The Most Influential Anime of Your Childhood
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Nov 22, 2009 05:43 JST
- Tags: Dragonball, Fist of the North Star, Gundam, Rankings, Shonen, Shoujo, Statistics
Japanese asked which anime and manga had the greatest influence over them as children, shaping their lives and aspirations, gave a surprisingly uniform set of answers, with titles such as Gundam and Fist of the North Star evidently doing much to shape the minds of entire generations…
The overall results are as follows:
What has most influenced your life and aspirations?
23.9% TV (exc. anime & manga )
19.7% Anime & manga
19.5% Schoolteacher
18.9% Books
18.7% Father
18.0% Mother
Anime and manga are apparently considered more influential than one’s own parents, at least individually…
What anime and manga have most influenced your life and aspirations?
From the seventies:
For men, 39% listed Gundam as the most influential, followed by Space Battleship Yamato (34.4%), Galaxy Express 999 (32.8%) and Lupin III (32%).
Women admitted to being besotted with Candy Candy (44.6%), Alps no Shoujo Heidi (35.2%) and Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi (31.8%).
Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi was the overall top with 27.3%, thanks to the drastically different tastes exhibited by the sexes.
From the eighties:
For men, Fist of the North Star was top with 34.4%, followed by Touch (30%) and Dragonball (28.8%).
For women, the most influential was Touch (34%) followed by Dr. Slump (24.8%) and Nausicaa (24.2%).
Touch came overall top with 32%, a hit with both genders it seems.
Gundam and Candy Candy have a lot to answer for, it seems…
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Detective Conan was mine. Probably???
Me too.
me three xD and it still is xD
Digimon Adventure's ending made me cried when I was young, so it's the most influential anime to me. Next is Pokemon lol, gotta catch'em all!
Catching them all is impossible. In the anime, i mean
Detective Conan is great! Still following it.
Though I grew up with stuff like Lensman, Vampire Hunter D, Guyver, etc.
I remember borrowing VHS tapes from friends from Jr. High and High School and the occasional rare rental that popped up at the video store from time to time.
Makes me really appreciate having high speed internet these days. :P
I wouldn't put Detective Conan but damn...
Hokuto no ken + Gundam
Couldn't think of a more influential thing in my life either.
what?? no Urusei Yatsura?? that was mine
no one cares about you
HAHAHAH
This says "Influenced".
Did Urusei yatsura convince you to become a sex-crazed loser in hopes of having a three way with a magical Miss Universe?
By putting it simply.
YES!
I second you. Very important title indeed.
Same here, I Love Detective Conan!
sailor moon and evangelion
sailor moon - lots of cute girls
eva - shinjixnagisa and rei.
you are clearly way too young than, ugh
Samurai X ftw
Samurai X would be my most influential thing from childhood as well.
same here
Well then i guess I'm going to watch Samurai X.
If i can find it. lol
~Edit~
Rurouni Kenshin is Samurai X? lol
I feel stupid sense its one of my favs.
It's properly known as Rurouni Kenshin.
Only ADV's Movie and OVAs and a bad, hacked up dub of the TV series were called Samurai X.
Back in the 90's it was all about Sailor Moon for me.
+1 to Sailor Moon :}
back in the 80's i had no anime just cartoons
lol
for me it's shaman king...
Yoh way of life is so cool...
btw macross still FTW...
+9000 for Sailor Moon
Rurouni Kenshin was huge in my childhood that and Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Maybe a little Zoids, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rave Master and obligatory DBZ/DB/DBGT and finally Neon Genesis Evangelion (my first "adult/grown-up anime") SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME I CAN BUY A GUNDAM G BOXSET!!!!!!!! TT~TT I want to own a piece of my childhood. That and a Burning/God Gundam model KING OF HEARTS!!!!
G Gundam is for children. Lrn2 0079.
You said it!
Rurouni Kenshin is one of my first few animes!
if only it'd followed through to the end like the manga...
Mind if I ask the source on your avatar? :o
Anyone who says Samurai X instead of Kenshin is a vile weaboo, and obviously very young if its your childhood. Ugh. Die.
Calling something by it's localized name instead of it's original Japanese name is "weaboo"? Stop using words without knowing what they mean, KID.
Yuusha series for me.
Next were Sailormoon > Gundam > Detective Conan
First real man to respond.
Least manliest answers responded.
Mine was most definitely Evangelion.
