It wasn’t until I became an anime fan around 1999/2000 did I find out what anime really is. However, unbeknown to myself at the time, I used to watch some anime and anime-related shows on TV back when I was a kid in elementary school, despite the fact that I didn’t have cable TV back then (and anime like Voltron, Robotech, and Kimba were before my time). Lately I’ve had a wave of nostalgia these past few days thinking about and missing some old cartoons I used to watch. So I felt like sharing four of the old anime TV shows I used to adore when I was a little kid…
Sailor Moon was the first anime I ever watched way back when it began airing in America in 1992 (I think I was about 6 years old). Since I had no idea what anime was back then, I looked at Sailor Moon as I did all the other cartoons I used to watch. However, even as a little kid, I could tell there was something different and more “mature” about Sailor Moon compared to other cartoons on TV at the time. I remember I wasn’t able to watch Sailor Moon that often because it came on at 7:30 weekday mornings when I had to go to school (I don’t think I had a VHS recorder back then either) so I missed a lot of episodes and watched them out of order. And since I didn’t have cable TV, I couldn’t watch it at all once it was moved to Cartoon Network.
It wasn’t until around 2001 that I found out how horribly edited the English version of Sailor Moon was. Luckily, since then I’ve been able to see a handful of the episodes in their uncut, subtitled Japanese version. However I have yet to see the entire 200 episodes in their correct order. Sailor Moon will always be special to me because it was my first anime, so watching all the episodes is something I would like to get to one of these days =)
And just for nostalgia’s sake, here’s the English opening of Sailor Moon. It’s nice that they kept the same melody as the original even though the Japanese version is a love song while the English version is more of a superhero theme.
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Technically Beast Wars is not an anime because it was made in North America before it was later picked up by Japan. But I decided to include it since it’s very much based on the Japanese Transformers franchise. And I’ve got to admit that I think Beast Wars is one of my most favorite English cartoon shows of all (together with Animaniacs). Despite being marketed as a kids show, it gets very dark and mature at times (many of the characters die for example) and it has fairly complex subplots and, most importantly, character development, which was sorely missing in cartoons back then. Another thing that’s unique about it is that it was one of the first animated shows to be made with all CG animation. Of course, compared to the stellar CG animation nowadays, the Beast Wars animation looks pretty amateur. But hey, back then it was really innovative! XD Probably Beast Wars’ only flaw is that some of the dialogue has cheesy, 90’s slang and expressions in it, but other than that it has great characters, on-the-mark voice acting, and an interesting storyline. Of the 52 Beast Wars episodes, I think I’ve seen most of them during the series run from 1996 to 1998 except for some episodes in season 3. And I haven’t seen much of its sequel, Beast Machines, but from what I’ve heard it was a disappointment.
I got interested in Beast Wars through the Hasbro toyline first before I started watching the show. They’ve long been discontinued but I still have my collection of nearly 30 of the original transforming action figures. I used to play with them so much when I was a kid so I’m reluctant to get rid of them for sentimental reasons ^^ I know a lot of hardcore Transformers fans belittle Beast Wars because the characters transform into animals instead of vehicles, but I think animals are a lot more interesting. Animals are more human than vehicles aren’t they? ~_^
And here’s the Beast Wars opening video (from season 3). I’ve gotten so nostalgic for this show that I started rewatching it online. And I’m finding myself picking up on a lot of details and complexities in the show that I couldn’t follow when I was younger. Guess this proves that it’s more than just a kiddy show =P
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Right after Sailor Moon went off channel 13, Samurai Pizza Cats took its time slot and began airing in 1995. I loved it immensely and watched the episodes over and over during its year length run.
Like a lot of anime airing on American TV in the 90s, the dialogue and names in SPC were totally rewritten and Americanized. Of course, since I didn’t know what anime was back then, I didn’t really notice this. But what’s different about SPC is that the English translators ad libbed a lot of the dialogue and I don’t think they even got written copies of the Japanese scripts, just copies of the Japanese episodes. The result is that the English and Japanese versions of SPC are practically two different shows. But in spite of this, a lot of fans like the English version and think it was good for the show. Looking back on it now, if you don’t think of it as anime and just think of it as a fun cartoon, it’s actually a very entertaining show. SPC pokes fun at itself, has a unique humorous tone, and it isn’t afraid to “break the fourth-wall” either XD
And here’s the English version of the Samurai Pizza Cats opening. Yes, it’s very silly but the shameless puns and humor in SPC do have some entertainment value I think XD Like with Adult Swim’s version of Shin-chan, you either like what the American translators did or you don’t.
