Recently I wrote about the surprise involved in recognizing anime as its own unique type of media, potentially years after watching your first show. After that initial surprise wears off there’s only really two places you can go. You can go on with your life in the same way, not becoming an anime fan. That’s not likely to be the path anyone reading this took though, it’s certainly not the path I took.
The other option is to explore anime, and it’s fandom. Watch more shows. Go to conventions. Maybe expand to reading manga, or collecting figures, or playing visual novels. However you do it, exploring fandom involves a lot of first times. While no first time can have the same wide-eyed wonder, or epiphany, that recognizing anime in the first place can provide, there’s a whole world to discover in exploration. A lot of fun, cool shows, and an awesome community are all ahead of you when you start this journey.
Whatever other firsts a fan may experience when exploring their anime fandom, there are a few that are universal. In fact, they’re so universal they can be taken for granted, and not given much thought. These firsts are the first anime you went out of your way to watch specifically because it was anime and the first anime you actively pursued out of interest in the show on its own merits (whether learned through a recommendation, review, or rumor). Normally, the second needs you to have become a bit more involved in anime fandom because if you’re not looking you won’t find anyone recommending series or reviews of a show, but the first just needs you to have seen anime, and want more.
As far as my first goes, there wasn’t much to choose from on television, and for a while that was my only option. So I didn’t as much watch one single anime because it was anime, as I watched everything I could that was available to me. That inevitably meant that I watched Naruto, Bleach, and Inuyasha, and also meant that I used a single VHS to record, and then record over, the shows that were on late, like Witch Hunter Robin, and Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex. I watched all of these at first because they were anime, but I kept watching them all because they were awesome and showed me a culture, and storytelling ideas, that I’d never experienced before. Ghost in the Shell was a particular stand-out because of the philosophy of the show, the cool futuristic look, and the animation. The exposure to new ideas was exciting, and led me to seek out more information, introducing me to the anime fandom at large, mostly thanks to library internet.
The first show I really wanted to experience, because of what I heard about it, is far easier to label. Neon Genesis Evangelion. The first show I watched on YouTube was Neon Genesis. It was strange. It was violent. It was also just about as good as the internet fandom said it was. While it was the first show I watched thanks to YouTube, it wasn’t the last, though I had to rely on free internet to do it.
Fansubs were actually almost as much of a revelation as noticing anime in the first place, and for at least half a decade they opened up a world of anime I’d have had no chance of seeing otherwise. The official distribution model not only meant many shows were never going to come out, but that they’d always be crazy expensive. DVDs cost upwards of 40 dollars, usually for three episodes (sometimes four). Thankfully, technology marches on. With streaming services like Crunchyroll available, only the strangest niche shows don’t have affordable Western distribution.
There are so many other firsts to experience when exploring fandom. I still remember my first convention, while many of the ones I’ve been to since blur together. There’s the first moment the subtitles are too fast to read, forcing you to learn a new skill. The first anime figure you buy.
There are more than enjoyable firsts though. The first time you watch a show so good you’re desperate for a sequel, and finally realize you won’t get it, is a pretty depressing first. We have an article explaining the ‘why’ behind this, but no explanation makes it okay when it happens. Somehow I managed to avoid this experience for a long time, probably because I saw a lot of shows run for too long, typical of shounen series. It probably also helped that Gundam Seed received a sequel, and it wasn’t particularly good. Then No Game No Life was released, and while the internal plot was resolved, the core driving action of the show was incomplete. No sequel has appeared, though there are rumors about the possibility since it got a prequel movie.
Exploring your anime fandom is unique to you, and there are plenty of first times ahead, and behind, you. From the ones I’ve listed, to dozens, or even hundreds, of others. Sometimes they come quick and fast, and other times it takes years for you to experience them. Most importantly, these first times are likely to continue to happen as long as you explore anime, and especially if you take the plunge into self-describing as an otaku. Enjoy them when you can.
