TAF 2008

i haven't finished watching Night Wizard but i watched like 6 episodes and i enjoyed it, really have to finish it, but i recommend it

Been watching Anime for over 15 years now. It never seems that long ago until you realize shows you used to watch like Kimagure Orange Road and Ranma 1/2 were shown in the late 80's! I remember how it seemed like Ranma used to be naked every other episode but it was fairly innocent. Anime today is fairly sparse on nudity, yet everything exudes sex.

If I'm correct, this is my 10th year of watchin, but it has only picked up in the past three I guess. During high school, I spent a LOT of time trying to download Dragonball Z on 56k modem -_-. Only since the advent of Usenet, torrents and fast internet has the collection grown fast (over 2 TB now). I recently 'calculated' that it will still take me 3.5 years to finish everything I have now, even if I would stop following new shows....

BTW me wants the huge Louise poster too!

Superb coverage as always!
Well, I have begun watching anime on French TV around the age of eight (when Dragonball and Captain Tsubasa were first aired as well as many famous and obscure anime series alike), so that makes around less than twenty years. I also want to say it began before I entered the world of videogames. ^^
Kimagure Orange Road is one of the romance-themed anime that marked me the most at that time, along with Maison Ikkoku... I then suppose watching Kanon or Clannad (which can be seen as more girl-oriented) would not be something strange after all.
I think I cried when watching Grave of the Fireflies... It clearly shows you how cruel this world can be and that people should not aim too far or forget about little but very essential things (without giving much spoilers).
...
Ryuk, looks like Botox doesn't work well on you.
I was thinking Sousei no Aquarion for the mecha but Gurren Lagann works as well. ^^
I remember watching the soccer-based anime you're featuring here! But I couldn't tell the title. I just remember that I liked the two girls you can see around the bottom-right corner. I was so young back then.
And Danny, why not make a "nostalgia galore!" with some references to the old, but greatest anime and games of the 80's and 90's? I'd be very moved by it. ^^

OMG, so much stuff to watch and discuss in this post, so where to begin? I have been watching anime since I was a little kid (so little that I can't really remember for example I've watched Gatchaman when i was like 4-5 years old), but I think that I really started to watch anime 15-16 years ago.

Man.. Kimagure Orange Road, brings a lot of memories, I didn't really finished watching the whole series and reading manga but I probably will when I'll find more time.

I too wasn't really happy while watching Hotaru no haka but I finished it cause I wasn't watching alone...

As for the new Yattaman, man the old series was waaay better than the new one. The only good thing is that even if they had to tone it down (no more miss Dronio eyes after the big blast) they were enough gutsy to say it loud. Whitty commentary by Boyakki after Tonzler's cover for Miss Dronio (literally) was uber hilarious.

Night Wizard - cute girls with weapons is the only good thing that I can say about this anime, well sometimes it's funny but I've seen better comedies. The story is soooo predictable and happy ending is... blah.

And damn, Fujiko Mine's figure is smoking hot!!!

I grew up watching Japanese animation like most kids (Doraemon, DBZ, to name a few) but for a period of time, I lost interest in it. I can't seem to enjoy overrated animes that are popular with the rest of my friends. Then, at age 15, I met a new classmate who introduced me to Full Metal Panic. I asked him where he got it, and he told me "from the Internet". The rest I say, is history, as it marked the revival of my interest in animes.

Oh man, its been so long I don't remember when I started. I do remember Ranma 1/2 as one of my favs. It was uncomplicated and just plain fun.

As for Fireflies. Finish you must. Even if your heart is falling out of your chest. So sad, but so memorable.

Thank you so much for the pictures. Ghibli Studios didn't release information of any kind regarding Miyazaki's upcoming film Ponyo ?

Kimagure Orange Road was my first anime too, which is probably explains my tsundere-moe ness, ahhh madokkaaaaa
My Madoka cel collection is making my wallet cry =(

LoL, your report looks completely different from mine, even though we went to the same convention. ^^;

Trackback
http://www.akiba-ch.com/?p=462
http://www.akiba-ch.com/?p=463

It just shows how big and diverse the anime industry had become.

