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The Right Anime to Start Out With


RepentantSky

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I saw a list not too long ago that suggested 35 anime that you should show someone who's new to the medium, and while some entries made sense, they had things in there like Paranoia Agent and Gintama and Free! and even Food Wars. They even suggested Dargonball Z, and if you saw a post I made in a thread not too long ago, I made a case for why Dragonball is better for that.

 

I thought to myself, that seems a bit extreme, Paranoia Agent's opening might dissuade someone from anime on it's own despite how compelling it is when Little Slugger is just killing people who are emotionally unstable or traumatized, but then the sort of fantasy in a modern setting kicks in for the second half of the anime, it only opens up the deep rabbit hole of how weird anime can be. It only gets worse with Free! and Food Wars because the over sexual nature of kids in high school that swim and the most literal version of food porn that has ever existed come into play. You really get yourself into a place where the medium is meant more for fans who can deal with a flamboyant character who may or may not be your enemy in a thong at a public beach for no real reason in one scene at that point.

 

So with in mind, they covered anime for Action, Romance, Drama, Mystery, Comedy, Hot Guys/Girls, "If you think anime is for kids", Sci-fi, and if you have no idea what they like, and I think we can do better. So, for fun, let's put our heads together and suggest at least 35 anime we can basically agree on for these genres. I'll break the Ice and start.

 

For Action anime, the first thing that comes to mind is One Punch Man, and that's kind of an odd choice but there reasons for it, namely because the action is really good when it's good, and there's a lot of comedy that anime fans will understand, and a lot that you don't have to be a fan to get. For example, there's the joke that the sidekick is never as powerful or reliable as the main character, and despite the fact that the MC is actually super buff, he's rarely drawn that way, poking fun at the fact that almost all other action heroes muscles take to center stage as much as MC themselves. That kind of humor is easy to understand, and also really easy to explain without being intrusive to one's watching experience, just in case they miss one of those jokes. For something a little more subtle, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple works as well. although it's lacking in comedy, kind of removing the ability to hit multiple birds with one stone.

 

For Romance, that's hard but my best pick is probably They are My Noble Masters. It's kind of a weird anime that mixes action, some drama and and an actual episode all about the head butler training the MC in both the ways of being a Butler and fighting at the same time, but it's so on point at getting a good feeling for the ways a relationship might happen. A good second choice would be Hanasako Iroha, but it doesn't focus on the romance aspect as much.

 

There's obviously more I can suggest, but this thread is getting long and I want to hear your ideas. Suggest as many anime for as may on this list as you can, and let's try and enjoy figuring this one out, because it sounds like fun.

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I agree with your OPM pick. One of my friends who never watched anime picked it up and heavily enjoyed it. Anyway I think I'm gonna have to pick my list

 

Action:

DBZ or any of the big three shounen.

I mean they're all simple enough and have enough action in them. DBZ is big enough that people who haven't picked anime know it. The big three have a lot of fights and aren't as weird as the some of the more out there shounens so I'll have to pick them.

Honorable mention FMA

I think for a first start to anime FMA is pretty good.

 

Romance:

I have never watched any single romance anime and am not planing on doing anytime soon.

 

Mystery:

This is a hard one as most Japanese mysterious end up being pretty out there. I think if someone told me to recommend a mystery anime I think I'll either go with Conan or maybe Death note?

I think I'm bad at this.

 

Comedy:

Gintama, or daily life of high school boys (that's actually the first anime I've ever watched.)

 

Sci-fi:

Gundam? That's technically Sci-fi

 

35 anime

I don't think I can get to 15 at this rate so I'll let someone else take over.

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I saw a list not too long ago that suggested 35 anime that you should show someone who's new to the medium, and while some entries made sense, they had things in there like Paranoia Agent and Gintama and Free! and even Food Wars. They even suggested Dargonball Z, and if you saw a post I made in a thread not too long ago, I made a case for why Dragonball is better for that.

