What was the FIRST Anime series you ever watched?

United States
May 30, 2008 9:39am CST
I was thinking back to the first anime series I ever watched, The Vision of Escaflowne, and, while it might not be my favorite anime series ever, it will always hold a very special place in my heart. That may sound a little sappy for just an anime series, but it's more than that! See, I watched the entire series (not in one sitting of course) with my girlfriend. The girl that later became my Wife! It was just so amazing, and that much MORE special to watch a pretty good anime series as my first, with the woman I love! So, my first anime series to watch was Escaflowne, what was yours? Be sure to include the story behind it!
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24 responses
30 May 08
Quite possibly Starzinger... but I was not much more than a toddler, so I remember very little of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starzinger Story behind it? It was just videos my grandparents bought me for Christmas. The first anime I watched, that wasn't a series would have been Unico, or to give it its full title The Fantastic Adventures of Unico. I still have the video... and I still watch it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unico#The_Fantastic_Adventures_of_Unico
2 people like this
30 May 08
They're so old!! The Unico video itself is older than I am.
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• United States
30 May 08
I see. Well that would be interesting in and of itself then. You know, to see how anime has progressed.
1 person likes this
• United States
30 May 08
Hey Shard! Nice to see you again. Starzinger eh? Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've seen/heard or either of those...Starzinger or Unico... They must have been good (not that you'd remember Starzinger in you were just a toddler) because it's safe to say they got you hooked! I'll need to check them out, thanks for the response!
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@alintc (3)
30 May 08
I guess sailor moon was my 1st anime i've watched too..Really liked the hole transformation pack ;)) but my alltime favorite was Samurai x. Don't know if you know it... after that dragonball was absolutely captivating and kept me counting the hours till the next episode..
• United States
30 May 08
Heck yeah I know Samurai X! I love all things Rurouni Kenshin related, his early story is just that much moreso! It's beginning to look like the general consensus is Sailor Moon... Thanks so much for the response!
1 person likes this
• United States
30 May 08
I think that the first ever anime that I watched was Sailor Moon. After that it was DragonballZ. I miss watching Sailor Moon. It used to be the best thing ever when I was younger. I don't really remember any stories but I do remember that I wanted to be Japanese and wanted to live in the Sailor Moon world. I would dream about it which is kind of sad.
2 people like this
• United States
30 May 08
That's not sad at all! I can't tell you how many times I've wished I WAS Kenshin Himura wondering around feudal Japan kicking bad guy butt...maybe we're both sad... oh well! Thanks for the response, Sailor Moon is a great anime!
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@DarkDancer (1011)
• Dayton, Ohio
31 May 08
I can't be absolutely sure, but it was either Speed Racer, Star Blazers, or Battle of the Planets (Gotchaman). This was a long time ago of course, the early '70's.
• Dayton, Ohio
31 May 08
The first time I saw Lupin was on Cartoon Network, and I liked it. I just wonder if the series ended where they ended it or if there was more.....
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
I couln't tell you that for sure, all I know is: there are A LOT of Lupin episodes!!
• United States
31 May 08
I see, very interesting! Any experience with Lupin?
@meiji15 (664)
• Philippines
30 May 08
i've spent almost all my childhood watching anime. there's time quest (starring takure or teapot), then there's super boink (babe bube boink), and of course, yusuke (eugene) and the gang from ghost fighters. oh, and then there's sailor moon. please don't get me started with this particular anime. i soo love this anime, especially mamoru and bunny. i remember my cousin shedding some tear when she saw the episode where bunny and mamoru kissed. whaaa..talked about fanatic! i, too like escaflowne and the hitomi-van love theme :D
2 people like this
• United States
30 May 08
Awesome! Thanks for the response!
