How long have you been liking anime?

[Ending]

Like mentioned in another topic, I got Internet just a few years ago, thus gaining access to foreign movies like anime. But I have always liked of it -to six inches

[nephilim]

quoting elihua

i ran through a little brain scan. i think complexed stories does increase my interest in wanting to read those anime. afterall i'm someone who thinks alot.

know the xenosaga? i absolutely loved it because the story was so deep that it's difficult to comprehend, or perhaps it's just a tad deeper than most other games

Also, bishoujos are a factor in my choice of anime. fan service.. with or without, it's ok, but no bishoujo = no go

i'm already 19, and i'm still being immature

[LuciaMelody]

I've been watching anime for 6 years. First two years I didnt know what "anime" was - I was just a Sailor Moon fanatic. Than after 2 years I discovered AMG, Fushigi Yugi and Child's Toy.

[Kensuke]

I voted 3-5 years, but that's the time I have been really addicted to anime. I don't even remember exatcly when I saw my first anime, sometimes in the 80's, and I watched some series and movies after that, but my "otaku birthday" (if you can say that) was in the late 90's and now I'm watching more and more anime.

[Mr_Paper]

I have to say I became a serious anime fan shortly after the Akira VHS fansubs started spreading across North America. Before that I simply watched adapted and fansubbed anime without any real passion, it was just something to watch that was different.

[cindialai]

Sailormoon.. back in 1994 maybe something like that... to think about it, that was pathetic... now when I watch that anime again, i think the picture quality is so bad. Girls in my elementary school were crazy about... sailormoon figures, cards trading...

Then i remember my second anime that I actually was crazy about was Pokemon... hehehe

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by me=D

this is just to c if ill b addicted forever =D

Becoming an anime otaku is a very expensive hobby... Trust me, you do not want to end up in my level of addiction.

Now, to answer your question, there is first the deal with what defines anime in regards to your image of anime.

So to begin, all animated shows here in Japan are called with the noun "anime." Disney movies such as "The Little Mermaid" and "Bambi" are called "Disney Anime." Czech paper cut animations are known as "Czech Anime." Since these do not count in your definition of "anime," these are obviously taken out of context all together.

Then there are those animes that are obviously geared toward children. "Doraemon," "Sazae-san," and "Soreyuke Anpan-man." These are equivalent to Saturday morning cartoons are in your country. Do I include this into the picture? If so, you will get the exact same answer from all Japanese forty and younger when you ask this question. Why? Because all the said titles have been running for the past thirty-five years (and continue to do so today) and are most likely, the first animated shows that most Japanese have watched as a child. So as to say: My thirty year old cousin, myself, and my two year old niece all share the same "first anime" to be the above said shows. My cousin was watching them when she was a child thirty years ago, I was watching them when I was a child twenty-four years ago, and my two year old niece is watching that avidly every week right now.

So I suppose you would want to remove the above said shows which are more of a national icon and a pasttime. Not all Japanese are anime otakus, but most Japanese did watch those pasttimes as a very young age.

Then, we go on to the question: Are Shonen Jump/Shueisha/Toei production animes be counted in your idea of anime? This is a very hard to understand for people not living in Japan. I ask this question because...much as any other child in a Western nation, kids love animation (or cartoons as you call them).

Okay, think about it this way:
Elementary school kids in America love comic books
Elementary school kids in Japan love manga

Elementary school kids in America love cartoons
Elementary school kids in Japan love anime

What types of manga and anime do elementary school kids in Japan love? - Shonen Jump for boys, and Nakayoshi for girls.

So say that 60-70% of all elementary boys and girls watch and read the greatest anime/manga fad in their peer group. When I was in elementary school, it was "Dr. Slump Arare-chan," "DragonBall," "Hokuto no Ken," "CITY HUNTER," and "Saint Seiya." Hence, people who are in my age group (early to mid twenties) will identify themselves with such said anime on what they have watched as a peer. Elementary school children in today's peer group are "ONE PIECE," "HUNTER x HUNTER," and "Naruto." They will also identify themselves twenty years from now with this peer group.


So, what I am trying to say is that your question is very hard to answer for a Japanese person for the following reasons:

A. All animated shows are called "anime" here in Japan
B. All Japanese people forty and younger will definitely say "Doraemon" and the like as their first anime since it is a national pasttime and it continues to run even today
C. There are differences in peer groups which identify their childhood years with what anime shows they all watched as an elementary schooler.

[Guts]

Man, i'm such a geek. I've loved anime for maybe 8 years now. But i've only watched it for six. My first exposure to it was in a magazine preview for akira sometime back in the 80's. Seeing canaada on a bike made me go "err, this is'nt american animation. Then i cruised down the page to discover, the words "anime" japanese adult cartoons." 2 years later akir aired on the sci-fi ch ( rest in peace sci-fi an ). And I loved it.

