It feels like only yesterday when I opened uTorrent to find that my FLCL download had finished. There was nothing to do at home, and I was out of school for a certain reason. My friends were in school, and I was alone with the Internet, wanting to entertain myself. It was then when I had remembered anime; a few friends told me to watch Gundam Seed Destiny and Bleach or Naruto, but I had no interest at the time. But finally, I decided to watch.
My first experience with anime was most likely Anpanman, the man with a head made of bread. That most likely led to popular anime such as Pokemon and Digimon, and then some dabbling in Speed Racer, InuYasha, Tenchi Muyo, and Cowboy Bebop. Then came Cartoon Network and the airing of FLCL and Witch Hunter Robin. Last May I wasn’t able to remember too much of the previously listed series except Pokemon and Digimon, but I knew I had always wanted to watch FLCL and Witch Hunter Robin in chronological order.
Thinking that the show would make sense if watched in sequence, I eagerly started the first episode of FLCL. Since I’m still watching anime to this date, it can be said that it blew my mind. I was hooked and was absolutely captivated by Haruko and Canti. I was convinced that FLCL was the best show I had ever watched. FLCL led to Witch Hunter Robin, then Death Note and Love Hina. I was so engrossed with this newfound passion that I admitted defeat; I was hooked on anime.
Quite an interesting 59 titles I’ve completed. I saw the rise and fall of Kira, tons of taiyaki, and talking dolls that fought each other. I experienced epic battles with King Arthur, a love of curry with Harima, and a trip with Kotonoha on a nice boat. I heard creepy, hysterical laughs from cute girls, wonderful singing from a singer and her band, and the squeals and chatter of microbes.
A miserable day at Anime Expo 2007, a year of anime watching and manga reading, and several months of anime blogging later, I have five figures, 15 volumes (heh, low number), a light novel, a doujin, a wallscroll, two posters, two character song albums and a light novel. Anime DVDs will come soon…
Looking back on this year, which was quite difficult and stressful for me, I am glad that there was something that helped me through it. Without anime, I probably would have lost my mind. In a way, it has partially shaped my personality. I’m now much less of a jerk (real life friends will laugh and scoff at this). Seeing how I’m still here watching anime on a near-daily basis, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t stop watching anytime soon.
The most significant anime that I’ve watched thus far, in terms of introducing me to new genres and other eye-openers, are probably FLCL, Lucky Star, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, and Death Note. All of these I greatly enjoyed and helped mold my definition and views on anime.
Least enjoyed anime I watched from May 2007 to May 2008? Love Hina and its OVAs, AIR (Movie), School Rumble OVAs.
Would you like to share how you started watching anime?
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13 Comments
Thanks for that, I think it’s really fun to hear other people’s histories, and great to hear from FLCL fans. I’ll try to sum my own up without rambles.
Ten years ago, college: Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Vampire Hunter D, and… Urotsukidoji, yeah. I was casual still until a couple years later, Evangelion changed that.
8 or so years ago (give or take): Cardcaptor Sakura (make fun, go ahead), Eva, Eva again, Nadesico, and Love Hina, all with my girlfriend, who’s now my wife. I guess I got pretty lucky there. We just watched Soul Eater tonight. Sorry to hear you’re not a Love Hina fan, it’s one of my favorites in spite of all the crap it spawned.
Fansub VHS’s from a shop in Pittsburgh (I know, I shouldn’t have paid for them, but I just wasn’t hip), bootleg Hong Kong VCD and DVD subs (hard to comprehend, but we had a connection).
What brought me back recently was Haruhi. After being effectively gone from anime for a few years, I didn’t really get what “moe” was, but I think I watched that show 4 times and haters be damned, it is something special. Now I’m glad to be hip-deep in the cartoons again. I feel dorky for being a couple years older than most of the bloggers, but you know… it’s fun.
Mine was the typical friend-coercion story…and it beat most of anything else on TV at the time. x.x
I started small scale 6 years ago with dubbed Escaflowne and Gundam Wing and not much since then until 2005 where I got back into anime by a weird sequence of events leading from Harry Potter to Fan Fiction to Crossover Fan Fiction to Bleach. Since then, it has just boomed for me…
DBZ and Doraemon aside, I think my earliest memory of starting anime would be El Hazard, which I watched in Cantonese dub lawl. It was only when I caught some on cable that I really became the fan I am today.
I don’t even know how I got into anime. hum.
I got in through late night watching of FLCL. Then Elfen Lied. Then School Rumble. The saga continues…
@otou-san: Nothing wrong with Cardcaptor Sakura; I need to get started on watching that anyway…
@Caitlin: Ooh, I guess a bit of that for me too (the latter).
@Deranged: … the wonders of fan fiction? xD
@Shin: Never heard of El Hazard… I wish I got anime on cable here (besides REAL mainstream stuff) =(
@Nagato: Don’t even remember your first ever?
@korosora: YEAH, FLCL.
Vandread. Evangelion came second. It made me what I am today.
Wow…
Let’s see, the first anime I remember watching was Star Blazers. (Yeah I know it was converted over to something that it wasn’t originally, but it’s part of my earliest memories.) I remember catching some episodes of Robotech, but we didn’t get much in the way of UHF reception. (This was back in the days of analog dials on the TV too. Man, I predate remotes.)
But the first I really learned about anime came from finding an artbook for Robotech in my public library. I read it and I wanted to know more. (I’d been playing the Palladium Robotech game prior to that.) But since I had neither the resources to go hunting for it, nor did I have a lot of availability it kind of fell by the wayside until I got into college.
When I got into college, I met some people who liked anime and the local comic book shop rented VHS tapes (there I go dating myself again.) So we rented them and watched. I saw the Oh My Goddess OVA, most of El-Hazard and too much of Slayers that way. Along with 3X3 eyes, Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell.
Then I moved back home and there was another long dark period for me. Once I went back to college, I went to anime club on campus sporadically. I caught most of Lain that way. And watched Grave of the Fireflies and some Irresponsible Captian Tylor.
Then CN started showing Cowboy Beebop on TV. I watched that and Outlaw Star, Big O and some DBZ that way. A couple friends of mine had Ruroni Kenshin fansubs and I watched that. I kept watching Adult Swim for my anime fix. I saw Yu-yu Hakusho, Gundam 0083 and some of Mobile Suit Gundam that way (there may have been more that I’ve forgotten.)
Then in 2003, I was stuck in a small town in Washington State for Christmas and I got a wild hair across my butt and bought a DVD player (originally so I could watch the first season of 24). Once I ran out of movies to buy, I started picking up anime. I think the first series I bought was Hellsing. Then I bought X, Serial Expirements Lain, RahXephon… and well the list goes on.
Well it was probably Pokemon, but that doesn’t really count since I was like 7.
I remember, I started watching Cardcaptor Sakura then it led to Nadesico then Gundam then Love Hina then to a ton other anime. I’ve been watching anime for 7 years now. Great memories!!!
Not counting DBZ/Digimon/Pokemon, saturday morning shit, the End of Eva was my first “real” anime. Damn.
@Owen: Hm… will watch Vandread someday.
@Cameron: Seems like Cartoon Network (lol Toonami) was a major hand in many of the US fans’ anime-viewing…
@Nagato: lol, same I suppose then.
@Rin: I forgot about Cardcaptor Sakura! I watched a bit of the (horribly edited) US dub too…
@Lelangir: o_O You watched End of Eva before the show?
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