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What Was Your Gateway Anime? Japanese Fans Sound Off

What Was Your Gateway Anime? Japanese Fans Sound OffIt’s a question that echoes throughout message boards and in convention halls around the world: what was the anime that got you into anime?

A recent thread on popular Japanese site for all things geek, Otakomu, asked just that, and the variety of responses, across genres and generations, was pretty fascinating.

The original poster went for a classic, 1995’s Neon Genesis Evangelion, but many of the follow-up posts were from a younger generation of titles. Most frequently cited was The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006), which often led to an interest in other series by Kyoto Animation.

Titles from this decade that made the list included Granblue Fantasy, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Dragon Ball Super.

Old-school titles given a shoutout included Ranma 1/2, Fist of the North Star and City Hunter. Interestingly, the posters specified they saw these series through reruns, not when they were first on-air.

The moderator noted Haruhi may have become so many people’s first anime because it was shown on Nico Nico Douga, the popular Japanese streaming site.

It’s your turn, OUSAers: what was your gateway anime, and how did you find it in the first place?

Source: Otakomu

Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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