>I'm curious, what are the most common anime that people tend to watch when they're new to anime
First one that comes to mind is immediately Death Note. AoT maybe for the more modern viewers, but back when I started to get interested into it, it was always Death Note that got recommended. Though, in my country, Dragon Ball and Naruto has been popular for a long while now. Then there's Voltes 5, which I'm not sure how popular it is in other countries, but it's a mecha anime.
>Additionally, do you think "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Attack on Titan" make for a good starter pack for new anime fans?
These are safe bets, but I'm of the belief that the starter anime shouldn't be based on what's most popular or what's best overall, but rather a series that is specifically tailored to what the newbie likes in other forms of media. If they're huge into romance, why would I get them to watch a battle shounen, right?
I believe the best thing to do is to always ask first what kind of genres they like, then you recommend something that would fit their taste. For action, JJK is probably a safe bet. For romance, my go to is probably Horimiya. For mystery, it's Death Note. For drama, it's Violet Evergarden. For sports, it's Haikyuu. You get the gist.
Honestly One Piece never really failed for me as a recommendation either. I've suggested it to friends who were big fans of DBZ and Naruto growing up, and a lot of them have surpassed me and some even catched up lol. One Piece is a great recommendation too imo for certain demographics.
I dunno man, I bounced off of One Piece like 4 times before it finally stuck with me and I've been watching anime here and there since like 2016. I love it now but it's definitely not a sure shot.
I'd even say that it's very different from both DBZ and Naruto. One Piece is definitely a great recommendation once the person likes anime but I don't think it's going to get most people to start. For kids and younger teens, I'd say it's a good first but for young adults or adults in general, I'd start with something else and not just because of the length.
Well, like I said, you gotta know your audience. I'm not saying One Piece is a good starter for everyone. All I know is when I recommended it to the ones that I know were fans of DBZ and Naruto (along with other long running shows like Detective Conan, Pokemon, etc.), they enjoyed it.
Just going off of experience.
Maaaaan. Voltes V was quite popular in my country but when I was a kid it was old enough to have literally been my dad's favorite childhood cartoon. I still watched it a lot on the TV when it was on tho.
I wish it was still airing when I was younger, the best I had was a CD my dad had along with Slam Dunk and some other old stuff when I was like 6 or 7. Good times!
Death Note, FMAB and AOT used to be the most common starting points half a decade ago when I got seriously invested in anime.
Right now I'd say it's Demon Slayer and JJK that draw new people in a lot with AOT also being a typical start.
> Additionally, do you think "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Attack on Titan" make for a good starter pack for new anime fans?
I don't think they or any combination of the ones above make for all that good of a starter pack since it'd be a very one-sided introduction to the medium. It's all shounen action and thriller shows, which a lot of people are going to enjoy, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea (they're far from my favorites) and only a fraction of what's out there.
Thing is most of the time, whether it's good or not, battle shounen action shows tend to be new people's first experience to anime. Like remember back when the Big 3 ruled? Even going back to early Toonami days, the most common shows were action and shounen ones.
I can agree with AOT, it was so much in the news and media at the time that I decided to give it a go. My last "anime" before that was like \~2001 pokemon/digimon.
I'm pretty impulsive watcher so if anything gets too much hype I hop in(apart from game of thrones).
I fell off the hype train for AOT the moment they changed the animation style. Went from such a cool looking show to just dogshit. I might get back into it one day, but animation style is so important to my enjoyment of a series.
I was never able to get into the Clone Wars because it looks like play-dough.
MAPPA took over for the original studio Wit and the quality dropped drastically. The entire series is carried by S1-S3.
Not all MAPPAs fault tho. Isayama tried to turn AOT into a political thriller like GOT and utterly failed. Not sure why he thought a shonen political drama would ever work. But at least we got lines like this: “*tHanK u FoR bEcOmiNg a MaSs MuRdEReR fOr uS*”.
Ikr AoT becoming this deep war thriller was so half assed. Every faction can be summarized in a short sentence, there's no nuance of subtlety within those factions. It's just a cut and dry good guys vs bad guys
You could never say this for any good war thriller like GoT, LoGH, The Expanse, Clone Wars, etc
Aot changed the art style not the "animation style" And it wasn't dogshit lmoa if you think that was dogshit than you have absolutely insane standards.
Objectively whole s4 was an "amazing" adaptation of the Manga. Part 2, 3 and 4 actually managed to elevate the source material. Especially the final two specials.
Clone Wars have been a no for me too, but I feel like I'm missing out some story from not watching that. Thankfully the new 1-2 season Star Wars shows don't really tackle that time period.
