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[Shyakugaun]

 

[farisr]

I loved Pokemon but didn't know it was anime at the time.

Dragon Ball Z is the series, because of the slow episode release and me being desperate at finding out what happens next, I found out it was an anime. Man the hunt for those old realmedia fansubbed files. Spending all night downloading a 50mb "high quality" file for a movie. Still liking the dub more I either bought or borrowed every new VHS that came out, as it usually came out quite some time before it aired. (Now I own the entire series on dvd, and will soon have it on bluray as well.)

Once I was done watching that, I got curious and wondered if there was something else just as good that I just hadn't heard about because it wasn't dubbed yet or aired on tv.

The first anime that I liked and actually watched, which I didn't know was anime at the time, was Captain Tsubasa, the original series.

 

[Capitan]

Pokemon was certainly the first I watched religiously. As a teen I was really into Naruto. Later in high-school I started watching stuff like Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Code Geass, and Gurren Lagann. My favorite around then was probably Ranma 1/2. In college I've been watching plenty of Miyazaki films and stuff like Cowboy Bebop. I guess what i'm trying to say is Pokemon, and i've always kind of been into anime, but my interests change.
If you're looking for something to introduce a non-anime person into anime, i'd heavily recommend Cowboy Bebop.

 

[esms]

Not necessarily a fan, but I straight up didn't like anime until I saw Black Lagoon, which was pretty recently. I watched the episode where they go to plunder the old Nazi U-boat and loved the hell out of it.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

I watched Gunbuster and Rayearth in the mid 90s, stopped watching new stuff around 5 or 6 years ago.

Not sure if I should go back or if its only nostalgia keeping me watching the old stuff.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Guyver, Vampire Hunter D, and Ronin Warriors.

 

[Betty]

Yu Yu Hakusho if I'm honest, though stuff like Clannad: After Story and Usagi Drop endeared me just as much by showing me that anime could do heartwarming well.

 

[Blackage]

Ninja Scroll & Ranma 1/2 from Blockbuster.

Also Sci-Fi's anime weekend thing they used to do.

 

[maniac-kun]

Akira was the first movie that got me into anime. But I watched a lot of anime series in my childhood before I knew those where actualy animes. Like Captain Future.

Best intro of all time by the way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcjhpETolG0

I think its the first anime show I have seen.

Other animes I have seen at that time was Sailor Moon, Mila Superstar, Kickers, Kimba and Saber Rider.

 

[keltickennedy]

Ronin Warriors

 

[SheHateMe]

It's a toss up.

While I watched Voltron as a wild child and enjoyed it, it was my teen years watching Sailor Moon in the morning and Ronin Warriors in the afternoon that got me digging into DBZ and then Cowboy Bebop in the late 90's.

 

[Mook1e]

Pretty much in that order.

I'm old.

 

[Igo]

Wicked CIty and Dominion Tank Police.

I wish I could remember which UK channel broadcast Wicked City in the early 90's because there was some other stuff shown that i've never been able to name. Been bugging me for 15 years now.

 

[SoldnerKei]

without knowing it was anime

Saint Seiya, Captain Tsubasa & Dragon Ball

I thought those were just cartoons when I was a kid, then when I knew about anime, Rurouni Kenshin and X/1999 just signed the contract

 

[RedSwirl]

It was a mix of shows back in the 90s: probably the oldest was Ronin Warriors, along with Sialor Moon and the original Dragonball. Tekkaman Blade (which was localized as Teknoman) was probably the first show I actually recognized as being from Japan. However, what really introduced me to anime as a whole was the Sci-Fi channel's old Saturday Morning Anime block, which showed a different 90s anime OVA every week. It had stuff ranging from Akira to Record of Lodoss War (albeit just the first three episodes), including a lot of really strange and just plain bad movies.

And I just noticed that someone mentioned Samurai Pizza Cats. That might actually be the oldest series. I might need to check air dates.