It was probably not influential in a good way.
Yep, that is one of my top 3, next to Cowboy Bebop and the Kenshin/Samurai X franchise. Although, I am a child of the 90s, I suppose....
Yep Evangelion, and Black Jack...
"Anime and manga are apparently considered more influential than one’s own parents"
Certainly true in my case. For me it would be Macross, Escaflowne and Evangelion.
Women were influenced by Dr. Slump ?
Just.. how?
well, you know... senbei is hawt n shit
Ranma 1/2.
Can't get enought weirdness.
Ranma 1/2 was my influential childhood anime as well. Years later I would explain the premise of the show to a friend who subsequently remarked, "Wow, that's weird." I think it's because the show led me to accept on-the-fly genderswapping as a perfectly normal thing, but I replied, "Is it?"
Nice to know I wasn't the only one deeply influenced at a young age by a manga series that features homosexuality, gender change, and violence.
Er, wait.
Gonna have to be Gurren Lagann.
I now believe in the kamina that believes in myself.
WTF, how old are you
Old enough to know better, still to young to care... at least, that would be my guess about anon asking about anon....
Who CARES!?
GURREN LAGANN FTW!!!!!
This is about anime from your CHILDHOOD. Gurren Lagann came out only a few years ago. If you were still a child a few years ago then maybe you shouldn't be on this site. While I agree that GL is an influential series, it's still too early to say that it's a series from your childhood.
I dont know as to how influenced my life is but thanks to sailor moon and the character tuxedo mask iv always loved suits and cane style weapons. And Robotech(macross) ever since i saw that iv been a huge mecha fan to the point that i was for 3 years participating in small scale robot construction and programing.
Toonami's anime lineup influenced my childhood. Dragonball Z, Tenchi, and the Big O. Cowboy Bebop too. And of course the early-morning cartoon while waiting for the schoolbus: Sailor Moon
R.I.P Toonami
TT~TT
Dragon Ball, Rurouni no Kenshin and many others...
Dragon Ball, Dragon ball Z were huge in the US just about at the same time as Pokemon.
Pokemon and Dragon ball z for me.
dragon ball, BTX and rayearth XD
Pokemon, DBZ, Digimon, and just about every anime on toonami. Back then I couldn't care less what country the show I was watching were from as long as they were entertaining. I would just watch anime without even realizing that these shows weren't American.
dragon ball for me
I agree Dragon ball and Z had a big impact on my life. great times
There wasn't much anime in my childhood around late 80s and mid 90s... or was there? I remember watching all sort of cartoons when I was a kid but only few years ago I realized that most of those cartoons were actually something that can be labeled as anime.
Same here mid to late 80 load of robot cartoon (anime) which I even don't know their name,still good times
Surprisingly mine was Lost universe, I loved that show
capt. harlock and robotech
Mine was Zenki
What about urusei yatsura? I'm watching that show right now and it feels like most shows nowadays are just bad ripp offs of that anime from the eighties.
Let`s not be too hard on them. But yes, no anime like it is today without URUSEI YATSURA!
I'd say Fushigi No Umi No Nadia and The Slayers. I simply loved those
mine was.. sailor moon, candy-candy, detective conan..
what?
I'm sure that the animes/mangas people have watched or read even though it's their least favorite have influenced them
I've watched Heidi when i was a kid and one of da things i've learned is don't drink milk directly from goats...it's unhomogenized...unpasturized...they are horny creatures
Also, the Rock n' other wrestlers have taught me some things...diving eagle's squash, pirate's hook, snake hug... and the butt grabbin' moves
Samurai Pizza Cats!
^This
♪♪Who do you call when you want some pepperoni!?♪♪
Not anime. cartoons.
I remember Eva, Gunbuster, and Patlabor most fondly.
Wow no body posted Akira?
Don't think most children could understand Akira.
mazinger z and voltes 5 was mine then there's ufo grendaiser and mechanda robot. ever since that damn president marcos ban these for starting a influence rebellion my childhood life was destroy later that prez marcos was toppled for being greedy and overstaying power... GOOD FOR HIM. RIP!
i didn't know anime existed as a kid, so the lion king and little mermaid have my vote =P
The BattleTech animation rocked. It also went along with the old 8-bit style game with mostly over head view. Gundam G Mobile I think it was and H-Man masters of the universe original (i have the POWER!).