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Like Beast Wars, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is technically not anime because it was made in America. But since it’s based on the Japanese video game series, I decided to include it. I was a major Sonic fan back in elementary school; I had all the old games on Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear and I played them all the time. I still play some of the newer Sonic games though I don’t like them as much as the old ones. I also watched some of Sonic X when it was airing on Fox 11. Anyway, being a Sonic fan, I naturally loved to watch the Sonic TV series too.
In addition to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, there was another American-made Sonic series (simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog) that aired around this same time in 1993. From what I’ve heard, this series was a lot darker than the light, slapstick Sonic cartoon I used to watch. I probably would have liked this darker series too if it wasn’t on cable. I remember my only complaint about Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was that it didn’t include Knuckles, Metal Sonic, or some other characters and plots from the video games I loved. But Tails was always my favorite character so as long as he was in the show, I wasn’t too disappointed ^^
And here’s the opening video to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Looking at it now, I still think it’s a pretty fun and clever opening. I like how they just use music from the games rather than some corny song XD
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And because it has some connection to Japan, I’ll mention that I was also a huge fan of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series from 1993 to 1995. At one point I had just about every toy of the Zords and I think I still have an autographed photo of the original Yellow Ranger somewhere in my house! XD I lost interest in Power Rangers beyond that first series but I’m amazed that the franchise is still going on to this day.
Anyway, because I didn’t get cable TV until 2005, the cartoons I watched in my childhood were either on local TV channels or available for rent at video stores. But in spite of this limited access, I was able to watch a fair amount of cartoons when I was a kid. It wasn’t until I became a big-time Pokemon fan in 1999 did I find out what anime was and began to shift from watching cartoons to watching only anime. Although I didn’t know it when I was little, these four shows are what began my interest in anime that would continue till this day and onward ^_^
Anyone else want to share their nostalgia for old anime TV shows they used to watch when they were kids?
I about share that same list of stuff I watched. The one thing I can add was I watched a ton of the Macross dub Robotech as a child. I loved that show to death, even though I probably didn’t understand the whole plot of it, it was more “O_O shinny giant robot”, but I would bet it started my love of mecha series.
Robotech, Thundercats, Angry Beavers…those were the days.
I was exposed to a plethora of Anime when I was a kid (Not too long ago)
Beast Wars is pure awesome. Same goes for Samurai Pizza Cats.
I loved the Power Rangers, but even at that age I knew that most of the dialouge and plot was hilariously bad.
You didn’t watch Pokemon?
Cardcaptors, Mon Colle Knights, Shinzo, DBZ, Sailor Moon, etc.
The first one to show me that Anime could be something more than a kids show was the Gundam Wing movie, and for that it holds a special place in my heart.
Yes, I was a major Pokemon fan (I mentioned it at the end of the post) but I wasn’t really a little kid when I got into it (I was already about 13/14 years old) so I don’t consider it an anime I “used to watch when I was little” =P I still watch it nowadays too. I did watch Cardcaptors and Mon Colle Knights too, but again I was already in my mid-teens by then.
Oh man, Sonic the Hedgehog. How old was I when I watched that stuff? It’s been so long ago that I forget.
My first anime was Card Captor Sakura and I remembered that it scared me when Sakura was getting the mirror card. I think around that same time I watched Pokemon but I wasn’t too into it as I am today.
