Getting Used to Watching Anime

[hououjifuu]

Think back before you were introduced to anime and became a full fledged fan. How long did it take for you (if it took any time at all) to get used to anime style in general?

For example, things like to big eyed character designs, having to read subtitles smoothly, and just the general feel of the animation are some of the things that might have took some getting used to when starting off as a fan.

I can honestly say it took me a month of consistent, day by day anime-watching to get through that "foreign feeling" anime usually gives to first time viewers. Mostly I stuck to just watching shows a friend recommended (an anime fan) that included Lain and Evangelion. Soon I began to ignore the weirdness of the animation and the art and focused my attention on the good storytelling that I was surprised to see in Japanese animation.

The style sort of just sank in when I started to only consider the story element of anime. Even those big eyed moe characters started to look less freakish (and more cuter) as time went on. :)

[something]

It was gradual, so it never became a conscious effort. I started with Toonami, but after, I guess, Outlaw Star, everything else I watched was on DVD and in Japanese. I guess... it just sort of came naturally? The more I watched, the more I grasped intuitively, I guess. But what really got things moving was when I started following new shows in Japan with regularity, which exposed me to a far wider variety of anime than was being licensed, or that I was willing to take a risk on.

So when I saw all the many, many ways animation can be used in Japan to tell a story, I think the cultural quirks became more familiar to me with each viewing. Now I'm at the point where they feel more familiar to me than stuff from my own culture...

[Lego]

Toonami after school. I'd rush home to catch Gundam Wing while doing my homework. It was all downhill from there.

[mato45]

well it was also a gradual unconscious effort for me that took around 5 years from Pokemon in 98 til Rurouni Kenshin in 03 for it to truely sink in.

[Kouji Tamino]

Yeah, it was pretty gradual for me... At least at first. I was watching these shows on Cartoon Network and scattered among other channels, knew they were foreign, but all I really was sure of was that I really liked it. I was seeing elements and scenarios play out that I was unlikely to see in American animation at the time.

It wasn't until Tenchi Muyo!, however, that the culture really blindsided me. Because the majority of the franchise takes place in a rural and urban Japanese setting rather than fantasy one like most Toonami shows at the time, the many differences were quite jarring. I liked it, though. Something about it was... charming, really.

After years of studying Japanese culture on the internet and taking a few classes, the cultural differences in anime seem quite natural now.

As for the look and feel, I've always adored those stereotypical anime designs. :)

[lorddream]

I've always liked the visual style of anime, and I got used to the subtitles very quickly -- the first show that I really wanted to watch (Cardcaptor Sakura) was released subtitled-only.

[Njr Scrawl]

No time at all, because I had been playing video games with anime style characters before discovering anime.

Soul Edge/Blade was the first game, followed by Rival Schools & Project Justice (most influential due to its pure anime opening & closing animations), Street Fighter & Tekken. My introduction to anime was ADV's Tekken release on VHS.

Amazing how many of my favourite seiyuus there were in those games - unknown at the time. Seung Mina in Soul Edge & Soul Caliber 1 was voiced by Yuko Miyamura IIRC, & later by Houko Kuwashima.
Kotono Mitsuishi is the high kicking female teacher in Rival Schools.

[The Great Bear]

Like most people will likely say, it's a gradual process. The first time you see the SD moments to express extreme reactions, you wonder what the hell is going on, but then you get used to it. And, of course, all of the very Japanese elements (the bowing, the gestures) slowly become familiar. I still notice them, but I find I notice them especially when it is "foreign" characters who do them. When a Japanese character acts…well…Japanese :sd: , I don't really notice it, I just take it for granted that that is how they are supposed to act.

[GrateSaiyaman]

It was kind of gradual for me . . . but when Starblazers was on there wasn't really any other anime on TV.

The thing that helped was the story-telling, you could excuse the animation being much less than Disney-like . . . .
watching old Hana-Barbera cartoons growing up might've had some influence too . . . I could ramble on. . . .

:roll:

[wagr]

My odd little experience:

I first was attracted to the stories (i.e. not standard Hollywood) far more than I noticed the character designs. I guess Star Blazers and Robotech in my youth inoculated me. Like most others, the cultural aspects just sunk in over time -- now I notice when someone acts "unusually" such as a Japanese character not using honorifics or a foreign character correctly using anything other than -san.

