Anime Nostalgia: Your First Anime Experience

[.:neuko:.]

So yeah... I was just curious to know what your very first experience of anime was and what it was like? This is a fairly open topic, so feel free to be as elaborate or as brief as you wish! ^ ^


For those of you who are curious to know about my first anime experience (which, until now I had all but forgotten), here's a little background:

The first anime I ever watched in my life was Ninja, the Wonderboy at the age of 7, which is a feature-length adapted, American derivative of the 24-episode TV anime, Manga Sarutobi Sasuke.wiki ^ ^

Despite truly having some of the worst American-English dubs on the planet (hence the terribly unconvincing voice-acting seemingly more suited to a school play than a serious drama), Ninja, the Wonderboy nonetheless grabbed my attention with its (relatively) unique approach to animation and story-telling. Coming from a country in which most animated shows were restricted to western conventions of story-telling, for me Ninja, the Wonderboy came off as something revolutionary. Little at the time did I know that I was actually watching anime, and that this style of story-telling was standard issue in the likes of Japan.

The original anime from which Ninja, the Wonderboy derives is one of the oldest around and one indication of this is its visual style. As you will see from the following video clip, Ninja, the Wonderboy reflects the historical (and almost ironic) fact that anime was originally inspired by American-style animation, hence the Disney-style-likeness of some of the characters in the video (This observation is less surprising to those who are well versed in the history of anime however.). Sadly, while some other countries did actually receive full translations of the original anime behind the feature-length adapted equivalent, I had to settle for the latter, and then on VHS. So essentially I got the cut-down (and awfully dubbed) derivative of the same anime referred to in the west as Ninja, the Wonderboy; but since at the time I knew no better, I was impressed regardless. In my eyes it was a refreshing alternative with more depth than the animated shows I'd become accustomed to in the mid 80s.

The following video shows my favourite part in Ninja the Wonderboy, though that's having said, I've forgotten most of the story - that's how long it's been since I last saw the feature. However, this part for some reason has stayed relatively fresh in my mind and I guess this probably has a lot to do with the fact that my favourite character in Ninja the Wonderboy is Magic Lantern (Yes, that's her English-equivalent name, believe it or not.). I mean, who wouldn't want a pair of shades like those?

 

And for those of you who have never seen a video tape, this is what one looks like, btw... XD (The ruler in the image gives you some idea of its size)



And here's an example of the sexy video players we used to playback the above. Forget Blu-ray, these are the real deal! XD

[CaptainFloyd]

I remember my brother showing me Dragon ball and Dragon ball Z when I was 6 and I fell in love with the two shows, but I didn't know that they were anime. The first one I understood that it was anime was Digimon. I loved Digimon so much that I very soon after delved into many other anime's like The Big O and Escaflowne. I showed my older brother these shows and he then understood what anime was. Its kinda funny when I look back. My brother showed me anime without knowing it was anime, and I figured out what it was before him. Weird how things turn out.

[ParaParaJMo]

Certainly Voltron (Go-Lion), Super Book, and Flying House when I was a child. But my first exposure to anime in a semi-pure form was a trip to the Philippines when I was 10. It was Dragon Ball Z and a few years later, it would hit American air waves.

[symphofear]

The first anime I had watched was Detective Conan and I didn't realize that it was an anime until i'm older and i'm crazy over anime!!! XD

[Aku no Hikari]

I can't really remember my first anime experience because that was probably before I learned to talk.

I feel nostalgic when I remember Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken. Watched it in my childhood, probably around the time I was 9.

If you can get your hands on the series and manga, they're not ones to miss. (The series sadly ended before it follows the manga, but it's still awesome.)

[solidarmor]

Certainly Voltron (Go-Lion), Super Book, and Flying House when I was a child. But my first exposure to anime in a semi-pure form was a trip to the Philippines when I was 10. It was Dragon Ball Z and a few years later, it would hit American air waves.

Superbook and Flying House would be my first 2 introspection to anime. Man, I haven't heard them mentioned in ages...lol