Any old-timer anime fans here?

hiroakihsu

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Anime nowadays have become so mainstream and popular, with digital episodes/fansubs distributed all over the net that people often forget that there used to be a period of time when fansubs were all distributed on bootleg VHS tapes, the only source for anime were your local anime club meetings, and it still wasn't really considered to be "cool" to be an anime fan; I know this may not apply to most of you younger fellows, but are there any of you out there who used to live through that period (like I did)? Discuss below.
 
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Reisyukaku

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I started actively watching anime about 10 years ago maybe.. but my first exposure was when DBZ and sailormoon were on toonami lol.
I at least remember the days were streaming anime was laughed at because of the poor quality. Now everyone goes on crunchyroll. I still torrent though. I'm real picky with quality.
 

Glyptofane

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I lived through this. The weekly meetings/anime viewings were a very antisocial crowd where few really got along. There were even a couple older, creepy guys. I guess now I am one of those guys.

And the way fansubs and anime in general were circulated was through VHS that had already been through several generations of dubbing. It was almost always nearly unwatchable.
 
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hiroakihsu

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And the way fansubs and anime in general were circulated was through VHS that had already been through several generations of dubbing. It was almost always nearly unwatchable.

Yeah...I remember how sometimes I had to go through several distributors to finally find one with the quality I like.
 

RustInPeace

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Not really old-timer, got into it through Toonami in 1999-2000 with DBZ and Sailor Moon, Pokemon anime around the same time. On the topic of VHS, I did have one of Pokemon, had 3 episodes, Johto Journeys, watched it multiple times to where I still remember images and lines from it. For example, one had a battle between Brock and James, I think it was when Ash caught a Heracross. I distinctly remember James saying "Victreebel, Wrap attack," then "Victreebel use your Sleep Powder attack!" The sisters and I found it funny and I always imitated those lines, that delivery was comical.


Trigun, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin, Big O, Yuyu Hakusho, Inuyasha, most of them were on Toonami, a new thing called Adult Swim started showing the less censored ones. I just conditioned myself to watch almost everything on Cartoon Network and a majority of stuff from Nickelodeon, so anime was just another part of it. Once that stopped in the mid-2000s, I hadn't spent too much time keeping up with the medium. Even now I don't spend enough time watching much, last series I finished was Highschool DxD I think, Space Dandy prior, One Punch Man, Prison School, you may notice a pattern. I've probably watched almost as much hentai as I did non-Dragon Ball anime now.
 

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Same me. We had meetings every month at market place. I was on few meetings, anime shows. You could meet very unique fans with big passion. ;) As for me It started thanks to Sailormoon, DBZ, and many other '90 very normal, acceptable for western culture anime in tv like Moomins, Puss in Buts, Sarah, etc. many based on novels... Someone remember Super Pig? I like traditional animation so much. Now I don't watch anime often, but I strongly want to visit Japan. I remember real media compression. :)
 
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Mr. Elementle

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My first experience with anime was watching the dub of sailor moon on saturday mornings in the late 90's and then buying some (I now assume fan)subbed cardcaptor sakura vhs tapes from a fleamarket, a lot of people complain when their subculture gets popular but i have never been unhappy with more western anime fans, since it means higher quality subs and a wider variety of subs.
remember when sharing 360x240p avi files of poorly subbed anime was a thing and you could never find the show you wanted because it wasn't popular enough? i do, that sucked, godbless digital streaming, and thank god for sites like Hulu and Crunchyroll for giving me more anime that late 90's early 2000's me could have ever dreamed when i rummaging through junk sales and overpriced videos stores to watch revolutionary girl Utena.

Sidenote: does anyone else remember how EXPENSIVE anime used to be as a hobby when it blew up in the early 2000s? I still remember paying 300 Dollars for the Fullmetal Alchemist DVD boxset so i could watch it in order, now i just rewatched for 7.99 (technically 14.98 since it took me 2 months) on hulu,

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
 
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T-hug

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Ninja Scroll
Vampire Hunter D, Bloodlust
Macross Plus
Patlabor
Akira
Perfect Blue
Ghost in the Shell
Appleseed
Fist of the North Star
Ulysses 31 (so good!)


