Do you guys have any particular memories of your first manga experience(s)? I remember walking into Barnes and Nobles as a wee little lad, and asking one of the kind store ladies where the “anime” section as. She told me that it was called manga, and guided me to the proper section. I still remember going every so often with my mom, it was magical every time. I can’t even remember how many times I re-read the first volume of One Piece.
I first got interested in American comics. As it was UK and a few years before Pokemon was released, they were only sold as specialist comics stores, which weren’t too common, so I subscribed to a mail order service who had a monthly catalogue for all the new releases. They had all the manga towards the back, and it intrigued me because it looked so different from everything else. I ended up losing interest in American comics and reading manga exclusively after a few months.