Getting used to watching anime...

[Stiletto]

When you started out as an anime fan, how long did it take you to get used to the overall style of the animation? For example, such as getting used to the large eyed character designs, the generally slower framerate of the animation, and maybe how the characters spoke in the dubs - everything in contrast to Western animation.

For me it did take some (maybe a years worth) getting used to. My first impression was that somehow anime was inferior because of the way the animation seemed to flow, and that the majority of anime characters having large eyes seemed to be too much for me at the time. Just the "foreign-made" feeling of anime made it difficult for me to seriously consider watching it, or becoming a fan.

Of course that was five years ago, and after watching so many shows since then it almost seems like second nature to expect to see an anime character with huge eyes.

[Ichigo_89]

Back then all the reasons above was WHY I watched it. There was nothing else as "original" as anime for me back then. But ya, giant cute-eyed anime I'll never get used to really.

[Radical Dreamer]

It didn't take me any time at all, really. XD When I started watching stuff like DBZ and Pokemon in the 5th and 6th grades, I never really saw it as a weird form of animation, even if I did grow up on Disney's 2D classics. XD Also, when I really got into anime in the 10th grade, I had been drawing the style for two years, since I was really into the Zelda games and the like. So yeah, there was really nothing for me to "get used to" in that sense. XD

[TriezGamer]

No time at all. I never really watched much TV at all, and movies were few and far between, so my exposure to American animation was slim before I got into anime.

[Stiletto]

Interesting responses. Part of the reason why I ask this question is to wonder how certain people, who have just been introduced to anime, react upon seeing a generally different style.

A lot of the people I've tried to introduce to anime seem to have completely opposite reactions to taking in anime for the first time, based upon what's posted so far.

[MorwenLaicoriel]

I was watching anime for pretty much as long as I remember (Superbook, to be exact), so when I started watching it, it seemed....well...just another cartoon style, really. The only time I have a hard time getting used to a style is when I'm watching anime with very small eyes, like Cromartie High School. THAT feels weird to me.

[Puguni]

I was immediately drawn to it because of the style of art. I was most drawn by Sailor Moon in 4th grade. It was just nothing I had ever seen before, and much more delicate and refined, it seemed, than American cartoons that caricature people absurdly on purpose. Big noses, beady eyes, big feet were outdone by the more graceful figures of anime.

[Fish and Chips]

I adapted to it like *snap* that. No issues with un-Westernization or whatever it is.

[Pan Chan]

It took me 1 secound!
I loved the style, movements, the eyes, EVERYTHING!!!
I just can't stand it I love it so muuuuuch!!!!
lol

[Tommy]

Considering Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z were my two favorite shows as a 7-year-old, I didn't have much to get used to. After that, I stopped liking anime because I thought I grew out of it. Every anime in the US SEEMED to me, to be all for little kids.

Well, when I joined CAA, someone recomended FMA to me, and that's how it all started...

[ChronoShinobi]

For me, I happened to like pokemon as a kid, then in high school, I had a friend who was an anime/web comic nut, and he recommended Megatokyo. Then in college, I saw some anime a friend was watching, and things took off from there. I would say that it didn't take too much time to get used to, but that is because I tend to look past the character's appearance and into the story more. There are some styles of anime that just look really strange to me (Transformers, Speed Racer, Ghiblis) but for the most part I never really took issue with it.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Well, it didnt' take me too long to adapt...

But the second I saw Fruits Basket and Tohru's freakishly large (yet cute!) eyes, I kinda relapsed! They kinda scared me at first...still do as a matter of fact...

[Ashley]

The only time I have a hard time getting used to a style is when I'm watching anime with very small eyes, like Cromartie High School. THAT feels weird to me.

Ditto!

For me it took no time at all. Actually what struck me most about anime was not the style differences, but the actual plot-line and characterization. When I was a child, I never laughed at the Warner Brothers "Looney Tunes" stuff. I thought something was wrong with me because I just didn't find it funny at all when people around me were dying of laughter. I guess one of the things I liked most about anime was that it was more than just pie-in-your-face slapstick humor; the style didn't really sink in until much, much later.

[Tenshi no Ai]

[quote="Ashley"]When I was a child, I never laughed at the Warner Brothers "Looney Tunes" stuff. I thought something was wrong with me because I just didn't find it funny at all when people around me were dying of laughter. I guess one of the things I liked most about anime was that it was more than just pie-in-your-face slapstick humor]

You know, I feel totally the same... When I was little, I would just blankly stare at cartoons, but with friends, the shows were HILLARIOUS to them and I even tried to force myself to laugh sometimes. Even now alot of the laughing is the type of contagious laughter, where you're with a bunch of friends and things are just amplified in humour. I don't know why that is^^

With anime though, I've had some pretty good laughs with some of them, and smiled my way through with a couple of snickers here and there with manga^^

[KhakiBlueSocks]

I think that's because anime is a little more refined and cultured than your run-of-the-mill Looney Tunes or Spongebob Squarepants cartoon. Not saying that they're not classics, it's just the sense of humor in anime is a little more refined.

[andi]

I am still rather new to anime (just since last summer when I really started watching it)...but I like the art style. I don't even watch American cartoons. Mostly because of the lame humor and ugly art style. I like cute anime. haha. Mostly what took getting accustomed to was the humor. It took me a time to realize that Japanese animation is a lot different from American--and once I realized that, I love the humor in anime.

[rocklobster]

I started with Disney, and actually, it was Disney that influenced anime. So I didn't have to get used to anything. Disney is the best way to become an anime fan, you get to see what inspired it.

[MorwenLaicoriel]

I started with Disney, and actually, it was Disney that influenced anime. So I didn't have to get used to anything. Disney is the best way to become an anime fan, you get to see what inspired it.

Not to mention Disney is AWESOME.

*total Disney fangirl XD*

Whoever said Cromartie High took some getting used to is similar to me, too. When I first saw it, I was like "Wow, this is a gritty style". It helps sell the humor of the show, I think.

[mechana2015]

I was eased into anime at a young age with things like speed racer and such so I really don't remember a transfer period. Honestly when I started watching in earnest I felt like I was coming home to the style, not growing up into it.