TG16/PCE a gateway to Anime/Manga?

[thrush]

I was reading through these threads: https://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=5946.0 & https://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=10062.0 (how did I miss this one??) and it brought to mind a question I'd been thinking about a month or so ago.  I was wondering how many people here became interested in anime partly due to Turbo/PCE (or other) games?

I think the first anime I ever saw was Robotech during the original TV run (when I was in approximately 2nd grade), and I caught glimpses of several others off & on in years after, but it wasn't until highschool that I finally "got it".  For me, it was seeing Akira & Bubble Gum Crisis in quick succession that made a fan of me.  But, I probably would never have taken the time to rent & watch those if I hadn't been intrigued by bits & pieces I caught from Japanese video games, particularly of the Turbo variety.  And I know that for two of my friends at the time it was Duo cutscenes that were entirely responsible.

Maybe this is partly an age thing.  We were young enough to have mostly missed the big Robotech craze, but old enough to also mostly miss Dragon Ball & Sailormoon becoming huge in the states.  It ended up having quite an unexpected impact on my life, as I now spend a significant amount of time & energy helping to put together my local anime con... which is only local because I relocated to be closer to it.  (Well, there was no question about me not being a nerd anyway, haha....)

Anyone else?

[grahf]

Well, I used to watch a lot of anime when I was younger. Mostly stuff from the 80s. These days I don't watch any at all. The exception is that sometimes I'll check something out after playing a game. Some games can really draw you in, and get you to care about the characters. For me, checking out the anime is a way to see a bit more of the universe.

I guess a lot of people do this kinda thing. For example, who the hell in their right mind would watch Street Fighter II or Tekken anime back then? Probably only people who were really into the games.

[thrush]

Very true!  I don't watch much anime myself any more, but I probably would if I had more free time.  What little time I have nowadays I'd usually rather spend playing games anyway, heh.

[SignOfZeta]

The PCE era and the OVA boom pretty much coincided with each other. I fell in love with anime during the late 70s/early 80s, with localized versions of shows like Gatchaman, Mazinger, Macross, etc. The PCE mainly just placated by need for games that looked like the shows I loved. By the time shows like Bubblegun Crisis came about the otaku market was in full swing and the PCE, particularly the CDROM games, were a big part of that scene.

[ParanoiaDragon]

IIRC, I originally thought anime was stupid.  I hated the way the characters were drawn.  But, then again, I deffinitly atleast watched Voltron, & Battle of the Planets, so, I couldn't have hated it too much.  Either way, with the Valis games, Last Alert, & most specifically Cosmic Fantasy 2, I really into anime by that point, as well as RPG's(of which I think I also hated other then action rpg's).  Then I was hunting for anime at that point, Akira, Robotech(which I didn't like as a kid, I always prefered my robots be sentient ), Project A-ko, really, anything I could find on video, if not tv.  I recall even watching the occasional Sailormoon episode.  By the time Tenchi Muyo aired on tv(whenever that was), I know I was deffinitely obsessed at that point(though, I wouldn't call myself otaku, I just really enjoyed anime!).  This ofcoarse is all based on my slightly foggy memory.