My first anime was Speed Racer. I think I was about 5 or 6. And it was followed by Transformers and Robotech. It wasn't until I was 8 did I get to watch Akira. My mother nearly bricked when she watched it with me. She didn't know what to think of it. She had never seen a "cartoon" be so bloody or violent before.
I really got into anime after that, but living where I live it was hard to even get the normal dubbed versions of anime that played on the weekends. It wasn't until '93-'94 when Sci-Fi started to play anime on Saturday mornings that I was able to get ahold of some really good anime titles. Like Battle Angel, GITS, Bubblegum Crisis, Appleseed (1987), Dominion Tank Police, Gall Force, and so on. I think they even played Bastard! before it was pulled from the air.
Makes me wish that Anime Launch hadn't been pulled from one of the cable carriers around here. They would show most of the kiddy stuff between 6am-4pm and then start up with the teen stuff. It was from 10pm-5am that all the really bloody, sex filled and gruesome anime would be played. It also would sub them and let the regular dialog play. It was amazing. To bad it got pulled after a few months. :'(