What about those from the 90s? :/
I posted above, but same idea, I am very curious... Tenchi would be my guess....
Gundam and Sailor Moon.
:)
I was riding on a bus in Sapporo reading Dr. Slump and some girls saw me reading it and started commenting and kind of laughing. We struck up a conversation for a good half hour or so.
They were both really cute and I wish I'd gotten a number. :/
Reading these comics, good way to catch the attention of the opposite sex in Japan.
.. not much anime as a kid, but the cartoons of Thundercats, and ducktales, and tailspin ring a bell, mostly my morals came from Star Trek.. :)
that and Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck!
anime.. earliest was voltron, then dragonball and Gundam.
gundam still has some good morals, with american cartoons just being worthless
Voltron and Thundercats.... that takes me back. I was going through primary school at the time, but still I remember princess Allura and Cheetara well. ^^ And that androgynous magnificent bastard, Prince Lotor....
Mumraaa and how could you leave out He-man
He-Man was Rankin-Bass, so it was an American cartoon. IIRC Thundercats was localized for American audiences at the time, but the Japanese influence was still there.
Hmmm, most certainly Evangelion!
Whatever was on Toonami
...I miss Toonami. They were the ones who got me hooked on anime, and they aired their anime at reasonable hours.
Vouching for Gundam here, though unfortunately I've since lost taste for giant robots.
For me.... It is hard to say but most likely the most influensial thing in may life was the computer. Family comes second and achool comes third for me.
Family, unknowingly, introduced me to anime. After that, school advanced my interest towards anime and manga. And lastly, computer provided the most information regarding anime, manga and games. X3
Most influencial? hm...well Voltron inspired me to spend days shoveling snow to make enough money to buy the toy (I seriously wanted all five lions without waiting for another Christmas) >_>
Macross is what got me into engineering. Can't get me enough jet fighters and giant robots.
The *animes* that most shaped my youth were Macross (which I first watched in its butchered form as Robotech's first arc) and El-Hazard (the original OVA's, not the watered down TV series, nor the senseless sequels). What can I say? I'm a sucker for "alien girl" anime love stories. Max & Millia and Makoto & Ifurita are my two all-time favorite anime couples, and have to a great extent shaped my own romantic aspirations (I mean, in the kind of bond they share. I'm not actually looking for an alien girl - an attractive female human will do nicely, thank you).
However, I have to say that the *animation* that had the most enduring impact on me was the original Transformers series. Though as I matured and learned more about robotics the cybertronians became somewhat childish to my eyes, the vision of a completely artificial planet, inhabited by a race of intelligent machines, has pretty much defined my professional carrier - I can very well trace my early interest in computing, which led to my current position as software engineer, to the dreams of becoming a "robot scientist" sparkled by first seeing that show.
Definitely Doraemon for No 1, then Dragon Ball, I never got into Gundam for some reason. Macross/Robotech is a close following too.
Macross Plus for me.
Still My favorite . . .
Voltes V anyone?
Voltes V! *does the stance*
Dragonball Z!!!
DragonBall Evolution !!!
Sadly I am too old, anime wasn't an option when I was a kid.
I entered the hobby in my mid to late 30s with Ranma.
you can never be too old for anime
You're an idiot! You didn't understand anything about what you commented on.
and I don't think you understood what he said, too.
Derp
Grendizer, yo.
No Saint Seiya??
And what the Hell would Saint Seiya inpire someone into becoming? A juvenile battling faggot?
You'd be surprised how Saint Seiya is/was popular in Brazil and latin America. It was one of the first animes to be successful there.
Yep. Saint Seiya was an still is overwhelmingly popular in Latin America.
I myself was a die hard fan... And broke my friend a few teeth playing.
Good ol' times.
In France, too! It was my favourite anime as a kid, followed by City Hunter.
It's still popular in HongKong
Oh, I know perfectly well just how popular it was (is) around here. But just as the local edition of Big Brother is wildly popular, and yet won't inspire children into becoming anything better than hollow, fad-like celebrities, what can be expected from someone who takes the "bronze saints" as their role-model?
As a kid i watched stuff like dragonball and digimon...
The Ghost in the Shell Movie brought me back into business a few years later, followed by escaflowne, hellsing, and of course evangelion
naoki urasawas monster and evangelion are still on top of my personal anime list. Seriously, almost nothing beats those two.
