Your Otaku Origins

[BunofGovt]

My memory's a bit vague on just when I started watching anime.  I remember, as a youngster about 9 or 10, watching series like Speed Racer, Marine Boy, Prince Planet, 8 Man, Raideen.  Some were shown on the local channel (I think KTVU Chan 2 Oakland) after school, or on KBHK Chan 44 San Francisco) and some on the Fuji Channel, I think it was either channel 20 or 26.  Great fun and the violence was unedited.  Some of them had English dubs, but Raideen and a few others had subtitles.

I'm pretty sure I watched other series in the ensuing years, and one of my greatest pleasures was visiting my cousins in Japan and seeing Mobile Suit Gundam and Cyborg 009 in 1981.  I don't think I became as hooked as I am now until 2004 or 2005.  I was on business travel and happened to catch YuYu Hakusho on Cartoon Network.  When I got back home, turned out my mom was also watching YuYu Hakusho.  Around the same time, my nephew introduced me to Trigun and things just sort of exploded from there.  My mom's a big fan, now, too, of anime and manga.  Most of the dvds and manga I buy, I use the excuse that I'm buying it for her (except for the yaoi  ;D - I don't think she's old enough for that yet).

I wish I could find Raideen, it was one of my favorites.

[Neko Eclair]

I was in kindergarten, and my aunt thought that it would be a good idea to expose me to Ranma 1/2 (yay, otaku relatives!). But I pretty much pin the reason for my lack of a life outside anime on her (not that I'm complaining).