Getting Started: Anime and Manga

Alright! The first thing I'm going to talk about is how I got started.
I'm not totally sure when I first became interested, but it mostly happened only two or three years ago. It started with Anime and Manga. I loved to read and watch them in my free time and found it all greatly entertaining. I was rather interested in the culture after awhile and a big turning point for me was when I read "Sunshine Sketch". It's a very adorable manga packed with lots of Japanese culture. I loved it and wanted more! Since then I've read all sorts of Manga and found great websites for Anime!
Anime and Manga has its downsides of course. There's a lot of sexual content if your not careful. Not that I'm affected by it, (I just ignore or skip it) I just wanted to warn my younger readers. If your under thirteen then I suggest you stick to any Manga rated A for all ages.(Ratings should be on the back of book) What I like to do is research a tad before I start a new Anime and with Manga read inside the first or second page. (Most have the rating and why)
For those of you interested in Anime I suggest two sites!
http://www.crunchyroll.com/
This is probably the best! Almost all the videos are free and they have a massive selection! I use this for the majority of my Anime.
http://www.vizanime.com/
Not as wide of a selection, but from what I've seen everything is free. I don't use this as much, but it has a couple shows I follow.
Oh! Youtube! If you can't find a certain anime on either site then try finding it through Youtube! Funanimation has a good selection as well!
Now, if you've already peeked at these sites then you may have noticed something. They are all Japanese. Yes, there is no English dub on these sites. There are subtitles though, so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding what's going on. The reason I love these sites so much though, is because I learned a lot of Japanese from watching shows! Even if your not concentrating on repeating and memorizing every word they say it will still rub off. It's almost like Japanese immersion with subs!
If you still want the anime in English, well then you can try Netflix.
So for starters I suggest reading Manga and watching Anime! If you really get into it, then continue on!
If anyone requests it I'll write a list of some that I loved!

~Mina