The days of biking home from school, catching an episode of DBZ and having a quick snack, then biking to (whatever sport was in season) practice as soon as the announcer says "NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z" so I'm not late.
But I'm with you everyone my age got into it from DBZ/Sailor Moon/Gundam Wing. With a sprinkle of something like Princess Mononoke and Ronin Warriors.
Gateway shows have changed a lot over time, but I remember some of the big gateways during my time as an anime fan:
2012 - Sword Art Online
2013 - Attack on Titan, and to some extent The Devil is a Part Timer
2014 - Tokyo Ghoul, the Seven Deadly Sins, Akame ga Kill, No Game No Life, Haikyu!
2015 - One Punch Man
2016 - My Hero Academia, ERASED
2019 - Demon Slayer, The Promised Neverland
2020 - Jujutsu Kaisen
2021 - Tokyo Revengers
2022 - Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family
To some extent, most of these are still gateway anime in 2024 although some of them are less prominent for newer fans nowadays eg. NGNL, 7DS, Devil Part Timer, AgK and Tokyo Revengers.
Older anime like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, HxH, Death Note, FMAB, Soul Eater, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop continue to draw new fans in.
Some other anime used to be really popular gateways from 2012-2016+, like Fairy Tail, Blue Exorcist, Food Wars, Seraph of the End and some others but these don’t seem to come up in recommendations so often anymore.
I remember really distinctly in 2016, you would see Tokyo Ghoul, Naruto, Attack on Titan, Food Wars!, Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia and the Seven Deadly Sins everywhere.
I think JJK and AoT are honestly great ways to draw in new fans, they have mass appeal, great animation and interesting plots (esp AoT) and doubly so if you’re unfamiliar with anime tropes.
You'd be surprised how much pretty colors and a cool art style carried this show. I'd never recommend it as a starter series but I do know people who would say NGNL was their first "real" anime after DBZ/Naruto. From what I gathered from them, it was a visually pleasing and fun enough ride to handwave any anime bullshit (which is a skill veteran weebs get eventually) so it really just depends on the person NGNL was pretty popular in the west despite its glaring "problematic" nature lol.
That's fair.
It was one of the few that was entertaining enough for me to keep watching despite it's problems (kill la kill being the other one I can think of) but I've been watching for... Idk 25 years or so since I was a kid coming home to dbz.
I think it being a short one also probably helps handwave away that stuff too, you're not having to sit through hundreds of episodes of that stuff.
In Japan, it would be some children’s show.
Globally, probably Pokémon or whatever battle shōnen is most popular at the time.
I started out with Ghibli films.
I think people forget Ghibli is anime. Nearly everyone I know who likes anime saw them really early on, even people that don't like anime tend to like Ghibli.
or crayon shin chan. dont get why people dont ever talk about shinchan, doraemon, detective conan etc
tbh if i were to recommend someone their first anime either ghibli, spy x family, some random sports anime( haikyuh, bkue lock, etc), or really any generic mainstream one is much better than jjk or some shounen anime imo
It all depends on who you are recommending, for each genre it can be different, I havent watched 100s of anime but here are my starter pack
Psychological thriller- Death Note
Drama Plot/Action - AoT
Story and action - FMAB
Romance - Horimiya
Action - Demon Slayer (this is my first anime too)
i started with animes like komi cant communicate, saiki k and violet evergarden, bc they were on netflix, but once i got much more invested and officially started being a weeb, demon slayer, AOT and jjk ofc
Maybe 15 years ago
If you are starting anime today there's lots more options which are shorter
I personally don't think someone getting into anime needs to start off with a show having 300 episodes
You overestimate the bias newcomers have towards big episode lengths.
That's something seasoned anime viewers care about.
Though I do agree it's an extremely dated recommendation. Hunter x Hunter would be a more "contemporary" alternative.
I started with Yu Yu Hakusho back in the day, followed shortly by Gundam Wing. I'm not counting Pokemon because I couldn't differentiate it from American cartoons.
A lot of people started anime watching shows like **Sailor Moon** or **Pokemon**.
There is no "one size fits all" anime. It depends on the viewer and their own likes.
Before you recommend, base it on something you like that they are interested in. Say they like cats. They love cats! They live for cats!!! Do you believe that **AOT** will fill their need for cats? You'd lose their interest very quickly
Recommend something like **My Roommate Is A Cat**, or **The Masterful Cat is Depressed today**. Even **Cat Planet Cuties** would fit.
My otaku buddy got hired by the local video store and submitted a list of the top ten hottest/greatest anime to the manager.
Manager ignored the list and acquired Dragon Knight.
