What was the first Anime show you ever saw?

[presicion25]

The first anime show I saw had to be Thundercats, If I can remember correctly.
Although I can remember seeing The Little Prince on Nickelodeon, reruns of course, when I was little (1985-1988), Im pretty sure Thundercats, then Voltron and Robotech were my first, but back then I didnt know they were Japanese Animation, I thought they were just regular cartoons........lol

I just got re-interested in anime last year when I saw a commercial at the movie theater for Anime Bento from Fathom Events.com, I guess they were showing some anime at theaters for one night only and those included FMA, Castle of Cagliostro, Naruto and some others. I thought FMA looked good so I watched it and thats what got me re-interested in anime......

If you can remember what the first anime you saw was, feel free to post up........

PS Moderator, if this thread is in the wrong place, feel free to move it. Sorry for any inconvinience.....

[something]

PS Moderator, if this thread is in the wrong place, feel free to move it. Sorry for any inconvinience.....
Usually this thread goes in General Anime. Sometimes R1, if it's about first DVD.

As for me, I guess it was Gundam Wing. Toonami, and all that. And then I never saw another Gundam until the recently finished (first half) Gundam 00.

[Legion]

I don't think Thundercats is anime.

I'm not sure what the first would be for me. Either Astro Boy (80's color version, Shin Tetsuwan Atom) or Maya the Bee.

[Collectonian]

If, going by "its anime but I didn't know" I'd guess either Transformers, Voltron, or Belle and Sebastian. Can't remember which hit TV first, but would have been one of those.

For, "I know its anime," I want to say Sailor Moon via the infamous American broadcast version though I may not have known it was anime at first. For knew it was anime for 100% sure, start to finish, The Vision of Escaflowne on rented VHS back in like 2001.

[SpaceDebris]

The first series I watched was Cowboy Bebop, but the first anime I saw was the Ninja Scroll movie. Not sure if a movie counts as a show, but it wasn't what really got me started watching anime anyways, that honor belongs to Cowboy Bebop. Also I don't really count anything I saw as a kid since I didn't know there was a difference in where cartoons came from.

[Vegard Aune]

I think the first anime I saw was Pokemon. That was before I knew what anime was, though. Also, the first anime I ever saw in japanese was Spirited Away, I think. Either that or Naruto. Felt like mentioning it because every single anime I've seen dubbed into norwegian is just a dub of the english version, and I haven't seen a single norwegian anime-dub that's actually faithful to the original. Just 4Kids-dubs or other, similarly awful ones.

[TalonG4]

Anime that I knew was anime was Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia OAV, the Streamline release from the early 90's.

[Damius]

The first anime I watch was Neon Genesis Evangelion

That was something to start with

[presicion25]

I don't think Thundercats is anime.

I'm not sure what the first would be for me. Either Astro Boy (80's color version, Shin Tetsuwan Atom) or Maya the Bee.

I think youre right, I believe an american company produced Thundercats and some Japanese animators worked on it. I guess I got mixed up. But it does have sort of an anime stlye, I just cant figure out what style that is. lol!......sorry for the mix up......

[Vicserr]

MY first anime was the spanish dub of Mazinger Z on tv, after that I watched Battle of The Planets, Space BattleShip Yamato, Space Pirate Captain Herlock, Kotetsu Jeeg, Darku Maiyu Gaiking, Magno Robo Gakeen, Science Fiction Saiyuki Starzinger, Video Senshi Laserion, Groizer X, Space Adventure Cobra, Toshi Gordian, Robotech, Voltron, Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs, The Lensman movies; those shaped me into the anime fan I'm now.:sweat:;)

[Zalis]

The first one I saw was either Voltron or Taro the Dragon Boy back in the late 1980s, or possibly Sherlock Hound. Leaving Dragon Ball Z aside, I count the first anime I saw and knew to be anime as Sailor Moon during the late 1990s CN broadcasts.

[twistedsymphony]

Voltron, or Transformers or something when I was young... I used to love both of those shows... it's hard to saw which one was first.

In Highschool I caught the 2nd half of Akira at some point on the sci-fi channel or something and thought it was awesome though I never really sought out anything else after that.

In college I had some friends that watched Eva, Bebop, and a few others that I fail to remember, I caught bits and pieces but I hated it because they'd force me to watch the sub version and it was usually some random episode in the middle and I had no idea what was going on.

the first Anime that I intentionally sat down and watched all the way through and enjoyed was Ghost in the Shell, as well as the Cowboy Bebop Movie, both I watched with my college friends.