For me it was DBZ, Sailor Moon, and Ronin Warriors back when they aired in the afternoons in the mid 90s. I would catch them every so often during the summer, then I started watching Samurai Pizza Cats and DBZ before school every morning.

Worst part at that time? Restarting the Namek arc right after Goku showed up on Namek and showed off his new found power.

Sailor Moon
DBZ
Ronin Warriors
The English Dub of Samurai Pizza Cats.

All the stuff that was put on at 6am in the early 90's because the networks weren't sure if people would like it, but wanted to experiment with anime.

This is basically my exact experience right here, minus Sci-Fi channel.

 

[Redd]

I'm pretty sure it was Voltron for me. Though at the time I didn't know it was an anime.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Akira

 

[The Purple Pill]

Princess Mononoke

Dragon Ball

Neon Genesis Evangelion

 

[shikamaroooo]

Growing up watch dragonball and dbz, eventually watching naruto, bleach and fullmetal.

 

[Prototype]

Vampire Hunter D and Dragon Ball Z, which I grew up watching.

 

[striferser]

Doraemon
Nobody's Boy: Remi
And Neon Genesis evangelion

 

[ShinRPGamer]

For me, I'd have to say the 3 main shows for me were the shows that aired on YTV in the early-mid 2000's, notably The Vision of Escaflowne and Gundam SEED.

 

[Nikodemos]

Urusei Yatsura.

Didn't it get a few episodes dubbed by a bunch of snarky British actors?

 

[Dahbomb]

Guyver the Bioboosted armor got me into anime.

Berserk held me by the balls since then.

 

[frontovik]

Well, I grew up watching Pokemon, Naruto, and Inuyasha. And then I just vehemently disliked and ignored anime for several years.

I'd say that Attack on Titan, Berserk, and the Ghibli films have revitalized my recent interest in anime.

 

[Host Samurai]

DBZ and Akira got me into anime

 

[stryke]

Love Hina

I'm not kidding.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Catching Bleach on Adult Swim one night is what started it. Season 1 and 2 were awesome.
Evangelion 1.11, 2.22 and then the series is what really made me love the medium though.
Mainly this scene in particular. Still one of my all time favorites. Basically everything I love all in one place was quite the treat.
So all in all 2.22 was the real bump that got me going. Though it might have been too much since i haven't really found anything similar since.

 

[Squishy3]

Ghibli stuff for me. Totoro was my first exposure to anime, but I never pursued it outside of Ghibli stuff after. Toonami is what kicked off the rest. Nothing like coming home after school and watching Toonami before doing schoolwork.

 

[Sojgat]

Akira was the first movie that got me into anime. But I watched a lot of anime series in my childhood before I knew those where actualy animes. Like Captain Future.

Best intro of all time by the way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcjhpETolG0

I think its the first anime show I have seen.

Other animes I have seen at that time was Sailor Moon, Mila Superstar, Kickers, Kimba and Saber Rider.

Captain Future was probably also the first anime I ever saw.

The intro was a little different though.

Captain Future - English ZIV Dub

 

[Semblance]

Sailor Moon. Was obsessed as a kid. Somehow convinced my mom to rent me Akira and Ghost in the Shell from Blockbuster - and I hadn't even heard of Akira or GitS before, just thought their covers were dope - and things accelerated from there.

 

[Arthr2ShdsJcksn]

In order of exposure:

Vampire Hunter D
Project A-Ko
Sailor Moon
Battle Angel
All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (only had volume 1)
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Some DBZ thanks to a friend getting into it.
The oeuvre of Studio Ghibli films.

 

[Sleight of Jam]

DBZ and pokemon like many others were the roots of my admiration to the medium. But it wasn't until I watched Death Note that I was really drawn in and started to actively watch anime.

 

[Fj0823]

As someone said.
Naruto the Gateway
Evangelion the Stay
Shinsekai Yori the Adult Justification

 

[Merkunt]

Cowboy Bebop, Doraemon, Dragon Ball Z, Kochikame, Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis Evangelion + End of Evangelion combo.

