My Start with Anime- Rei Caldombra

Written by Rei Caldombra 3/9/2024.

The first anime I believe I ever saw was Pokemon on TV. 

But that was before I properly understood how anime was different. As a kid everything that wasn't real people was just “cartoons”. It wasn’t until I came across anime on Youtube some years later that I started to recognize anime as its own area of animation. Before Youtube I didn't happy any perception of anime and would have just came across whatever was playing on the popular kids channels like Disney and Cartoon Network. I didn't watch many shows other people around my actual age did when they were younger, such as Dragon Ball, Naruto etc. And my family didn't have any interest in Japanese pop culture outside of a strong love for Godzilla. I can really only remember Kirby Right Back at Ya!, Sonic X and Pokemon as ones I significantly liked.

Most of the anime I initially watched were mid 2000s shows. The first ones I remember getting super into were Lucky Star, Ouran HSHC, the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Death Note, and Clannad. This was when I properly became an anime fan. These early shows were definitely influential on Slice of Life becoming my favorite genre. I still like all of these shows and Clannad remains one of my absolute favorites. Once I got hooked on anime, I never really stopped.

Now that I have said the above, I must confess that the actual first anime I watched on Youtube was Girls Bravo. It's true quite a few of the earlier shows I saw were lewd in nature, like To Love Ru and Macademi Wasshoi. But these were not the important and influential ones, I promise!

Back then being an anime fan was a lot harder than now. It wasn't quite as bad as people a bit older than me, but you still didn't really want to talk about it casually. It was weird and different, so even if you didn't get harshly bullied over it, it still felt natural to hide what wasn't truly mainstream (which was very few). I remember slamming my laptop shut when I heard someone walk by my room at home and being ready to lock my phone at a moment's notice when someone walked by me in school. Thankfully nowadays anime is much more mainstream and more widely accepted.

Anime has been a significant part of my life- it has inspired me and has had a big impact on my way of thinking, it fostered a strong appreciation for the art process and artists, it got me interested in cosplay (I still need to make a cosplay of Dark Flame Master, he is the first character I genuinely planned to cosplay), and was a common interest that helped me make many friends over the years. It's tough to resist pressure to conform and not hide your passions that don't fit the mainstream, but I will always say to be proud of your interests. Don't let people stop you from liking a harmless hobby. There are other people out there who also like it that you'll be able to connect with. That was very important for me. The internet has its positives and negatives, but at least now finding good people who share in your passion is much easier than it was when I was younger. Making friends who liked anime and joining anime clubs had a big impact on me. If anyone is reading this and needs anime friends, I recommend giving your local anime club a shot. It can be scary to enter a new place and the thought of being seen as part of an anime club can be scary too, but you may very well find your safe space and make lifelong friends. I'm very thankful I did.

Now after more than a decade of watching anime, I still love it. I've been following the seasonals consistently for many years now and have a completed list on MAL of a bit over 400! I may not watch as many each season as I used to sometimes, but I don't plan on stopping!

Thank you for reading my first proper post! I hope you enjoyed learning about my anime journey!