I liked bebop enough that I bought the DVD after graduating college, and then I decided to give the series another shot and loved it, then I picked up Akira and Stand Alone Complex, and it snowballed from there.

My fiancee was into Anime as well when I met her so that made the addiction even worse :bigsmile:

[Suwako Moriya]

In all honesty I can't remember. Plus there's the matter of shows that may have been anime, but I didn't realize they were at the time or how one counts things edited and butchered into submission. So ah well.

[Panko]

Robot Carnival on Sci-fi channel

[Jen526]

First anime *ever* would probably be Battle of the Planets.

First anime knowingly watched as anime... possibly the first few episodes of the Kimagure Orange Road OVA's. That was definitely the first anime tape I purchased, but I don't remember whether I'd rented any before that.

[ronq]

First anime *ever* would probably be Battle of the Planets.


Yep, same goes for me, Battle of the Planets. Although, I didn't know it was anime at the time.
the second I watched was Star Blazers. :sdsmiley:

[Keith Palmer]

I'm another one of those ones who saw Battle of the Planets first; after that, there was Voltron, Robotech, and an obscure barely-released show called Thunder Sub... but I wasn't able to see "acknowledged" anime until I got to university. There, the anime club tended to show several series at a time, but I'd say that Macross Plus was what drew me in for the first showings.

[Spirit Of The Stage]

First anime that I saw but didn't know was a show called Dogtanian and the 3 Muskahounds back in the 80s in the UK - great show which I now have the DVDs for - I didn't even know it was Japanese until about 2 years ago when I got the Anime Encyclopedia for my birthday.

First anime I saw which I knew was Japanese anime was the Street Fighter: Animated Movie and the first series I saw which I knew was Pokemon.

[chronoclast]

Ronin Warriors back in 95 on Fox Kids was my first even though I didn't know it was anime. I was like 7 years old and I had never seen anything like it. It was way darker and different than any of the other cartoons at the time. Waking up at like 7 in the morning to watch Power Rangers and then Ronin Warriors, damn those were the days. I do wish that someone would license rescue it since I never picked up the dvds before Bandai's license lapsed and they went OOP.

After that, Pokemon was the first that I saw that I knew was anime. I had always been a casual fan until I saw Neon Genesis Evangelion a couple of years back. That's what got me into buying dvds and I've been basically obsessed ever since.

[Njr Scrawl]

Marine Boy. Didn't know it was/there was such as thing as , anime. But it was the only Japanese (strange foreign country then) cartoon I'd ever seen, in a schedule full of Hannah Barbera & Scheimer Prescott cartoons.

IIRC Marine Boy was RAI/Seven Arts, Tokyo in the credits. I'd love it to be licensed, just the dub I first heard would be fine. Marine Boy, Neptima, Splasher the dolphin, Dr Mariner, Bosun, Piper, the mini submarine electric boomerangs, giant crabs & of course Oxygum are etched in my long term memory along with classic Dr Who, Gerry Anderson shows, numerous western series & Star Trek TOS.

[Serial Experiments Nobue]

Voltron was my first, though at the time it was just 'a cartoon' to me. I may have known that it was from Japan, but I didn't know anything about 'anime'. I was in elementary school. ;)

Sailor Moon was the first that I saw and knew it was anime, even if it was the infamous DiC dub of the first two seasons. ("Sailor Says!" anyone? :sweat: )

Gundam Wing was the final piece of the puzzle, and was the series that made me a fan of Japanese animation.

Tenchi Muyo! was the first series that I discovered after I had become a fan.

[theworld]

Oddly enough, the very first one was on the Saturday Anime lineup. It was the original Casshern OVA, the one from the early 90's, I think?

[Starfyre]

There was probably something before this (just can't remember), but what really sparked anime for me was Evangelion.

[leongsh]

The earliest that I can distinctively recall now as anime is Space Battleship Yamato. Watched it in the late 70s. There could be 1 or 2 earlier ones but not that I can recall. The one that really captured my attention shortly thereafter was Space Pirate Captain Harlock - the titular character is the epitome of supercool and badass. As a kid, I wanted to either have a spaceship as cool as Arcadia or to join up with his band of space pirates :sdsmiley:

[Mr. Nail Bat]

I think youre right, I believe an american company produced Thundercats and some Japanese animators worked on it.

