Does Your First Anime Still Hold Up?
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Ronin Warriors would be my first, popping my anime cherry so to speak. Honestly it's been so long I don't think I could say for sure if it stands up... I want to say yes, because it had cool fight scenes and decent animation, but I'd have to watch it again.
The other one I watched around the same time was Exosquad, though not technically anime it was an american reaction to anime. It was like G.I.Joe meets Gundam. I think that one holds up, good action with mech-style battles and a story that touched on some pretty deep ideas like slavery and what it means to be human.
The other one I watched around the same time was Exosquad, though not technically anime it was an american reaction to anime. It was like G.I.Joe meets Gundam. I think that one holds up, good action with mech-style battles and a story that touched on some pretty deep ideas like slavery and what it means to be human.
My first was Rosario+Vampire. It had little over-arching plot, had boring action scenes, was a generic harem through and through, and didn't even have the balls to follow the source material. AKA, it's a piece of shat, but I'd gladly re-watch it because I love shat.
My first anime was dragon ball even if at the time i didn't know what anime was and i think it's still doing okay even if it's not as good as i remember. If i don't count that then it was the original Ghost in the shell movie, the quality of animation had my mind blown at the time even if i had a hard time following what the hell was going on, it still pretty good even by todays standarts.
Same on both accounts. I was about to post "Pokémon? Hell no, that shit has not aged well." But then I saw your post and realized that I had actually seen another anime prior to that.SomeLameStuff said:
gonenow3 said:
Going to have to disagree with you on that one, mainly due to the fact that subs more often then not have a nonsensical sentence structure and often make mistakes. Especially fan subs, which as a rule have mistakes both intentional and unintentional, annoying romanized Japanese kept in with another translation at the top of the screen, and vulgarity which is added in because the subbers felt that the equivalent to 'crap' should be 'fucking hell this is bullshit'. Also, 'people die if they are killed'.
And to add insult to injury, the Western English dubbing scene has caught up with Japan for VA quality, and anyone saying otherwise either doesn't watch dubs to see what the quality is today, or is saved from seeing how bad Japanese VAs can be due to the language barrier.
Same for me. Although I wasn't actually aware that they were subpar. I didn't really have a concept for good or bad quality at the time. First good show I watched was... Coyboy Bebop or maybe Trigun. I think they both still hold up, although Trigun might not be for everyone.Johnny Novgorod said:
I dunno if you've watched pokemon with dubs since Battle Frontier but god that shit is awful since they replaced Ash's voice actor. Also the fact that English versions are often butchered to fit into America's horrific broadcasting schedule with billions of ads it comes out much worse than the subbed version. Also if you actually wait for the quality subbed rather than the rushed 1-2 day version you avoid half the issues you just described.Zontar said:gonenow3 said:
Going to have to disagree with you on that one, mainly due to the fact that subs more often then not have a nonsensical sentence structure and often make mistakes. Especially fan subs, which as a rule have mistakes both intentional and unintentional, annoying romanized Japanese kept in with another translation at the top of the screen, and vulgarity which is added in because the subbers felt that the equivalent to 'crap' should be 'fucking hell this is bullshit'. Also, 'people die if they are killed'.
And to add insult to injury, the Western English dubbing scene has caught up with Japan for VA quality, and anyone saying otherwise either doesn't watch dubs to see what the quality is today, or is saved from seeing how bad Japanese VAs can be due to the language barrier.
I've tried both but I always prefer subs.
The one that actually "got me" into the genre and encouraged me to look for something similar was Outlaw Star. I still love that series even now, I even bought the re-released DVD boxset.
My first actual anime were Sailor Moon and Pokemon though. For Pokemon, I'll stick to the games and Sailor Moon certainly holds a nostalgic value for me and there are aspects of the anime I still like but I largely prefer the manga for its conciseness. (Although I do actually like the Alien Tree and the those four sisters from the anime - I wish they hadn't been so quick to throw away characters)
Pokemon was really something I caught afterschool if I had time because of The Fad. I didn't actually get into the games until the R/S/E generation.
