I'm not sure if Sailor Moon or Starzinger was my first anime, but both are one of the first animes to be aired in Sweden either way. Another anime that followed as me and my best friend watched Turtles and Biker Mice from Mars was Silver Fang. Perhaps fortunately, any other version than the Japanese is heavily censored. :s
Later on, pokémon started airing.
Sailor Moon was very magical and sparkly, but the Swedish dub left a lot to be desired. The characterisation suffered a lot from this, and it seemed, overall, pretty ridiculous. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the dark undertones as a kid, and the hints of romance as well. However, the ecchi scenes were naturally completely lost on me. It didn't make any sense whatsoever when Sailor Moon met a magical tree and entered some kind of mental realm where she was naked, floating around with strange narrative and music in the background.
But when all the Sailors unleashed their powers, it was pretty powerful. It was obvious I wanted more action in my anime.
Starzinger.. probably had the worst Swedish dub of any anime. We'd laugh at that more than the anime itself, though there were some serious and dark moments as well. The characterisation was extremely stereotypical, which did give me good basic knowledge of this; I knew I'd see more of these clear-cut, simple characterisations in most anime and western cartoons.
It had, however, the same large scope as Sailor Moon; the entire universe was in danger. Difference being the heroes and heroine of Starzinger were explorers and adventurers in space. A bit like Star Trek now that I think about it. That vast feeling and sense of adventure was something new to me at the time; it wasn't something I had seen before in Swedish media. The action still left a lot to be desired though.
Pokémon was a return to the sterotypical characterisation and sense of adventure. It had a focus on building the world of Pokémon rather than plot or character-development. It had exciting moments, but there was too much comedy for me to enjoy it thoroughly. For instance, Team Rocket could've been really cool, but instead they turned into the pair of very over-the-top comic relief.
In a way, I find these three animes embody three different areas of focus: Sailor Moon is a shoujo drama where the development of the characters control the plot and flavour. Romance is an important part here, but it didn't go overboard like a lot of modern shoujos do.
Starzinger focused on the impending feeling of doom in the plot, and the goal of the heroes and heroine controlled all development. Characters didn't change at all, nor did the world; it was always very black or white, good or evil. However, it did have some moral dilemmas, which granted it some deeper meaning. Should our heroes really eradicate an entire species to save their own?
Pokémon focused completely on the world, as mentioned. The characters of Ash, Brock and Misty were almost blank slates, characterised by mostly just one trait. Ash was the promising and energetic up-and-comer, Brock was the ladies man (a clumsy one), and Misty was the tomboyish potential love interest to the hero.
Maybe I dissected media too much as a kid, but that's how I was and am. :>
