Mine isn't too exciting...I was just flipping through the channels and looking for something to watch one afternoon. I was a cartoon addict- loved "Tom and Jerry", "Bugs Bunny", "Scooby Doo", etc.
So when BOTP was on, I was captivated by the style and serious nature of the cartoon at first. Then, I almost got turned off because I thought it was a "boys' cartoon"...but then I saw Princess. So I thought, "At least this one has a girl in it...I'll watch a bit longer..."
and then...I got hooked!!! I loved the freaky mech designs, too...some of them were a bit scary, but they intrigued me.

I believe the first episode I saw was the "Ghostly Grasshopper".

Hmmm.might be interesting to find pictures of ourselves when we were first watching BOTP- I believe I was around 7 years old.

Here's me at about the time I started watching BOTP:

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There is no problem that cannot be solved with time, patience, and a judicious amount of high explosives.

wow, great topic, James, thank you!

I remember quite clearly my first time. We were living in a different town to the one we finally settled in and I'd been collected from school (I would have been around 6 or 7 at the time), The walk home passed a small playground, and i wanted to stop and play since it was a hot afternoon. My mum left me and went home, and after about half an hour thunder started to rumble... I raced home, but still ended up getting drenched.

Back home, I was stripped of my wet clothing, wrapped in a blanket, and sat in front of the tv to dry off and warm up. In the UK at the time, we only had 3 channels, and BBC1 was the only one showing anything remotely cartoony, so that was put on. Battle of the planets was the second program on.

I can't remember which episode it was, but at some time during the show, I must have squeeled or shouted because it brought my mum out from the kitchen to see what was going on. I just said "it's G-force" and went back to watching.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Here is a pic of me at that time with my younger cousin,

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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER

Hola James,


Well, this is such an interesting topic that I will gladly share my memories with all of you!

During 1979-1980, there were two Tv stations in Mexico showing cartoons from around 2pm all the way to 7pm (after that we had only the adult programs).

Channel 5 was mainly showing American cartoons, like those from Hanna-Barbera and some Japanese animes. On the other hand, Channel 13 was focusing in Japanese anime (I guess this have to do with tv rights).

Among my favorite cartoons were Candy Candy, Princess Knight, Triton of the sea and of course, Battle of the planets. Unlike Spain, the series was not as successful as the others (Candy was and is still the most famous one). For that reason, all the episodes were played only once and later, disappeared from the regular programming.

I still remember most of the episodes and somewhere in my mind, those voices from Jason and Mark.....I liked Mark then. I even remember drawing him just after the show. Now my favorite is Jason, of course!

I was 9 years old then and together with my brother we watched it everyday at 3pm. Nothing in the world would stop me from watching it and surprising, it became my favorite show number one (more than Candy!). We even saved our desserts and sweets to wait for the show and enjoyed them while watching the adventures of our favorite characters.

Later, together with our cousins, we will played the roles of the heroes. For some reason, I was Mark....maybe I just wanted to be the leader! ^_^

It's amazing to think that now, many many years later, I own some of the original cels and Japanese products from the series. If someone would had told me so then, I would had never believe it! Back then my only treasure were a couple of magazines produced in Spain and they were so expensive to get. So truly, they were a treasure for me and somewhere at home in Mexico they are still lingering among my staff there.

I really hope to be able to have a Candy Candy museum one day, and my idea is to include Gatchaman as well. That's the reason I'm collecting all those treasures!!!

Thanks for the memory....glad to share this with all of you!


Hugs
Adriana

You all make me feel old.

I was 14 when I found Battle in 1978. Like so many others I was trying to find something to watch Sunday morning and came across it. I loved it. I even used to record the episodes on cassette tapes and write them out (I still don't know what happened to those tapes or my written copies).

I found out about Gatchaman when I was reading a book about anime in 1988, but didn't really look into it until 2000. I was horrified that G-2 died at the end and ever so happy Battle hadn't translated those episodes.

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I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers so far...

A friend of mine stuck her head in my classroom to announce that a new "Star Wars Cartoon" was starting the next day. Intrigued, I tuned in.

Edit: I guess she'd seen the ads for it--I had not. My mornings and after-school activities involved horse wrangling and other assorted chores. Naturally I figured out a way to squeeze BotP into the schedule. Thankfully my parents, who were scifi buffs themselves, were willing to indulge me.

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-Katharine
Disturbed in NorCal

I remember it well -- I was 10 years old, 1978, summer was nearly over and Channel 5 was advertising a new cartoon for the afternoon line up in September. A little show called "Battle of the Planets" and my initial reaction was that they had totally copied "Speed Racer" and that it couldn't possibly be any better.

I sat down to watch the first episode (at 4 pm) and by the time we got to the first commercial break, I was totally and completely hooked. The rest, as they say, is history.

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"It is a rare man that is taken for what he truly is...We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream...." Peter S. Beagle