I have a low tolerance for 'squeaky' voices these days so neither the sub nor the dub for the original series is palatable to me anymore. I haven't seen much of Crystal. I couldn't get into Madoka for the same reason.
When I was a kid I loved Sailor Moon because I too wanted to have magical powers and be able to disintegrate extraterrestrial bad guys but as an adult I like for it for some of the - likely unintentional - darker themes regarding the post-series. I subscribe to the idea that the people of the Silver Millenium are brainwashed into accepting a dystopic utopia regardless of Serenity's good intentions. There's a part in the manga that suggests the extremely lonely Outer Senshi were subject to propaganda broadcasts and were only able to see images of the imperial family when at their posts.
Not to mention the whole reason for the collapse of the original Moon Kingdom revolved around petty power politics and forbidden love. Annnd that the {Adjective} Silver Crystal seems to attract trouble anyway.
That doesn't make the bad guys any less bad though.
...
*ahem*
My first actual anime were Sailor Moon and Pokemon though. For Pokemon, I'll stick to the games and Sailor Moon certainly holds a nostalgic value for me and there are aspects of the anime I still like but I largely prefer the manga for its conciseness. (Although I do actually like the Alien Tree and the those four sisters from the anime - I wish they hadn't been so quick to throw away characters)
Pokemon was really something I caught afterschool if I had time because of The Fad. I didn't actually get into the games until the R/S/E generation.
I have a low tolerance for 'squeaky' voices these days so neither the sub nor the dub for the original series is palatable to me anymore. I haven't seen much of Crystal. I couldn't get into Madoka for the same reason.
When I was a kid I loved Sailor Moon because I too wanted to have magical powers and be able to disintegrate extraterrestrial bad guys but as an adult I like for it for some of the - likely unintentional - darker themes regarding the post-series. I subscribe to the idea that the people of the Silver Millenium are brainwashed into accepting a dystopic utopia regardless of Serenity's good intentions. There's a part in the manga that suggests the extremely lonely Outer Senshi were subject to propaganda broadcasts and were only able to see images of the imperial family when at their posts.
Not to mention the whole reason for the collapse of the original Moon Kingdom revolved around petty power politics and forbidden love. Annnd that the {Adjective} Silver Crystal seems to attract trouble anyway.
That doesn't make the bad guys any less bad though.
...
*ahem*
I really don't count Pokemon, Digimon or DBZ. Mostly because I just watched them if I happened to turn on the TV when they aired without really caring about the story or anything.
The first one I watched because it seemed interesting? Fate/Zero. Only thing I kind of regret is that I didn't read the VN before F/Z. Oh well. It got me into Type-Moon so I'm glad about that.
I've rewatched it couple of times and I'd say it holds up.
The first one I watched because it seemed interesting? Fate/Zero. Only thing I kind of regret is that I didn't read the VN before F/Z. Oh well. It got me into Type-Moon so I'm glad about that.
I've rewatched it couple of times and I'd say it holds up.
I'm pretty sure mine was Dragonball Z. Honestly, after watching Team Four Star parody it, taking that show seriously has become impossible for me, to the point where I find the original show cringeworthy for taking itself seriously.
I'll agree that dubs have had a long history of being done wrong, due to their many pitfalls (getting lips to sync up, or dealing with words and phrases that don't exist in the English language), but when done well, I think they have their place. When it's an anime with a multi-cultural cast, dubs usually work better for me, since Japan's pool of voice actors tends to be almost uniformly Japanese people with no foreign heritage.gonenow3 said:I dunno if you've watched pokemon with dubs since Battle Frontier but god that shit is awful since they replaced Ash's voice actor. Also the fact that English versions are often butchered to fit into America's horrific broadcasting schedule with billions of ads it comes out much worse than the subbed version. Also if you actually wait for the quality subbed rather than the rushed 1-2 day version you avoid half the issues you just described.Zontar said:gonenow3 said:
Going to have to disagree with you on that one, mainly due to the fact that subs more often then not have a nonsensical sentence structure and often make mistakes. Especially fan subs, which as a rule have mistakes both intentional and unintentional, annoying romanized Japanese kept in with another translation at the top of the screen, and vulgarity which is added in because the subbers felt that the equivalent to 'crap' should be 'fucking hell this is bullshit'. Also, 'people die if they are killed'.