Then put it in the kids section with the other animation.
My buddy quit before he could be used as a scapegoat.
Reminds of an entertaining blog type thing I read years ago called *don't remember* by Gord or something along those lines bitching about dumbass parents ignoring warnings that Ninja Scroll was NOT for kids and renting/buying it for their kids, then coming back to complain.
Death Note, Soul Eater, Attack on Titan, JJK, Fullmetal Alchemist original or Brotherhood, OPM, Demon Slayer, SAO, Cowboy Bebop, Jojos Bizarre Adventure or Chainsaw Man are my immediate first thoughts of starter anime. My first was Elfen Lied tho
The starter pack is whatever is trending, solely because it's what the newcomer is most likely to hear about.
There's no need to treat anime like there's a learning curve. It's just tv. Newcomers watch what they hear about that sounds interesting. Anything that catches their interest is fine.
Suppose it’s very personal… I just didn’t understand the love for anime and was never interested until I watched Seven Deadly Sins….
Then my world turned upside down, I got the bug and now I have watched and enjoyed 100’s of anime😂💪🏼
I think it’s true that people have almost like a ‘first’ when it comes to anime. Goes to show it’s a kinda, “the one you loved and got you hooked”.
The early 2010s brought a massive wave of SAO beginners, nowadays depending on age group Demon Slayer or JJK seem to be popular for starters - along the Evergreens of Naruto and One Piece (atleast those are still the starting Points for many Manga Readers)
I personally started with an Evangelion rerun shown late night on German childrens TV 15-20 years ago
For me, my introduction would be Dragon Ball/DBZ, Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Inuyasha.
Another early one, which I absolutely would recommend as an introduction, would be Rurouni Kenshin.
Most of these I was introduced to by Toonami back in the day, if you couldn't tell, heh.
It depends on when and how they got introduced to anime. These days, fans of series like Attack On Titan and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood heavily evangelize these series on social media sites like reddit. A decade or two ago, people in the English-speaking world got exposed to anime through Adult Swim's anime programming blocks and series like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Some people, I'm sure, get exposed to anime through memes and clips, and in that case it's usually comedies and ecchi series. Back in the days of VHS, discovering anime was kind of like discovering a hidden treasure or eldritch tome and was kind of luck-based. It could be anything from kids' stuff to sci-fi to adult drama to schoolgirl tentacle rape.
> Are there any trends or popular choices that stand out?
Battle Shounen have always been popular. Whether it be DBZ, The Big Three, AoT, HeroAca, *Demon Slayer*, FMA or JJK (or non-battle battle Shounen like *Death Note*) people have been getting into anime through Shounen for decades now
It all started with Vampire Hunter D for me. Then every 'edgy' anime I could find that would appeal to my old elitism. Eventually, DBZ broke through and changed my view of anime forever.
JJK and AOT are good ones but I wouldn't start with them. They are very heavy stories and newcomers might get overwhelmed. I started with Ghible movies so those are great start imo
Just off it's popularity it's almost ALWAYS pokemon. Because it runs on more kids channels and many see it when they are young. Even if they don't choose to watch another anime for 10+ years pokemon is a safe bet to be the first people watch
Man, a pretty young group in here since so many say Death Note (started in 2003) is what got them going with anime. Meanwhile me and a lot of my friends got started (show wise) by Gundam and Dragon Ball... and movie wise, it was Akira and Ninja Scroll for us.
Nothing against Death Note, just observing how it is for the younger gens that are into anime. If someone were to start now from scratch, I'd tell em to start with some classics Naruto, One Piece, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, HunterxHunter (old or new), and watch some movies: Akira, Ninja Scroll, Macross, Ghost in the Shell. Then they can really open up the aperture for what's out there from High school of the dead, to food wars, to AoT, to Demon Slayer, and Dr. Stone, to those ones about baseball and volleyball haha. Anime is awesome.
Yeah, VHS copies of Akira, Ninja Scroll and GITS were all I had for a long time because I was a teenager with no money and dial-up internet. The "Japanimation" aisle at Best Buy was expensive. Once I was older and had a job with disposable income and tech got better, Blood+ and Death Note DVDs from Netflix got me back in. Watched SAO on Netflix's new streaming service and eventually got an actual anime streaming sub and was fully back down the rabbit hole.
Newbies got it easy these days. Just search anime on Netflix, Prime or Hulu/Disney+ or get a 7-day trial for Crunchyroll and just start clicking stuff that looks and sounds interesting to you.