Those are my favorite with the fondest memories.

There was one I used to have with a robot guy from late 80s early 90s that kind of looked like mega man but I forget the name of it now and can't find it online.
 
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V0ltr0n

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@T-hug looks like i kinda share the same taste in anime that u do. Some of the first ones I watched are on your list.
I'm not big into anime, especially the modern stuff, but certain ones strike my fancy. Some I remember fondly in no particular order.
3x3 Eyes
Ninja Scroll
Crying Freeman
Vampire Hunter D (both movies)
Appleseed
Ah! My Goddess
Ghost in the Shell
Akira
Elfen Lied

Basically anything romantic or violent or both with a good story. I just can't get into ultra popular ones like Naruto, Dragon Ball, Death Note etc.
Are there any good ones along the lines of what i listed that anyone can recommend?
 
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sarkwalvein

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Anime was common in Argentinian TV probably since always, no idea, sure I watched several shows in the 80s without even knowing that was anime (hmmm... Mazinger? Captain Tsubasa? Cobra... and some other things), anyway they sure started bringing more and more in the early 90s.
I think I wasn't actively into anime until ~1994 or so.
I remember it being the kind of "uncool" as playing computer video games or just having an opinion.
I think even today I enjoy more watching anime from the 80s/90s that I missed or rediscover.

@T-hug
Probably the "megaman looking" robot guy was IronMan 28? (Tetsujin 28 GO)


PS: Sorry for the weird dubbed line in the intro, it sounds so bad that I would almost bet it was dubbed in Argentina.
 
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the_randomizer

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I only watch subbed anime in its original language, I can't stand 99% of English dubs despite it being my first language, most English actors in anime make my ears bleed. Started watching anime in the late 90's, but in high school, I started taking Japanese classes and began to get a basic grasp on the language, and have since been biased as I like hearing it in the way it's supposed to sound. That, and actually living in Japan for a couple of years also helped me learn a heck of a lot more, and a deeper appreciation for the culture and language. That, and it's a good way for me to keep up Japanese.
 
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sarkwalvein

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I only watch subbed anime in its original language, I can't stand 99% of English dubs despite it being my first language, most English actors in anime make my ears bleed. Started watching anime in the late 90's, but in high school, I started taking Japanese classes and began to get a basic grasp on the language, and have since been biased as I like hearing it in the way it's supposed to sound. That, and actually living in Japan for a couple of years also helped me learn a heck of a lot more, and a deeper appreciation for the culture and language. That, and it's a good way for me to keep up Japanese.
I would agree 90%+.
But there are some English dubs that I love, even over the originals, like e.g. Spice and Wolf where the English voice of Holo is sexy as fuck.
And English is not my first language.
 
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the_randomizer

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I would agree 90%+.
But there are some English dubs that I love, even over the originals, like e.g. Spice and Wolf where the English voice of Holo is sexy as fuck.
And English is not my first language.

Never did see that, I was more of a Miyazaki fan, along with One Piece, Dragon Ball/DBZ and Digimon kind of guy, the dubs for the latter two are horrendous :lol:
 

Cyan

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I started watching anime in early 80's so I might be an old timer :P (JoostinOnline: and I don't use facebook, only emails ! lol)
France was (and I think still is) the second most anime/manga-consuming (consumer-wise?) country after Japan.

We had a lot on TV, and then on VHS too. Then in 90's we used to exchange and copy VHS between us at school, that was the main method to watch new things when internet didn't exist.

In end 90's and early 2k, internet started being used more widely and new way of obtaining and watching anime became available. We also got a way to know a lot more about it ! what existed before, or what was currently broadcasted in japan. discovering new anime was great. Torrents became popular with it.

I'm now watching anime by period, sometime I don't watch any for months, and sometime I watch few in a short time range. I don't follow what's broadcasted due to time issues with real life duty :(
It makes me think, there are a few I want to watch this month!


France and japan had common projects and produced French-Japanese series. (Cities of gold, Jayce, Gadget, Ulysse31, etc.)
The mysterious cities of gold is still a classic nowadays, and often broadcasted on TV.
 
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Veho

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"Animey", bah. Back in my day they were just called cartoons :angry:

EvuHLPk.jpg
 

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