not sure how you spelled his name. It said Leiji in the Intestella 5555 DVD. Which BTW is the music of Daft Punk's Discovery 1997 set to anime, and was seen (at least part of it) on Cartoon Network along with a couple of Gorilaz music videos.

That movie was first shown live in Japan, tokyo 2003, and the album Discovery came out in 2001. My first anime was Dragonball Z then a few years later i started to watch Tenchi Muyo!, Tenchi Muyo was one of my faveourite anime. i started to watch it in cartoon network i was age 9 when i watched it.

[EricDent]

Ah, yes Tenchi. Also one of my personal faveorite series.

[the stu]

Another great anime was Myself, Yourself one of the best i've ever seen.

[Kayro Shin]

Yep, M;Y was quite good.
The only I hated, besides the ending, was the black blood. It looked especially bad during the bathtub scene, it seemed like it was oil (even more than usual) =/

[SpiritOfFire]

Yep, M;Y was quite good.
The only I hated, besides the ending, was the black blood. It looked especially bad during the bathtub scene, it seemed like it was oil (even more than usual) =/

Nice Boat strikes again. The heat seems to have calmed down in the newer shows, I know I saw red Blood in Geass and Kurenai.

[sub_zero]

I remember seeing Ranma 1/2, Dragon Ball Z, and Dr. Slump in the mexican channel "Canal Cinco" (Channel 5)

[GokuYardrat]

woow it was a long time ago i can't even remember properly , must have been probably dragon ball and saint seiya on TV

[dbz_hunter 001]

I can't remember when or why I started to watch pokemon. Maybe it was something that caught my attention on Cartoon Network. I know I was introduced to DBZ through my cousin though. I was at my father's house and saw him watching it, so I joined in and then got into the show myself.

[ultimateGoHaN99]

I forgot all about Pokemon. And I sat here thinking dbz was my first anime.

[Mello]

when i was 4 my older cousin told me to come watch a show with him called Dragonball Zhttp://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/images/icons/icon21.gif and it was my favorite anime ever since.

[Hisashi-Kun]

I think I was about five, when I first got into anime. Voltron was one of my favorite animes becuase it reminded me of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. (Only kids who grew up in the 90's understand how pwnage that show was.)

Anyways, during that summer my family when on vacation and in the hotel I was staying in, I ended up turning it to Cartoon Network and Dragon Ball Z was on.

I think it was the episode where Goku was trying to gather up the Spirit Bomb against Freiza. Ever since that day I got interested in anime even more. I began to watch Toonami daily, along with other animes such as Mobile Suit Gundam (1st in the Gundam Series) 08th MS Team, G Gundam, Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Sailor Moon, Cyborg 006, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho and the whole Tenchi Muyo! series.

I can't forget about Megas XLR either. That show was freakin' awesome!

But one of my most favorite giant robot animes was Big O. Roger Smith was just a plain badass. But so was Heero Yuy. :P

[BoRJoYZeE]

Strangest stuff I ever seen!