Thanks for taking the time to read my introduction.I've been into anime for a long time, although I'm certainly not the oldest of the old school. My first experiences with anime came via a friend. This friend's family was from the Philippines, and the father was into all kinds of Asian cinema and thus exposed his son to the lot of it as well. I really can't say how much anime in particular this guy watched, but somehow my friend also got interested in that as well. And this friend of mine, in turn, exposed me to all this. Asian cinema was cool, but I became completely spellbound by anime, which has been my non-stop passion ever since -- Japanese animation was just so enchanting and different compared to everything else. In regards to dates, I can't give an exact one, but this would be around '92~'94. I remember watching Dominion Tank Police really early on; that may have been my eye-opener, but I honestly can't remember anymore. I vaguely recall watching Akira earlier than this, but it didn't stick with me -- it was interesting, to be sure, but even to this day Akira is not among my favorites, as blasphemous as that may sound, though I can certainly appreciate the film, and I watch it every now and then to give it its due respect and to see if I can draw out any more meaning from it. All I know is that once I saw something that catered more directly to my style, I was immediately hooked, and I hungrily went after anything that I could get my hands on. In the beginning, this was via US VHS releases as well as what TV broadcasts were available, getting into fansub tapes and other sundry bootlegs soon thereafter.
Besides watching anime, I liked to read anime magazines and artbooks and collect anime cards. I've always been something of a hermit, so I regrettably didn't get into things like going to conventions and such. As mentioned above, however, I did watch anime with a friend, though, and I still think that being able to enjoy anime together in a group is one part of the treasure of anime.
On to the present day, I am still completely enchanted by anime, though I generally don't touch much of anything that came out after the year 2000. My favorite anime genres are action (particularly of the martial arts/ninja/samurai variety), fantasy as well as comedy, though I'm usually up for checking out other stuff as well. Here's a short list of a few animes that I like, which is by no means exhaustive (I'm basically just looking across the computer at one part of my anime collection and jotting down what I see
): Battle Angel, Demon City Shinjuku, Dragonball (and Z and GT), Fuuma no Kojirou, Gall Force, Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, Genmu Senki Leda, Grappler Baki (the OVA), Hokuto no Ken, Iria, Kamui no Ken, Kyomu Senshi Miroku, Macross, Mobile Suit Gundam (and the various other Gundam anime made before the year 2000), Nausicaa, Ninja Scroll, Ninpuu Kamui Gaiden, Project A-Ko, Record of Lodoss War (the series and OVAs), Rurouni Kenshin, Saint Seiya, Samurai Spirits, Sasuke, Shinshuusudamahen, Slam Dunk, Street Fighter II and IIV, The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Vampire Hunter D, Wanpaku Ouji no Orochi Taiji, Wicked City, Yotoden, and Yu Yu Hakusho.As for manga, I've always been an anime guy, but I'm getting into manga as well. Actually, I've been using manga to boost my Japanese language skills. However, since I'm reading in Japanese, it's excruciatingly slow, and I haven't read through all that much yet.
Also, besides being enchanted by anime, I have always been enchanted by Japan, both its past and present. I have a great wish to go live in Japan; God willing, I'll make it someday.
I look forward to talking with everyone that joins this community
Daniel