At a convention I once went to, Hiroki Hayashi (co-creator of Tenchi Muyo) mentioned that this series was either the first or among the first animation jobs he ever had.

[Mr. Nail Bat]

My first was definitely Speed Racer. A show I still love.

[HitokiriShadow]

I'm not entirely sure what the first anime I saw was. I used to get up early on Saturday mornings to watch Sailor Moon in the mid 90s. I'm not sure if I realized it was Japanese, but I could tell it was different. However, I also saw a random episode or two of some incarnation of Gatchaman as well as at least part of an episode of Ronin Warriors though I didn't even know the title at the time.

But what really got me into anime was Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo, and new episodes of Sailor Moon in '99. I most definitely new it was anime and I was really into it.

[meganly_chan]

The FIRST?

That's really hard to say. If we're going by "I didn't even know it was anime at that time" then there are a few it could be - The Little Prince, or Maple Town. All shows Nickelodeon aired in the early (to late?) 80s.

If we're going by "I knew it was anime" then it would have to be Sailor Moon.

[Kiggy]

Circa 1973-1974.

Mexican and Puerto Rican dubs of Speed Racer (Meteoro), Kimba/Leo, Princess Knight (Princesa Zafiro), Sanshiro (Sam, El Rey Del Judo), Marine Boy, and another one featuring a time traveler from the 30th century, which was also dubbed, confusingly enough, as "Meteoro". (Vicserr help me here).

I also remember seeing Live-Action Ambassador Magma, Johnny Socko and his Giant Robot and Mighty Jack.

By the way, I turn 40 next year :sweat:

[GundamWingMan]

Marine Boy. Didn't know it was/there was such as thing as , anime. But it was the only Japanese (strange foreign country then) cartoon I'd ever seen, in a schedule full of Hannah Barbera & Scheimer Prescott cartoons.

Damn! Didn't think anyone would come up with Marine Boy! I'm old enough to remember watching that show too, although I had no concept that I was watching anime. Here's something else I remember watching that was also real old school: Prince Planet. If memory serves (a risky proposition where I'm concerned), that show was black & white. Now THAT's old school!! HA!

[malazar]

I'm pretty sure the first anime show I ever saw had to be Star Blazers back in the early 80s.

[Chepin]

Pretty sure it would have to have been Heidi, Girl of the Alps, though living in Mexico at the time, didn't know what anime was.

[Vicserr]

Circa 1973-1974.

another one featuring a time traveler from the 30th century, which was also dubbed, confusingly enough, as "Meteoro". (Vicserr help me here).

Time Bokan?... The one with the Blue Bettle vehicle.

By the way, I turn 40 next year :sweat:

[Beavis & Butthead]Heh, heh, heh. You're old, Heh, heh, heh[/Beavis & Butthead]

[DiRF]

March 13, 2006. I had never seen a complete episode or movie of ANYTHING Anime. I'm dead serious...

March 14, 2006, I acquired the Platinum thinpak of Evangelion, watched it all in one day, and am now hooked on Anime for probably the rest of my entire life.

[presicion25]

March 13, 2006. I had never seen a complete episode or movie of ANYTHING Anime. I'm dead serious...

March 14, 2006, I acquired the Platinum thinpak of Evangelion, watched it all in one day, and am now hooked on Anime for probably the rest of my entire life.

Thats the most interesting message Ive seen yet!

Also, someone mentioned age earlier,I thought I was old at 29 watching anime, I guess age really doesnt matter....I figure as long as I can take my Delorean back through time I can watch all the old anime as well. lol J/K....

[Vicserr]

Also, someone mentioned age earlier,I thought I was old at 29 watching anime, I guess age really doesnt matter....I figure as long as I can take my Delorean back through time I can watch all the old anime as well. lol J/K....

Do remember that AOD's forum have more older fans than your standard anime forum, and we love it that way.:knowitall:

[Kiggy]

Circa 1973-1974.

another one featuring a time traveler from the 30th century, which was also dubbed, confusingly enough, as "Meteoro". (Vicserr help me here).

Time Bokan?... The one with the Blue Bettle vehicle.



Nope. The show I'm talking about is from the 60's or very early 70's.

I don't think it was Prince Planet either.

[kanechan]

The earliest anime I remember seeing (on TV) was Battle of the Planets. The first truly uncut, unaltered anime I saw was the Streamline dub of Akira (on VHS), followed some short time later by their subtitled version of the same, both in theaters and on home video.