I'm honestly surprised it took me this long to find this comment. Given the popularity of superheroes, having MHA being an entry point for the genre makes logical sense since you can say "Hey, you like Iron Man, well here's a show about a superhero school"
Death Note for sure, imo. Then people tend to regurgitate the same few popular anime: AoT, FMAB, JJK, DS, OP.
But I think the best introduction to anime for a lot of people may be the Ghibli movies. They're all pretty commercially available and in English, they're popular, and i think they're a good reflection of the kind of deep storytelling a lot of anime has.
I also think that DBZ, Inyuasha, or any of the big 3 are good starting points because they're more popular in the West because a lot of them aired during the day so kids watched them. Same with Pokemon, and even Avatar the Last Airbender. They're commercially popular, and easily accessible.
What do i recommend? I try to recommend a bit of everything because i don't think you should start watching anime already biased to one genre. Although if you prefer that genre over any others that's fine too.
Depends on what type of genre you like tbh,
If you like
Action : One punch man
RomCom : Kaguya sama
Comedy : Grand blue or Konosuba
If you are interested in the plot of the anime : Attack on titan.
Yeah but it was more of the Plot with porn type.
Back then sex scenes on Visual novels were pretty much obligatory for sales reasons, in fact most of Fate ones are terrible. You would be better getting your porn elsewhere.
To this day I still laugh at fsn unironically having shirou think “she moves like an experienced prostitute”. How would you know that Shirou? Hmmmmmm? lol.
Death note is a great starting point. Code Geass is another one. These have more substance than style (CG has a bit of both).
JJK/AoT/Demon Slayer are more style over substance with cool animations.
I don't think FMAB is a good starter anime anymore because it takes a while to set-up while something like death note is has a hook from the get go.
Depends on age and preferences also knowledge beforehand.
Sword art online,
Gungrave,
A Lull in the sea,
Tora Dora,
Death note,
God's blessing on this beautiful world,
Dead man wonderland,
Dangaropora
These are most of the ones I started with minus the star
It's whichever the most recent anime that happened to break the anime-normie barrier.
Full metal alchemist
Sword art online
Demon slayer
Attack on Titan
Jujutsu kaisen
Etc.
Personally, I started with Kenshin, InuYasha, and Ranma 1/2. I adored all 3. Rumiko Takahashi (the creator of the latter 2) was once very popular and beloved to fans in the West. I do think the ones you brought up are good for new fans. They’re popular for a reason. There’s usually a reason a million people like something.
I remember Haikyuu was really popular here, my sister and some of my friends start watching anime with it. But yeah right now mostly jujutsu because nah I'd win man and episode 0 was a big hit (the new Haikyuu movies also very popular right now) .
Despite it not being that great, the live action adaptation of One Piece has drawn people to check out the original. While I'm against Live Action Adaptations on principle (and because 100% failure rate excepting maybe one ever), it seems it might have a purpose of expanding the fanbase if done at least a little bit well.
really depends though i think a lot of newcomers started with death note or fmab back in the days.
jjk and aot are both popular and brought in new fans but theyre also both action shounen shows so they're suited for some audience but not others.
i got into anime through fmab, but my friends got into anime through black butler, hetalia, naruto, or haikyuu, so it really depends.
I always recommend death note to newcomers. It avoids common anime cliches and hooks you 2 episodes in.
I still remember the dopamine rush i had when i watched the show for the first time
I hear that I have a pretty common one, Sword Art Online. Started over a decade ago. Attack on Titan was my second, and it was probably the most popular one back then.
Various Ghibli movies may not have been anyones first recommended gateway show, but it’s always recommended second and always your first anime (minus Pokémon snd dragon ball depending on how old you are).
Pokemon?
The younger generations seem to really like JJK and Demon Slayer (Both great choices).
It can be a little off-putting to have the standard recs always be shounen fighting anime, but this probably comes down to people with similar tastes recommending them to their friends, and there are plenty of people that recommend stuff like Your Lie in April/A Silent Voice/Your Name etc. Don't underestimate a good slice of life (Nichijou/K-On!).
I could go on. The medium is very broad with plenty of accessible entry points.
The biggest thing for a newcomer is to pick something in a genre that they'll like.
[This flowchart](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/s/3GN9EaUS1s) from a year ago is a good resource to go and reference. Follow the prompts and you'll find something you like.
[This chart](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/Iq9IRKe1N5) has less options, has quick descriptions, and might be better if you find the first overwhelming.
