A ‘first anime’ can be a gateway into watching anime. Seeing a boppy OP, melancholic ED, cool animation and awesome voice acting can really let one fall down the rabbit hole…
For me, the first anime I remember watching was Yu-Gi-Oh! I watched it on the kids’ channel and ended up seeing the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series probably about three times over my childhood due to screening the same episodes over the years. I also remember watching some Pokemon, but I wasn’t as invested in it as Yu-Gi-Oh! because I didn’t understand what was happening. (How? I hear you asking? How does a seven-year-old understand the convoluted rules of Dueling yet not the cute Pokemon? And to that I say – I saw the first episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! so it made more sense. The Pokemon episodes I first saw was awkwardly 3/4s through the series. And since this is free-to-air television it’s not like I could find the first ones to watch or understood the concept.) I also watched Bakugan Battle Brawlers but honestly I don’t remember anything except being wowed by how the Bakugan would pop out and having a replica toy and I’d make my mum watch me ‘battle’ while she had been trying to actually do something important. I also watched Astro Boy (the 2003 series) from which I mostly remember feeling conflicted as a child about everyone’s goals and personalities…
But the first anime I saw that wasn’t targeted towards a children’s demographic (despite some of them still being very popular with other demographics) was Guilty Crown. I think it was a great ‘first anime’ for me because it was only 12 episodes long, have pretty characters, a decent story line and concept, and awesome music – perfect for a teenage me! From there I started anime like Death Note, Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul, Hyouka, Death Parade, the Studio Ghibli movies, and Yuri!!! On Ice.
What was the first anime you remember watching? Or what was the anime that got you into anime?
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