Yatterman
AKIRA was my first movie.. really got me started although at the time I was too young to understand any of it.. in fact thinking back I was too young to see that, oh well
Seconded by Evangelion, watched that during my teen years so I related to emo-Shinji-kun, since then my artwork has always had some influence from Eva's art style.
1-Saint Seiya
2-Evangelion
3-Dragonball
3-Sailor Moon
4-Card Captor Sakura
5-Ranma 1/2
Card Captor Sakura is a great anime
i saw that anime 3 times
from that i become a fanatic of magic and sorcery
Sailor Moon laid the foundations for my moefaggotry later in life.
Dragon Ball was just cool
dragon ball laid the foundation for excessively long "power-up scenes", yelling and other shonenfaggotry.
it led me to avoid all jump series that came after.
to bad for you
Doraemon.
Yes, at least you've answered that!
They forgot to include it into the most influencial anime list.
Yes, yes Doraemon...and Grave of the Fireflies!
TEKKAMAN
The Original or the Blade one?
Blade. for great justice.
What the shit is with Japan not able to do a single survey correctly!!!
THIS DOESNT ADD UP TO 100. HOW CAN YOU HAVE MORE THEN 100 %!!!. Even the premise says MOST. Wow. Japanese people are retarded when it comes to this kind of stuff...
Saint Seiya and Yuyu Hakusho were mine.
yu yu hakusho, BTX and Zenki
#1-Both Gundam and Hokuto No Ken, #2-Mazinger(series), #3-Getta Robo, #4-Dragonball and Z, #5-???, #6-PROFIT!
I'd say Doraemon, Galaxy Express 999, Fisherman Sanpei, and Rokudenashi Blues for me, in no particular order.
I do like myself some touch
Gundam, DBZ, Digimon..
if they include the 90's, maybe we can see GTO in the list XD.
The thing that influential my life the most is Vietnam War
I learn a lot I cannot live the life I used to be
Then OF COURSE UTENA
For me it was Hokuto no Ken, without any doubt.
Lain
Evangelion
BTX
Saint seiya
rurouni kenshin
DBZ
and in more recent news Hokuto no ken is making me hate the last 3 because its making everyone else look like a pussy.
Well to be fair the last 3 are already dead. So of course they can't compete against Hokuto No Ken.
Robotech
*ducks*
Do you mean, Macross "northeamerican version"? o_O
Nope.
Thank God
Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Cased Closed.
Sailor Moon.It was the start of my Mahou Shoujo fetish.
wheres Astroboy? T_T
In my childhood it was mainly Astroboy, and the Galaxy Express 999 movie. Eventually Samurai Pizza Cats. Anime was once quite rare and unknown as such...
Then around high school I otakued out when I discovered Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura.
hohoho, i love it, manga was the one i read though..
No Finn has yet mentioned Tanoshii Moomin ikka? It's a classic here, and every generation of kids love it.
Tanoshii Moomin Ikka was not Finnish, only similar. I am Finnish-born, and i think the actual Moomin is best as "manga".
Dragonball Z for being my gateway anime.
Cowboy Bebop and it's ending theme though are what inspired me to learn Japanese. So I would say this was a huge factor in my life decisions.
Oh my fucking god I can't believe I forgot Cowboy Bebop on my list The Real Folk Blues was and or is probably my most memorable anime ED, Cowboy Bebop influenced me by it's clashing themes of old west meets space opera meets gang noir film meets excellent jazz soundtrack, (Cowboy Bebop seems ridiculous on paper but miraculous on screen) it's non-happy MC death (Spikes death was beautiful in build-up and execution) imperfect love (more realism than most anime go into, less focus and more mystery. Julias tragic death) betrayal, death, drugs, the list goes on and on Cowboy Bebop has influenced my work in many aspects especially Vicious and Spike in particular
I'd have to say "Vampire Hunter D". That movie was pure cool, pure favorite.
It really confused me and a lot of others that there was no "Vampire Hunter D" manga to import and have translated...
Finally, due to popularity, the books were translated and a Manga was made. I really like the mangas, because they have the history and both movies to work from. The books are good, but there's too much "All your base" stuff coming through.