 

I thought to myself, that seems a bit extreme, Paranoia Agent's opening might dissuade someone from anime on it's own despite how compelling it is when Little Slugger is just killing people who are emotionally unstable or traumatized, but then the sort of fantasy in a modern setting kicks in for the second half of the anime, it only opens up the deep rabbit hole of how weird anime can be. It only gets worse with Free! and Food Wars because the over sexual nature of kids in high school that swim and the most literal version of food porn that has ever existed come into play, you really get yourself into a place where the medium is meant more for fans who can deal with a flamboyant character who may or may not be your enemy in a thong at a public beach for no real reason in one scene.

 

So with in mind, they covered anime for Action, Romance, Drama, Mystery, Comedy, Hot Guys/Girls, "If you think anime is for kids, Sci-fi, and if you have no idea what they like, and I think we can do better. So, for fun, let's put our heads together and suggest at least 35 anime we can basically agree on for these genres. I'll break the Ice and start.

 

For Action anime, the first thing that comes to mind is the aforementioned One Punch Man, and that's kind of an odd choice but there reasons for it, namely because the action is really good when it's good, and there's a lot of comedy that anime fans will understand, and a lot that you don't have to be a fan to get. For example, there's the joke that the sidekick is never as powerful or reliable as the main character, and despite the fact that the MC is actually super buff, he's rarely drawn that way, poking fun at the fact that almost all other action heroes muscles take to center stage as much as MC themselves. That kind of humor is easy to understand, and also really easy to explain without being intrusive to one's watching experience, just in case they miss one of those jokes. For something a little more subtle, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple works as well. although it's lacking in comedy, kind of removing the ability to hit multiple birds with one stone.

 

For Romance, that's hard but my best pick is probably They are My Noble Masters. It's kind of a weird anime that mixes action, some drama and and an actual episode all about the head butler training the MC in both the ways of being a Butler and fighting at the same time, but it's so on point at getting a good feeling for the ways a relationship might happen. A good second choice would be Hanasako Iroha, but it doesn't focus on the romance aspect as much.

 

There's obviously more I can suggest, but this thread is getting long and I want to hear your ideas. Suggest as many anime for as may on this list as you can, and let's try and enjoy figuring this one out, because it sounds like fun.

Here is my list of recommendations:

.Fullmetal Alchemist

.Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

.Bleach

.Attack on Titan

.Naruto

.Naruto Shippuden

.Fairy Tail

.Mushi-shi

.Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

.Death Note

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If I were to recommend a newcomer to a few anime from different genres - here is what I would pick.

 

Action

- Attack on Titan (because everyone seems to love it)

- FMA Brotherhood (extremely solid overall)

- Nanatsu no Taizai (light-hearted, and introduces them to fanservice)

 

Slice of Life

- Hanasaku Iroha (heartwarming and has lovable characters)

- Spice and Wolf (this can also be considered as "adventure" but it still possesses good qualities a good SoL anime should have)

 

Drama

- Clannad (good to invoke deep emotions)

- ef: A Tale of Memories (good visual storytelling and compelling storylines)

 

Romance

- Kimi no na Wa (short and sweet introduction to anime in general)

- Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (great music on top of a great couple)

- Toradora (more laid back, but still possesses tense and dramatic scenes)

 

Mystery

- Steins; Gate (doesn't really focus much on the mystery aspect, but is still a good watch nonetheless)

- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (eerie, bloody and is absolutely mysterious)

- Perfect Blue (displays the level of realism anime can have)

- Another (not as good as the aforementioned, but is still decent)

 

Comedy

- Konosuba

- Seitokai Yakuindomo

 

Cute-Girls-Doing-Cute-Things

- K-On! (is cute on the surface but does tell a great coming-of-age narrative as the series progresses)

- Lucky Star (the literal definition of CGDCT)

 

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For comedy, I would add Hyakko. I don't know how well known it is, but it's super funny. It's an anime about a few girls in high school who are friends and find themselves in often funny situations. One episode is focused entirely on them trying to join a club, and the slapstick in that episode still makes me laugh pretty hard even though I've watched it many times.

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I've used Attack on Titan to introduce a few action-minded folks to anime, with great success - the combination of stellar visuals and intense music has helped to bring around a few folks who were quite certain that they had no interest in anime.

 

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade has worked for me as well, as has Steins;Gate for folks that are a bit more scifi minded. Beyond those, I think I'd go with Erased for people interested in mystery.

 

Overall, I like to start people off with things that have strong audio and visuals, strong characters and things of that sort, especially if I'm trying to win someone over who doesn't expect to like anime at all.