Years later, when I first saw the Digi-Charat character, I thought it was someone's parody of anime. No one could possibly draw such huge bells and expect us to believe it. Took me almost two months before I understood it was real.

Now it's harder to catch me off guard, as there have been several waves or fads in anime.

[Suwako Moriya]

Honestly I can't really say. Mainly because the thought of "When will I get used to this?" never really crossed my mind that much if it all. If anything I'd say it's more a case of becoming familiar with certain elements as opposed to getting used to them. Thus I think what elements one gets familiars with or if you prefer used to depends on what (type of) shows they end up watching.

[Buster Blader 126]

I was pretty much used to it since the day I began watching Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon when I was about 6-7. My naive little self thought that they were just like any ordinary cartoons. :P (Find out that they were anime took another 2-3 years.)

In terms of reading subtitles, my first fansubs were the subbed VHS tapes of Magic Knight Rayearth and Love Hina, and I remember doing that with ease. I thank my weekly trips to the library during elementary school for that. :)

[joelgundam01]

Like a few others said, it was gradual through Toonami.

[hououjifuu]

After years of studying Japanese culture on the internet and taking a few classes, the cultural differences in anime seem quite natural now.
Taking a couple of Japanese language classes years after becoming a fan managed to do the same for me as well. Actually as an interesting side effect, the classes sort of made me appreciate the other aspects of the country that I often took for granted when I began to encounter them in a few anime shows.

[The Alaskan Assassin]

To be honest I cannot remember when I got use to the animation styles. Like i said before in other threads, the first anime i saw was Voltron. However comparing the animation of voltron to current shows is like comparing apples to pear apples. Sure they are the same in some areas, but others can easily be vastly different.

That said,
I really can't remember a time when i thought anime looked weird. My sister has thought along those lines. The first show she was exposed to was golden boy in college. Now that show did some damage to her. I've gotten her to watch more. (she really wants to see fruits basket). I think i can get her husband to watch some stuff, but at times I think they both consider anime a bit childish. *shrugs* Don't worry about that I'll fix em. ;)

[Keith Palmer]

In some ways, I think I got "dumped in on the deep end," signing up for my university's anime club fuelled with little more than decade-old memories of Robotech's storyline and grand promises of "stuff just like it!" I had heard here and there. I got used pretty quickly to seeing everything with subtitles, but took somewhat longer to stop feeling somewhat uncomfortable about the "skin 'n' blood" moments... as for the various permutations of the art style, they never bothered me, but I think their full appeal crept up on me little by little.

[VinceA]

It was kind of gradual for me . . . but when Starblazers was on there wasn't really any other anime on TV.

The thing that helped was the story-telling, you could excuse the animation being much less than Disney-like . . . .
watching old Hana-Barbera cartoons growing up might've had some influence too . . . I could ramble on. . . .

:roll:
Nice to 'see' another fan around here from the same generation as me. Star Blazers was my first anime show also. That and Battle of the Planets were some of my favorites shows as a kid.

[Suko-chan]

When WNJU-TV in NYC was showing subtitled anime (Harlock, GE999, 009, etc.), which included female characters in their underwear... I got used to watching it immediately! :>

[Shsway]

I didn't have to get used to anything until I first began to notice static pans - in Chobits, I believe. I've watched loads of cartoons from all sorts of studios and countries in my lifetime.

[VinceA]

When WNJU-TV in NYC was showing subtitled anime (Harlock, GE999, 009, etc.), which included female characters in their underwear... I got used to watching it immediately! :>
WNJU? I know of an WNJN but not that one. Anyway, that sounds like a Jersey station.

BTW, love your location. I'm near 14A myself :)

[HitokiriShadow]

I started off with Toonami (well, actually with Sailor Moon prior to Toonami as well as "Warriors of the Wind" years earlier, but Toonami was when I really got hooked) like a lot of people here. I think I got used to it pretty much instantly. That was like 8 years ago and my memory that far back is vague, but while I recognized the style and stories being different, I don't recall anything that needed "getting used to".

[Serial Experiments Nobue]

Nothing for me to "get used to" either, really... It was the distinct art style and storytelling that drew me into anime in the first place.