 

[HardRojo]

I don't think I could call myself an anime fan since I've only watched the popular ones:

• DBZ
• Medabots
• Digimon (1st and 2nd season only)
• Saint Seiya
• Rurouni Kenshin
• Bleach
• Death Note
• Code Geass
• CLANNAD
• Full Metal Alchemist
• Jojo
• Captain Tsubasa

Those off the top of my head, I don't even know what shows there are nowadays but I guess DBZ made me interested.

 

[pancakesandsex]

Robotech was what started it all. I eventually became aware that it was Japanese made, found other stuff on tv like Teknoman, and began to seek stuff out in the blockbuster video anime aisle around the same time Sci-fi channel started doing Saturday Anime. Through that I was exposed to stuff like Tenchi Muyo In Love, Akira, Vampire Hunter D, etc. Eventually I was working at Target in the late 90's and they had a DVD demo reel that contained the first episode of Evangelion. I have no idea how it got on there, subtitled no less, and years before any legit dvd would come out for the show, but that really lit a fire under me to start collecting.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I haven't watched anime for awhile, but just got done with Space Battleship Yamato 2199. I'm still in amazement, the space battles, the music, all so well done. The ending was kinda rushed though. Why is this not getting a dub again? I even heard this got a live action movie in Japan, it looks interesting.

Is there any Anime out there that even comes close to this?

 

[Condom]

Sailor Moon.

 

[superdeluxe]

 

[stryke]

I haven't watched anime for awhile, but just got done with Space Battleship Yamato 2199. I'm still in amazement, the space battles, the music, all so well done. The ending was kinda rushed though. Why is this not getting a dub again? I even heard this got a live action movie in Japan, it looks interesting.

Is there any Anime out there that even comes close to this?

If you're looking for another space opera I'd recommend Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

 

[AwayFromInfinityx]

My uncle had the Street fighter animated movie and Akira.

He put both on one day and it blew me away. been a fan ever since.

 

[GaGaGariya]

Doraemon.

 

[entremet]

Akira was when I was aware I watching Japanese animation and became a fan. I saw stuff like Robotech before, but I was so young I figured it was American.

 

[Malreyn]

Akira, Golgo 13: the professional, Ghost in the Shell movie and Ninja Scroll, was introduced to me as some of the best that anime represented, I got hooked in, but there really wasn't many TV series or Ovas to watch other than Ranma 1/2 and Tenchi Muyo in the early 90's pre 'localized' DBZ days

 

[Splatt]

Original Dragonball.

Trigun and Gungrave cemented it.

 

[The Silver]

Stuff like pokemon and digimon were just normal cartoons to me, DBZ was the first time I realized I was watching a japanese animated show.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

Dragon Ball Z
Vampire Hunter D
Cowboy Bebop

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

Candy candy, Heidi , tekkaman, dragon ball, dbz, captain tsubasa, saint seiya etc were the first but TBH I didn't know there was a different name for this shows than let's say for example Swat Katz.

Lots of feelings while I watched but fast fordward to the older me (in high school) the one series that stirred the otaku in me and made me a full blown closet otaku or anime fanboy whatever, was Bleach.

Shit hooked me good and I had to find more up to date episodes compared to this channel on TV .

Man from shounen stuff to shoujo, seinen to josei, comedy to psycological mind fucks, etc I had to watch everything and anything . I watched a lot of weird shit super out of my comfort zone. Lol

Then I can't remember what made me read the medium though (manga, manhua, etc), the only true path. Probably between Claymore and Berserk , when I watched the anime the thirst was real.

 

[Exploding8]

I've always watched a bit of anime since I started watching DBZ at a karate school when I was little. Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, even .Hack//Sign, which was about as obscure as I got.

I didn't really start to embrace anime as something I enjoy until a friend of mine got me to watch Full Metal Alchemist. He was a pretty normal guy in HS, played sports and was decently well known. Guess that made it seem "acceptable" to me. I mean, not that I geek out about anime, I treat it as a guilty pleasure or a silly quirk irl. But it's something I explore more than I would have if I hadn't seen FMA.