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TJ Phantom’s Anime Journey

Hi, everyone! I’m TJ Phantom, but feel free to call me TJ or Phantom. I’m a passionate anime fan, and here’s my story of how I got into this amazing medium.


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How I Got into Anime

Childhood Beginnings:
My first anime experience was Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z when I was about 6 or 7 years old (2006/2007). Both were foundational parts of my childhood.

Discovering Anime:
Around 2011/2012, I realized what anime actually was and branched out with series like Bleach and Naruto.

Expanding My Horizons:
As I grew older, I explored anime like:
Blue Exorcist, Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Attack on Titan, Death Note, Code Geass, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Black Lagoon, Samurai Champloo, Hellsing Ultimate, Spice and Wolf, Steins Gate, Afro Samurai, Yu Yu Hakusho, Beck, Welcome to the NHK, the list goes on.

Other favorites: Berserk (1997), Wolf’s Rain, Durarara, Baccano, A Silent Voice, City Hunter, Great Teacher Onizuka, Mob Psycho, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected, and Darker Than Black season 1.

A Turning Point in 2016:
When my interest in video games waned, I turned to anime and experienced some incredible series.



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Sub vs. Dub: My Take

I enjoy both subs and dubs but I tend to lean more towards subs because of their consistent voice acting.

Favorite Sub Voice Actors: In no particular order

Tomokazu Sugita

Mamoru Miyano

Kamiya Hiroshi

Akira Kamiya

Takuya Eguchi

Favorite Dub Voice Actors: In no particular order

Johnny Yong Bosch

Steven Blum

Crispin Freeman

Marc Diraison (Berserk 1997)

J. Michael Tatum

Yuri Lowenthal

Vic Mignogna


I have so many favourite voice actors and actresses for anime, western animation, and video games. It would take me countless hours to type all of their names here. lol


English Dubs I Love:

Some dubs I think are as good as or even better than the subs:
Baccano, Durarara, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Death Note, Code Geass, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Black Lagoon, Hellsing Ultimate, Welcome to the NHK, Berserk (1997), Spice and Wolf, Bleach, Gurrren Lagann, Wolf's Rain, Cromartie High School, Ghost Stories, Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, and Afro Samurai.

I’m not a fan of poorly done dubs, like most of 4Kids’ work, but I appreciate that dubbing quality has improved over the years.


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My Anime Preferences

Favorite Studio: Madhouse

Favorite Japanese VA: Tomokazu Sugita

Favorite English VA: Johnny Yong Bosch


Milestones Achieved:

500 anime completed

700 anime completed

800 anime completed

900 anime completed

Goal: 1,000 anime completed



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How I Rate Anime

I base my ratings on:

Personal enjoyment

Plot/story engagement

Characters (main, supporting, antagonists)


Even my 10/10 ratings reflect how much I love a series rather than objective perfection—every show has its flaws.


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Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading my anime journey! Feel free to share your first anime and how you got into it. It’s always cool to hear others' stories.