Sailor Moon and Gundam Wing on Toonami sealed the deal, and Tenchi Muyo on Midnight Run was the first series I discovered once I knew I was an anime fan, and even that was by accident. I was scanning through the channels one night and when I saw Tenchi on the screen, I parked the remote. Then I watched it the next night and the night after that, and soon I knew that this anime stuff was going to provide me much enjoyment from then on.

[meganly_chan]

It was gradual. I was fascinated with everything at first, everything felt so different and "foreign." Eventually, after watching more shows and reading more subtitles (I read like a pro now), I am more familiar and used to how everything works. I even know the cliches and what to expect. Rarely do I come across something "fresh."

[jojo_home]

Most of what I grew up with were either anime or Japanese animated (American cartoons using Japanese animation studios) anyway, so this "style" was never something I needed to get used to.

In the 80s, I had always preferred the anime-style of storyboarding and storytelling because they have different framing techniques and choreography compared to more "purely" American cartoons, which tended to storyboard their shows with more of a 3rd person, strictly medium-range shot feel. In the 90s, more American cartoons were being storyboarded at home, and the Korean animators deviated from the American Way far less than the Japanese animators did. Since American cartoons usually have a bigger budget, their shots, framing techniques, and choreography are usually designed to show off as much "movement" as possible, while anime shows tend to storyboard their cartoons more like live action shows--headshots that fill the screen, more unique use of negative space, more deep focus shots, etc, partly as a way to conserve budget and partly as a way to preserve its manga roots. I had always found this way of storytelling aesthetically pleasing and because I started watching them at such a young age, the anime 'language', if you will, always came easily to me.

[Dicrel Seijin]

Growing up in Hawai'i, it's difficult to find something "foreign." It's such a blend of cultures that there's always the element of the familiar.

I grew up watching Star Blazers and Voltron and sentai shows like Battle Fever J and of course Kikaida and Kamen Rider (so I learned to read subtitles from an early age, and quickly too). Most of my friends were (and are) Japanese so there was no real culture shock. And when I became aware of anime and manga, I was more jealous than anything (they had access to such cool stuff... and I didn't :( ). I don't know, it's difficult for me to see how I could have turned out otherwise... I probably shouldn't dwell on that overlong....

[Kellory]

Growing up in Hawai'i, it's difficult to find something "foreign." It's such a blend of cultures that there's always the element of the familiar.

Oh so true, and the curse of growing up back home.

I know my earliest memories were of Anime being watched at my grandmother's cottage below our house. Since I learned to read long before I could write, I also remember watching loads of Japanese live action on KIKU with my parents and grandparents so even reading subtitles isnt really strange.

So yeah neither Anime or even foreign films of any sort have ever really felt strange or different to me. Hawaii, it's not just a place or culture...it's an attitude and a way of life. :)

[bambruch]

Well, for me, when I started liking anime, was when I didn't even knew it was called anime. I guess it was 1985 or 1986 that local TV started airing Robotech, and I remember getting up at 5am, to be able to watch it at 6am, then go to school at 7am. Then after that it was Voltron and Voltus 5. There was this anime about Quixote(sp), or Quijote de la Mancha in spanish, that was done anime-like, I can't remember the actual name of it, but I did watch it everytime.

I never really got used to watching anime per se, but more like, I preferred to watch it over say, Flinstones and the like. At that time I blown away by how it was animated, the colors and such. Since anime was non existant here in PR, only what they did broadcast from time to time, it wasn't till I got my hands on a Ninja Scroll subbed VHS, that was completely blown away, and started researching more about it. 10 years later more or less, and I still love it.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Well, I got into it all from comics in the 80s, so the different character designs (and the kewl biomechanical spaceships of Outlanders) were part of the appeal. Sweatdrops sort of freaked me out the first time I saw them, though. Anyway, by the time I got hold of some anime, there wasn't really anything I needed to get used to in order to enjoy it... actually, the differences from what I was used to were a part of the appeal.

[rescue_dogs_every_day]

Really gradual, and started with the heavily changed/censored anime. From then on, I just watched the shows not realizing that it was anime; just liking it. Then, my friend introduced me to manga and I became a huge fan. It didn't take me much time to get used to it. I read it, craved more, liked the art, and never pondered on how it was different or what was considered wierd compared to American shows. Mostly, it was just the surprise from how America changed things so much. Pokemon, for example, calls riceballs donuts, so I'd always wondered why I had never seen such donuts. They also called bread (I think it was Melon Pan, to be exact) a hamburger. Well, I never checked out the original Japanese, but it look like a huge circular bread loaf, and it had no meat, cheese, or anything at all...

