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. 🙂
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 