What I'd really like to see is have them re-do a volume or two and hire the ULTIMATE hack. No, not Steven King, "Harlan Ellison". Lock him in a room with the books, the movies and figures, manga and video games with tons of chips and liquor. He'd be banging to get out the first few days "Are you trying to KILL ME!?" but then to get released he'd sit down and churn out something that'd be so awesome we'd have people illegally importing it back into Japan like Adam Warren's "Dirty Pair" comics. Just pay him up front so he isn't suing anyone downloading it:-)
Once he spends that money trying to sue more people "Sharing" his work, have him come back and do the same thing for "Shamanic Princess" which IMHO needs a translation/Manga treatment also, but only by a writer that can pull it off.
-----There are other influences:
Fist of the North star, of course.
Never saw StarBlazers or Robotech, and the "Saturday Morning" stuff was contract work by Japanese studios so only by the hand that painted the cells Anime.
I saw "Warriors of the Wind" earlier and really loved it despite a racist/cultural paranoid attitude I'd developed when I was younger that thankfully I grew out of. ("The Japanese are buying us up! You'll have to commit seppiku if you get an "F" on your report card!") Obviously, I didn't know how much the creator hated that edit... Kind of the same with "Wizards" because Mark Bode pointed out it basically made it impossible that "Cheech Wizard" would ever be animated by a major studio due to the film...but before the internet I thought it was a film based on Bode's stuff (which I had limited access to) and was awesome!
voltus V , mazinger, getter robo for me.. ahh those sweet memory..
btw.. if women in japan influenced by candy2.. how come they become so money craving? ..ahh forget.. the man she loved is a prince( correct me here?)
astroboy, spaceace, gigantor. I would have thought they would have put the 60's stuff.
sadly, there weren't many anime in my country at the time, and back then they were best...
first one that i remember was Bosco Daiboken, and it was dubbed in Serbian like a masterpiece :)
the others were Robotech, GallForce: Eternal Story, and Mado King Granzort.
oh yeah, how can i forget Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs :D those were good times :)
Why didn't any people who where childrens in the 80's liked manga from 90's and 00's when they where kids!!!!
Trigun for me, idk what year is it from, all i know is it got remastered and is gonna get a movie :3
I loved Trigun and it was a huge piece of my childhood but it wasn't really influential to me.
Don't know if any of these influenced me or not but,
Speed Racer, Sailor Moon, DB/DBZ, Digimon, Pokemon, Medabots, and possibly a few other ones. Of course these were all the english releases.
Actually I guess they probably did at the time but I don't think any of it lasted.
Gundam and Candy Candy are the shit.
My largest influences for my aspirations would be cartoons first, then my dad (who has always been in the entertainment industry; having your dad be one of the higher-ups of Nickelodeon sure helped), and then my mom (who is also quite artistic).
I blame Lum.
Urusei Yatsura set me down this terrible path...
Lum was my gateway drug also.
The only thing I blame her for tho is my unfulfilled fantasy.
Need a girl cosplaying as Lum, calling me "Darling" and shocking my ass (or balls) with a cattleprod as I nut. Give me those love Zaks!
Hell, snatch the lamp off the cord and mainline me to the outlet, 110 for the win! I want to know how Ataru feels!
I would like to say the same as you, except those electrical shocks, unless Lum was giving them while sleeping. You know her and her dreams.
Looks like Toriyama did pretty well in the eighties with DB and Dr. Slump. Not that I didn't know that already :P
Mine was Captain Tsubasa. :D
Pokemon for me. It gave me the initial drive to learn Japanese.
Then Cardcaptor Sakura - that pushed me over the edge to learn Japanese.
Mirai wa shounen conan/Future Boy conan reruns definitly... laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanaaa~
Detective Conan...Even now I still want to be a detective
Pokemon forever. It was the first ever anime I watched.
And there is still no ‘official couple’ (so to speak) (-_-)'
well ash X brock is the one.. though not areal kid couple :p jessieXjames?
Dragonball series never fails to amuse me.They are simply amazing during those times. G Gundam is one of my favs too.No matter how you see it its still shining finger
Guess I'm still young considering, Dragon Ball Z for me.
Macross/Robotech,Voltron ,Gundam ,Tenchi Muyo and anything by Leiji Matsumoto.
What ever happend to samurai pizza cats?
Doraemon for me!
Macross, Voltes V, and Daimos were the most influential animes in my childhood ^_^
Most influential would be Pokemon and Dragonball Z for me in the mid/late 90's.
Mine would be `Peter Pan no Bouken` and `Gundam Wing`.
There were still a lot from my childhood that carved my imagination and who I am...