And to add insult to injury, the Western English dubbing scene has caught up with Japan for VA quality, and anyone saying otherwise either doesn't watch dubs to see what the quality is today, or is saved from seeing how bad Japanese VAs can be due to the language barrier.
I've tried both but I always prefer subs.
I find I have a mixed relationship with dubs vs subs. Some anime I love I can't tolerate English dubs (Bleach, Attack on Titan) while some I can go either way (Code Geass) and others I find it hard to get invested in the Japanese version (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) so it's a really mixed bag on that front.
If I remember correctly, I ran across it uncensored in my local video rental shop. Hell, I honestly believe that it was the result of my friends and I renting so many anime VHS tapes that they went ahead and created their own anime section. Of course, since we lived in a college town, there was an ever-changing customer base that could support that section. I don't think the 3 of us would have been able to keep that section afloat all by ourselves. Ah, the heady days of my undergrad years.000Ronald said:
At any rate, Akira led me into other anime titles and while I certainly do not have as varied an exposure as many posters here, I do dabble. I managed to purchase the entire series of Silent Mobius on DVD a few years ago. It's a little dated, but I think it still holds up pretty well too.
If you count Pokemon when I was like 5 then no, I'm afraid not. But if you don't then it was Gundam 00 in middle school, and hell yes that holds up. Still one of my favorites to this day.
I doubt Robotech counts as it's a bit of a bastardization of the original three anime it used. Made worse by Carl Macec not crediting the original work properly. Having said that, anime in north America would have arrived a lot later without it so it needs some kind of props.
If I can assume it does count, then yes it holds up. You had a decent and rather large cast of characters. It never shied away from the brutal consequences of war. It never took a pacifist angle either as the peace at all costs folks in it were also shown to be wrong. The animation was cheap (tons and tons of recycled frames, I noticed this even in 1984 when I was a wee lad) but it gets the job done. I re-watched just a few years back and still think it's great.
If I can assume it does count, then yes it holds up. You had a decent and rather large cast of characters. It never shied away from the brutal consequences of war. It never took a pacifist angle either as the peace at all costs folks in it were also shown to be wrong. The animation was cheap (tons and tons of recycled frames, I noticed this even in 1984 when I was a wee lad) but it gets the job done. I re-watched just a few years back and still think it's great.
I keep forgetting that that was a Japanese-Dutch co-production, and thus anime. So I guess Cowboy Bebop wasn't my first after all. AJK was damn good too, that art style was amazing. Still is, to be honest, that one definitely holds up.Casual Shinji said:
We had a couple of those co-productions in the 80's, come to think of it, I never quite got what sparked that. I know we and Japan share quite a bit of history together, but still.
From the video store Record of Lodoss War and Slayers were close behind, but pretty sure the first one I watched was an OVA series The Heroic Legend of Arslan. Pretty cool seeing it now being remade by the guys who did Full Metal Alchemist, haven't quite gotten around to watching the old OVA's past the 1st one but I think they hold up well. Movie store didn't have the complete series though, just the first two tapes/4 episodes which were great then the 3rdt ape/5th episode where they suddenly decided to change a whole bunch of things (voice actors, names, plot) each of which made it worse. These were dubs, so maybe if I watch the subs that won't happen?
And the onus for that would have been on you for not paying close enough attention. To Love Ru wears what it is on it's sleeve, so you got no real excuse for being 'surprised' by the content. It's like sitting down with Gundam and complaining about all the Mobile Suit battles.StormShaun said:
OT:
As for my first anime.
And it blew my god damned mind when I was a kid, cause there was nothing on TV like it at the time, and wouldn't be for some time. Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z where still a few years off, Digimon even further and Toonami further still. As for how it holds up. Pretty well for the most part, sure twats like Saske have come along and ruined the 'Brooding Loner' trope, but it doesn't bother me in Blades case. Mostly cause it feel more justified for him then some others.