I watch animes since about 15 years now, at the beginning when I was about 8-9 years old I didn't know that these fairy tales were animes XD. From what I remember my first animes was ,,Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs" , ,, Voltron" and ,,Sailor Moon" they were showing in Polish TV . I have really nice memories from that period of my life :) . Then when I was about 15-16 years old I watched Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z in German TV and from that moment I started to watch more animes that have been showing on German MTV (like Cowboy Bebop, Vision of the Escaflowne, Golden Boy, Lupin). I can say that from DB I have seriously begin to interest in anime & manga.
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Damn, I haven't know that there are new Lupin movies, it's time to watch them if I will have more time and if I found them in some internet shop ofc XD .

Don't remember how long I watched anime ^^'

My first one would be Doraemon (hello there, fellow Indonesians here, I believe this is our favorite show when we're still a child XD) I believe it's more than 10 years...

hmm but I really got into anime just 5 years ago.

I been watching anime for 12-13 years, I think. I remember when pokémon came to Sweden. I think it aired from 07:00 to 07:35, sleepyhead by then. Anyway, I'm glad I started to watch anime.

Nice photos, alot of sweet paintings, I want! And pretty cute girls, as usual. (b・∀・)b

i grew up watching doraemon. then evangelion in the 80s. it was 2, 3 years ago that i became a full time otaku and began watching animes on a professional level.

btw, mirai t-shirt WANT! i'll buy 2 boxes of it. ('~')

typo. should be "evangelion in the *90s*" my bad.

Wow, i think my first anime was old gai king and kaizer including Robotech. And then Saint seiya was a hit that time. Wow more than 15 years ago...i cant imagine that.

Whoa, Kimagure Orange Road sure brings back memories. I remember the first time watching it and getting hooked from renting it at Tower Records. I tried hunting it down back in the 90's, which was tough, but worth the effort. I have the DVD's from AnimEigo, but they don't have it for sale anymore. There was one website that translated all the KOR manga, which is still online if anybody is interested: http://www.animeraiders.com/creed/kortranslation.html

You can use it to learn Japanese and have fun reading KOR manga raw at the same time.

It's been 10+ years ever since I started watching anime. There is so many now that I don't even have the time to watch all of it. Need a new hard drive...again >_<;;

GAMERS are awesome. H20 and True Tears? Rock-much?

Like quite a few people, Pokemon initiated my attraction to all things Japanese... and I'm not ashamed of it cos Pokemon still kicks major ass as far as I'm concerned!!

I remember that the first few anime I watched was Doraemon, a story about a girl wearing a red hood with two gu friends and *coughs* Sailormoon...

I remember that the first few anime I watched was Doraemon, a story about a girl wearing a red hood with two guy friends and *coughs* Sailormoon...

you guys heard of Toriton right? That's my first anime that I've watched although it was dubbed into malay. Second was an american cartoon, challenge of the gobots - the father of all transforming robots cartoon

been watching anime for 20 years, grew up with it, and still lovin' it.

I started watching anime about 8 years back, starting out with Rurouni Kenshin. I'm still wondering when will I outgrow anime though, but I'm sure that day is still wayyyyy too far away (or it'll never happen lol).

At one time I was looking for some sad animes to watch, I came across Grave of the Fireflies. I did find that movie sad, however I didn't cry (amazing considering I cry easily at emotional stuff). Saikano made me cry though (watched this series about the same time as Grave of the Fireflies). I'm weird maybe.

Btw as for those anime cells, I only recognised the series in the right most 2 columns. They're from Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu, a 6 episode OVA, quite nice but does makes me sad/cry watching it.

anime, manga, V.N, you name it, THEY ARE MY LIFE!!!!!!!

First started watching Doraemon and those oldies when little but stopped after that until 2 years ago..

