Like most people of the early 90s to late 90s: I watched me some Thundercats and Transformers, but I had no clue what anime was then. The first anime that I watched (but didn't really mean anything to me) was DBZ.
The first "real" anime that made me understand just WHAT anime was about was Spirited Away which got me hooked onto anime forever.
With or without knowing it was anime? Alfred J. Kwak without knowing and... *thinks* Pokemon I think with knowing. Unless I already knew when Dragonball Z was still being aired. *has no fricken idea*
As a little girl remember being obsessed with Noozles and The Littl' Bits when they showed on Nick Jr. Then my next encounter with anime was DBZ and Sailor Moon in syndication when I was bit older. Then Pokemon came on in syndication before hitting it big and I found out it was from Japan. Then the fandom in me started! I used to call it Japanese anime back then. Toonami helped change that.
edit: I remember seeing Roujin Z as my first anime movie on HBO or some channel in the 90's. Still is one of my favorite movies.
My first anime was Princess Knight. I knew it was different and I knew it was special even when I saw it as an 8 year old. I was haunted by the memory of this wonderful cartoon, until I found other animation in a similar style, and learned that it was anime.
Unfortunately there is only one episode of Ribbon no Kashi (Princes Knight) subbed and the English dub is all but lost to history.
I already posted my anime origin story in the "how long were you watching anime before you went to your first con" thread, so, long story short: first anime was Sailor Moon. I do have very, very dim memories of seeing reruns of the 80s Astro Boy before then, but I think I must have seen so little of it that it doesn't really count.
EDIT: Oh wait, does Maya the Bee count? I remember not being very into this show, but I saw it fairly regularly at some point in my life before I saw Sailor Moon. There was also Hello Kitty/Keroppi, but I don't know if I saw that before or after Moon.
EDIT: Oh wait, doesMaya the Beecount? I remember not being very into this show, but I saw it fairly regularly at some point in my life before I saw Sailor Moon. There was also Hello Kitty/Keroppi, but I don't know if I saw that before or after Moon.
I didn't know either until I was randomly surfing Wikipedia sometime last year. I'd forgotten about that fact until now.
Oh man, now I also remember this old movie called Scamper the Penguin that I also never knew was an anime until that Wikipedia surf! I might have seen that before Sailor Moon too.
EDIT: Oh wait, doesMaya the Beecount? I remember not being very into this show, but I saw it fairly regularly at some point in my life before I saw Sailor Moon. There was also Hello Kitty/Keroppi, but I don't know if I saw that before or after Moon.
Wow, I didn't know Maya the Bee was Japanese.
Oh darn, neither did I! Now... I think I saw that after Alfred J. Kwak though.
The first anime I watched that I actually knew was anime was Ranma 1/2. I actually bought some VHS tapes of it not too long after I discovered the manga. The first actual anime I can recall watching (before I knew what was what) was the Americanized (read: sanitized for young minds) version of Mazinger Z, Tranzor Z. Our local independent TV station ran it in the mornings along with Transformers and some other cartoons. I also got to watch some Robotech and some Voltron (the lion version, thankyewverymuch) on the rare occasion when we could pull in KPLR out of St. Louis.
Haha, my first anime was Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers). I'm not sure where I saw it, but it was labeled as Yamato, rather than Star Blazers. I'm pretty sure I saw it in English Dub, though.
For the record, I'm only 18, and I've lived in the United States my whole life. I don't know how this was my first anime, but it was.
The first anime I watched was Pokemon, but at the time I had no clue it was anime. The first anime I watched, with the knowledge it was anime was Hellsing. I had really liked the manga, and even though the show fallowed a different story arc, it was still fascinating. Lately though I haven't had the time or willpower to care enough to watch any anime. I'm going to force myself to finish blood+ soon though.
As a little girl remember being obsessed withNoozlesandThe Littl' Bitswhen they showed on Nick Jr.
Ahh, I loved the Littl' Bits too! I also really liked the Fairy Tale Theatre that Nick Jr. had, which I believe was also an anime. Oh man, I'd really love to watch some of episodes of those shows again.
A friend of mine showed me the first few episodes of Rurouni Kenshin. The first anime series I recognized as Anime however, would have had to be Paranoia Agent. I'm showing my age here.
