Akira. Hell of a way to get introduced to anime as a kid.

I did watch some anime as a kid (Pokémon springs to mind) but I think the first one I really watched as an adult was JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. A friend recommended it to me, and boy was I in for a wild ride! I still feel very fond of it, though I’m not enjoying the last season(s) as much. I don’t think I’ve actually finished watching the last one. But the earlier parts will forever hold a special place in my heart!

Sure, if by “watched” you mean really digging into an anime, and if by “anime” we’re talking about stuff from Japan, then my first mind-blowing experience was with “Princess Mononoke”. I saw it on TV and it was totally different, super deep, and nothing like the cartoons I was used to. As for a full series, that’s gotta be Evangelion. I binge-watched the whole thing in just two days. I would still rank them as one of the top anime I ever wached.

Saturday morning cartoons: DragonBall Z, Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. Friend then introduced me to Pokémon. But I just watched these casually.

A few years later, high school friends got me to watch Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Ranma 1/2, Great Teacher Onizuka, Azumanga Daioh, Love Hina, and several Studio Ghibli movies. I’m sure there are more that I’m forgetting, but high school was when it started for me. Action, drama, comedy, romance, slice of life, everything.

GTO is still one of my all time favorites. I’ve rewatched it a few times, read the manga, and watched the live action remakes. This class is known for getting teachers to quit, but Onizuka sensei is a former gang member that has a totally different perspective on life. Because of his background, he has a very different approach to teaching and relating to his students.

There have been a lot of good anime with great stories, animation, comedy, etc. GTO isn’t the best anime ever, but I connected with it on a deeper level, so it holds a special place.

I watched a lot of anime as a kid, Pokémon is the likely candidate among them but could also be Digimon or Sailor Moon.

First time I went back to it as a teen was after watching a Death Note YouTube poop. First half is still great and one of the only Dubs I am still inclined to watch

Probably Pokemon or Dragonball Z.

The Wizard of Oz was the first, before I knew there was some sort of a difference between this or that animation.

The first “proper” one was either Spirited Away, Chobits (by recommendation) or Bleach. I adore Miyazaki’s work still, Wizard of Oz has a special, nostalgic place in my heart and I want to see it again sometime, Bleach I probably couldn’t bother to watch anymore (soooo much filler and pointless fan-service aimed at teenaged boys, I couldn’t stand all that stuff even then), Chobits I might give a spin sometime just to see if it’s at all not-horrible, but it’s been a while so I can’t really remember. The whole virgin-boy wants sex angle and fan-service thing never appealed to me and ruins so many animes that would be good or even great otherwise.

Oh no how dare you remind me lol. Wolf’s Rain here’s episode 1 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x82c7kc the theme SLAPS but the whole things lowkey furry bait. still good, kinda wanna watch it again.

Before I knew what anime was, probably something like Speed Racer.

First “let’s see what this anime thing is about” anime that I watched: Ghost in the Shell (the OG movie). It was a good choice.

“Atakku Nanbā Wan” it doesn’t rank high anymore but I’m nostalgic for it.

Probably not my first watched anime, but I do love mobile suit Gundam (the OG one : amuro and char) with Chinese voice over

As I grow older I actually watch fewer anime

Now with 3 kids I somehow get back to it

Macross

Neon genesis evangelion

Naruto

Bleach

Monster

Full metal alchemist

Tokyo ghoul

Gurren lagann

Sword art online

Stein gate

Kill la kill

Gundam seed

Witches of mercury

Demon slayer

Etc…

And then there’s the movies

Most of the studio ghibli

Akira

Your name

The girl who leapt through time

Etc…

As you can see there’s not much pattern to the genre. I watch just about anything

The only one I don’t dare go back to is grave of the fire flies I was maybe 15 minutes in when I watch it 20 years ago? I bailed out after that The story is just too heavy for me

I wouldn’t rank any of the above, mostly cuz I have bad memories and don’t remember most of the details

I will just say OG mobile suit Gundam is my all time fav.

The first anime I watched fully knowing it was an anime is Vampire Hunter D back in the late 80’s. I still have a soft spot for it.

Dragon Ball and Toonami pulled me back in hard. I loved anime but didn’t have much access to it until Toonami.

I had watched some anime adaptations (Voltron, etc) when I was younger, but I had no idea what anime was back then, and not sure those would count.

Apparently it was Pokemom and then Sonic X, didn’t even know what anime was at the time. My first conscious effort in watching anime was Death Note. Ranks pretty highly for me, still like it, and refuse to watch the Netflix version. The previous live action ones were good but not as good as the OG.

Definitely made me a fan.

I had seen a few episodes of Pokémon, Hamtaro (I think that was the name), and Dragonball Z as a kid but wasn’t ever really into anime. A few years ago I gave Deathnote a try and loved it! Earlier this year I watched Cowboy Bepop. I usually enjoy reading manga more though as some shows tend to feel stretched out. It feels like a lot of them don’t translate very well to 20-30 minute episodes.

Naruto, There is a lot that I don’t remember how they were called.