I also recall seeing an anime version of Jack and the Beanstalk in a theater when I was but a small lad. This would have been in the early '70s, because I recall it being a matinee show followed by a showing of All The President's Men (which I didn't see then).

[Shsway]

Pretty hard to remember, at this point. It could have been Astro Boy, but I also remember seeing shows like Panda no Daiboken, Maya the Bee, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and Honey Honey in a certain time frame.

[EmperorBrandon]

First anime I regularly followed was Pokemon, but at that point I was not into the general anime fandom yet. I really liked the games, so I wanted to check out the show too, and I actually spent some money buying Viz's old VHS releases of the series. I may have seen a few shows before then (perhaps some DBZ) but nothing regularly, and I didn't have much of an awareness about what anime was. The first time I got into show while knowing and caring about what anime is would have to be Sailor Moon. The reason I gave Sailor Moon a shot when new episodes (the S series) started airing on Toonami was because a friend of mine was a fan of it at the time. He got me introduced to a fan-translated version of the Super Famicom RPG game, Sailor Moon Another Story, and from there I was pretty curious about the characters and the story of the main series. It so happens I saw the previews for Tenchi Muyo around that time and decided to check it out, and my curiosity only expanded from there.

[BigPants]

Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

o/~ Keep on callin'! Keep on callin'! o/~

[newfizzy91]

I believe it was Robotech , Dan Guard Ace, and then transformers. From than on the Robotech theme song was embedded in my head for life!

[Nagato-san]

First that I saw when I didn't know about anime: The Noozles :sdsmiley:

First that I saw when I knew about anime: Sailor Moon or Voltron, not sure which came first.

[Shikishima]

The first anime I saw was Macross, specifically the Macross part of Robotech.
That must've been around 1987 or so. I didn't know what anime was at the time, but
I was really impressed by that show. It really stood out for me among the many other
cartoons, it was really special and it's probably the reason I'm an anime fan to this day.

I started watching Manga video anime releases around 1994 - 1995 or so, a friend of mine
bought a lot of anime on VHS from them. I remember watching lots of shows during that time:
Dominion Tank Police, New Dominion Tank Police, Akira, Ghost In The Shell, Venus Wars,
Wings of honneamise, Patlabor 1 & 2, Ultimate Teacher, Devil Hunter Yoko and many more.

The anime which really kickstarted my collecting though was Nadesico which I bought on
R1 DVD. I feel I've been lucky to have had the opportunity to watch so much anime even
before DVD releases and internet distributed fansubs were around.

[Legion]

Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

o/~ Keep on callin'! Keep on callin'! o/~

Just cause I'm a nitpicker, that's actually the end theme to the second TV special. :P Although that reminds me that the Fatal Fury movie was the first uncut anime I saw.

[GanChan]

Speed Racer.

Wait till you find out Racer X's secret identity!

[presicion25]

Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

o/~ Keep on callin'! Keep on callin'! o/~

Just cause I'm a nitpicker, that's actually the end theme to the second TV special. :P Although that reminds me that the Fatal Fury movie was the first uncut anime I saw.


lol..I forgot they made an anime out of Fatal Fury, Ive got the game Fatal Fury on the Neo Geo AES home system (you know, the system where the game cartridges are bigger than VHS tapes, although in 1990 when it came out it was more advanced than any system)...ok back to topic........

[Darkex]

I'm not really sure I think it was either Seijuushi Bismarck or Queen Millennia.

[DiRF]

March 13, 2006. I had never seen a complete episode or movie of ANYTHING Anime. I'm dead serious...

March 14, 2006, I acquired the Platinum thinpak of Evangelion, watched it all in one day, and am now hooked on Anime for probably the rest of my entire life.

Thats the most interesting message Ive seen yet!

Also, someone mentioned age earlier,I thought I was old at 29 watching anime, I guess age really doesnt matter....I figure as long as I can take my Delorean back through time I can watch all the old anime as well. lol J/K....
The reason I know the specific date... I ordered that thinpak from Amazon to celebrate my 23rd birthday. So yeah, I'm was no Spring Chicken when I started watching Anime...

I have to say, I enjoy discussing Anime with older persons (well, older than, say 15 years old) because there's more respect for buying the legit DVDs, more respect for trying to support the industry. ...and people that have a much wider appreciation of Anime, rather than focussing on one or two series completely and dismissing everythign else.

