Greetings

[Humbug-Hermit]

Introduction eh? Alright well how best to start. My name is Phil and I was originally introduced to anime in the late 80's and early 90's without knowing what anime was, something I think a lot of anime fans my age can relate to. Most of my early exposure was to dubbed shows like Captain Harlock, or Herlock, Robotech, and some other titles that I can barely remember now. At the time I noticed that these shows had distinct styles and differences that set them apart from the other cartoons I would watch but I didn't know what it was. There was something about those shows that set them apart and that drew me in.

Pinpointing the moment when I first learned that this stuff was in fact “anime”, or even what anime was is difficult. There was a comic book store in town that would sell bootleg VHS tapes, 2nd and 3rd generation fan-subs mostly, that I started going to around the same time that I first gained access to the internet. I was a fan of science fiction and fantasy writing, comics and the like so I would often search around for that online. Sometimes the sites I would go to would talk about anime but whether or not I learned it there first or at the comic shop, I can't say.

My earliest exposure was to things like Bubblegum Crisis, Dangaioh, Guyver, and Riding Bean and it blew me away. They were all so different from anything I had seen at the time and I never thought animation could be like that. The fact that I lived in a small city in the province of Newfoundland Canada made it even more exciting tracking anime down. There weren't a lot of people around who knew about it or had access to it, at least none that I knew, so sometimes hunting down tapes and shows was tricky. There were times when the anticipation of getting my hands on something new was more exciting than actually watching it.

The comic book store that I got some of my earliest stuff from eventually stopped selling bootlegs, probably because his supplier got busted or something, and that led me into looking for fan-subs through other means. There weren't many people around to trade with so most of what I got came through sending away for copies to fan-sub groups that I had found online. Despite mailing out money orders to people I had never met before I was never scammed, I even wound up getting a few extra tapes on occasion. I guess that says something about the people involved in the VHS fan-sub scene at the time.

Eventually as anime started to become more widely available some of the video stores nearby started stocking commercial releases and I would get whatever I could through there. Then came faster internet speeds and digital distribution. The old VHS fan-sub distribution model seemed to fade away and now it seems like there's no barrier to getting access to almost anything. I still keep up with anime coming out these days though I'm not as into it as I once was. I don't have any issues with the industry as it is now, though I've heard a lot of older anime fans complaining about it. Still I much prefer the older science fiction type stuff that I grew up on, but that's just a personal preference.

[greg]

The fact that I lived in a small city in the province of Newfoundland Canada made it even more exciting tracking anime down. There weren't a lot of people around who knew about it or had access to it, at least none that I knew, so sometimes hunting down tapes and shows was tricky. There were times when the anticipation of getting my hands on something new was more exciting than actually watching it.

Wow, what a great point! One of the reasons why I am on this forum is to connect with people like you, who remember the excitement of exploring the unknown world of anime, like finding hidden treasures that nobody knew of.

Welcome to the forum!

[Daniel]

Hey Phil! Welcome!

[gaijinpunch]

I think all of my hobbies have been similar to your tape hunting. For the first X years of living in Japan, Akihabara would often expose treasures from the 80's or 90's that were more or less unknown... at least to me, as they weren't documented on the internet. Now, those days are over. Nothing new pops up, there are no deals to be had, and games are delivered digitally.

When Doc Brown makes his time machine, I know which year I'm going to!

[davemerrill]

I don't know if we're living in a post-discovery age. I keep finding out about obscure TV shows and movies that I've never heard of; every time I'm in Nakano Broadway I see toys that I never knew existed, from series that logic would dictate wouldn't be popular enough to inspire toys. It's a crazy world out there and you gotta keep your eyes open, you never know what you'll find.

Welcome to the board, Phil!