(Image above via Wikimedia Commons. I believe this falls under fair use, for the reasons outlined on the linked page.)
I guess Robotech was my first anime, strictly speaking. I ended up with a VHS tape of a single Robotech episode back in the...late 80s or early 90s. I have no idea where it came from beyond "my parents got it for me." It was from the middle of the series, meaning I had no idea what was happening or who the characters were. Also, I wanted talking robots more than piloted mechs...I was a Transformers kid, though for the moment I'm not counting that as anime.
I ended up watching the whole first Robotech series as an adult. It's wild and has things you might call "problems" that are documented in a thousand places on the Internet, but I had a good time watching it.
(Image above via Wikimedia Commons. The linked page claims that the image is in the public domain due its particular composition. I somehow doubt that, but I do think its use here falls under the doctrine of fair use.)
This was the first anime that I watched all the way through. (I'm sure it is that for many American anime fans of a certain age.) A very special person bought me the complete series on DVD, which I still own. I think it is a bootleg set of "The Perfect Sessions," because it was bought at a time when such a box set was expensive and difficult to come by. This very special person went the extra mile of also giving me the series soundtrack, to really complete the "Perfect Sessions" set recreation.
Flawless, 10/10, A+ series. I still think about bell peppers and beef, at odd times.
