How Were You Introduced To Anime?

It All Began in my Late-1980's Boyhood...
with SDF MACROSS and it's Seminal VF-1 "Valkyrie" Variable Fighter Mecha...
and, from the Mid-1990's on, my Weebdom Ballooned out in all directions;

@AC23 IDK but I was not weirded out it just made me wanna watch SAO also I would hear the opening blaring which is a certified BANGER

@Powerchan Nice! Becoming more of an anime fan during college, so you were a late bloomer so to say? Honestly, that's interesting. Usually, most anime fans become more involved with anime during their childhood years or even high school; Regardless, I think that's an experience I've yet to hear about, which is always nice to hear about new scenarios and such.

Got into Japan (mostly games and music) thanks to a friend. At that time I did watch some anime but never distinguished between anime and western cartoons

My first knowing contact with anime I got in a convention (the Japan day), where my friend dragged me into and introduced me to his friendgroup. They recommended me to watch Fairy Tail and from there I started to watch more and more anime, a lot of them on YouTube like Elfen Lied, and some battle shounen like Naruto. The first anime I watched without recommendation was The Cockpit, as we talked about WW2 in school and learned for example how it is treated in Italy, as Japan was allied I was interested about their portrayal and came to this anime . My first manga I had was A Silent Voice.

I usually experienced the community in Real Life, rather than over the internet as I had bad experiences with the 2010ish forums. Maybe nothing changed just my perception as I grew up, but I decided last year to try again getting in contact over internet and I like the community here ( yeah there are some political threads here) but overall the people are kind ^_^

@TheAnimeLogician
Don’t really a fan of Tier List but I did watch your video about fanservice and it was really good. Will check out the crunchyroll one later. Keep up the good work and hope you’ll get to 100 soon

I hate the forum on cellphone, sry for double quotes, can’t see what I wrote

@Nekosawrus Wait... A channel of just Funimation stuff? It must be amazing where you live.

@Hikikomori-san2 That's understandable, it's become the modern-day idea for content within YouTube, and people do make great tierlist, but it becomes rinse and repeat over and over again, and people want content that's refreshing and interesting. I plan on doing more anime reviews and other things, but I need my subscribers and fans to join my Discord, so I can take request and give out rewards.

@Hikikomori-san2 Nice! Yeah, back in 2019-2020 I met up with a friend from high school and he introduced me to his convention group, it was a nice circle of musicians, youtubers, streamers, and overall, people who loved anime. The group was full of Slice of Life fans, Rom-Com fans, Shounen fans, and Mecha fans.

As an introvert I suck at socializing, so I typically stay in my mind. It wasn't until my friend introduced me to them and to break the ice, they offered me a Jack and Coke drink, which was delicious! It was at that moment I realized I made some new friends and that my favorite cocktail was a Whiskey and Coke.

It's 2025 and I still hang out with these guys at conventions even to the point we are helping each other to grow our YT channels together. We have our own Discord, as a group, and one of us has 600+ subs on YT, while I have close to 70. I have less subs though, as I try to juggle lots of things as once xD

Electronic music production, Deathcore/Death Metal music production, Anime content on YouTube, Twitch streaming, Coding and studies, and my job, which I work from 7am to 7pm. SO yeah, I have a lot on my plate and even then, due to my cognitive function or nature, I'll overthink things constantly and figure out how I can make certain optimal to the point they are perfect.

@MasterTasuke How is Macross? I plan on buying a boxset and adding it to my collection, as I also enjoy mechas. Big O, Gundam, Code Geass? All good stuff.

@DisposableHeroB That's interesting, I'll do my own research on it and thanks for the heads up!

@TheAnimeLogician It was YEARS ago, I think the channel got removed from cable TV in 2010 or something like that.

@TheAnimeLogician
Seems like you found yourself a damn cool group. Always loved the vibe in rooms full of creative people.

That’s a lotta different stuff. But as long as you love to do all this and have the energy, it seems like fun.

@TheAnimeLogician


A Must See; Flawed old T.V. Animation and all. Follow that up with the 1984 Do You Remember Love? Film... and Thank Me Later.

@TheAnimeLogician Probably, anime really saved me. During my highschool years I had the worst moment of my life and after I graduated I tried to start my life again. And I remembered that there where a place where I felt happy and not alone: anime. So, I always have been the strange one, and anxiety was with me but finally I started to feel a lot of positive feelings. Now I have a lot of people that love anime around me, in real life and online, and I couldn't imagine my life different. Sorry for this emotional answer 🥹

My cousin sister introduced me to anime. She showed me Death Note, and I was instantly hooked from the first episode. I ended up binge-watching the entire series in a few days. After finishing it, I asked her if there were any other anime that were just as good or even better, and that's how my journey into anime began.

Pretty much from anime like Pokemon, Digimon, Kirby, and Sonic X before I knew they weren't Western media.
Before really getting into anime, I knew the Pokemon games were made in Japan, but I had also played other Japanese games during my childhood with an anime-like style that I didn't really know were Japanese such as Xenosaga Episode III, Dragon Quest VIII, and Kingdom Hearts.

My memory is shot so I'm not 100% sure how I was introduced to the wider world of anime nor which series I started with once I knew what anime was. But I do know it started during late primary school. One of the earliest is when I found the Kingdom Hearts 2 manga and learnt what manga was, and another might have been once I got more into online games with Roblox and Mabinogi where others introduced me to some different anime. Then eventually meeting others in middle school who liked anime too.