Night Wizard is good if you like happy smiley endings. Or if you just enjoy looking at Akari; girl with red hair is nice, girl with red hair and big gun is too nice.

Maan...I just want to stop time , go there , steal everything and go back home...so much goodies :)

10+ years strong baby! Started with animes like Escaflowne, Gundam Wing and the first Dragonball series :D

Not counting series that I watched as a kid without knowing that they were anime I started watching about 9 years ago.

At that time one of the local TV stations was airing Neon Genesis Evangelion. This anime converted me.

the anime cels that are seen to the right are from saint seiya and the ones on the left are from clannad.

i have been watching anime since i was six years old and my first anime was saint seiya

Looks empty indeed compared to the huge crowd of people on public days. IF I ever get the chance to go again, I'm bringing 2 business cards ;p

Oh, you got only 2 yoko-neechans, on the public days there were 3 yoko-chan's. :D The only thing is that there is (again) a crowd of people in front of them so difficult to take a good picture.

Seems like I sure missed some stuff...

1st anime was Doraemon, but that was dubbed in Mandarin when I watched it as a kid.

The anime that got me into anime in general was Tenchi Muyo.

Wow, so I've been watching animes for nearly 16 years now!

Whoa, that brought back memories... about 12 or 13 years, Anime began to fascinate me. In this time, I watched Sailormoon, Ranma and Blue Water (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia) in German TV and of course Kimagure Orange Road in French TV. ^^ My first manga were Appleseed and Orion and I recall that Akira was, I believe, the first anime that hit German cinemas a few years later.

Your post made me think about getting some of these old animes so I can watch them again. Those were nice times, but I like lots of recent shows, too.

Ah, I almost forgot those tons of soccer animes I watched. Unfortunately, I only know the German titles, not the Japanes ones, and I always mix them up totally... ^^;

A lot of good anime back in the day. Tenchi Muyo OVA's! Gundam 0083, Cowboy Bebop. Wow i feel old remembering all that!

Well I've been watching anime like Pokemon and such since god knows when but I've only been hardcore since I watched SEED on adult swim which was like 4 years ago.

I really enjoy Lupin III movies. I wonder if the figures they have in the display booth are or will available, I would definitely buy them.

I've been watching anime coming up on 30 years now. It started with what in America was called "Battle of the Planets" when i was very young, but i realized how special it was when "Robotech" began airing, and that hooked me.

I want a louise poster like that in my room!!

Had the hots for Madoka back in grade school. Still do. She was very believable as a character. I'll collect the manga someday.

I've been watching anime since I was young, so it must be 25 years. Started with Grendizer, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya ...

/me feels old ^^;

Er, ever heard of the manga/anime "Barefoot Gen", Sir Danny? Much in the same vein as "Grave of the Fireflies". Only read two books, and that was enough for me. I urge others to give it a read/watch though...

I guess other than Doraimon, Astro Boy and alot more that I can't remember cos I was too young, been watching since... 13 years ago. from the best of my memory, these are some of titles: Akazukin Cha Cha, Ruronin Kenshin...

btw, Tokyo was awesome, so sad that I had to leave on the day TAF 2008 started. Nakano Broadway is truly a pilgrimage. Of course there was Akiba and Ikebukuro. >< I wanna go back like...sugu.

Not counting my very early years when North American distributors didn't want viewers to know they were watching Japanese material (I'm looking at YOU, Battle of the Planets), I think I started watching "anime" around the mid-90's when suddenly North American distributors WANTED us to know we were watching Japanese shows (Sailor Moon, Dragon ball, Patlabor, Macross Plus, etc).