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  • 3 months later...

Here's an interesting article I read:

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/myanimelist.net/amp/featured/2187/What_Makes_a_Good_Starter_Anime

 

To paraphrase, it states that popularity, perceived quality among the community, strong visuals, animation, character designs and simple and unique plots are deciding example. It also uses MAL data to list a few starter anime, but I don't completely agree with the list.

Here's my list:

Death Note

Code Geass

Naruto

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

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overall shounen and comedy series always seems like a good start for anyone starting anime.

i think it's good to stick with anime that are fairly popular so they're able to converse, it also gives them a general idea of what anime is and how it is usually displayed. i personally would recommend mainstream series just because it's fun to discover underrated anime by themselves.

i also think it's fairly good to stick with more recent anime, just because new fans can be picky and dislike an anime just by art and hopefully by themselves they are able to like anime with an older style. longer anime such as naruto, one piece and detective conan can be good but drag on for too long for newer fans.

 

my personal recommendations would be

 

action

- hunter x hunter

- fma

- attack on titan (i've never watched it but many fans started with it)

- one punch man (also never watched)

 

romance

- tonari no kaibutsu-kun

- kaichou wa maid sama

- shigatsu wa kimi no uso (i'm not a fan but everyone else seems to like it)

 

comedy

- gintama

- lucky star

- nichijou

- daily life of highschool boys

 

slice of life

- spice and wolf

- bokura wa minna kawaisou

- yuru yuri

 

mystery

- hyouka

- durarara

- 91 days

- baccano

- death note

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here are some of my reccommendations for starters, or what I watched when I was a started

 

1. Highschool DXD

 

maxresdefault.jpg

 

Genres : Ecchi, Action, Romance, Harem.

 

(Not so good for kids)

 

Has about 3 or 4 seasons I forgot (maybe more)

 

===============================================

 

2. To Love Ru

 

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Genres : Action, Ecchi, Romance.

 

Also has 3-5 seasons.

 

Also a pretty good anime that I watched as one of my starting animes

 

 

 

============================

 

3. One Piece

 

thumb-1920-606263.jpg

 

Main Genres ; Action, Fantasy, Adventure (etc.)

 

One of the best anime out there in my opinion.

 

Sometimes episodes can get boring, but still really fun.

 

Episodes : 804 (New episode every week)

 

The anime is really cool, I reccommend it for everyone.

 

 

==========================

 

4. Tokyo Ghoul

 

tokyo-ghoul-kaneki-ken-mask-hd-1920x1080.jpg

 

Genres : Action, Fantasy, Gore (etc)

 

Also one of my reccommended animes, it's really cool for a starter, has two seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

========================

 

 

Sorry if I made any mistakes, these are my starting animes that I like

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Best anime to start out with? Okay, then. Here's my list:

  • Doraemon
  • Naruto
  • One Punch Man
  • Bleach
  • One Piece
  • Free!
  • Tokyo Ghoul
  • Mirai Nikki
  • Attack On Titan
  • Black Butler
  • Guilty Crown
  • Death Note
  • Fairy Tail

I'd recommend more, but I'm too busy watching anime.:P:p:p

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  • 2 weeks later...

I also have had an issue regarding goo starting anime as many of my friends eventually ask why I love anime so much and so I show them and try to convert them to one of us otaku folk.

My usual problem is that we and by that I mean I (as an otaku) forget that what we consier perfectly normal anime would often throw off newcomers who arent as open to the style of the medium and have no idea what they are getting into , no notion of the tropes, inside jokes and decades of bult up culture surrounding it so to us what seem bland and overdone like most harem series can be completely new to them and blow their fricken minds (a momnet of silence for all blown minds from the joy that is anime).

 

with that in mind my usual starters these

One punch man (modern classic)

Kimi no na wa (another modern classic)

Bakemono no ko (same)

Tokyo Ghoul (forgive me for this but for newcomers its a great one)

Yuru Yuri (cause I cant stop li=oving this series for some reason and I have to make others share my pain)

Working!! (cause its hilarious and adorable)

 

some of these rely on the tropes and overdone bits that we know love and hate but its part of the medium and they will encounter them all at some point.

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