[Karala]

I'm not sure how to vote on this one, I started watching Sailor Moon 8-9 years ago when I was in grade 4, at first I didn't know it was anime, but I think after awhile I realised what this 'anime' was... but I can't be sure when that happened, I mean, even when I knew what it was, for the longest time all there was on TV was Saior Moon and Dragon Ball so it's not like I had a selection of things to chose from, but I still loved them.

Anyway, I voted 9 years, because it's about right for when I actually started watching it, and was addicted to it (even thought it was only Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball) I've never stopped watching it since then, Sailor Moon was a huge obsession of mine for about 5 years! I still love Sailor Moon :P

Then I started watching a few other series on TV like DBZ, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Digimon, Escaflowne, Monster Rancher, Medabots.... errr, yeah, I liked them too... anyway, THEN I got a new computer around 2 years ago and started watching everything I could, lol... so in that time I've seen about 90 series on the computer O___o

[elihua]

Originally Posted by nephilim

know the xenosaga? i absolutely loved it because the story was so deep that it's difficult to comprehend, or perhaps it's just a tad deeper than most other games

Wanted to play that! And then when it came out, my brother got to it before me, and didn't like it so much, didn't even finish it. And our tastes are an awful lot alike... So I haven't been sure if I wanna try it...

I was actually incredibly obsessed with Rounin Warriors when I was so little I can't even remember. All I actually do remember is being angry it was on so early, and wondering why flower petals floated around one of the supposed warriors all the time. It seemed an awfully girly and un-warrior like thing to me, at the time. I don't think I knew it was anime, though, and if I did know, I don't remember now, so I don't count that.

[nephilim]

xs is cool because a lot of effort is being put into the story, and the vocabulary used are somewhat more advanced. gameplay-wise i think it easier really too fun, but the story makes up for it.

still, it's up to our individual taste on the kind of games we like

[lunar24]

I've been watching anime for almost 7 years. I don't think I'll be stopping...

[lunar24]

Originally Posted by nephilim

quoting elihua

i ran through a little brain scan. i think complexed stories does increase my interest in wanting to read those anime. afterall i'm someone who thinks alot.

know the xenosaga? i absolutely loved it because the story was so deep that it's difficult to comprehend, or perhaps it's just a tad deeper than most other games

Also, bishoujos are a factor in my choice of anime. fan service.. with or without, it's ok, but no bishoujo = no go

i'm already 19, and i'm still being immature

Xenosaga? i like that game... but i can't finish it

[Gorksnip]

I started watching anime like 14 months ago when I saw Ninja Scroll with my hombres. I really liked how kinky the chick with the poisonous blood gets. After that, I never saw cartoon the same way again, bra. I didn't know cartoon characters can be so tintillating until that moment.

[Yeti]

Well I think I liked anime too long ... even before I knew what it was ...

I watch Doraemon as a kid :S Only heaven knows why its was called "Albert and Sydney"

Argh!! evil music " Albert and Sydney a boy and his cat ..." Help me.... Someone...

Then it was Astro boy ... and then it was Ninja Scroll and never ever watch DBZ after watching Ninja Scroll and Akira ... I think thats why I detest DBZ ....after that I was deprived more or less and was ero-sennin I kinda still peek but not as much , the telescope stays home .

After that what got me back into anime was Jungle .... it lured me in and made me fear Guu and love Animesuki

So I would say I loved anime since I was 5 , knew what it was around age 13 and thats quite a while

[HoboGod]

i started watching back in 1998... so that would be 6 years. i hated anime before that, everything anime on television was poke'mon, salior moon, and speed racer. really babish, really girly, or really stupid.

what really changed my veiw of anime was dragon ball z movie: the dead zone. after seeing piccilo kill those guys in such a cold-hearted manner and gohan go berserk, i said to myself "Is there any more violent japanamation like this?" and surely enough there was! i began renting anime from the video store like MD Gueist, Record of Lodoss War, Fist of the North Star, Genocyber, Pet Shop of Horrors, Vampire Hunter D, ect. And then I was hooked.

[Slugge]

I have liked anime for 2 months now and i have seen about 20 series... anime is awesome... i havent had time to watch any movies yet... but right now im getting tekke the motion picture... soo loojing forward for that

[mikeon]

i started watching fansubs when dot hack came out on cartoon network on accident. It was the episode where Crim appears and it was a the very end of hte episode. I liked the music. I asked my friends about it and they all started laughing at me. Then one brought out a spindle with the dot hack anime on it and said "here watch this"

[solidsonya]

hmm..i started watching anime in gr. 2...*calculates years...sighs...scratches head...* that would only be about 7 years now. Hm.That wasn't so hard..

[Yoda117]

1978... scary to believe