So Lupin drives a Fiat 500. nice. :P

I see fiat 500 every day

Looks like so much fun. I've been watching Anime for so long but never been to a convention. =

Those shirt designs are awesome, I like the Rukia one toward the bottom especially, the Byakuya one is cool looking too. Shugo Chara seems really popular for something that is very "kiddie" (though I still enjoy it a lot). The classic stuff like Duke Togo and Lupin are really awesome, I know where I'm going next time I goto Japan ^^;. Ryuk's face looks like a catcher's mitt! Are anime schools really "schools" in a traditional sense? Everytime I buy a tankobon I always see ads for schools and I wonder if they're like a vocational type school, an art school or something designed to grab your cash or what. Also, is Night Wizard the one with the girl with the bracelet that becomes a magic shield, that's searching out gems or whatever? I get some series confused lately, because there are always 2 that are similarly titled released in the same season, anyone else notice that? Rosario and Vampire/Spice and Wolf, for some reason I always get Rental Magica and Night Wizard mixed up, there are others I can't think of atm.

I watched Dragonball when I was a kid, so that would put it at about 13 years ago when it came out and I was about 8. But as for when I actually really got into anime, was when I watched my friend's fansubbed Evangelion and they started airing Gundam Wing and Vision of Escaflowne on YTV (a kid's TV network here in Canada)

Wow, those brings back memories.. Got into anime when I watched the english dubbed version of Evangelion tv series shown by the local television station in Singapore..

After that I caught watched other animes like Flame of Recca, Gundam Wing and Dragon Ball Z.. Those were the good days..

Dear Danny,

I would like to thank you for making me feel old and reminding me just how long I have been watching Anime.

I feel your pain Danny with "Grave of the Fireflies." When I saw it I was so upset that I cried. Even now thinking of this anime it makes me sad. I been watching anime for a good 10 years. I still remember when first independent Minsk Channel 8 opened up in Belarus capital. They showed some Robotech, Transformers God Masters, Gave of the Fireflies and more. Though my true anime life began after moving to USA. I been to only one anime convention Katsukon in Washington DC. I was very much confused and lost hehe but it was fun.

Yeah grave of the fireflies is a pretty epic (in a good way) story. its really sad n brings tears to my eyes. i saw it when i was a kid. i want to see it again but i dunno where the dvd is...should be around here somewhere unless my sister has taken it overseas with her

More than 25 years for me. I watch anime since I was a little kid.

Been watching animes since i was a little... But not really into it until it was around 5-7 years ago... XD

Been an otaku ever since... lol... xD

Anyway nice reviews there... I can see a lot of things, I hope here they would held something like Anime Fair too... :(

ahhh natsukashii~ (spelling?)
grave of the fireflies, I think I cried from begining to end TT_TT;;;;

Just saw the totoro, WANT!

The end of "Grave of fireflies" is even more depressing !

But this is a wonderfull movie that makes a lot to promotize japanimation in France: people always gave it as an example to show that anime/movie can be moving, poetic, historical, insightful etc... and not only pure violence like "Hokuto no Ken" showed at that time on TV to kids.

I first watched Anime in the form of Star Blazers, (Space Battleship Yamato) about 26 or 27 years ago. It may have been longer than that, but I can't remember for sure. I only remember drawing pictures of the Yamato when I was a kid. I wish I still had those youthful scrawls today. I wonder how bad they were back then...?

Strange thing about the Gurenn girls is the lack of a belly button....

ALIENS!!!!

I grew up watching Orange Road... Only regret I ever have being an otaku is that when Akemi Takeda came to USA as a guest of Anime Expo and I did not get an autograph from her... I was a newb back then and did not care for autographs from the guests like I do now and whenever I think about that, it hurts me so much now that Akemi Takeda draws only as artist but does not work on anime series anymore.

i think my first manga was Ranma, Doraemon and Patlabor. First anime was either astroboy or Macross. and thas 19 years ago when i was around 3 or 4.

i've been watching anime for more than 15 years. i remember me and my older siblings watching super robot anime like Mazinger Z, Grandizer, Daimos and Voltes V.

i even remember watching both the b&w 1960 astroboy and the 1980 colored astroboy ^^

TAF was sooo good.... but I really wanted to buy some Gintama, D.Gray-man character goods.... The bags were SOOO Pretty,especially the Vampire Knights one!

