Trip down memory lane

It has only been a few years since I *seriously* pursued anime as a hobby but even as a kid I was already surrounded by them including sentai. Since subs weren’t an option back then, English or Tagalized dubs were all I had. Yet quite frankly, I enjoyed watching most of them. (If I have to give a time frame, it should be mid 80’s to early 90’s.)

» Voltes V (Eng). mecha. Although I vaguely remember the plot, I know this was one of my childhood favorites. The catch phrase: “Let’s Volt in!” I used to love the music theme. I even had it as my cellphone’s ringing tone back in undergrad.

» Daimos (Eng). mecha. It involved a Romeo&Juliet scenario. I can still hear Richard (I don’t know the Japanese name) shouting Erika’s name. Ahh…the angst.

» Astroboy (Eng). I remember being impressed with the flying cars. And the only ep that sticks in my mind was when astroboy questions his existence and thinks an evil god-like machine was his creator (or something like that). I obviously have poor retention. :p

» Dragon Ball (Eng). I admit that I like the original series. Say what you want but this was an eye-opener (sort-of). Actually, my dad (he loves this but won’t admit it) introduced the series to my sister and I. Yes, it’s geek-in-the-making.

» Candy Candy (Eng). The very first shojo anime I’ve seen. Argh, thinking about the storyline depresses me so.

» Yaiba (Eng). I’m pretty sure this one was from early to mid 90’s. Yaiba had a shrill and slightly annoying voice for his VA. And I was particularly fond of psycho Takeshi. It’s funny that Yaiba was the cause of Takeshi’s sudden change into a villain (or at least that’s how I remember it).

» Ranma 1/2 (Eng). When you’re ten years old, the gender-bending scenario can be quite confusing. This was my introduction to Rumiko-sensei’s work.

Of course, there’s the live-action shows too.

» Bioman (Eng). My sister, my cousins, and I would be role-playing using the show’s characters. I was always Yellow 4 which sucks because I wanted Pink 5 who played the flute. I think it was traumatic for me when the original Yellow 4 got killed.

» Mask Rider Black (Tag). I didn’t really liked this because it was too depressing for a kid.

» Ultraman (Tag). This one was just too funny for me even at that age. But that did not stop me from watching it.

» Maskman (Tag). At first, I disliked it because I thought it was just a poor man’s Bioman (yup, I loved Bioman). Of course, I warmed up to it eventually.

» Shaider (Tag). There’s this gibberish chant (that I can’t remember) from the villains which I found really hilarious. I think my cousins and I would randomly shout out the lines when playing.

I probably left out a whole bunch but these are the shows that I could still remember. Funny thing, with the exception of DB and Ranma, I never seen the finale of these shows.