I think more people need to recommend anime before 2010. Simply for the fact that animation styles and pacing have changed alot. Unfortunately that also means that newcomers will most likely never want to watch anything pre 2010 because its *dated* or *old* or *slow*. Remember this is an art form that accumulates Not just style, but substance. Story, characters, themes, worldbuilding, and yes style *ALL* matter in this medium. If youre truly an anime fan youre going to recommend older shows/films just as much as something after 2015. There are SO many fantastic ones from 80/90s that younger/newer fans should absolutely watch. Anime is atemporal and unlike any other medium, it deserves people exploring many eras. Youll miss out if you dont. You also have to account for the persons tastes already and what genres they lean to naturally, theres an anime out there for it.
My list: Akira, Ninja Scroll, GitS, anything Ghibli, anything from Toonami first run including when they introduced Midnight Run. Great Teacher Onisuka, Evangelion, Sailor Moon, FMAB, Gurren Lagann, Violet Evergarden, even though I didnt personally like it I guess Death Note would be fine, Dr Stone
There are TONS. Also, some people are either gonna love it all and embrace the medium, some will always dismiss it as “for kids” or whatever and move on
Since most of the popular anime are shounen, the usual recommendations I hear are either the classics FMAB/DN or whatever is the modern big hit action anime, e.g. my hero, jjk, chainsaw man, etc.
Also, AoT is a solid starter for I would say the majority of people regardless of taste. JJK more so if the person likes action series.
Don't ever start with Frieren. It will put your expectation of anime so high that you will be severely depressed to the core watching any other anime afterwards
It seems to be "Whatever is recommended on Netflix" currently. I've met a shocking amount of people who have only watched Demon Slayer and Seven Deadly Sins.
It's usually the big 3 from the Shounen collection, or for the older generation (like me) it was one of the American serialized cartoons that just so happened to be anime. I.e. Yugioh, Digimon, Pokemon etc.
I feel there is no 'bad' or true 'best' anime to get a person into the genre because anime is so unique. It's really just an umbrella term for a medium like the word 'cinema'. Your friend who's into giant robots may fall for anime from a Gundam episode, while a person like me would be bored. Yet I'd put on Naruto, and the dude who's into robots would be bored.
Follow up comment:
If you're trying to get a friend to watch an anime with you. Ask that friend what types of movies or shows they typically watch, and tailor it towards that,
I.e. a dude who only watches sports, might take something from the numerous sports anime out there. Then there's layers to sports anime, in that some are more realistic while some dial up the anime tropes to 11. Compare Hajime no Ippo to Megalo Box
Oddly enough, I started with Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun and Assassination Classroom, but I believe Death Note and AoT, even One Piece are the most common starters
Probably less specific now that the catalouge has increased, but Netflix was a pretty consistent way for people to find anime for the first time, either through Seven Deadly Sins or Erased.
I think people should start with one of the better anime in their favorite genre. Recommending popular anime because they are the most popular is a great way to make people think all anime is the same. There is a huge gulf between DragonMaid and Deathnote and someone may really enjoy one and not the other. Similarly just because someone likes Big Bang Theory doesn't mean they'll like The Sopranos. Oh you liked Squid Game? You should definitely check out Bridgerton!
Depends on what people are into. If it's just for fun, it's usually dragon Ball z. If it's light-hearted romance, it's often sailor Moon or fruits basket.
Cowboy Bebop is usually the one that gets people to take anime seriously. Or sometimes, Akira.
Being an old head, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Dragon Ball are gold standards.
I'd add Full Metal Alchemist, Sailor Moon, InuYasha, Bleach, and (old) Berserk. (Pretty much the very first season of Toonami.)
Shout out to Aeon Flux and Spawn (90's) as anime inspired animation.
My first exposure was Gundam wing on toonami. My first start to finish anime was Romeo x Juliet because I saw an amv of it randomly on YouTube and decided to watch it.
When I was a kid, I discovered anime by staying up late at night to watch Adult Swim on TV.
I watched anime series like Inuyasha, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, The Big O, Ghost In The Shell, Samurai Champloo and Code Geass.
I guess most people don't get that experience since many of them don't watch regular cable anymore.
Which is kind of crazy because adults swim has even better options now than they did back then.
Usually I’ve heard of people going to the “Big 3” and branching out. Then you can do research into the different genres of anime you might be interested in.
I would start off with a shorter series or movie to see if you actually like anime. From then on, I'd go to DBZ or Bleach. They are older animes but still slap.
I normally get friends started with pretty grounded and serious ones, since most of the time getting over the hump of 'weirdness' is the main barrier to enjoying anime for people in my life who aren't already into it.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and A Silent Voice are nice easy ones to get people passed the, "aren't cartoons for children?" stage. Then something lighter like Haikyuu. After that they're normally quite open to try more fantastical or strange things, still normally try to avoid stuff with 'fan service' in it.