My first without a doubt was Sailor Moon and I was when it began airing on Cartoonetwork. At that time I loved watching cartoons and would watch anything on TV, but Sailor Moon was one of the few that grabbed my interest the most (at first it was because of the talking cat, at that age I was a sucker for talking animals. then it was because I found Sailor Moon inspirational, seeing a bunch of girls fighting for what they belived in had inspired me)
I had watched SPC and Speed Racer before then, but Sailor Moon is what intoduced me to the world of anime. Tenchi, Cardacaptors/CCS, Mon Colle Knights, Magic Knight Rayearth had helped along the way, expecially when I had discovered manga in 2002. But my anime obession didn’t truly kick off until 2006, by that time I had a faster internet connection and much better acess to anime. (before then I was very limited on what I could watch/read)
I’m still a Moonie today, but not as much as I used to be. I still have my large collection of SM goodies though. I would still love to see a remake of the anime but much more closely based on the manga than the money-making crap that Toei gave us.
btw, Sailor Moon begain airing in Japan in 92, not the US. In the US it was actually around 95-96.
Really? Sailor Moon began airing in the US in 95? I remember that’s when SPC began airing on channel 13 and it had replaced Sailor Moon’s timeslot so SM must have been airing before then. I could’ve sworn I was watching early episodes of SM on channel 13 in 93 at least. Hmm, well whenever it was, SM was still my first anime =)
OMG! I remember watching most of these shows (I didn’t know Samurai Pizza Cats was a real show, I mean I’d heard of it but…). My first anime was probably Dragon Ball Z. I remeber watching it one morning and being terrifed of it because I had never seen anything like it. Later with the help of Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh!, Salior Moon, and Cardcaptors, I grew to love anime. I would have to say that Inuyasha was my first real “mature” anime show.
I was just reminiscing about Beast Wars the other day, actually. Even looked it up to see if it was anime. It was very gripping, along with Sailor Moon, which definitely gave you that mature feel that put it above the rest (even if I was 5 years old).
Man you and me both a very similar childhood and in the shows you watch, plus everyone thinks the mighty morphin power rangers was bad in english??? lol you should have watched some of the original jap episodes omg so funny. I still remember my dad would wake me up at 4am and watch mario bros show and zelda when i was a kid, then their was other shows like mechwarrior, beetleborgs, and a slew of other shows. lol i still remember when they use to show simpsons episodes in the morning, but then they had to stop because parents found out, that it was more then a kids show :(
Hello! Sandybell was one of my first animes. It’s from the 80’s, so a lot of people might not know it. I also remember having a tape of some Japanese “Lion King” ripoff. I don’t really remember much except thinking it was really shitty.
I became a huge fan of Sailor Moon around 11-12 and that stuck with me. I’m almost 20 now. Though I “stopped” and moved on from that phase of my life, it’s still a show I enjoy watching (lol).
Other than that.. I’m going to have to be boring and say Pokémon and Digimon. I guess it’s quite obvious, if you’re a late 80’s/early 90’s kid.
Note that all shows mentioned were watched in Swedish, except for Sailor Moon where I “branched out” and bought a bunch of DVDs with the original version.
I watched tons of anime. On French TV, there was literally hundreds of different anime aired during the late 70’s to the mid 90’s period, the most popular animated series were mostly Japanese back then. Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon had 50 percent viewership shares. These series were very popular too: Mazinger Z, Candy Candy, Space Adventure Cobra, Princess Sarah, Little Women, Captain Harlock, Minky Momo, Tom Sawyer, Cobra, Nobody’s Boy: Remi, the Swiss Robinson’s, Saint Seiya, Urusei Yatsura, High-school Kimengumi, Captain Tsubasa, Maison Ikkoku.
And most of Nippon Animation’s (the studio were Miyazaki and Takhata debuted) World Masterpieces Series (the finest of Japanese children’s anime) were aired in France, including the aforementioned Nobody’s Boy: Remi, Princess Sarah, Little Women, Tom Sawyer, the Swiss Robinson’s.
At some point, most animation aired on French TV was Japanese.
Unfortunately, there was a very violent xenophobic backlash, Japanese animation was accused of being be too violent and of having negative influence over children, so they nearly all vanished from the airwaves. The government put quotas in place which force TV stations to air at least 60% of European made programs…
Nowadays, the animation aired on French TV are mostly European or American. While in neighboring countries like Spain or Italy, they air more anime than European or American cartoons. Shin-chan for example, is huge in Spain.