Some of it:
Yaiba
Princess Sara
Saber Marionette
Bt'x
Zenki
Dragon Ball
Akazukin Cha Cha
Ninja Robots
Maya the Bee
Yuyu Hakusho
You're under arrest
Samurai X
Cyberteam in Akihabara
Mojako
Evangelion
Mazinger for me
Detective Conan and Slam Dunk shaped my childhood
Queen's Blade. It's the epic tale of friendship and love!
Bugs Bunny taught me how to be a smartass and Fred Flintstone taught me how to be (or not) a dumbass. Yeah, I 'm considerably older than most of you here. There was Speed Racer, but it really didn't compare well with the full-motion animation coming from California. Later on, Bebop and Furi Kuri caught my attention. Sorry, but NO Pokemon please. Guess I'm kind of an outsider around here...
VOLTRON! VOLTRON! VOLTRON!
hmm probably:
yu yu hakusho
dragonball
doraemon
chibi maruko chan
ah, do i miss them(yes i do)
Ashita No Joe, Lupin III, Tsurikichi Sanpei, Hokuto no Ken totally!
Heidi, Sailor Moon, Maja the Bee, Kimba, that futanari Prince/ss, Calimero, a kid with his fat blue cat named Juliano, Dragon Ball. A bit later Nadja and the Blue water, Powerstone, Ranma 1/2, and Pokemon. out of all, I'd say Dragon Ball followed by Sailormoon.
Macron 1 -> Guyver -> Akira -> SailorMoon -> Evangelion
lol a lot of different anime = different ages
mine are sailormoon and gundam wing.
Guyver and Devil man they were the most bloody things i ever watched back when i was a kid, i got them by mistake from someone, and the first thing i ever tried to do after watching guyver is trying to split my own chest apart.....
captain tsubasa!!!!
I like how they state being influenced by Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star), but grew up to be adult sissy virgins :)
Shin-chan!!
For me it was Dragon Ball and Pokemon. A little bit of Gundam Wing every now and then as well/ There may be more, I just forget.
Cheyya North Star ftw
Hell yeah, Fist of the North Star. It's the panacea to male girlishness.
If i was grown up in Japan, being as old as i am now in reality, i would say URUSEI YATSURA. I believe it was THE MOST INFLUENTIAL anime ever. Ask from the most experienced kantoku in anime production, and you will hear that.
It´s original creator is Takahashi Rumiko, if younger ppl doesn`t know. She has created many important titles in her manga, most of them are genuine classics. Her Inu Yasha is currently running as anime, and Rinne is her new manga.
Dragon ball?
I think that I had several early milestones.
Macross and the Original BubbleGum Crisis,
but looking back upon things now, I think that the most influential anime for me was...the original "GunBuster". Laugh and mock if you will, of which
I have no doubt SanCom will, but that is my choice.
Digimon.. and Ghost at school lol.. I love horror..
mine was Dragonball,Doreamon & Cardcapter sakura
Mine was Skip Beat.
YOU WA SHARK!!!
the gundam is the shit old fucking school
Where is Slam Dunk?
Must be an older crowd...
Why has nobody mentioned Rapeman? I'm sure that inspired most of the people here.
mine was gakuen alice, it changed my life alot :3
Me --> KAMENRIDE: KAMEN RIDER!!!!!!!!! XD Can't help it, you know.
Nausicaa
japanese Video games like The Legend of Zelda and pokemon (watched anime too)
The greatest anime/manga influence happens during our tweenage years for most of us. Problem is for people living outside Japan, they have no choice but to watch whatever that's being aired on TV at that time. Unfortunately, that leads to fans growing up with the false pretense that the anime that gains the most airtime being the most "influential" of them all when there're greater anime out there.
"No license to air 'Fist of the North Star'? Lets air 'Dragonball' instead.
"No license for 'Evangelion'? Lets give them 'Sailormoon' instead.
"No license for 'Hajime no Ippo'? Nevermind. Give them 'Naruto' then."
OK. Maybe some that were aired were great, but you get my point. Other reasons could be due to questionable content such as political/religious ideology, sexuality, violence, etc.
It's only when we grow older into the age of the Internet that we realize how much we'd missed. Sure, there're reruns, DVDs, etc., but I doubt they can still influence our fully-matured minds now than when we were "innocent" back then.
Don't even get me started on manga. Translations and subbers were virtually non-existent back then.