Outside of Dragonball and Pokemon, which were were on next to shows like Reboot on toonami, Chobits was among my first anime that I watched knowing what anime was.

When I was a kid I had a few VHS cassettes with various shows and movies on them that were often recorded from TV. This was before the mid 90s Toonami era made anime popular stateside I was like maybe 2-5 with these tapes I’d watch and I didnt even know they were anime.

One of them was the Little Nemo Movie and the other one was a several episodes of a series called Serendipity The Pink Dinosaur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity_the_Pink_Dragon

Apparently it’s on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZWuTSp9NgM&t

As for first anime I knew was anime thats harder to say but probably Voltron? If not Sailor moon/dbz

I watched a lot of anime as a kid, Pokémon is the likely candidate among them but could also be Digimon or Sailor Moon.

First time I went back to it as a teen was after watching a Death Note YouTube poop. First half is still great and one of the only Dubs I am still inclined to watch

It depends on what qualifies as “watched”. If you mean “what was the first anime you watched all the way through” it would be some 2012 anime like Code Geass or something. The first anime I ever remember watching seasonally was Parasyte: The Maxim, because a friend of mine told me I might like it but it turned out there was only 1 episode of it out. That’s definitely when the infection my passion for anime began. I started watching everything I could get my hands on seasonally then. Parasyte is still a 10/10 show by the way, and it 2000% holds up today.

Fist of the North Star. In retrospect this probably shouldn’t have been my first as it did level-set things a bit oddly as to the ratio between plot and pure, raw violence.

“Atakku Nanbā Wan” it doesn’t rank high anymore but I’m nostalgic for it.

Akira. Hell of a way to get introduced to anime as a kid.

Saturday morning cartoons: DragonBall Z, Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. Friend then introduced me to Pokémon. But I just watched these casually.

A few years later, high school friends got me to watch Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Ranma 1/2, Great Teacher Onizuka, Azumanga Daioh, Love Hina, and several Studio Ghibli movies. I’m sure there are more that I’m forgetting, but high school was when it started for me. Action, drama, comedy, romance, slice of life, everything.

GTO is still one of my all time favorites. I’ve rewatched it a few times, read the manga, and watched the live action remakes. This class is known for getting teachers to quit, but Onizuka sensei is a former gang member that has a totally different perspective on life. Because of his background, he has a very different approach to teaching and relating to his students.

There have been a lot of good anime with great stories, animation, comedy, etc. GTO isn’t the best anime ever, but I connected with it on a deeper level, so it holds a special place.

Probably Pokemon or Dragonball Z.

Oh no how dare you remind me lol. Wolf’s Rain here’s episode 1 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x82c7kc the theme SLAPS but the whole things lowkey furry bait. still good, kinda wanna watch it again.

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I have a vague recollection of seeing part of Princess Mononoke as a child, so I guess that would be my “first”, although what really got me interested in anime was watching the first couple episodes of Attack on Titan at a high school club.

It’s been pretty long ago for either interpretation, so my memory might be off.

The first ever was probably Heidi or Biene Maia.

The first ever not explicitly produced for a western audience was probably Captain Tsubasa.

The first after having a concept of anime vs. cartoons was one of Akira, Ghost in the Shell or Blue Lagoon.

Ever? Or first after knowing about/wanting to get into anime?

I certainly saw plenty as a kid before I knew anime was a distinct thing. Super old stuff like Kimba, speed racer and voltron.

I think a much later first was robotech, even if it’s a edited/remixed version of Macross.

Hard to say for sure but probably Speed Racer. Dragonball Z is definitely the first one I followed consistently. But Speed Racer would have likely been the first I came across.

It would have been playing on Cartoon Network pre-toonami when I was a kid. Back before the US thought there was any difference in Japanese Animation vs US animation.

Spirited Away is what set me to going out of my way for more. But Toonami gave me Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, .Hack//Sign and Inuyasha while Adult Swim got my Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Wolfs Rain, etc.

I saw Spirited Away in a theater in the mid 2000s and started downloading stuff left and right.