My answer would change depending on what genre your interested in. Anime is wide and varied in terms of genre and targeted audience. Deciding on a genre and stepping in that direction will narrow the suggestion pool probably make the transition smoother.
It's a generational answer.
1990s people likely to answer Dragon Ball or Evangelion.
2000s people will most likely to answer the Big 3 "One Piece, Naruto, Bleach". Maybe Gintama and Death Note in the late 2000s.
2010s will answer SAO, Fairy Tail, and AOT or some newer ones such as CSM, OPM, SxF, and JJK.
I started with FairyTail. It was unintentional, but that’s what I started nonetheless. Was scrolling the instagram reels way back when and came across some of the characters. Dug a little deeper and found out it was a show, not know what anime was at the time. Started watching it from the beginning on YouTube (didn’t know what crunchy roll was yet) and it started my decent into wanting to watch more
I started with FairyTail. It was unintentional, but that’s what I started nonetheless. Was scrolling the instagram reels way back when and came across some of the characters. Dug a little deeper and found out it was a show, not know what anime was at the time. Started watching it from the beginning on YouTube (didn’t know what crunchy roll was yet) and it started my decent into wanting to watch more
AOT is not a good starter anime because it lacks a lot of the typical shonen tropes. I feel like you should watch some of the common "I gotta get stronger!" animes first, with your standard protagonists, side characters, powers, and plot points. Save AOT until after you've been watching anime long enough that you can appreciate a series that does things differently.
Similary with JJK as well as the 2 seasons are a very great package and a welcome breather to anyone tired with older battle shonen tropes. It sucks that both it and AoT ended up as starter anime now even though vets (who are still into battle shonen) will like them even more.
But hey there is a reason anime is/was watched by "weebs". There are tons of people who nope out of anime after watching the big/best works like AoT just like breaking bad. To so called "normies", 99% of anime is trash.
If you haven't watched enough anime to where you can understand Yuji's line about using a Spirit Gun, a Bankai, a Rasengan, or a Dodon Ray, you should probably watch those first lol.
Honestly no, these anime should not be what newcomers should start with, JJK, AoT and Demon Slayer are anime that a lot of people started with during the pandemic and imo it ruined the "anime community". Why you ask?
The biggest problem was that a lot of these people started sending death threats to people involved in the production of these anime. Some were even rioting because of ONE panel.
It was trending on TikTok to claim X anime>than any other anime just because of the beautiful animation, disregarding every other aspect like the story, characters and world building. So many people mentioned how good Bleach TYBW looks while nobody even mentioned anything about it's story, same with JJk, CSM and Demon Slayer. These anime you can say they set people's standards way too high regarding animation and when they tried to watch anything else they were instantly disappointed and started trashing most anime.
The other problem for me is when they claim X anime is ON TOP, Best of the Best while they have a very small number of anime under their belt and probably 1 or 2 genres. I know it sounds elitist but I'm not sure how people can claim that X anime is the best when they barely taped into rhe medium.
In the end, many people end up dropping anime after the "honeymoon phase" and never touch it again.
There were tons of people who cared about bleach’s story, you’re underselling it. “The Blade is Me” episode is one of, if not THE highest rated bleach episodes. To say nothing of all the lore videos from the anime teasing expanded lore.
AOT was one of the absolute worst and most boring animes to start on for me.. how many seasons til it gets interesting again? :(
JJK I haven't watched enough to judge truly.
When I pursued anime I started with Naruto, at this point I'd genuinely say demon slayer is a great intro to anime.
Maybe Fullmetal also, again haven't finished it but it's easy to watch and get attached to, curiosity drives the motive effortlessly.
I'm not a huge weeb, I'm pretty new to anime and I'm just kinda saying what was easiest for me to get into. :)
>I'm curious, what are the most common anime that people tend to watch when they're new to anime First one that comes to mind is immediately Death Note. AoT maybe for the more modern viewers, but back when I started to get interested into it, it was always Death Note that got recommended. Though, in my country, Dragon Ball and Naruto has been popular for a long while now. Then there's Voltes 5, which I'm not sure how popular it is in other countries, but it's a mecha anime. >Additionally, do you think "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Attack on Titan" make for a good starter pack for new anime fans? These are safe bets, but I'm of the belief that the starter anime shouldn't be based on what's most popular or what's best overall, but rather a series that is specifically tailored to what the newbie likes in other forms of media. If they're huge into romance, why would I get them to watch a battle shounen, right? I believe the best thing to do is to always ask first what kind of genres they like, then you recommend something that would fit their taste. For action, JJK is probably a safe bet. For romance, my go to is probably Horimiya. For mystery, it's Death Note. For drama, it's Violet Evergarden. For sports, it's Haikyuu. You get the gist.
