An Anime to ease me into Anime.

[Eversor]

Cowboy Bebop should be a great introduction. Such amazing series.

 

[RyderJ]

Cowboy Bebop really is a great first one to go for to get you into anime.

Though I got into anime by watching Ghibli movies. The first "real" anime I watched was Pumpkin Scissors, though. It's a great under appreciated series.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

I know there are some great series out there. I've loved many of them, but I'm not sure which to recommend. A basic understanding of Japanese culture will improve enjoyment of almost any series, but there are some where it is less necessary. Anything by Hiyao Miyazaki would be a good start.

I'd say Full Metal Alchemist was a good series (with a really weak ending), as was Read or Die.

And if you get into it, I'd also recommend Paranoia Agent and Welcome to the NHK. Both of which pretty much deconstruct the whole Anime style.

 

[Totenkopf]

I think Devil May Cry the animated series is a good way to get into anime.

 

[A random person]

have you tried Black Cat?

Ah Black Cat, Shonen Jump's tragically unsung series. Unfortunately though, the anime is apparently quite inferior to the manga, moreso than usual manga-to-anime decay.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

EDIT:

Two more points of consideration
- If there is an Anime with any, ANY sort of Blues music in it, I MUST have it!


Blues music really rocks. It's truly a remarkable genre. So badarse.

Based on these assertions, you "might" like Baccano! It's about Immortal Gangsters in 1930's Chicago and New York.

However a warning, while Accessible in terms of plot and themes, Baccano! is "out there" in terms of narrative pacing. Essentially you follow 4 plots which are broken up and put out of sequence throughout the 16 Episode Series, there are also tons of characters and the perspective changes frequently.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

Also, if you can handle a lot of gratuitous nudity and gore you could check out Ninja Scroll. The plot isn't all that intuitive, but it has likable characters, and doesn't require too much of a primer. It also gets points for having some great action and a satisfying ending.

Also good on action (but weak everywhere else): Noein.

 

[escapistrules]

try bleach,i have always liked it.

watch it in Japanese, i find it better that way.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

Hellsing. It will also be a good way to see some real vampires. The vampires are in a far too bright era for them ever since Mayers made them sparkle. It's also not a very long anime so even if you dont't really like it you could still watch the whole thing before losing interest.

 

[dillirgaf]

Look up "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann". Great story, awesome action.
Also the first part of Soul Eater is worth watching. Really funny.

 

[Aptspire]

I'd go with Ghost In The Shell
it has a bit of a futuristic Tom Clancy feel to it

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

Okay, here is a list of anime you should start with.

Anime Movies;

Ninja Scroll
Giant Robo
Macross Plus
Akira
Black Lion
and everything from Studio Gibli

Anime TV Series;

You're off to a good start with Cowboy Bebop so here are more recommended tv series for you to watch.

One Piece
Go Lion
Yu Yu Hakusho
Ranma 1/2
Street Fighter 2 V
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Fooly Cooly or FLCL

Whatever you do don't start renting these animes till you see an episode of it in the middle of the series because you may not like it and think ill of any more recommendations. Also, DON'T WATCH ANYTHING NEW till you've at least watched three classic anime tv series or one classic anime movie. Happy anime watching to you.

 

[dthvirus]

Haruhi Suzumiya got me to dive into anime. Fifteen animes later, I am barely surfacing because of Borderlands.

Sucked me in like a [obscene Zero Punctuation reference].

 

[MasterSplinter]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I´ve got to say. Death note and Vampire Knight are some GOD AWFUL first anime recommendations.

Also some series like evangelion are kinda overrated, and jumping right into something like bleach or some other long series is a bad move altogether.

I seriuosly recomend the folowing:

I see PedroSteckecilo already recommended "baccano!", all I have to add is that it is a very short anime, 13 episodes. I say that as a plus because it could be overwhelming to start on anime with a long series.

Also I see you are keen on Cowboy bebop that's a great anime, kinda like a anime version of firefly (except it was before), it has self concluding episodes so the bigger plot takes a little time to take off.

Full Metal Alchemist, now, I haven't seen the new "FMA brotherhood", but this is a GREAT starters anime, it nearly hasn't got any annoying cliches most anime does (like Evangelion for example), it has a very good character development and the story just keeps pulling you in. It's a bit long, 51 episodes and a movie but it is worth it.

Black Lagoon, 25 episodes. This has more of those cliches I mentioned before but it is pants on head stupid action packed fun.

Samurai Champloo 26 episodes. Kinda like in the same category as black lagoon, but with samurais and hip hop soundtrack, it has better character development but the anime is kinda aimless if you think about it.

Golden boy, 6 episodes. If you want to laugh a little.

And the big one, the anime series that don't seam to be anime at all, Monster. It 74 episodes long but it put's them to well use.

If after any of these you are getting the taste of it, I recomend gantz, although I should warn it´s a little explicit, with sexual and violent content.

Also a bit of advice, if you are starting I would recomend to stay away from anything form the animation company "Clamp" and quite possibly "gainax"(not that they are any bad, it´s just a little harder to get into them as easily) if you want to see reviews searh for them over here, http://myanimelist.net/ it's pretty complete and it's designed for it, not like wikipedia.

Also, DON'T WATCH ANYTHING NEW till you've at least watched three classic anime tv series or one classic anime movie. Happy anime watching to you.

I completely disagree with that comment(and with that list ¿FLCL for starters? ¿seriously?), you can see whatever you want. AS long as you follow the chronology of each series (don't start by a second or third season of any given anime if you can start by the first).

 

[CrazyGirl17]

You like Jazz, huh? Then Cowboys Bebop is defiently your thing. I also recommend Spirited Away (and pretty much anything else by Hayo Miyazaki), as well as Pokemon, Digimon, Slayers, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagan, Death Note, and (if you don't mind subtitles, since it's not in the US yet) Axis Powers Hetalia.

Though if you would like to see some anime-esque shows to help you get settled in, then I highly recommend the following: Samurai Jack, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and/or Megas XLR.

 

[xavierxenon]

So this is basically babies first anime, right? How about Bleach or Naruto seeing as those are anime for peeople who don't know anime.

And seriously, another week another damn recommend me an anime thread. Just go through the others, everyone always says the same thing anyway.

 

[Marowit]

Cowboy Bebop is what got me into Anime.

Samurai Champloo (by the same people) is great. I'd recommend those.

 

[Sovvolf]

Ghost in the Shell is pretty good, I don't really watch Anime (not my cup'o tea to be honest) but Ghost in the Shell is brilliant. Good understandable(compared to most anime) story, brilliant song and brilliantly drawn.