Lmfao this is funny af to
@kekaro's point this makes me look like I'm from a prehistoric time.
But to answer your question. It's a pure love of the game. Cartoon cable/satellite channels, cartoon network, toonami, adult swim etc. would be playing shows like DBZ, Yugioh, Rurouni Kenshin on a scheduled time.
How I figured manga existed is by going to my local library and finding volumes of them. Then I would order them from other libraries if I ran out of volumes. That's how I read the entire frieza saga.