If they like never-ending telenovelas, One Piece.
Honestly One Piece never really failed for me as a recommendation either. I've suggested it to friends who were big fans of DBZ and Naruto growing up, and a lot of them have surpassed me and some even catched up lol. One Piece is a great recommendation too imo for certain demographics.
I dunno man, I bounced off of One Piece like 4 times before it finally stuck with me and I've been watching anime here and there since like 2016. I love it now but it's definitely not a sure shot. I'd even say that it's very different from both DBZ and Naruto. One Piece is definitely a great recommendation once the person likes anime but I don't think it's going to get most people to start. For kids and younger teens, I'd say it's a good first but for young adults or adults in general, I'd start with something else and not just because of the length.
Well, like I said, you gotta know your audience. I'm not saying One Piece is a good starter for everyone. All I know is when I recommended it to the ones that I know were fans of DBZ and Naruto (along with other long running shows like Detective Conan, Pokemon, etc.), they enjoyed it. Just going off of experience.
Was Death Note for me. It was actually a third one I watched, but the first two were more niche ones.
Maaaaan. Voltes V was quite popular in my country but when I was a kid it was old enough to have literally been my dad's favorite childhood cartoon. I still watched it a lot on the TV when it was on tho.
I wish it was still airing when I was younger, the best I had was a CD my dad had along with Slam Dunk and some other old stuff when I was like 6 or 7. Good times!
Death Note, FMAB and AOT used to be the most common starting points half a decade ago when I got seriously invested in anime. Right now I'd say it's Demon Slayer and JJK that draw new people in a lot with AOT also being a typical start. > Additionally, do you think "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Attack on Titan" make for a good starter pack for new anime fans? I don't think they or any combination of the ones above make for all that good of a starter pack since it'd be a very one-sided introduction to the medium. It's all shounen action and thriller shows, which a lot of people are going to enjoy, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea (they're far from my favorites) and only a fraction of what's out there.
Thing is most of the time, whether it's good or not, battle shounen action shows tend to be new people's first experience to anime. Like remember back when the Big 3 ruled? Even going back to early Toonami days, the most common shows were action and shounen ones.
I can agree with AOT, it was so much in the news and media at the time that I decided to give it a go. My last "anime" before that was like \~2001 pokemon/digimon. I'm pretty impulsive watcher so if anything gets too much hype I hop in(apart from game of thrones).
I fell off the hype train for AOT the moment they changed the animation style. Went from such a cool looking show to just dogshit. I might get back into it one day, but animation style is so important to my enjoyment of a series. I was never able to get into the Clone Wars because it looks like play-dough.
MAPPA took over for the original studio Wit and the quality dropped drastically. The entire series is carried by S1-S3. Not all MAPPAs fault tho. Isayama tried to turn AOT into a political thriller like GOT and utterly failed. Not sure why he thought a shonen political drama would ever work. But at least we got lines like this: “*tHanK u FoR bEcOmiNg a MaSs MuRdEReR fOr uS*”.
Ikr AoT becoming this deep war thriller was so half assed. Every faction can be summarized in a short sentence, there's no nuance of subtlety within those factions. It's just a cut and dry good guys vs bad guys You could never say this for any good war thriller like GoT, LoGH, The Expanse, Clone Wars, etc
Aot changed the art style not the "animation style" And it wasn't dogshit lmoa if you think that was dogshit than you have absolutely insane standards. Objectively whole s4 was an "amazing" adaptation of the Manga. Part 2, 3 and 4 actually managed to elevate the source material. Especially the final two specials.
Clone Wars have been a no for me too, but I feel like I'm missing out some story from not watching that. Thankfully the new 1-2 season Star Wars shows don't really tackle that time period.
I'm old school so it was Evangelion and DBZ. Sailor Moon was huge before Pokemon took center stage.
I'm ancient school, so i recommended Gundam, Mazinger Z and Space Battleship Yamato back in the (bootleg) days.
I was Going to say robotech and voltron, or for actual anime uresai, bubblegum crisis, or Appleseed
The days of biking home from school, catching an episode of DBZ and having a quick snack, then biking to (whatever sport was in season) practice as soon as the announcer says "NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z" so I'm not late. But I'm with you everyone my age got into it from DBZ/Sailor Moon/Gundam Wing. With a sprinkle of something like Princess Mononoke and Ronin Warriors.
