The Anime Nostalgia Thread!

[garrison-san]

Lately, there's been some interest in a thread in which to discuss nostalgic memories of watching the Pokemon anime.

You can use this thread to discuss old promos (Kids WB or otherwise), theme weeks or any other anime-related blast from the past you can think of. Note that this doesn't have to be confined to the original series, either. AG and DP are old enough to be nostalgic for some (and for some users will have been the first series they watched), so feel free to discuss any promos, etc, related to them too.

There is one important ground rule, however, and that's that this thread is NOT to be used as a means of complaining about the current or more recent incarnations of the Pokemon anime, or the whole 4Kids vs. TPCi issue. The last thing this thread is intended to be is a nostalgia vs. present thread, so let's not make it into one. ;p

Here's an old Kids WB promo to get you started:

[video=youtube;O4e3CDc1r5k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4e3CDc1r5k[/video]

 

[Blazing Charmander]

A nostalgic memory of mine is tuning in to the original series in the days of the UK's SMTV Live programme every Saturday. Being the phenomenon that it was back then, the show used to be really hyped up and it felt like every kid at school would be watching it. I missed a few episodes the first time round in 1999 from The Path to the Pokemon League up to Charmander the Stray Pokemon because of going to karate on a Saturday morning. However, I got in to the habit of asking my dad to record each episode on video tape from then on, so I didn't have to miss a single episode due to karate. At one point I happened to tune into a midweek airing of an episode and found that Ash's Charmander had become a Charizard and he was facing Blaine for the first time! The last episode I had seen before that was probably Dig Those Diglett, so imagine my surprise!

The early episodes also had the benefit of being aired during school half-term weeks. In fact, the reason that I got into Pokemon was because of a comic strip of the first episode that came free with the Nintendo Official Magazine in 1999. When the show came to the UK, I missed the first episode but managed to tune in to episodes 2 to 6 during October half term. From then on I was hooked on Pokemon and the rest is history.

 

[Almonds]

I think I stated this elsewhere, but in my country, the pokemon anime aired at dinner time, on Wednesdays and Thursdays (twice a week - yay!). So I get to eat dinner while watching pokemon

Also, I remember some episodes getting skipped. In Johto, I thought I'd see Morty sooner or later, but then suddenly, everything of Ecruteak City never aired and an episode started with Ash polishing his newly acquired 4th badge, and the narrator saying, "Ash got his 4th badge when I wasn't looking!" or something similar to that. I was seriously confused because I was sure I watched last week's episode, and it hadn't been long since Ash beat Whitney. It was only later that I learned they never aired any pokemon episodes that depicted too much Japanese culture.

Another fun fact was that a few years ago I talked to a friend who watched the OS in the United States, and she mentioned about how she never got to know how Ash got 30 Tauros. The thing is, that Safari Zone episode aired just fine in my country and I watched it - so I explained to her that Ash caught 30 Tauros because every time he tried to catch something else a herd would storm by and one of the Tauros would get caught. She found it amusing! XD I had a great time swapping tales of different banned episodes in both countries with that friend.

 

[Kit Chan]

Waiting for Ash to become a Pokemon Master.
Oh wait, I don't think that counts as a memory since it's still in the present.

I also remember the episode where Ash died and became a ghost and it made me want to die so I could be a ghost lol.

 

[DracoMan]

And how 'bout that music? Bits like "Who Is Stronger--Epic Battle" and "Kanto Rival/Champion Battle" and "Johto Champion Battle" which all let us know that sh*t was going down. And, of course, "Johto Victory Battle Theme" which was the most epic piece of BGM ever on this show.

I think I stated this elsewhere, but in my country, the pokemon anime aired at dinner time, on Wednesdays and Thursdays (twice a week - yay!). So I get to eat dinner while watching pokemon

Also, I remember some episodes getting skipped. In Johto, I thought I'd see Morty sooner or later, but then suddenly, everything of Ecruteak City never aired and an episode started with Ash polishing his newly acquired 4th badge, and the narrator saying, "Ash got his 4th badge when I wasn't looking!" or something similar to that. I was seriously confused because I was sure I watched last week's episode, and it hadn't been long since Ash beat Whitney. It was only later that I learned they never aired any pokemon episodes that depicted too much Japanese culture.

Another fun fact was that a few years ago I talked to a friend who watched the OS in the United States, and she mentioned about how she never got to know how Ash got 30 Tauros. The thing is, that Safari Zone episode aired just fine in my country and I watched it - so I explained to her that Ash caught 30 Tauros because every time he tried to catch something else a herd would storm by and one of the Tauros would get caught. She found it amusing! XD I had a great time swapping tales of different banned episodes in both countries with that friend.

Lemme guess--you're Korean, right?

 

[SwifTer]

A nostalgic moment for me and the Pokemon anime was always waking up in the morning to watch Pokemon on a show that hosted cartoon shows (it was called Cheese TV) and I always seem to remember the episode about ash and his Primeape training for the fighting tournament. I actually had that episode on video tape and asked my sister if we could watch it on VHS instead of tv. (Not sure why I thought of it. heh.)

 

[Almonds]

@DracoMan; yeah - you must have heard about those. Then again, everybody knows about them.

It's interesting how each country got different episodes banned for different cultural reasons.

 

[UnovaCastaway]

Living in my part of NJ, we got both NYC and Philadelphia TV stations. That meant that we had two WB stations, on channel 11 (NYC) and channel 17 (Philly). When I was in 6th or 7th grade, before school as I ate breakfast, I would sometime switch between those two stations while Pokemon was on, because one station played the show a few seconds earlier than the other. I got to see the same scene twice and I thought that was hilarious!

