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**amachan** · October 4, 2012, 03:46 PM

I would recommend sampling at least a few shows from a variety of anime genres. Something you'd never otherwise watch in Western media might be appealing in anime. For example, I'm pretty sure I never would've bothered with a show about the daily lives of several high school girls including a grade schooler promoted to high school by virtue of being exceptionally smart, yet, Azumanga Daioh. Love it.

That being said, here are some things you might want to try:

Gundam is arguably a genre unto itself. There's almost a dozen different Gundam animes. Recommended: 08th MS Team, Gundam Wing, Gundam 0083. If you watch the original (often referred to as Gundam 0079) and like it, try Turn A Gundam, it's relatively new and has a retro art style reminiscent of 0079.

Slice of Life: Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star are pretty much tops for this genre.

Harem: Do not give up on the Harem genre before watching Tenchi Muyo! or Shuffle! or I will turn you into a cabbit. TM has sci-fi elements, Shuffle! more fantasy elements.

Fantasy, serious: Record of Lodoss War (OVA) and 12 Kingdoms. Oh, and Nausicaa. ENOUGH SAID.

Fantasy, not so serious: Slayers, Maze, Those Who Hunt Elves, Sorcerer Hunters, there's a lot to choose from here.

Fantasy/Sci-Fi hybrid: Kiddy Grade (not serious), some of the Gundam animes fall here (with varying degrees of seriousness), Outlaw Star

Fantasy, Modern: FATE/ZERO! (No really, watch it.) Also Fate/Stay Night, not as good as Zero. Angel Beats, Haruhi Suzumiya could be said to fall here, Legend of the Dragon Kings (aka Sohryuuden), 3x3 Eyes, Video Girl Ai, .hack//sign (arguably)

Sci-Fi: Most Gundam animes fall here, Bubblegum Crisis, Canaan, Saber Marionette J (Best of series, definitely very much a Sci-Fi/Harem/Comedy/Mecha hybrid)

How's that for an info dump? :p

Oh, and I didn't even mention depressing shows like Elfen Lied (Sci-Fi), Neon Genesis Evangelion (the original) (sci-fi/fantasy), and Madoka Magica. (modern fantasy/sci-fi)

**HatsuneMiku** · October 5, 2012, 08:04 AM

I have to agree with amachan's list, all of those are good animes. I can't really think of anything to add to it without having a bit more information regarding the type of things you're interested in watching. Anime has almost anything you can think of and there's so much of it that you'd never be able to watch it all.

So on that note, what do you like? What kind of things do you want to watch?

**Are451** · October 5, 2012, 09:29 AM

Originally posted by HatsuneMiku View Post

I have to agree with amachan's list, all of those are good animes. I can't really think of anything to add to it without having a bit more information regarding the type of things you're interested in watching. Anime has almost anything you can think of and there's so much of it that you'd never be able to watch it all.

So on that note, what do you like? What kind of things do you want to watch?

Good point - In non-anime TV,
I love sci-fi: Outcasts, Threshold, X-Files, Alphas, Misfits, V, Tron, Falling Skies, Sarah Connor Chronicles, etc
I also love comedy: IT Crowd, Black Books, Misfits, Mighty Boosh
In movies, I loved sci-fi and comedy genre, but also enjoyed the Kill Bill movies, Crouching Tiger / Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers
and I loved Speed Racer as a kid (animation yes, but certainly not what I'd call anime, right?) and I'll watch Kung Fu Panda with my kids ( I know it's not anime, but i don't mind kids shows if they're good)

Does that help?

**amachan** · October 5, 2012, 10:34 AM

Speed Racer is an anime. It originated in Japan. ;) If you like the style, you may like other older animes from the 70s/80s/early 90s.

I think you'll do fine in the world of anime. There is a wide variety of stuff available, wider than "normal" TV.

If you like IT Crowd, then once you get a few animes under your belt, I'd heartily suggest Genshiken. It's kinda like IT Crowd, but instead of being about IT guys, it's about otaku.

There's one anime that I, in an unforgivable error which means I must now commit seppuku, forgot to mention. Ranma 1/2. It's... a martial arts-modern-fantasy-harem-comedy-drama-gender bender mishmash of hilarity and wtfness.

Actually, let me just post this here: http://www.anime-planet.com/users/evilneko/anime
Anything 3 stars or over should be good enough. ;)

**Raum** · October 5, 2012, 11:15 AM

well first go for
1] ranma half
2]yu yu hakusho
3]fullmetal alchemist
4]death note
5] monster
well watch it in sequence then u can watch any thing u like coz u know the abcd of anime

then go for naruto AND hyped naruto shippuden
and fairy tale one piece and bleach if u like filler's lols

**Are451** · October 5, 2012, 11:16 AM

Thanks! Looks like I know what I'm doing this weekend after I mow the lawn & play with the kids....

**tinytinyTIMMY** · October 5, 2012, 08:42 PM

I made an earlier post which outlines a few of my favorite anime... Number one being Berserk, of course.