1 person likes this
30 May 08
amazing story you have there :D it's nice being married to someone who shared the same interest as you :D mine would be YUYU HAKUSHO or Ghost Fighter as it was known in the Philippines ^_^ nothing special behind it but way back when i was in highschool my friends and i had our own counterparts on that show. I was suzie (alfred's smoker sis_ LOL) and my friends who were Jenny and Eugene ended up having a kid now. ^_^
• United States
30 May 08
Well thank you janni! It is nice, I am married to a wonderful woman! She pretty much introduced anime to me in the first place, so I'm thankful for that! Thanks for the response, Yuyu Hakusho was fantastic!
1 person likes this
@AnimeMom (516)
• United States
30 May 08
Well the first anime series I watched is a toss up b/t 3 series that use to appear on cartoon network. Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and Tenchi Muyo. I'm thinking Sailor Moon came first, and I will always like Sailor Moon. I'm into mushy love animes. And the romantic tension and other such scenes b/t Serena and Darien are very adorable! :sigh: I think thats why I like Ai Yori Aoshi so much. Don't get me wrong though I still enjoy my "tough" animes. Beserk, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop. And i have been privileged to watch Escaflowne. It's a wonderful anime. And your story is way to cute!
1 person likes this
@AnimeMom (516)
• United States
30 May 08
Ahhh HA HA! Anime virginity? LOL!! That made my day!
1 person likes this
• United States
30 May 08
Hey AnimeMom! Glad you dropped by! Like I said before, Sailor Moon seems to be running away with the Anime-Virginity award. You've mentioned most of my favorites, Escaflowne (of course), Berserk, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop! I love those! Ai Yori Aoshi is a very "cute-sie" kind of anime, but good too! Thanks a lot for the great respone!
1 person likes this
• United States
30 May 08
Lol, that's why I'm here animemom!
1 person likes this
@anaknitatay (1335)
• Philippines
31 May 08
just like any gen X guy in the philippines my first anime was none other than Voltes V. Which makes me feel real old...lol!
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
Well, there ya have it. ANOTHER one I've never heard of! Very interesting...thanks!
2 people like this
• Philippines
3 Jun 08
Dragon Ball Z was the first anime ive watched then ranma 1/2 then monkey typhoon the rest are the newest series that ever launched ive watched them all
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Jun 08
So it's safe to say Dragonball got you hooked eh? That's pretty cool stuff. Any story behind watching Dragonball for the first time?
• United States
31 May 08
Well I guess the first I watched were Speed Racer and "Kimba, the White Lion" when I was a kid..Before we even knew what "anime" was. More recently I watched all of the "Last Exile" series(*****), Samurai 7 and something with "actress" in the title. Sorry no great stories. except that I just went to my Public Libraries' website and put the first series of Speed Racer on hold. cool.
1 person likes this
• United States
31 May 08
Millennium Actress, That's right! I didn't think much of it either. Yes I used to come home from grade school (elementary) and watch Kimba and Speed Racer every day. But I haven't seen it since. I would love to see it again.
1 person likes this
31 May 08
Millennium Actress? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0291350/ Hah, I'd forgotten that movie even existed... not one of my favourites. You've seen "Kimba the White Lion?" Is it good? I'd love to get it on DVD (too expensive!). So many people haven't even heard of it.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
I fit into the catagory of "haven't seen it..." but, this is why these discussions are fun! You get to learn about all sorts of interesting anime! Thanks!
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@ShadoCat (92)
• United States
31 May 08
Well, if we don't count Speed Racer and Kimba (yes, I'm that old), the first anime that I watched was Robotech. I actually met Carl Macek when he was promoting that series (Macek did the English dubbing).
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Jun 08
I was part of a science fiction club at UCI (University of California, Irvine). He came over, showed clips and talked about the series (the three separate series that they dubbed into a single trilogy). Apparently, it was the first time someone had paid attention to syncing the sound to the mouth movements.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
No way? How fun! I had the pleasure of touring Funimation studios, they have been responsible for dubbing such anime series as: Full Metal Alchemist, Dragonball Z (we met Goku), Fruits Basket (I think...), and Case Closed. I'm sure they've done more than that but that's all I can remember! What fun!
