What's a good anime to break into anime?
- Thread starter InsipidMadness
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I thought Death Note was pretty good, I haven't seen many Cowboy Bepop episodes but i've seen enough to tell you it's cool. One Piece, however; is my all time favorite anime.
Zero no Tsukaima is not amazing, it is fucking atrocious.
Since it seems like you already know that you're interested in anime, go watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Now and Then, Here and There for top quality anime. Lucky Star is a great slice-of-life anime.
Bakemonogatari is an anime for those who like symbolism and zaniness.
Kanon 2006 and the Clannad compilation are great harem anime.
ICE is a terrible anime that you should watch in order to understand how bad things can get.
For beginners: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, Naruto.
Since it seems like you already know that you're interested in anime, go watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Now and Then, Here and There for top quality anime. Lucky Star is a great slice-of-life anime.
Bakemonogatari is an anime for those who like symbolism and zaniness.
Kanon 2006 and the Clannad compilation are great harem anime.
ICE is a terrible anime that you should watch in order to understand how bad things can get.
For beginners: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, Naruto.
U might like "Soul Eater". Some people do, but others hate it. It combines a semi serious tone, with off the wall goofy humor.
I also recommend "Darker Than Black". Not the best fights in the world(good enough IMO) but its got a good story.
Oh and Gurren Lagann. If they are male and they don't like this show then they won't like Anime at all. English dubbed is very well done. If your afraid to tell them u watch Anime on a regular basis, then just say this is the first one u have actually seen. Just watch the first 3 episodes and u will get an understanding of what it is like.
Soul Eater and Darker Than Black aren't good starters. Sorry about that, but u might like them.
I also recommend "Darker Than Black". Not the best fights in the world(good enough IMO) but its got a good story.
Oh and Gurren Lagann. If they are male and they don't like this show then they won't like Anime at all. English dubbed is very well done. If your afraid to tell them u watch Anime on a regular basis, then just say this is the first one u have actually seen. Just watch the first 3 episodes and u will get an understanding of what it is like.
Soul Eater and Darker Than Black aren't good starters. Sorry about that, but u might like them.
Hmm. The shows you listed are mostly light comedies for the young adult, perhaps slightly geeky demographic. I'm having a hard time thinking of anime like that that aren't rife with cultural jokes, Japanese wordplay, and general zaniness that would probably turn off newcomers.
The only one that comes to mind right now is Wagnaria!!: it isn't ecchi and mostly relies on the idiosyncrasies of the cast for the humor (and it has some self-awareness about their weirdness, unlike a lot of crazy anime comedies) but it's not dubbed in English, which is potentially a big problem.
MAL [http://www.crunchyroll.com/wagnaria]
I think the idea of starting with a movie might be good, especially if time or convenience is an issue. It also has the advantage that movies generally have better animation budgets, so almost any one you pick will have a wow-factor from that alone. The drawback to that is that anime movies almost have more in common with regular movies than they do with TV anime, so liking one isn't really the same as liking the other. Still, I suppose the point is to ease them in.
The movie I'm thinking of for this is Grave of the Fireflies The Girl Who Leapt Through Time / Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. It's excellent with good pacing and balance between comedy and drama. It has a scifi-lite plot with time travel but is mainly a coming-of-age story for the tomboy main character, so it should have wide appeal. Best of all, it has a very good English dub!
MAL [http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The-Girl-Who-Leapt-Through-Time/70108975]
The only one that comes to mind right now is Wagnaria!!: it isn't ecchi and mostly relies on the idiosyncrasies of the cast for the humor (and it has some self-awareness about their weirdness, unlike a lot of crazy anime comedies) but it's not dubbed in English, which is potentially a big problem.
MAL [http://www.crunchyroll.com/wagnaria]
I think the idea of starting with a movie might be good, especially if time or convenience is an issue. It also has the advantage that movies generally have better animation budgets, so almost any one you pick will have a wow-factor from that alone. The drawback to that is that anime movies almost have more in common with regular movies than they do with TV anime, so liking one isn't really the same as liking the other. Still, I suppose the point is to ease them in.
The movie I'm thinking of for this is Grave of the Fireflies The Girl Who Leapt Through Time / Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. It's excellent with good pacing and balance between comedy and drama. It has a scifi-lite plot with time travel but is mainly a coming-of-age story for the tomboy main character, so it should have wide appeal. Best of all, it has a very good English dub!