As far as "MUST WATCH", I think many of Hayao Miyazaki's works fall under this category. Three of my favorites: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, & Howl's Moving Castle.
You'll often hear these described as "Disney" style movies--and actually, I think Spirited Away might be a Disney collaboration. The great thing about Miyazaki are that his films are incredibly entry level and enjoyable for pretty much all ages. Definitely don't be afraid to watch these with your family.

If you want something a bit more "edgy", try Akira, an incredibly famous anime that EVERY anime watcher should see or have already seen at some point. It's anime's like this that caused people like me to keep watching! This is not for kids by the way, and contains some pretty intriguing philosophical questions.

Did you like the philosophy and mind-fuckery in Akira? Move right on to Ghost in the Shell... Seriously, any of them are awesome, I've seen them all, I love them all.

Something less heavy and just enjoyable? Another one of those "gateway" anime: Cowboy Bebop. It's an adventure, and if you find yourself loving the freakin' amazing soundtrack, characters, plot, etc, then move right on to Samurai Champloo,

Rather than recommend anime's that I've already recommended elsewhere, I think I'll just point you in the direction of MyAnimeList.net, probably a pretty good place for your to go after you've gotten a few under your belt and can make use of the quite useful "Recommendations" tab, which allows users to recommend similar anime.

There really is an anime to cater to any crowd, you just have to search!

**Cerberusj** · October 5, 2012, 09:17 PM

Well this is an extremely hard question to answer if you haven't picked a specific genre (it's normal but it's always tough to answer :P).

Things everybody likes are the Ghibli studio movies because it's Japanese Disney (they actually have the buena vista logo aswell, you know the castle tower thing), as mentioned above Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery service, The Cat Returns etc. etc., all instant classics.

I'm just going to mention "newer" series now, there are a TON of older series you'll definatly like (take Berserk mentioned above for instance) but its easier to relate to something modern to start out with.

I'll also skip the long shows like bleach/naruto/yu yu hakusho/inuyasha etc.. All great shows but since they have TONS of filler episodes, its just fun to step into one of those shows at any point of your time spent watching anime.

As for different genre, if you want to go for pure action i'd suggest something like Black Lagoon as a starter, it has some humor in it aswell but it's basicly just action.

Action/fantasy/comedy you'll have shows like sekirei, samurai girls and shakugan no shana.

Pure comedies are mostly the harem thingies so i'd say Love Hina and Girls Bravo,

Comedy/fantasy with a minimum amount of ecchi (cleavage shots etc.) i'd say Souleater would be fun, not very bloody or anything either just fun to watch.

Sci-fi/action i'd say the new version of Bioboosting armor Guyver (i actually started with the old version back in the 90's).

Fantasy/sci-fi/psychological i'd say Elfen Lied, has nudity and lotsa blood in it, that shows just awesome.

Fantasy/psychological thriller i'd say Death Note (not a show you easially walk away from, atleast i hear alot of people complain about it being confusing, none the less a great show.

I'm not much of a Mecha fan myself so i can't really mention any, maybe strike witches, alot of people seem to enjoy that.

Fantasy/action vampire theme i'd definatly suggest Hellsing (both the series and the OVA).

Trinity blood is a good vampire theme show aswell.

Chrno Crusade is a great comedy/action/demon theme series.

Drama, uhmm not much of a drama fan but i Clannad seems to win prizes and such so that should be good, never watched it myself.

Fantasy/action/adventure i'd say Sayuki and sequels, prequels, ova's whatever.

Bloodless violence/MMORPG based adventure i'd say the .dotHack series.

I've seen so much stuff actually flashes thru my mind real quick and it's gone again lol but this is a fair list already :P.

**sylveria** · October 5, 2012, 10:47 PM

To add to the lists above:

Cross Game (romance/drama/baseball)
Touch (romance/drama/baseball)
Kimagure Orange Road (romance/drama/comedy)
Maison Ikkoku (romance/drama/comedy)
Skip Beat (romance/drama/comedy)
True Tears (romance/drama)
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (romance/drama)
Seirei no Moribito (fantasy/adventure)
Seto no Hanayome (parody comedy/romance)
Cardcaptor Sakura (magical girl/adventure/romance)
Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (action/romance, can be enjoyed even without watching the Kenshin TV series)
Clannad After Story (romance/drama, someone already mentioned Clannad but After Story is the far superior, more dramatic 2nd season)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (fantasy/action, skip the original series and watch the superior Brotherhood, which is a more faithful adaptation of the original manga)

**kent** · October 5, 2012, 10:58 PM

You really have to see (I'd say read but you're asking for anime so :P) Berserk. Watch the original OVAs and then the newly released Golden Age Arc.

Dunno how old your kids are but I'd watch Berserk when they're not around. It's pretty brutal and there are lots of nasties that go bump in the night.

How do you feel about manga?

**melonmelonpan** · October 6, 2012, 02:18 AM

Fruits Basket :)

**Yasashina** · October 6, 2012, 02:34 AM

**huuveri** · October 9, 2012, 09:47 AM

While Sword Art Online is still ongoing (14 eps out of 25), I'd be remiss not to recommend it.

**tibberflurry** · October 9, 2012, 07:38 PM

My first anime was Bleach, so that would be pretty good to start with.
Of course, the manga is better, but you said anime.

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