Anime you didn't know was anime

[randomuser2349]

Was there any anime that you grew up with or otherwise watched that you didn't know was an anime until recently? For me, I used to watch In The Beginning a lot on EWTN, and I only recently found out it actually was an anime written by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka. Was there any anime you watched before and had no idea it was an anime until recently?

[Thunderscream872]

When I was allot younger (like, back in 2002), I used to watch Transformers Armada and a little bit of G Gundam, Cyborg 009, Yu Yu Hakusho, Zoids, etc. Back then I didn't even know what anime was, or even that the shows were from Japan; but I did have enough sense to tell that the animation and "look" of these shows was different from He-Man or Justice League, or whatever other cartoon I was watching at the time.

I think I learned the term "anime" around 2005-ish, and since then there's really been no confusion. So, nothing recently.

[IPv4]

I guess pokémon is anime? I remember seeing the movie "steamboy" which was kinda fun. I also saw animatrix when I was younger (that was probably not a good thing). Also it happened that my sibling (male or female - you guess) downloaded some anime that I dont know what name they had.

btw: I think that I knew these were animes :/

[mysngoeshere56]

I learned what anime was when I was fairly young, so I believe the only animes I watched before I knew what anime was/that they were anime were Superbook, Pokemon, and Hello Kitty & Friends.

[the_wolfs_howl]

When I was real little, I could tell that certain shows like Superbook and Heidi were somehow different from most animated shows and movies, but I didn't know why until much later. It also took me a reeeeeeeeeeeally long time to realize that Scamper the Penguin is actually anime. It's a bit hard to tell because the movie is mostly just about penguins, so the signature anime style is harder to trace. But once I realized that all the names in the credits were Japanese, everything suddenly made a lot more sense. No wonder the one human character never seemed to have very good lip synch!

[artisticDreamer]

Transformers Armada. I rewatched it, like, twice before figuring it out.

[ClaecElric4God]

It also took me a reeeeeeeeeeeally long time to realize that Scamper the Penguin is actually anime. It's a bit hard to tell because the movie is mostly just about penguins, so the signature anime style is harder to trace. But once I realized that all the names in the credits were Japanese, everything suddenly made a lot more sense. No wonder the one human character never seemed to have very good lip synch!

Scamp.... what? Seriously? For some reason I am far more shocked about this than I should be. Granted, I haven't watched that since I was 6. But STILL. That's crazy...

[Thunderscream872]

It also took me a reeeeeeeeeeeally long time to realize that Scamper the Penguin is actually anime. It's a bit hard to tell because the movie is mostly just about penguins, so the signature anime style is harder to trace. But once I realized that all the names in the credits were Japanese, everything suddenly made a lot more sense. No wonder the one human character never seemed to have very good lip synch!

Oh, yeah that's right. I think someone told me it was Japanese a couple years ago. I was pretty shocked to find out it was. I don't really remember what the animation looked like. Its been a long time since I watched it last.

[nln_rose]

I'd have to say Speed Racer. I was so young that I hadn't seen it in a long time when I found out what anime was. (I also didn't know that there were anime that old). I loved that series as a kid. I'll probably show it to my kids like my dad.

[Hopechick]

Totally Spies. I used to be obsessed with that show. -_- Ironically, what I didn't like about it was the art...awkward.

[Banana Lobster]

Pokemon. I used to watch it all the time when I was little, had NO idea that it was anime, or even what anime was.

[mechana2015]

Hopechick,totally spies isn't anime, at least using the definition of a show made in Japan. It's a French show (though funny enough, the French term for animated cartoon can be "dessin animé").

[Nate]

Noozles and The Little Koala were anime and I had no clue.

[Rose Faerie]

This thread just reminded me that My Neighbor Totoro was not my first anime after all. I completely forgot that I had seen this, but there was a Hello Kitty fairy tale show that my sister and I borrowed from a friend. It's a very random buried memory, and I was like four or five, so I wouldn't have known what anime was at the time.

But yeah, at first I didn't know that My Neighbor Totoro was anime. I thought it was just another animated movie.

I don't remember if I knew that Pokemon and Digimon were anime. I didn't know what anime was, though I was aware of its existence in the form of the "big eyed people". I don't think I realized they were anime right off the bat. I thought they were regular cartoons, though they seemed different than Strawberry Shortcake and Phineas and Ferb, or whatever American cartoons I was watching at the time.