How did you get into anime?

kalipike, 11 months ago

@VulcanSphere

I don't remember specifically what my first experience with anime was, but I remember one time in college our friend group started Rosario Vampire because "haha horny vampire anime" but then we're surprised that the plot help up pretty well. Most of us ended up reading the manga (which is actually quite good). That was definitely one of the earlier anime experiences. Never really had TV as a kid so no anime was watched during childhood.

young_broccoli, 11 months ago

I also "started" watching anime on tv remi, saint seiya, dragon ball, sailor moon, candy candy etc but for me that wasnt anime, those were cartoons. What really got me into anime was Evangelion, on VHS, japanese dub, with english subtitles (english is not my first language and I was way worse at it back then than I am now) A sacred piece of imported media lent to me by my old sister's friend.
My mind was blown, I have never seen something like that. Of course I had seen mechas before in voltron and macross but never something this complex, detailed, emotional, and full of meaning (and with nudes!!!). It was like watching something awesome and forbiden for young me. I watched it in less than a week, I understood less than half of it and I loved it.

The next anime he lent me was SE Lain. This one I still dont understand it.
Now that I think about it... I think he wanted me to get brain damage.

VulcanSphere, 11 months ago

To understand Lain, several rewatches are needed ahaha (Vulcan didn't get into this anime until second rewatch)

Shortcake, 11 months ago

toonami watching DBZ and the Miyazaki movies. Spirited away is still one of the best and how i get my friends and family into it

HipHoboHarold, 11 months ago

This is actually how I got started as well. Started with DBZ. Me and a few friends all got into it. I think the first season had already started, so we had to wait for them to start it again to see the beginning, but we were hooked.

I think technically I got into Pokemon next, since that had just started, but it's been a long time so I could be wrong on the timeline.

And I remember seeing a small anime section at the video rental place before, but I had no idea what any of it was, so I always ignored it. But then I realized what those movies were, so we checked out Princess Mononoke. So that was my first venture outside of those, and it just went from there.

amnesiaphilia, 11 months ago

I was a teenager when Spirited Away was in theaters in the US, looking back it feels like anime was just starting to scratch at breaking into the mainstream. Cowboy Bebop on Adult Swim, Pokémon after school, etc.

vicktorious, 11 months ago

When I would watch Adult Swim as a kid and catch some Naruto before I had to go to bed. My parents made me go to bed earlier and that made me even more interested to find out what all happened in the Naruto episodes and from there it just became an obsession when I was 11 years old. I also used to watch this one called Mermaid Melody because literally all the episodes were free on youtube, you know, before the days that youtube was crazy about copyright lol. This was around 2011-2012 and my grandma just passed away as well so it really helped me cope to escape a bit

kylemsguy, 11 months ago

Anime was always popular amongst my classmates from elementary school up. Heck, I got into Pokemon from family friends and the like at a young age.

I never got into watching anime series or movies much, but that's because I'm not the biggest fan of watching TV shows or movies.

My first exposure to anime films was when I was hanging out with someone who lived in Japan who was watching Pokemon and Detective Conan in Japanese. I had no idea what they were saying, but it's definitely left an impression.

anthoniix, 11 months ago

Dragon Ball Z Kai and Naruto Shippuden

raygan, 11 months ago

I saw some episodes of Outlaw Star on Cartoon Network and I was hooked. That's still a fun show!

UnelectedReimu, 11 months ago

Embarrassing to admit but I got into it because I saw a video of the Nichijou op but with mlg style humor, that was almost 9 years ago and I've been a weeb ever since

roytoo, 11 months ago

A fellow Marine introduced me to Ranma 1/2 back in the late 1990s.

ForeverClueless, 11 months ago

After school the ABC ( Australian TV Channel ) would show Battle of the Planets which I later learned is called Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman which would ususally folow Star Blazers and Robotech on the weekends. Wasn't till the 90's that Akria and Ghost in the Shell came out. I haven't kept up to date at all and I come back to anime once and a while but would love some recommendations on anything recent :)

terrehbyte, 11 months ago

I did see some on Toonami and Adult Swim like Big O and Rurouni Kenshin when I was younger, but only when it happened to be on when I was tuning in. I remember browsing some forums later on and saw a clip of the opening for Lucky Star in someone's signature so I watched some clips on YouTube before I ended up watching the whole series.

After that, I got more into anime communities and following fansubbing groups to keep up with new shows for a while, though I'm mostly reading manga these days.

HealGirl, 11 months ago

My first ever anime was Fruits Basket (2001) I had just gotten an iPod touch back in 2009 when I was in around 5th grade and discovered AMV's on YouTube of the show. Its still one of my fondest shows and I've really enjoyed the 2019 remake a lot so far :)

pvq, 11 months ago

Fruits Basket is a very interesting introduction to anime! It was a very fun watch. Didn't know there was a 2001 version. Do you like romance anime? Any favorites in that genre for you? For me I think Kimi ni Todoke, Golden Time, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, etc. There are a looot of great ones in the genre.

Gorpinator9000, 11 months ago

I used to really dislike anime because of the art style and hyper sexualization of women, but I stumbled into an anime Comic-Con and was really impressed with the costumes. I saw how many people were passionate about it, and was convinced to give it another chance. A friend told me to start with Attack on Titan, and now I can say that I'm a fan of one anime.

rewarp, 11 months ago

Since it's Pride Month and all, you should give Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) a shot. Introducing the gender and trans experience way before current mainstream media caught up(?), and eschews the objectification that comes with most shows.

Relevant because the protagonists are kids.

pvq, 11 months ago

There are definitely a lot of themes I wish weren't present in Anime. The 'brother loving' that's borderline sweet home Alabama is one of the hardest to tolerate. Even though Chivalry of a Failed Knight is one of my favorites... The introduction of the sister by lip kissing was so awkward to watch... There's no way I'm watching that show with somebody else. The Irregular at Magic High School is another one that's good, but there's no way in hell I would recommend it to anybody I know.

RatsAmassing, 11 months ago

Like some of the people in the thread, I started with SAO. In addition to this I also got put onto the P4 OG anime by a friend. Granted I was already watching stuff like Sora no Otoshimono and Seto no Hanayome. After this I was put onto stuff like BakaTesto by the same friend. Hilariously enough this is the same friend that ALSO got me into Taiko no Tatsujin. But yeah these were my anime roots. Now I mainly watch stuff like Ergo Proxy/Lain. I'm currently on hold for my Lain rewatch. This is all while trying to juggle multiple manga and currently releasing anime.