[Mateo_home]

First time I saw anime when I didn't know what anime was would have to be The Noozles. And I didn't have cable back then, I saw it at a friend's house.
And Sailor Moon. During that show I found out it wasn't an American cartoon. I hid that I sort of enjoyed watching it back then, but if a boy mentions that he likes that back in elementary school, he's a girl.:rolleyes:

The first time I did watch an anime knowing what it was is Samurai Pizza Cats. See 4kids, I don't feel scared knowing a cartoon came from another country without the title having to be "Americanized". Okay, I don't remember how butchered it was. I always though Inspector Gadget was anime...guess not.

[presicion25]

First time I saw anime when I didn't know what anime was would have to be The Noozles. And I didn't have cable back then, I saw it at a friend's house.
And Sailor Moon. During that show I found out it wasn't an American cartoon. I hid that I sort of enjoyed watching it back then, but if a boy mentions that he likes that back in elementary school, he's a girl.:rolleyes:

The first time I did watch an anime knowing what it was is Samurai Pizza Cats. See 4kids, I don't feel scared knowing a cartoon came from another country without the title having to be "Americanized". Okay, I don't remember how butchered it was. I always though Inspector Gadget was anime...guess not.

I still dont even tell people that I like Fruits Basket or School Rumble, especially the guys I work with, they might think Im wierd or other stuff I wont mention. Its hard to tell people about stuff theyre not into. I dont really care though, they were entertaining shows to me................and I liked them....

[Gildor]

Robotech. I was recording something else on the old VCR, and for some reason there it was. Never looked back since...

[TheFly]

There may have been shows I watched as a child that I was unaware at the time were anime, but to be honest I was never a fan of "cartoons" when I was young and hence I probably didn't have any early exposure. I do remember seeing the odd part-episode of things like Pokemon and Dragonball Z as an early-teenager, and hating them.

I remained ignorant until mid-2006, when I happened to be looking over my younger brother's shoulder as he was watching a fansub of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Until then I'd pretty much dismissed anime as being poorly animated, horrendously cliched kids' cartoons - based on almost no real exposure, as I described above. Haruhi, though, caught my attention in just a few minutes with its intelligent, quirky, often-sarcastic humour and entertaining characters. I got my brother to give me the whole series and watched the whole lot in the space of 24 hours.

About 20 months on, the new shelves in my room crammed full of anime DVDs and related paraphernalia (CDs etc), not to mention my credit card statements, are testament to my addiction. My brother was and is only really a casual fan, watching the odd show here and there. I'm fortunate (or not, depending on how you look at it) that I happened to see him watching Haruhi that day.

[leongsh]

I'm fortunate (or not, depending on how you look at it) that I happened to see him watching Haruhi that day.
You poor sod, you. :sdsmiley: A belated welcome to an addiction of anime DVDs that is more financially crippling than crack ;) Most of us here are similarly afflicted :relief:

[Mazinkaizer]

UFO Robo Grendizer
Future Boy Conan
Arabian Night: Sindbad No Boken !

And they're still among of my all time favorites :)

I hope that Grendizer will be included in the upcoming Mazinger Series ! :sweat:

[Njr Scrawl]

Marine Boy. Didn't know it was/there was such as thing as , anime. But it was the only Japanese (strange foreign country then) cartoon I'd ever seen, in a schedule full of Hannah Barbera & Scheimer Prescott cartoons.

Damn! Didn't think anyone would come up with Marine Boy! I'm old enough to remember watching that show too, although I had no concept that I was watching anime. Here's something else I remember watching that was also real old school: Prince Planet. If memory serves (a risky proposition where I'm concerned), that show was black & white. Now THAT's old school!! HA!

Neptima was my first cartoon character crush when I was a kid. Guess I'm still like that at heart. Marine Boy was the cartoon equivalent of Gerry Anderson's Supermarrionation puppet show "Stingray", & Neptima was much more attractive than Marina.

Some decades later I was starting into video gaming & bought Capcom's "Rival Schools" (for Playstation). The anime story introduction was so startling at the time, & opening song (Japanese, English subtitled) so emotionally sharp & angry & unlike western animation, it made me want to find out more. Then I bought Tekken 2 game & Tekken anime (on VHS).