MAL [http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The-Girl-Who-Leapt-Through-Time/70108975]
I personally started with FLCL (or fooly cooly or one of the other million spellings that are floating about the interwebs). It's relatively short (only 6 episodes) but features some awesome music. It still is one of the craziest and funniest anime I've seen. It may be a bit too weird to be an introduction to anime, though.
If you're looking for a full length movie I'd suggest Perfect Blue. It's definitely 18+ though (some sexual content and a tense atmosphere throughout). It's awesome though. It really shows how mature anime can be and the complicated themes it can explore. Also, I found it to be just plain haunting. I watched it with some friends who weren't into anime and they loved it.
I think someone else already said this, but Death Note is a great way to get started. It somehow has a great Western appeal. My boyfriend is no big anime-fan but he still greatly enjoyed watching Death Note with me.
If you're looking for a full length movie I'd suggest Perfect Blue. It's definitely 18+ though (some sexual content and a tense atmosphere throughout). It's awesome though. It really shows how mature anime can be and the complicated themes it can explore. Also, I found it to be just plain haunting. I watched it with some friends who weren't into anime and they loved it.
I think someone else already said this, but Death Note is a great way to get started. It somehow has a great Western appeal. My boyfriend is no big anime-fan but he still greatly enjoyed watching Death Note with me.
Im a Rookie (lol) when it comes to anime, the only ones I've had the privelage of watching are One Piece and dragonball (Seriously like OP), but seriously, forget anime! My little pony: Friendship is magic is where its at! (Joke, Unless you want to)
:3
:3
I'm sure someone has said this before, but I would say Avatar: Legend of Aang. It's an anime made by Nickelodeon, but animated in South Korea. It takes a huge influence from ancient Chinese legend, so it has a great feel to it and the animation itself is top notch. But since it was penned by Nick it's still very accessible to people who may be put off by the strangeness of Japanese (or other) animes. It also happens to be one of the best animes out there.
Depends on the person, but theyre are two diametrically opposed series that can basically cover the whole spectrum together
The first, would be Cowboy Bebop, its highly westernized, not too alien, easy to get into at any point due to it being largely episodic and let's not forget, fucking FANTASTIC. For fans of action and sci-fi, probably a male audience between the ages of 13 and like 60 this is perfect
The second would be Azumanga Daioh, this is probably the most accessible comedy out there because none of the jokes are references to pop culture, otaku exclusive or just that brand of FUCKING WIERD that makes anime kinda strange to the outsider. This is perfect for people who aren't into the whole action thing and prefer comedy. Probably a female audience between maybe 10 and 40ish
The first, would be Cowboy Bebop, its highly westernized, not too alien, easy to get into at any point due to it being largely episodic and let's not forget, fucking FANTASTIC. For fans of action and sci-fi, probably a male audience between the ages of 13 and like 60 this is perfect
The second would be Azumanga Daioh, this is probably the most accessible comedy out there because none of the jokes are references to pop culture, otaku exclusive or just that brand of FUCKING WIERD that makes anime kinda strange to the outsider. This is perfect for people who aren't into the whole action thing and prefer comedy. Probably a female audience between maybe 10 and 40ish
Hmmm... I probably should've named this thread,
"I already have a list of anime I need to watch, why not triple it xP"
Seriously, I really appreciate the answers; they brought a few out of context things to mind I wasn't aware of. That said, there were a few conflicting answers which I suppose I'll leave to my own discretion, but there was a fairly common consensus as well. I now have several items I need to look up, but at least I have a fairly sizable list to work from
Plus it's nice to have another opinion that agrees/disagrees with self bias in anime.
"I already have a list of anime I need to watch, why not triple it xP"
Seriously, I really appreciate the answers; they brought a few out of context things to mind I wasn't aware of. That said, there were a few conflicting answers which I suppose I'll leave to my own discretion, but there was a fairly common consensus as well. I now have several items I need to look up, but at least I have a fairly sizable list to work from
Plus it's nice to have another opinion that agrees/disagrees with self bias in anime.
It really depends on your friends' personalities, largely because you know as well as the next person that anime is like any medium and has a certain breadth of genres though of a slightly different ilk than other popular media of nerddom, and their opinions of certain series can be pre-determined by their own prejudices. For those who don't know about anime (at all) or about Japanese culture, but don't want anything heavy, you are quite limited in the number of titles that you can watch.InsipidMadness said:
Unfortunately, pretty much all the titles I had in mind are of the 'heavy' sort (Gankutsuou, Le Chevalier D'Eon, Haibane Renmei, Gunslinger Girl, Ergo Proxy, Sky Crawlers and a few others that are closer in feel to being western productions only with a Japanese voice casts - I watch raws for the most part).
