The first anime I ever watched was Pokemon. That’s probably a common answer for a lot of anime fans, because the show seemed to herald the revived anime boom in the US, but it’s also the honest one. However, there is a bit of a technicality there. I wasn’t really aware that Pokemon was really anime. Whether it was due to 4Kids Americanization or just that I didn’t really know much if anything of anime, I don’t know. I knew it was different from western cartoons, but I didn’t really get why.
It wasn’t until one of my friends showed me Sailor Moon and Digimon, as well as the first manga I ever saw, which was also Sailor Moon, did she introduce me to the concept of anime. So, in essence, I like to think that I had this first group of three that introduced me to the genre instead of just settling on Pokemon. I really just loved it from the first moment I saw it. I was soon buying Digimon toys and Pokemon games and buying the Sailor Moon manga, when I was able to get out to the book store anyway.
Pokemon really hooked me in because I loved the various Pokemon. As an animal lover, I really adored seeing various cute monsters with awesome powers and interesting designs. The battles didn’t interest me much until I got a bit more into the games. And for those wondering, my first Pokemon game was Pokemon Red, and I started with Charmander, because I’m a badass…..a badass who didn’t realize the types basically determined the difficulty of the first few gyms….and ended up….sucking….at them *cough* And my favorite Pokemon is and always will be Ivysaur. ๐
It’s a bit harder to determine what drew me into Sailor Moon, especially the icky DiC dub. I know I definitely have a thing for specific and themed powers, and to this day I have a soft spot for magical girl anime, but if I had to say what really drew me in and kept me there……girl power.
Hey, finding shows where girls are the frontrunners who save the world wasn’t very easy. Kim Possible and the such wouldn’t come until later, and there’s only so much we could get from the yellow and pink rangers from Power Rangers.
Finally, Digimon really grew on me to the point where I’d say I was a bigger fan of Digimon than Pokemon, at least in terms of the show. It had more interesting characters, the ability to digivolve wasn’t permanent like Pokemon’s evolution, it had the themed powers I mentioned before and overall it had a much better story.
Here’s to you, my first three.
The Anime Madhouse 
Like you, there came a point when I liked Digimon more than Pokemon which was a bit sacrilegious in my family at that time. Nice choices.
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Pokemon was also my first anime, and I also didn’t realize it was anime until I was introduced to others! And that Sailor Moon gif reminds me of some of Misty’s blow-ups!
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Good choices. I watched both Pokemon and Digimon, but I liked the latter more and when I stopped watching Pokemon, I kept going with Digimon. The first anime I ever saw was Teknoman (Tekkaman Blade), but that was before I knew what anime was.
In other news, thank you for checking out the first part of my Representation Matters post. I do feel bad for not following your blog sooner although I do admit that I probably would’ve been more argumentative a year or two ago when it came to certain reviews (you can guess what they are). Thankfully, I’ve mellowed out in that regard. I’m thankful that we had good dialogue on your page and that we had some similar opinions with some anime.
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It’s very understandable that you went that route. When it comes to Pokemon and Digimon, the general consensus is that Digimon has the better show and Pokemon has the better games, and I fully agree with that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Teknoman, but now that I’ve looked it up, I kinda wanna watch it.
And you’re welcome! It was a really great post. ๐
Don’t worry about not following sooner, and thanks a ton for going through a lot of my older material and commenting. I really appreciate it. ๐
I’m glad to hear how you’ve improved yourself over time. ๐ I’ve really loved our discussions too and I look forward to having more in the future.
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Thanks for understanding. I could totally see that argument when you look at both anime series. Digimon had actual storylines, character development, the evolutions weren’t permanent, had more mature themes, and the Digimon can actually talk besides just their names which was helpful. Yeah, Teknoman has that 90s sentai edge to it, but I want to see the original Japanese version.
Thanks! I’m really glad you appreciated it.
Sure. It was fun going through the archives and having intelligent discussions even when some of the topics were sensitive in nature.
Thank you. While I certainly have never been some volatile person, I think I would’ve made angry comments when they weren’t needed especially with THAT section of your blog given me not being a fan of a certain company. I certainly wish that, too. In general, I do enjoy reading older posts from various bloggers and commenting.
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