Buying & knowing a show was Japanese animation beforehand, my first video was either Project A-Ko or Mermaid Forest OVA. Then came Dominion, BGC OVAs & Gunbuster. Gunbuster was the real gateway as it introduced me to Gainax, Japanese voice acting & most importantly the human interest/emotional side of anime. My collection snowballed after that. :)

[GundamWingMan]

Buying & knowing a show was Japanese animation beforehand, my first video was either Project A-Ko or Mermaid Forest OVA. Then came Dominion, BGC OVAs & Gunbuster. Gunbuster was the real gateway as it introduced me to Gainax, Japanese voice acting & most importantly the human interest/emotional side of anime. My collection snowballed after that. :)

First anime I bought? Hmm! Let's see! I think it was one of the original Dirty Pair movies on VHS, "Affair on Nolandia" sometime in the early 90's I think. Even though the animation was borderline primative compared to what we all see today, I was still captivated by what I had seen. Years later in the summer of 1999, my collection officially launched with the first volume of Video Girl Ai (which remains one of my all-time favorites to this day), and the rest was history.

[Jimmie M]

Marine Boy. Didn't know it was/there was such as thing as , anime. But it was the only Japanese (strange foreign country then) cartoon I'd ever seen, in a schedule full of Hannah Barbera & Scheimer Prescott cartoons.

Damn! Didn't think anyone would come up with Marine Boy! I'm old enough to remember watching that show too, although I had no concept that I was watching anime. Here's something else I remember watching that was also real old school: Prince Planet. If memory serves (a risky proposition where I'm concerned), that show was black & white. Now THAT's old school!! HA!

Marine Boy was the first for me as well (Before I knew what "anime" was) followed by Princess Knight, Speed Racer & Battle Of The Planets.

[Mazinkaizer]

Regarding buying an anime for the 1st time, it was Ranma 1/2 back in 1996, though it was dubbed (VHS) at that time. The 1st subtitled & Japanese (raw) anime that i bought as i can remember were:

Kimgure Orange Road OVAs + Movie 1 (Animeigo's VHS)
One Pound Gospel (VIZ VHS)
Street Fighter II: The Movie R2 DVD

Actually, Hiromi Tsuru & Tohro Furaya were among the 1st Seiyuu that i started recognizing after the great Akira Kamiya.....well no wonder given that they're the main characters in both KOR & OPG :sdsmiley:

[BigPants]

Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

o/~ Keep on callin'! Keep on callin'! o/~

Just cause I'm a nitpicker, that's actually the end theme to the second TV special. :P Although that reminds me that the Fatal Fury movie was the first uncut anime I saw.

Ahh! I should've known! I just remember that song so well. I do remember the movie ending now though. Not the words, but the melody of it.

[presicion25]

I'm fortunate (or not, depending on how you look at it) that I happened to see him watching Haruhi that day.
You poor sod, you. :sdsmiley: A belated welcome to an addiction of anime DVDs that is more financially crippling than crack ;) Most of us here are similarly afflicted :relief:

Yes, I too have credit card debt, so when I pay it off I will buy MORE anime. lol.......

[Buckeye]

For me, the anime that started my road to otakudom is Ranma 1/2. I saw other anime series during the vintage TV period that I can't remember because I was too young. But nevertheless Ranma was my first real anime experience that I saw partly in Japanese (but mostly in English because the dubbed VHS were cheaper). I might have seen an episode of Sailor Moon here or there back in the days that when UPN (before it merged with WB to form CW) did cartoons. But they were watered down to American audiences, so Ranma is my first true anime experience.

[Raye]

I don't even know which was the first anime I watched, but what really got me into the whole hobby was Dragon Ball Z. Man, was I a fanatic. I don't know how the heck I could memorize all of those ridiculous power levels, though I do remember telling my friends what would happen in the series when Saban first obtained the license. No one believed me that there was such a thing as fusion or that there was another series after Z. I sure proved them wrong.

Sailor Moon and Crayon Shin-chan were also influential as well.

[Mint Chocolate]

My memory is kinda vague, the first anime I ever saw may be Ikkyu-san, or it could be Hana no Ko Lunlun. Sadly neither of these is (or ever will be) available for purchase. They are even nearly impossible to find for download.

[Orihimes_Boyfriend]

My first true anime was Yu Yu Hakusho. Although as Kid I did watch the Americain version of Transformers and Voltron.

[WTK]

Doraemon was the first anime that I saw. It was dubbed in Mandarin. It's a family friendly show that I don't mind watching even now.

[Rolancehack]

My first true anime was Yu Yu Hakusho. Although as Kid I did watch the Americain version of Transformers and Voltron.

Transformers was written in America, so when it comes being "Anime" in the "from Japan" sense, it's not.

