My first anime was probably either Naruto, Bleach, or Yu-Gi-Oh!. Unless I'm forgetting some anime that played either on Saturday mornings or during the days. One of my first for sure was Case Closed (at least I think it was), and the episode I happened to catch featured a dismembered body... Yeah, not really a good thing for a child to see.
However, when I was in middle school the school had a decent collection of graphic novels and manga. I had watched plenty anime before this point (FMA, Naruto, Bleach, some One Piece) and I decided to read some of the manga that the school had.
My first was either Ai Kora, a harem manga about a guy who fell in love with specific parts of the female anatomy (certain shape of legs, size of breasts, voice)... It was weird. Or it might have been Bitter Virgin, a manga about a young lady who was raped when she was a preteen/early teen and had a child by her rapist.
So, yeah, while Ai Kora might not have been so bad, why would a MIDDLE SCHOOL have Bitter Virgin...
So.... yeah.... How bout you Hubski? What was you first anime/manga? Any similarly bad beginnings?
My first anime was a plethora of hayao miyazaki films (if you count anime movies) and if you dont then it was Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!. My dad was a huge Miyazaki fan when he was in his late twenties, early thirties and would have me watching him when I was at his house. I didn't really read manga until about 4 years ago when I met my current group of friends that introduced me to a few free online manga reading sites (http://www.mangahere.co) and (http://mangafox.me) although mangafox is blocked in the US. My first manga was probably something slice of life (I dont remember to be honest) and the kind I tend to read is either slice of life or action. I live in a very small town that has next to nothing to do and all my friends live 3,000+ miles away. I don't have the means to move as of right now so I think that subconsciously I gravitate to SoL because it allows me to live vicariously through them in a sense.
Not really :P . The older I got the more I didn't get it and grew out of it. I think its more just flashy for the kids than anything.
My first anime would have probably been Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh, and then graduated to Dragon Ball Z at around age 11. At the time, I had no concept that it was any different than our (American) tv shows, or that anime was a thing. I think the show that got me hooked was the show that, for the first time, I realized there was no way an American had thought it up and made it. That show was FLCL, and I had stayed up passed my bedtime to watch Adult Swim. I was hooked after that, but had no real medium or way to watch anime. I grew up on a farm in rural Missouri, so it wasn't as simple as going to school. None of my friends even knew what anime was. Hell, by the time I graduated only a close circle of my friends were aware of it's existence. To this day, I will not watch anime in front of other people, unless I am absolutely comfortable with them. There was such a stigma of, I don't know.. I was looked down on for watching cartoons, I think. Never have read a manga.
Honestly the thought has never occured to me. I feel like if i'm going to read, I am going to read a novel or non-fiction book. When I read, it's typically more to learn than for leisure. I don't read as much as a should. Watching anime is easy, reading manga takes some effort.
I hear ya. I read (not just manga, but novels, non-fiction, poetry) more for entertainment than for learning. The reason that I prefer manga over anime is because of the pacing. When I'm reading manga, or books in general, I can read as fast or as slow as I want and can force myself to read at a pace that feels appropriate to what I'm reading. With anime, and movies and other types of TV shows as well, I'm forced to follow at the pace of what the director/writer feels is appropriate.
I feel like the statement above doesn't exclude manga (or any writing for that matter,) you are only allowed to go at the creator's pace. They control, ultimately, what you know just the same as a director. I guess in terms of time, you could probably read an "episode" faster than watching one. If you are watching a show, you are committing 20 minutes or so. Reading is more accessible.With anime, and movies and other types of TV shows as well, I'm forced to follow at the pace of what the director/writer feels is appropriate.
Ha. Whippersnappers. Speed Racer. First one I enjoyed? Robotech. Third sequence was the only good one. Watched Genesis Climber Mospeada in my 30s and gotta say - it holds up. There are messages in it that just aren't in most anything else and it's great. Plus Yellow Belmont the cross-dressing fighter-pilot internationally-renowned jazz singer. Funny story. The arthouse decided to show My Neighbor Totoro a few years after it came out in Japan (prolly woulda been '90, '91). We missed it 'cuz they only showed it once. But no fear, anime fans! Because three weeks later they showed Urotsukidoji. Which, of course, is a cartoon, right? So why not bring the kids, right? 'cuz it was unrated. And it was New Mexico, and that's just the sort of shit that happens. So I'm probably one of the very few people who has ever had the opening of Urotsukidoji interrupted by a crying baby. I'll say that the look on the mother's face when she saw what she was in for was priceless... but the ensuing two hours convinced me beyond a reasonable doubt that there's something deeply wrong with Japanese culture. Manga? I've got the Nausicaa boxed set but I haven't quite figured out how the hell to read it. That whole backwards thing is messing with me. This is a recent purchase, like within the past year.
Not sure if it counts as anime--Voltron: Defender of the Universe was a very popular cartoon when I was a kid, and it fascinated me because it was different from the other cartoons I watched. It was the founding stepping stone toward my interest in anime later in my life. First two full length anime films I ever watched as an adult: Akira then Ghost in the Shell. I tried to like Cowboy Bebop. So very tried, because others raved about it. I was not a cool kid in this, however.
Wow, I completely forgot about Voltron. I spent a lot of time as a kid watching that and Speed Racer, and would like to rescind my statement in this comment with regards to the first anime thing. At some point after those shows was a lot of time spent watching DBZ and Yu-Gi-Oh, neither of which I would consider very good. Guess I've watched more anime than I thought. Loved both of those shows as a kid but wasn't aware of what exactly they were. Mostly the same thing as you, but I haven't progressed very far into anime.
Oh, God, Elfen Lied... The first time I ever watched Elfen Lied was in the middle of high school. I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it. Including how it started... So yeah... Watched a (mostly?) naked chick run around a military base splattering peoples brains and guts everywhere. Thankfully no teacher noticed.
Kiki's Delivery Service when I was a kid, Yugioh was the first I watched on TV, and Evangelion was the first I seeked out. For manga, I picked up a couple Shonen Jumps, specifically for Yugioh
Pretty sure my first anime (that I actively watched) was Gundam Wing.
The first few I sought out were Utena, Nausicaa, Vampire Hunter D and Dragon Ball. First manga I read was Ranma 1/2.
A few others after that were Silent Mobius, Dragon Ball, Utena and Rurouni Kenshin. Buying translated manga was damn expensive at first! Pretty sure Ranma was about $25-30 for the first volume when I picked it up.
Vampire Hunter D played on TV. TBS, I think. I was around 12, and it was the coolest cartoon I'd ever seen. I think the only other anime I've ever watched all of was Lain. My first exposure to Peter Sotos was finding a copy of Total Abuse in a school library. I think it was to be the book the PTA would freak out about, lest the PTA freak out about a book that belonged in a school library.
It's gonna seem kind of messed up, but I began with my oldest cousin exposing me to Hellsing. That was my first anime and I probably won't ever forget it simply because I was maybe 9 or so. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but I watched it. Second was definitely Dragonball