[tanahome]

It was kind of gradual for me . . . but when Starblazers was on there wasn't really any other anime on TV.

The thing that helped was the story-telling, you could excuse the animation being much less than Disney-like . . . .
watching old Hana-Barbera cartoons growing up might've had some influence too . . . I could ramble on. . . .

:roll:
Nice to 'see' another fan around here from the same generation as me. Star Blazers was my first anime show also. That and Battle of the Planets were some of my favorites shows as a kid.

yea, same here! but i think it was Battle of the Planets that came first. then followed by Star Blazers. then it was followed by Robotec, Voltron, & Thunder Cats.

[tanahome]

I've always liked the visual style of anime, and I got used to the subtitles very quickly -- the first show that I really wanted to watch (Cardcaptor Sakura) was released subtitled-only.
i read pretty slow and i still have to keep rewinding at times to catch all the subtitles. that and the fact that i can't fully appreciate the art style when i'm reading subs are really my only gripes about "adjusting" to anime.

[tanahome]

Growing up in Hawai'i, it's difficult to find something "foreign." It's such a blend of cultures that there's always the element of the familiar.

I grew up watching Star Blazers and Voltron and sentai shows like Battle Fever J and of course Kikaida and Kamen Rider (so I learned to read subtitles from an early age, and quickly too). Most of my friends were (and are) Japanese so there was no real culture shock. And when I became aware of anime and manga, I was more jealous than anything (they had access to such cool stuff... and I didn't :( ). I don't know, it's difficult for me to see how I could have turned out otherwise... I probably shouldn't dwell on that overlong....
do japanese folks really have easy access to anime? i guess my question out of ignorance is, is anime generally shown on public TV, or is on cable/satellite channels that requires views to pay for them? and then there's the issue of buying the DVDs that are released in Japan. DVDs are still a relatively new technology compared to the rest of Japan, so DVDs tend to be in the $50-$70 per DVD! if i was living in Japan, i probably would not spend that much money on anime. but here in the U.S., i get more bang for my bucks.

[jecca-neko]

Uh... I dunno. I watched so many cartoons as a kid that watching more animated stuff didn't bother me any. Subtitles were easy too. My first hobby as a kid was reading and I'm quite the speed reader. Subs were no problem from the very first subbed show I watched (don't ask, I don't remember - I THINK it was Sailor Moon R movie fansubbed, way back before it got licensed, but I don't remember).

Actually, something that took me a bit to get used to was that hybrid cartoon/anime style that shows like Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, and other Cartoon Network shows (and now many others) had back the 90s. It just didn't look right to me at first.

[Kellory]

do japanese folks really have easy access to anime?

I could be wrong, but I think your misreading his post. I dont think he means that his friends are from Japan, but rather of Japanese descent. Hawaii has a large Japanese American population (possibly one of the largest in the US or outside of Japan per capita) and when you take into account mixed ethnicities probably half the state can claim to be at least 25% Japanese. Mainly though, there are a number of Japanese import stores that cater to the Japanese American population. Both recent immigrants as well as those who have been there for some time.

Also, one tends to get gifts and the like from relatives living in Japan. Many of my friends had cousins close to the same age living in Japan who sent them stuff on a regular basis. Sort of like pen pals, but with relatives instead. While I too was often in awe of what got sent, I'm sure those same relatives were able to wow their friends with the "Western" stuff they got in return.

DVDs are still a relatively new technology compared to the rest of Japan, so DVDs tend to be in the $50-$70 per DVD!.

Er...DVD's were a joint format between US and Japanese companies. I'd point out VHS and Betamax were also Japanese in origin. Japan, with it's higher metropolitan densities than the US tends to actually be better at technology adoption than the US.

The high cost of DVD's (or indeed almost anything) in Japan has absolutely nothing to do with such things as economies of scale or adoption by the general populace. It's true some things will probably be harder to find or buy in outlying rural areas, but if you live within commuting distance of a city or large town, then you can probably get pretty much anything you want. Just like in the US.

The high cost of things in Japan stems a lot from how the Japanese economy works and the excess of middlemen companies that Japan utilizes in order to achieve their low unemployment rate. Well, partially anyway. But it really doesnt have much, if anything, to do with how new DVD is to Japan.