Danny...if u wanted to makeme cry, u did sure hit the spot. My anime's love started with Go Nagai's world.. (Mazinga, Maziger ecc ecc). Around 15 i falled for Kimagure orange road (what awesome time back there awwwww!)
But, The most beautiful serie all the time was been Maison Ikkoku, i was totally out of mind for kyoko, love at first sight^^

Ryuk looked as though he got his face caved in by a strong impact...

The only character I want to cosplay as is Shinigami-sama. That way appearance doesn't matter and I can chop people as part of the cosplay. XD

I only started anime from 5 years back; the 1990s in Singapore had Gundam Wing and Dragon Ball, but after those two went somehow I didn't see any anime for a while. Skip 3 years and Evangelion finally makes it to Singapore, and the cycle repeats until Gundam SEED came over.

I've been watching for more than 15 years and I'm still in my very early 20s.

Ryuk scares me, seriously.

And I'll be blogging about Cased Closed as soon as I finish reading the manga..only 26 more volumes to go! XD

Anime T-shirts are a big deal for Otaku ... I want a Mirai shirt! Keep us posted on that!

Ah, Kimagure, such good memories... Well, I can say I practically have been seen anime all mi life. I still remenber the first episodies of Mazinger Z, and with years C.Tsubasa, Ranma, Saint Seiya, DB, Touch!... Now I have 27, and still today, sometime I see old animes!

I belive i`ll continue been so freak even when I become a old pervet, jaja, is my only wish

Extremely jealous...
I so want to see what a Japan convention is like. Tokyo Anime Fair is way better then what happens here in Canada. It's soooo cool!!!

i watched anime when i was around 3 yrs old in hong kong, i remember there was sailor moon and dragon ball

there were some other ones
like some school where desks move and it becomes a robot

and some kid that throws a coin up and something on his shoulder eats it and transforms

but those were sooo long ago
i erally enjoy looking at all those pictures you posted, i always send them to my firends, the totoro one is SO CUTE!

Awesome. Danny.

KoR and Lupin are such classics! Lately, the specials for the Lupin movies/ova's have either been decent or horrible. I haven't seen the most recent Green vs. Red yet.

Detective Conan is phenomenal addicting if solving crimes interests you. However it would be difficult to get into it if you haven't seen the beginning. Yet even though half of the cases are standalone, I have caught myself reading the same chapters of the manga to backtrack. Haha.

I'm a large fan of Akemi Takada's work and always Ghibli's.

Ahaha. Akiba Samurai looks great.

Totoro seems so Ronery up there in the ceiling. :(

Yeah, akiba samurai looks like a case of plagiarism. The mecha is like Gurren lagann, the guy in glasses is like Yamazaki from welcome to the nhk. Actually, nevermind, u see that type of character everywhere anyways. -_-;

I have been watching anime and reading manga ever since i've got 24hour access to internet. Which is actually only about 2.5 years.

watch Anim' for at least 20 years. Start with Albator, Cobra (my favorite, don't know why ^^) .... and i still love it !

Want the huge Louise poster too~ >_<

My room's lonely wall would have been much lovelier with that.

I want all those posters and that gurren laggan mechas!!

i've been watching anime ever since i remember haha i think i've been watching it since i had 5 years old ^^ love the classics man!! Captain Tsubasa, Dragon Ball Z, Knights of Zodiac, CCS, etc. *rememberin old times*

Wow, just wow.

I started watching late... I was already 17 by then.
That makes it 10 years already, though!

But when I say watching, I mean really really watching...

I just decided one day to give this "Trigun" anime a try.

Of course, I was completely taken by it. I then proceeded to watch stuff like Love Hina, Cowboy Bebop, Chobits... and it became an obsession.

I mean, after watching all those, how couldn't it be? :P

Wow, you sure had fun. I have been watching anime for about 13 years now. First animes were Ronin Warriors and Sailor Moon.

mirai t-shirt, must get when it comes out!

lol at ryuk's face