1 person likes this
@grace24 (1050)
• Philippines
3 Jun 08
i think the first anime that i watched is dragonball z and sailormoon. I very fond of watching it everyday on tv...
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Jun 08
Nice starter series, as you can see above! Thanks!
• Philippines
1 Jun 08
i think the first anime series i have watched is pokemon...but the first anime series i have watched that got me addicted with anime is fushigi yuugi together with vision of escaflowne.
• United States
1 Jun 08
mmmm Escaflowne. Worked for you too did it? Thanks!
1 person likes this
@meloca (5)
• United States
2 Jun 08
My first anime was either sailor moon, dragon ball, or ranma 1/2 Well I can't think of any stories behind it. But I remembered a girl in my first grade class liked ranma and cut her hair like him/her and I thought that was super cool. However thinking back I had no idea what she was thinking, it looked terrible on her. Lol
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Jun 08
Ah, very exciting - yet another Sailor Moon first. Check out post #15 for more questions! By the way, I really enjoyed your first grade story, too funny!
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@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
31 May 08
It was either Sailor Moon, Pokemon, or Yu-gi-oh heh. Not much of a story, I used to watch alot of anime with my brother when we were little. So it was when I was...five..seven? Anyway, none of those animes were special to me, but since I've grown to like several.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
eh...you don't HAVE to have a to enjoy good anime I suppose... Thanks for the post! Sailor Moon is really racking up the "firsts"
@ladysakurax (1161)
• Canada
13 Jun 08
The first anime that I watched as a child was Sailor Moon. lol It's a classic. But I gave up on that anime because the same episodes were just repeated constantly haha I must say that after that, my cousin introduced me into more anime...including Vision of Escaflowne. I think it was a very good one.
1 person likes this
@Elixiress (3878)
31 May 08
Pokemon. That is the only Anime series I have watch as I was not really a fan of that or other anime. But Pokemon was big when I was a child, so I watched it as I collected the cards.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
LOL! It certainly was, and still is in some circles! I appreciate the response!
• Philippines
31 May 08
hehe, cute and sweet love story you have. :D You know, it's really rare to find a partner the same interest with you. it's very lucky for you, hehe. XD Anyway, I think the first anime I ever watched is Sailormoon. If I remembered it correctly I was in school grade, I think about 7-9 years old. Since then I started to watched anime and collect some collectibles. Escaflowne is one of my favorite anime, I think I was in high school when it was first aired in the local channel. XD
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
Agreed! I'm VERY fortunate to have her! Another 'tick' for Sailor Moon... I'm really happy you like Escaflowne! Thanks for the response!
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@mimico (3617)
• Philippines
31 May 08
That's such a romantic story! Even if you didn't intent for it to become one. The first anime I watched was Dragonball when I was really really young. I think I was drawn to baby Goku's character. I've watched others since including Fushigi, Fullmetal, Bleach, and Naruto. I'm glad that someone here likes anime. Everyone in my household hates the anime shows I download, but I find it really entertaining and worthwhile. I like that there are morals embedded into the main plot and I also secretly hope to have the same powers.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jun 08
Lol! I share your dirty secret! I really enjoyed Fushigi, Fullmetal, and Bleach, but couldn't/can't really get into Naruto...oh well. It's funny that you were 'DRAWN' to Goku...hehe. Thanks for the great post, I'm glad you found my story romantic!
1 person likes this
@DuDaDs (88)
• New Zealand
30 May 08
I'd have to say that Samurai X was my first. It was a great anime as well, and I can't remember why I stopped watching it. Fighting and what-not used to always catch my eyes when I was a kid - not a good thing, but still. .
1 person likes this
• United States
30 May 08
Well, I have to say you started off with a GREAT anime! Did you ever get on to the Rurouni Kenshin series? Thanks for the response!