I think my first Anime was along the lines of Robotech and Voltron, but I'm not sure as I may have seen some of those nick shows people were talking about but don't remember them. Though the first time I ever saw a show and thought "this isn't like the other shows were the triad of DBZ, Sailor Moon and "Teknoman."

[Garasharp K7]

My first true anime was Yu Yu Hakusho. Although as Kid I did watch the Americain version of Transformers and Voltron.

Transformers was written in America, so when it comes being "Anime" in the "from Japan" sense, it's not.

It was animated in Japan though. (by Toei) At least the first season was, I believe. :)

Anyway, the first show I watched was Battle of The Planets back in the early '80s. Then a few years later came shows like Ulysses 31, Robotech, Voltron, Macron 1, Mazinger Z, Harlock, and a slew of other shows and movies of which I can't remember the names. Someone here mentioned Thundersub. I vaguely remember that one as well.

[Veren]

First one I ever saw was Battle of the Planets. Even moreso, I found out early on that it was anime (or at least, "Japanese animation") when a friend of mine mentioned that he didn't like "Japanese animation".

The second anime I saw was Lupin III, but not the whole thing. Kind of a funny story, I went to a friend's birthday party at Chucky Cheese's back in the early 80s and played a game called Cliffhanger. It was a laserdisc game which featured scenes from Lupin III. Does that count?

After that, anime fell off my radar for a number of years, though I did get to see Voltron, et al. First anime I ever purchased was Serial Experiments: Lain. Ever since then, my budget has never been the same...

[Njr Scrawl]

I wonder how many fans past & present first heard Japanese spoken cutely & angrily by Noriko Hidaka. Whether as Akane in Ranma, Noriko(!) in Gunbuster or even Minami in Touch.

First Megumi Hayashibara was Rei in Eva. First Kotono Mitsuishi was Misato in Eva.

I had no problem linking Toru Furya with Amauro in Gundam (or any 80s show), but was amazed at finding out he was Mamoru in Sailor Moon! :knowitall:

As for Megumi Ogata! From Shinji the timid boy hero in Eva, to Haruka the bold lesbian in Sailor Moon. :knowitall::knowitall::knowitall: :blush::laugh:

What hooked me on Madoka/Hiromi Tsuru in KOR to start with, was not the TV series or movies but the Spring is for Idols/Hearts on Fire OVA mini-arc. Madoka was in that story, everything I hadn't encountered in an anime girl before, (having a collection in only double figures at the time!) Without knowing any background to KOR, the chemistry between Madoka & Kyosuke was so well voice-acted, & gelled well with the good OVA animation & character design. Madoka's personality was mature, sexy but vulnerable, without needing rubber stamp excesses or fantasy aspects.

[CGord]

I've been a fan of animation forever, but only recently got heavily into anime.

First animated show I watched where I knew it was Japanese was Speed Racer in the early-mid 70's.

I watched some Sailor Moon with my oldest daughter in the mid 90's; I knew again that it was Japanese, but was still unaware of anime. I thought it was really weird how the character designs would change so drastically mid-stream, & what was up with those giant sweat beads & plus signs on their heads?

About 5 years ago I kept seeing bits & pieces of a show on Cartoon Network while channel surfing, it was about a guy with really long white hair & a red robe. I decided to watch a couple of episodes to see what it was about, & that was the start of the current obsession. :)

(& I'm nearing 41 if we're doing ages in this one.)

[The Adventurer]

Snippets of Robotech I'm sure. But the anime I recall most vividly from my youth was The Venus Wars on Sci-Fi Channel's old Saturday Anime block.

Actually, Venus Wars was probably directly responsible for me being an Anime fan today, because during the late 90s boom with Pokemon and DBZ leading the pack, memories of Venus Wars reminded me that Anime could be a source of muture storytelling.

[cjed]

The first anime I saw (and knew was anime) was Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings (also known as The Legend of the Four Kings) being shown in the UK on Channel 4 in a late night anime slot in the early/mid '90s. I enjoyed the series at the time, but a recent rewatch was quite painful :-(

Some time later I started importing R1 anime on DVD from the US, the very first series I bought was Hand Maid May, which I still have a nostalgic attachment to (see my avatar). The second series of DVDs I purchased was Neon Genesis Evangelion, and then I was hooked. That was 1034 Anime DVDs ago ...

Oh, and I think I now hold the title of ojiisan as I'm over 50 ...

[mike.motaku]

Probably Speed Racer. Y'all make me feel REALLY old.