Japan, as a whole, has an old and ancient culture. But that doesnt mean they are slower to adopt new technology or apply it. Man, if I had a chance to get a Japanese cell phone that would work here in the US, I'd jump on that in a heartbeat. As it is, I love a lot of their other electronics. Japan thrives on a Culture of Cute and Cute often means small and new. DVD was both when it came out and was pretty quickly adopted across the board. There's a reason, after all, that the PS2 came with a DVD drive onboard. And it wasnt just for the US crowd.

[ADC]

It didn't take much for me. I started with Maison Ikkoku.

[Garasharp K7]

I got into anime back in the late '70s with Battle of the Planets, and then on into Voltron, Robotech, Mazinger, Macron 1, Ulysses 31, Captain Harlock and a few others some years later. At the time, I just saw them as just more cartoons to watch. Even finding out about their Japanese origins didn't faze me much - I watched them along with Transformers, MASK and Inhumanoids and such, and didn't make much distinction between them. Cartoons were cartoons to me.
It was all that hyper violent cyberpunk-influenced stuff came out during the '90s that took some getting used to, not to mention the cute shows as well. It took me years before I'd get into anything made past the early '80s that didn't have a mech or two in it. :)
Even now, I'm still getting used to the panty shots, excessive T&A and suchlike. Not that I'm complaining, mind. :)

[Legion]

It all came fairly gradually and naturally to me. I've watched animation for as long as I can remember and Japanese animation was peppered throughout my childhood (Maya the Bee, Keroppi, Astro Boy, Samurai Pizza Cats, Sailor Moon, etc). Plus there were many cartoons I watched that were Japanese co-productions.

The idea of watching subtitled anime wasn't a hard concept for me. I was already kind of familiar with subtitles from foreign dialog in Hollywood movies and closed captioning (one of my classmates for several years of elementary school was deaf, so they'd have to turn the captions on when we watched a movie). The concept of watching anime in Japanese genuinely interested me from the get-go, maybe partly because I've always liked reading. Never did abandon dubbed anime though, that thought never really crossed my mind. Thankfully technology developed in my favor in that regard. ;)

[Vicserr]

My fiest exposure to anime was Mazinger Z(spanish dub) in 1976 and from the first episode I knew it wasn't the normal Hanna Barbera stuff, after that I got expose to the 1st season of Space Battle Ship Yamato, Battle of the Plants, Captain Future, Gloiser X, Steel Jeeg (El Vengador), Daiku Maryu Gaiking(El Gladiador), Toshi Gordian, Srungle(as Gorilla Force), Macron 1, Starzinger (El Galactico), Magno Robo Gakeen (Super Magnetron), Ninja Kamui, Special Powered Armor Troop Dorvack among others.

And for the guy that asked for it: Don Quijote Spanish OP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LB7gJkjo5c)

[Takato]

There were some things about anime that took me awhile to get adjusted to and some things that didn't. I was always so engrossed in the storylines and characters that the animation style never bothered me and it was actually my love for anime that got me interested in Japanese culture in general, so that was never a problem for me either. The first time I watched a subbed anime was Pioneer's VHS release of the Sailor Moon S movie and it was always really natural for me to watch subtitled anime and I've never had much difficulty keeping up with the subs.

The only things that took me awhile to get adjusted to with anime was the graphic violence, sex, and nudity. When I first started getting into anime I was still in my early teenage years and I would sometimes watch anime on the Sci-Fi Channel back when they used to it air it on Saturdays, but I would always cover my eyes during nudity and sex scenes. Nowadays nudity and sex in anime doesn't phase me at all and I enjoy watching yaoi anime. I remember the first time I saw Princess Mononoke I was traumatized by the violence and wouldn't watch the movie again without fast-forwarding through the violent scenes, but now the violence in that movie just seems so tame to me compared to what else is out there. I still can't handle the really graphic stuff enough to go out looking anime specifically for it but I will sometimes make exceptions if the plot is engrossing enough like with Akira and Perfect Blue.

[Busaiku]

I can't remember really having any trouble adjusting to my earlier series experiences.

In fact, besides some older series like He-Man, Tom & Jerry, Spiderman, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which I saw between the ages of 1-3, my first exposure to animation at all was Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, and Monkey Magic. It was probably because it was before I really got into other American cartoons that watching these shows didn't feel so strange.
There wasn't really too big a difference in culture between what was presented in series like Tenchi Muyo and that of my own, so that never really came across as anything foreign to me.

