What's the first episode of the anime you remember watching?

[SunGodNika1997]

While we're all feeling a little nostalgic at the moment, thought this might make for a fun discussion. I'll start.

I remember it surprisingly vividly. I was visiting my aunt's house at the time when my cousin, who is about 7 or 8 years older than me, turned on the TV to watch Pokemon, the episode being The Bridge Bike Gang (OS036). If I'm not mistaken, this was when the episode debuted in the US, which would have been Oct. 23, 1998 (a few days shy of my 3rd birthday, actually).

It's not necessarily one of the best-remembered episodes, as it's a filler, but there was enough to hook me in. Seeing the crazy monsters doing battle, tons of comedy, and most of all, seeing how cool it was for Ash to risk his life to save the sick Pokemon in the next town left an impact. By the end of the episode, I wanted more. After this, my cousin started "educating" me on the anime up to that point, and showed me a bit of his Pokemon Red version as well. Ever since that day, I've been a fan of the franchise as a whole. This same cousin gave me his Pokemon VHS collection once he outgrew the series a few years later, so I'm beyond grateful for that.

In addition, this episode contains one of my favorite Brock gags ever.

 

[Ignition]

I think it was The Right Place and the Right Mime. I know, a transition episode in the middle of a saga is probable the weirdest way to start a show. I remember being at my cousins house over summer break and this episode came on. My oldest cousin was a day 1 fan and was excited to see the return of his OS mons while his younger brother was more excited for the Hoenn mons to keep journeying even after the Hoenn League. Like @SunGodNika1997, they
both tried to catch me up but I was just fascinated with both old and new characters interacting while also seeing clear set up for a new adventure. It’s like when you get past all the inevitable slog of a tutorial in the games. Soon after I was given a GBA + a copy of FireRed and Emerald to borrow while I was there for the summer. In between lectures of why Leer wasn’t doing any damage and how to get out of Dewford Cave/Mt. Moon, I was watching episodes both old and new but my brain will always remember watching this episode with the most excitement I could imagine. That’s probably why I’m such a fan of reunion episodes.

 

[Dark_King25]

Battle aboard St Anne. The summer arc was a blast

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

I remember the exact episode because I remember struggling to wake up early enough in the morning to catch an episode. My first one was the Celadon gym battle episode.

 

[Observer]

I want to say the Ditto episode in season 1, but I only saw the ending to it and at that point I wasn't a fan yet. So for me I will say Ash vs Koga, honestly it's been so long I'm sticking with this one.

 

[Alolan Glaceon]

I vaguely remember it but it was a long time ago around 2000, I was just a kid then and I remember Brock got the Vulpix then, I liked the Pokemon because it looked cool then, and I've been watching the show ever since. It was a very pleasant journey, there were series that I liked and those that I didn't like very much, but I don't regret anything. Thank you Ash and Pikachu for everything

 

[Bortgreen]

The first one, a tv station bought the rights to it and started from the beginning
Almost 15 years ago

It aired here before but i was too young to remember anything

 

[KingMinun]

The first episode on SMTV: Live on a Saturday morning in the UK. Watched it up my Grandparents house and that was the weekly routine for years. We’d go down the local newsagents and id buy a pokemon lollipop (they’d come with stickers) to have when the show was finished. I also remember that I’d save my pocket money and buy one of the pokeball sweets that contained a small pokemon figure too.

I do remember we were quite poor, so I’d use old VHS tapes and record over them with Pokémon episodes, I remember doing this and then drawing a front cover for each episode I recorded, I remember doing this for episodes like the Rapidash racing one, the Kangkasan kid and also Bye Bye Butterfree.

 

[Quinton]

The very first, actually. I timed it so that I started from the beginning during the United States' early-morning UPN rotation.

 

[Cetra]

Literally the first episode. It is not like I can really remember the day but i know that was the first I watched. Like with Yugioh.

And guess who is back in kanto today:

Satoshi-Journey hosted at ImgBB

Image Satoshi-Journey hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[Spyro39]

My childhood memories are hazy, but I think I sort-of recall the very first episode as my first episode watching either in 1998 or 1999 through my living room's TV.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

The first one with the off-model Ho-oh.

 

[Dragonsoldier77]

The very first one.

I was already playing red on my GB first, and then i saw CDs of the first season being sold at my local shops and asked my parents to buy it for me since it’s based on the game i loved playing m.

 

[Leonhart]

One of the earlier ones, although I can't remember which one exactly. All that I really recall is that Hitokage [Charmander] appeared, but that's true for dozens of episodes from the first half of Kanto, so that alone doesn't narrow it down.

 

[Mew2]

I had heard of the animé for a while but my first full episode was the battle between Ash's Charizard and Blaine's Magmar. Needless to say, I really liked the episode and I quickly went back to watch past episodes not long after that.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

The very fist episode. I recall seeing commercial ads for the show and since it looked interesting, I've decided to check it out.

 

[SunGodNika1997]

Pleasantly surprised how many people actually started from the very beginning.

 

[Sonic Boom]

When I was 9, my mom came home from shopping one day with the VHS tape for the three Kanto starter episodes, and that's how my journey started. I didn't have access to Kids WB at the time, so my initial experience was solely through collecting those VHSes and figuring out the order of events.

My first experience with AniPoke was Brock falling off a bridge, animal abuse, and Jessie and James shooting up a store. What a way to start.

 

[Ryker101]

I think it was attack of the prehistoric pokemon? I loved Charizard from the games and wanted to see it in action

 

[SunGodNika1997]

And guess who is back in kanto today:

Satoshi-Journey hosted at ImgBB

Image Satoshi-Journey hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Been watching my Kanto DVDs as well! Nostalgia is at an all time high for me right now.