Also, with the second movie being my favorite, I got an absolute huge kick out of this Burger King ad (even though I only saw it on an actual TV once):
[video=youtube_share;2ESIucBemPE]http://youtu.be/2ESIucBemPE[/video]

 

[DracoMan]

@DracoMan; yeah - you must have heard about those. Then again, everybody knows about them.

It's interesting how each country got different episodes banned for different cultural reasons.

I mentioned that several times in the "Retro Reviews" section of my blog--back when I still ran the damn thing. Talk about nostalgia...

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Did anyone have any old Pokemon CDs? I had the Pokemon Christmas Bash one, and my favorite song on it was this: [video=youtube;TRcAADjkwz8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRcAADjkwz8[/video]

 

[Kit Chan]

I have 2.B.A Master, I got it last year brand new for only $10!

I love the Double Trouble song, I listened to it while stealing a Pikachu from my brother.

 

[~Piika]

Why was Ash in that Burger King commercial voiced by Kayzie Rogers?

In Canada, Pokémon aired on YTV, around 3:00-4:00 every weekday if I recall correctly. I recorded the episodes for a good chunk of Kanto, but later on I remember getting extremely frustrated with their airing practices since they'd just repeatedly run reruns until they got their next batch of 30 episodes or so. (They still do this with most of their shows, by the way.) YTV's schedule was so bad, I remember some kids at school started rumours that Pokémon aired on Teletoon at midnight. It proved to be false, of course. I was really glad when I discovered that we got Kids WB up here... until PUSA took over dubbing and the show moved to Cartoon Network, anyway. It took CN years to have a Canadian channel... (It showed up 2010, I think?)

As for commercials, the one at the end of the VHS tapes for Red and Blue (and the ads for Ranma and Kimba) is dear to my heart. "Hey little buddy, want a ride?" And I'm not sure if it's animé related, but I could have sworn there was an ad for Pokémon pasta that had this kid try stabbing an animated Pikachu with a fork...

I'm glad we can talk about AG, too, because watching the Jirachi movie is always super nostalgic for me. It was the thing that brought me back to the show after Misty left, and as a result I love it way more than I probably should.

 

[SwifTer]

Pokemon The First Movie - Australian Trailer - YouTube

Defiantly brings back all the memories and all that hype around the first movie, too.

 

[Kit Chan]

Pokemon The First Movie - Australian Trailer - YouTube

Defiantly brings back all the memories and all that hype around the first movie, too.

I noticed the original Japanese version without the CGI was used in that trailer.

 

[Bluelatios]

Ah 90's, brings back lot of memories. I remember good old days when i used to get up early in the morning feeling thrill and eagerness of turning TV channel and watching Pokemon, adventures of Ash, Misty and Brock, TR crazy antics and mischief plans and whenever i go back and rewatch older series comparing them with newer generations i can say how at least for me aside from nostalgia i felt anime was more original, had direction to go somewhere and more relatable, deeper characters. EX head writer Takeshi Shudo(rest in peace)planned that pokemon is family oriented show in which not only kids, but teens, adults and all kind of people could enjoy wanting to make something more of it than just 20 minute marketing gimmick.

Amen to that! The whole family oriented air is one of the reasons I'm so attached to the anime. No matter how old I get, the same message about friendship, dreams, and adventure are still relatable to me. Its not like others shows about some trivial day to day antics or an epic battle between good and evil. There's a whole envisionment of a special world with its own civilization and soul. There's no stronger draw a tv show can have than that IMO. What is nostalgia? The engine of Pokemon's ongoing existence is literally what creates it, at least for me.

 

[KingMan]

I'm probably gonna get some flack, but hearing Mewtwo's voice for the first time is one of my fondest memories, cheesy as it was. I wasn't expecting him to have that deep a voice, let alone talk.

I have to agree with pokemon fan 132 about the earlier episodes. I always thought the filler during the early days were more entertaining. I liked the one where the Clefairys were space travelers and stole a bunch of random stuff to fix their spaceship.

 

[Johtohfiller]

I remember back around '98-'00 I'd spend too much time downloading short clips of the Japanese version with my slow internet connection, usually from sites I found by clicking links on the Anipike (anyone else remember that site?).

 

[Almonds]

I remember when I was in middle school, our family got cable TV, and there was a channel where I could watch Pokemon in English dubbing! Every Thursday afternoon I'd dash straight home and turn on the TV to watch it. Around that time, they were airing the Johto episodes, and listening to the English dub was music to my ears because I played Pokemon in English, and being able to understand all the familiar names and attacks made me so happy that I watched it every week until the channel disappeared.

 

[Gabo2oo]

I have been watching Pokémon since I have memory, as it premiered in my country when I was 2-years old. That's kinda special for me. The thing I remember the most is that Metapod vs. Metapod battle. 7 years ago, Cartoon Network did a fail, and instead of airing the premiere of DP004, they re-aired EP004 instead, it was pretty cool to see it on TV again.

Plus, I found this, the earliest commercial of Pokémon that ever reached my country:
[video=youtube;KNFZ0nyAYVg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNFZ0nyAYVg[/video]
It talks about being a Master, tamer of Pokémon, and having the magical power of the 150 Pokémon in your hands. "Tamer" and "magical" are words that I don't really feel to be related to Pokémon (even if Pokémon were once called "magical creatures"), so it's pretty weird.

Also, there are a couple of scenes in that commercial that I still don't have idea where they come from, which are Mew flying around the Earth and the following sunset shot. Perhaps these are in the series but I forgot about them.

 

[Kit Chan]

Plus, there are a couple of scenes in that commercial that I still don't have idea where they come from, which are Mew flying around the Earth and the following sunset shot. Perhaps these are in the series but I forgot about them.

I would be interested to know what they are.