Like most people of the early 90s to late 90s: I watched me some Thundercats and Transformers, but I had no clue what anime was then. The first anime that I watched (but didn't really mean anything to me) was DBZ.
The first "real" anime that made me understand just WHAT anime was about was Spirited Away which got me hooked onto anime forever.
I'd like to retcon a bit by saying the first anime series that I watched all the way through was a harem show (not knowing what that was back then) which remains special to me to this day is DNA2.
My very first anime was probably "Heidi - Girl of the Alps". I am from Austria so they played this series up and down all the time when I was a little kid. That was of course before I knew this stuff was anime. The first show I watched when I knew it was anime and more or less specifically because of it was Dragonball Z around the time I was 15. The german channel it was running on actually showed it during prime time and my entire class was watching it. Probably because I was in a very geeky HTL class.
My first anime was Evangelion back when it was first coming out on VHS in the USA; got them at the local Blockbuster and watched it with my parents until Ep. 22, which is when they, literally, pulled the plug and refused to let me watch any more.
The first anime I can recall clearly was Samurai Pizza Cats, but I didn't know it was an anime until years after the fact. Vampire Hunter D was the first anime I saw with the understanding that it was "anime" and this was back in 1994.
Anime I watched without knowing they were anime include Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon and Pokemon. I was introduced to anime as anime by my friend with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Death Note.
I am not sure which of these was the first anime I saw, but I know I saw these well before I learned what anime was in high school: Dragonball Z Ronin Warriors Samurai Pizza Cats and Tobor the 8th Man. My grandparents had a tape of this, completely randomly. They made a point of having cartoons for me or my brother to watch while the family sat around talking. I also saw Little Nemo's Adventures In Slumberland when I was little, but I'm not sure if you could count that.
Technically first for me was the whole Nick Jr. collection (Little Koala, Little Bits, etc) but the first with knowledge of what anime actually is was either Sailor Moon or Escaflowne.
I actually knew all the anime I watched as a kid was anime (DBZ, Pokemon, etc.), but I never got any more hardcore or into until I saw Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke for the first time.
The first Anime I saw was probably DBZ. There's a very good chance. After that comes Pokemon and Digimon. In the middle of Digimon 02 was when I learned that it was anime and what anime was. It was several years after that that I grew to be an Otaku, but not before becoming attached to every crappy anime Fox Kids dubbed for a while. Although, it did turn me on to Escaflowne (albeit a crappy dub), so it can't be all bad.
Comments
The first "real" anime that made me understand just WHAT anime was about was Spirited Away which got me hooked onto anime forever.
edit: I remember seeing Roujin Z as my first anime movie on HBO or some channel in the 90's. Still is one of my favorite movies.
Unfortunately there is only one episode of Ribbon no Kashi (Princes Knight) subbed and the English dub is all but lost to history.
EDIT: Oh wait, does Maya the Bee count? I remember not being very into this show, but I saw it fairly regularly at some point in my life before I saw Sailor Moon. There was also Hello Kitty/Keroppi, but I don't know if I saw that before or after Moon.
Oh man, now I also remember this old movie called Scamper the Penguin that I also never knew was an anime until that Wikipedia surf! I might have seen that before Sailor Moon too.
First anime knowing it: Cowboy Bebop
For the record, I'm only 18, and I've lived in the United States my whole life. I don't know how this was my first anime, but it was.
1. Pokemon
2. Digimon
3. Azumanga Daioh
4. Crayon Shin-chan (the heavily censored version for kids)
5. Dragonball
6. Daa! Daa! Daa!
7. Full Moon wo Sagashite
My first anime as anime
1. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
2. Lucky Star
3. Kanon
4. Air
5. Hayate no Gotoku
6. Shakugan no Shana
Here I just watched whatever my friend told me to and then I kinda started to find my own stuff.
Dragonball Z
Ronin Warriors
Samurai Pizza Cats
and Tobor the 8th Man. My grandparents had a tape of this, completely randomly. They made a point of having cartoons for me or my brother to watch while the family sat around talking. I also saw Little Nemo's Adventures In Slumberland when I was little, but I'm not sure if you could count that.
My first show where I actually told myself "I'm going to get and watch an anime" was Mobile Suit Gundam Seed.