[Dolza]

I'm at the 40 y.o. age bracket as well, so it was Speed Racer, Prince Planet (I have some on VHS) and Battle of the Planets for me. (I hated the stupid robot and his dog.)

The first I was aware of as being Anime was Robotech, and the first I bought were Ranma 1/2 and Dominion: Tank Police. (Still one of the most well developed villians ever.)((And I am not talking about the Puma sisters.))

[SunWuKong]

My first exposure to anime is when I was 5 years old in Taiwan for the summer. I was watching some tv and I saw Great Mazinger being shown. It changed my life. It was so dynamic when I saw the colorful giant robot fighting the scary monsters. I remember my parents couldn't pull me away from the tv every time it was on. It awestruck me to the point that I still get a nostalgia factor every time I get a glimpse of anything related to Mazinger.

Later on in life, I followed the usual fare of Voltron, Robotech, and some Speed Racer. Then I visited Taiwan again and I saw City Hunter. At the time, I never seen animation done with more mature content. I was in my preteens, so it make quite an impact on me. :nosebleed:

I first got serious with anime when I started to rent them from a Chinese grocery store. I couldn't understand them but I was in awe of the animation at the time. Then I started to rent R1 at a local anime store, the usual starting fare of Ranma 1/2 and Dragon Ball Z. I then joined a college club. I remember the first anime I seriously purchased was Escaflowne and the rest is pretty much history.

I have my up's and down's in terms of my interest in anime (it's currently at down turn slightly going up this season), but the the fact that I can still remember watching my first anime shows to me that it's still deeply rooted in my heart.

[Shadow Raven]

Sailor Moon

[Ryuuroden]

First show i saw that I knew was anime was Ninja Scroll Movie. The first anime I ever saw I didn't know was an anime at the time. It was on Nickelodeon and was called "The Noozles." I found out this year that it was an anime when I found it on anidb. The japanese name is "Fushigi na Koala Blinky" and I think it aired in the late 80's early 90's in America.

[Buster Blader 126]

I thought we had one of these threads not too long ago. =/

Anyways, my first title would have to be either Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball, when they were airing on YTV. Ahh, those were the days when Uranus and Neptune were "cousins"....

:rolleyes:

[DocWatson]

The first anime I saw was Alakazam the Great (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=631) (in second grade, which would have been 1976–7—we got pulled out of class to watch it in the basement of the school across the street :sdsmiley:), then Star Blazers (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=338) (in syndication in 1979/1980; I used to sneak home from school, skipping my soccer classes at the YMCA to watch it. The OP (http://youtube.com/watch?v=eMcrep48Wz0&feature=related) still brings nostalgic tears to my eyes and a tightness in my gut.). This was followed by Battle of the Planets (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4) and Force Five. (I just turned 39.)

The first anime I recall watching when I knew it was Japanese was a third generation fansub of the Lensman movie (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2043) in January 1988.

Wrath of the Njr: Marine Boy (http://home.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/marine.htm) at Glen Johnson's 60's Anime (http://home.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/index.htm).

theworld: Casshern OAVs (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2106) (1993–4).

[DocWatson]

Here's something else I remember watching that was also real old school: Prince Planet. If memory serves (a risky proposition where I'm concerned), that show was black & white.
Apparently so (http://www.eiken-anime.jp/works/works007.html).

[DocWatson]

Circa 1973-1974.

another one featuring a time traveler from the 30th century, which was also dubbed, confusingly enough, as "Meteoro". (Vicserr help me here).
Time Bokan?... The one with the Blue Bettle vehicle.
Nope. The show I'm talking about is from the 60's or very early 70's.

I don't think it was Prince Planet either.
The only ones the ANN Encyclopedia list as "Meteoro" are Speed Racer (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=776) and Speed Racer X (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1445).

Was it possibly Mirai Kara Shōnen Super Jetter[/i] (]El hijo de Meteoro (http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/lista1960-1989.html)? (I just added the Spanish titles to the ANN Encyclopedia; a fan page (http://sunblade.iespana.es/Series/Hijo_de_Meteoro/Series-El_hijo_de_Meteoro.html).)

[Njr Scrawl]

Thanks for the link, there are still some Kaitei Shonen Marine DVDs in stock at CDJ e.g. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=ICDD-6

Not the dub, but original Japanese version. My only 60s anime on DVD!

[StudioZEL]

First anime that I KNEW was anime? Ronin Warriors

First anime? Unico and the Isle of Magic