Though it was later on when a few of my friends who were used to watching stuff like fansubbed tapes told me that all Emglish dubbed anime was edited (which I believed), so I got obsessed with watching things only in Japanese audio whenever I could something (be it fansub tapes or commercial releases), straying from English audio completely. Though nowadays my attitude's changed and I almost never watch the Japanese audio (given a choice between both).

[Westlo]

I never went through a "getting used to anime" stage, since some of my favorite "cartoons" as a little kid where stuff like Robotech (I still have the homecoming VHS that was given to me when I was 4 or 5) and Tranzor Z (I think I rented this from video stores about 10 times while I was a kid) which were dubbed versions of Macross and Mazinger Z.

Then when I was early teens shows like Sailormoon and Tekkaman Blade were shown on breakfast shows, that combined with PSX Japanese RPGs means I never really had a getting used to stage.

[ZhenJi]

I started watching anime before I knew it was different. I grew up with Starblazers, Battle of the Planets, Mazinger and Candy, Candy. I always looked forward to the "big eyes" cartoons.

As far as subtitles, I grew up watching them. All movies in the island were shown in English with Spanish subtitles.

I guess it was very unconsciously.

[Vicserr]

I started watching anime before I knew it was different. I grew up with Starblazers, Battle of the Planets, Mazinger and Candy, Candy. I always looked forward to the "big eyes" cartoons.

Those were the good olde times. O.O

As far as subtitles, I grew up watching them. All movies in the island were shown in English with Spanish subtitles.

I guess it was very unconsciously.


Yup, we got our sub reading training early. :)

[Dicrel Seijin]

do japanese folks really have easy access to anime? i guess my question out of ignorance is, is anime generally shown on public TV, or is on cable/satellite channels that requires views to pay for them? and then there's the issue of buying the DVDs that are released in Japan. DVDs are still a relatively new technology compared to the rest of Japan, so DVDs tend to be in the $50-$70 per DVD! if i was living in Japan, i probably would not spend that much money on anime. but here in the U.S., i get more bang for my bucks.

Kellory did a pretty good job of answering your question about my post, but here's a sampling of the influence Japan and its people have had on Hawai'i...

In Honolulu, there are sections of the city that seem to have been carved right out of Japan. For example, Nippon Books, next to Nippon Video and across from the Don Quijote (think Japanese Wal-Mart and you'd be pretty close). I walked into there and thought "Now would be a good time to remember my Japanese." All the signs and merch were Japanese. I was there for an hour with friends perusing the manga shelves and did not hear any English spoken.

Then there are the other shops like Shirokiya and Hakubundo. Those shops have enough stuff that you could replicate a teenager's room in Japan (and considering some of the houses here are built like those in Japan, it would not be very hard. Certain older neighborhoods have quite a few houses in that style).

Heck, the first house my parents bought was from a Japanese couple. It had a Japanese-style garden with a couple of bonsai and it was laid out like a house you would find in Japan. We even had shoji, though I had no idea what it was at the time.

But getting back to the original topic, I was discussing this with my cousin and he proudly re-stated (we've discussed this prior) that his daughter would have no such problem as she's been watching anime for years now (she's 7).

He can also buy her pretty much all the food, sweets, and things that she sees on those anime shows without too much effort. He's drawn the line at buying her swords though (Sesshomaru of Inu Yasha is her favorite character).

[Jen526]

Like others, I never had an issue with the art-style of anime. Finding out there was other stuff like Robotech and Battle of the Planets was what drew me to it in the first place.

What I *do* remember taking some time to adapt to was:
A) Reading subtitles, yes.

B) Not knowing wtf was going on a lot of the time. This was partially because my subtitle comprehension was low at first, and partly because a lot of early releases in the U.S. market were OVA's that didn't do much to set the scene before dumping you in the action. :) The front-level story was usually fairly clear, but I remember being a bit off-kilter due to the lack of backstory or setup in many cases.

C) The higher pitch of the female character voices in Japanese was *really* distracting at first.

I don't recall it being a big learning curve to get over these issues... maybe a few months of on-and-off viewing? After a few really engrossing titles passed my way and I was watching for the story more than the novelty factor, it was a lot easier.