I can only really recommend what not to get them to watch: harem; the looooooooooooong series (most of the reasons for anime-hate stem from them); fight anime; series based mostly on Japanese traditions and culture (unless they're actively curious about it); fanservice heavy series; and shoujo.
Without really knowing much about your friends, I can't give too accurate a recommendation. For now, though, action series based in a western world environment seems the best way to go and the only one the comes to mind is Code Geass (intelligent enough to be considered deep, but no so much that it is disengaging, though those new to anime may be wary about CLAMP designs). Other than that... Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop (start them off with Knockin' on Heaven's Door... that film is bitching).
First of all, avoid moe at all costs. For someone who doesn't know shit about anything Japanese, moe is the last thing they'll enjoy. Also, (generic) harems are the cancer of the anime world. And Kugimiya Rie tsunderes, avoid those too.
It has been listed a bazzilion times already, but Death Note is what got me into anime, and it has an English dub if your friends don't like subs. I do recommend letting your friends watch subbed anime though, because a lot of great shows don't have and will most likely never get dubs. And people tend to stick to what they know and prefer.
Well, any recommendation I had has been listed numurous times already, so I'll just go ahead and give my awesome opinion on what listed choices I disagree with.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni:
I believe the character designs may be a turnoff for some, and the pacing in the beginning is too slow. Remember that slow pacing is bad thing on itself, and especially when introducing someone to it.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei:
How can you recommend this to someone who doesn't know jack about Japanese culture? Satirising Jap culture is the entire base of the comedy, I don't see how this is an option.
It has been listed a bazzilion times already, but Death Note is what got me into anime, and it has an English dub if your friends don't like subs. I do recommend letting your friends watch subbed anime though, because a lot of great shows don't have and will most likely never get dubs. And people tend to stick to what they know and prefer.
Well, any recommendation I had has been listed numurous times already, so I'll just go ahead and give my awesome opinion on what listed choices I disagree with.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni:
I believe the character designs may be a turnoff for some, and the pacing in the beginning is too slow. Remember that slow pacing is bad thing on itself, and especially when introducing someone to it.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei:
How can you recommend this to someone who doesn't know jack about Japanese culture? Satirising Jap culture is the entire base of the comedy, I don't see how this is an option.
I might be best to start them off with a movie, something a little light on the "crazy":
Ninja Scroll
Ghost In the Shell
Metropolis
Memories
Spriggan
And from there you could gently ease them into a Cowboy Bebop or Fooly Cooly.
Ninja Scroll
Ghost In the Shell
Metropolis
Memories
Spriggan
And from there you could gently ease them into a Cowboy Bebop or Fooly Cooly.
It's been said already, but I'd second showing them a movie (or even an OVA) over an actual series, since the quality is typically better and because it gives them a short glimpse of a full work of anime, rather than having them watch a 24-episode series, in which you might be telling them "Don't worry, it gets better at episode x" for as many as twelve episodes.
Depending on what they watch already, you could try:
- 5 Centimeters Per Second
- Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0
- Ghost in the Shell
- Sword of the Stranger
- Akira
- Grave of the Fireflies
- Blood: The Last Vampire
- Batman: Gotham Knight
for OVAs:
- Appleseed
- Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark
- Read or Die
Depending on what they watch already, you could try:
- 5 Centimeters Per Second
- Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0
- Ghost in the Shell
- Sword of the Stranger
- Akira
- Grave of the Fireflies
- Blood: The Last Vampire
- Batman: Gotham Knight
for OVAs:
- Appleseed
- Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark
- Read or Die
I feel as if you should be able to answer this no problem. You know which genre of shows they already watch, correct? find an anime which represents that genre and start showing off. There is more than enough animes out there to even present them with several shows. If you know your friends well enough, then picking out a couple animes should be pretty simple.InsipidMadness said:
Try to avoid something that is really heavy with japanese cultural references or references to other anime.
Just go with Baccano, its fun has a great story,interesting and diverse characters and anyone can pick it up and fun with it unless you hate fun...
Just go with Baccano, its fun has a great story,interesting and diverse characters and anyone can pick it up and fun with it unless you hate fun...
First of all, don't be afraid. Second of all, I would recommend "Angel Beats!". It's an excellent anime. It has good action, it's funny, it's INCREDIBLY deep, it's got a story simple enough to satisfy the casual watcher, but complicated enough to get people really thinking, and the characters are just fun.InsipidMadness said: