5 shows that shaped my childhood.

Do you ever wonder how you turned out the way you did? I do. Very often. And I've come to the conclusion that the shows I watched as a kid have greatly influenced my taste in various things later on in life, even my teenage and adult years. Here are five of my fondest, most nostalgic shows, all of which were watched before I turned six:

1. Power Rangers

To be specific, I am referring to Power Rangers of the Mighty Morphin' variety. Having been brought up in Kiwiland, especially having had little interaction with other Asians up till that point, I remember being extremely chuffed when I knew that Yellow Ranger was an Asian girl. Later on I realised with amusement that Black Ranger was an African American guy, Pink Ranger was a pretty, goody-two-shoes cheerleader, and Red Ranger was the footballer. Still, while I was an innocent child, naive to the ways of the world, I was always highly entertained by the eternal struggle of good and evil, terrible special effects, and superfluous explosions.

2. Jem and the Holograms

As you can see, I think I've pretty much always had an affinity for musicians with crazy hair and outrageous costumes (hurr hurr). I also loved the notion of having earrings that cast holographic projections in order to disguise your appearance. Aside from a couple of episodes mum managed to record on video for me, I don't remember too much about this series since I watched it before I even went to kindergarten, but the flashy music videos and big hair and makeup left a huge impression on me, and whenever the theme song plays I can't help but sing along. x]

3. The Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar)

The year was 1995. I was living in Cambodia at the time - we'd moved there for a year while my father was on contract there. I recall turning on the TV just before dinner time, hoping to watch My Little Pony (yes, I'm admitting to having watched MLP as a child). I flipped to the wrong channel and got this instead. I remember sitting on the floor with my eyes wide open (and probably my mouth too) as I watched these pretty characters traipsing around in their beautiful poofy dresses (and speaking in Khmer too, which still makes me laugh today), and from this viewing experience, my love for 18th century Europe sprung forth. I still have the notebooks from that year in which I drew pages and pages of the dresses I saw in this series, but I never understood what the anime was about, since my grasp of the Khmer language was rather pitiable at the time.

4. James Bond, Jr.

I still remember the theme song of this cartoon/comic/game series, it was that cheesy memorable. Though I didn't understand the terrible puns or the logic behind all the high-tech gadgets used in the show, what I loved about this nephew of the famous Bond senior, was that all the ladies loved him. And as always, I loved the show for its good vs. evil plot, explosions, and that fencing foil cleverly disguised as a baguette.

5. The Legend of the Condor Heroes 1982 &

Return of the Condor Heroes 1983

I wasn't around when this show first aired, but my lovely grandmother (dad's mother) and fellow drama-addict recorded a bajillion 1980's Wuxia dramas dubbed in Khmer and brought them over to Kiwiland every time she visited from Oz. These two were by far my most favourite (with Heaven Sword & Dragon Saber and New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung coming in a close second). As a stupid little kid I sat there crying at Yang Kang's untimely death and all the strife his son went through because of him, and laughed at Zhou Botong's silly antics and Huang Rong's tact... And even now as an 'adult', I still do. Even though the sets and effects are not cutting edge by today's standards, I find that no other version can compare to these in terms of storytelling and gorgeous actors/actresses.