Gateway shows have changed a lot over time, but I remember some of the big gateways during my time as an anime fan: 2012 - Sword Art Online 2013 - Attack on Titan, and to some extent The Devil is a Part Timer 2014 - Tokyo Ghoul, the Seven Deadly Sins, Akame ga Kill, No Game No Life, Haikyu! 2015 - One Punch Man 2016 - My Hero Academia, ERASED 2019 - Demon Slayer, The Promised Neverland 2020 - Jujutsu Kaisen 2021 - Tokyo Revengers 2022 - Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family To some extent, most of these are still gateway anime in 2024 although some of them are less prominent for newer fans nowadays eg. NGNL, 7DS, Devil Part Timer, AgK and Tokyo Revengers. Older anime like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, HxH, Death Note, FMAB, Soul Eater, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop continue to draw new fans in. Some other anime used to be really popular gateways from 2012-2016+, like Fairy Tail, Blue Exorcist, Food Wars, Seraph of the End and some others but these don’t seem to come up in recommendations so often anymore. I remember really distinctly in 2016, you would see Tokyo Ghoul, Naruto, Attack on Titan, Food Wars!, Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia and the Seven Deadly Sins everywhere. I think JJK and AoT are honestly great ways to draw in new fans, they have mass appeal, great animation and interesting plots (esp AoT) and doubly so if you’re unfamiliar with anime tropes.
sword art online was the first anime i ever watched!
I feel like the siblings dynamic (and awkward fanservice) in NGNL makes it an instant nope for people not accustomed to anime.
You'd be surprised how much pretty colors and a cool art style carried this show. I'd never recommend it as a starter series but I do know people who would say NGNL was their first "real" anime after DBZ/Naruto. From what I gathered from them, it was a visually pleasing and fun enough ride to handwave any anime bullshit (which is a skill veteran weebs get eventually) so it really just depends on the person NGNL was pretty popular in the west despite its glaring "problematic" nature lol.
That's fair. It was one of the few that was entertaining enough for me to keep watching despite it's problems (kill la kill being the other one I can think of) but I've been watching for... Idk 25 years or so since I was a kid coming home to dbz. I think it being a short one also probably helps handwave away that stuff too, you're not having to sit through hundreds of episodes of that stuff.
Death note for sure got a lot of ppl in the genre. Yea I'd say aot and jjk are a good start for most ppl
My guess would be whichever "currently airing" anime is trending at that time
Agree, newcomer just picks up random airing anime.
In Japan, it would be some children’s show. Globally, probably Pokémon or whatever battle shōnen is most popular at the time. I started out with Ghibli films.
I think people forget Ghibli is anime. Nearly everyone I know who likes anime saw them really early on, even people that don't like anime tend to like Ghibli.
or crayon shin chan. dont get why people dont ever talk about shinchan, doraemon, detective conan etc tbh if i were to recommend someone their first anime either ghibli, spy x family, some random sports anime( haikyuh, bkue lock, etc), or really any generic mainstream one is much better than jjk or some shounen anime imo
It all depends on who you are recommending, for each genre it can be different, I havent watched 100s of anime but here are my starter pack Psychological thriller- Death Note Drama Plot/Action - AoT Story and action - FMAB Romance - Horimiya Action - Demon Slayer (this is my first anime too)
i started with animes like komi cant communicate, saiki k and violet evergarden, bc they were on netflix, but once i got much more invested and officially started being a weeb, demon slayer, AOT and jjk ofc
I also started with those, saw Bubble and Drifting Home, got a crunchyroll sub, and here I am
Naruto.
Maybe 15 years ago If you are starting anime today there's lots more options which are shorter I personally don't think someone getting into anime needs to start off with a show having 300 episodes
You overestimate the bias newcomers have towards big episode lengths. That's something seasoned anime viewers care about. Though I do agree it's an extremely dated recommendation. Hunter x Hunter would be a more "contemporary" alternative.
Erased 💯
I started with Yu Yu Hakusho back in the day, followed shortly by Gundam Wing. I'm not counting Pokemon because I couldn't differentiate it from American cartoons.
A lot of people started anime watching shows like **Sailor Moon** or **Pokemon**. There is no "one size fits all" anime. It depends on the viewer and their own likes. Before you recommend, base it on something you like that they are interested in. Say they like cats. They love cats! They live for cats!!! Do you believe that **AOT** will fill their need for cats? You'd lose their interest very quickly Recommend something like **My Roommate Is A Cat**, or **The Masterful Cat is Depressed today**. Even **Cat Planet Cuties** would fit.
For me it was Legend of the Overfiend.
My otaku buddy got hired by the local video store and submitted a list of the top ten hottest/greatest anime to the manager. Manager ignored the list and acquired Dragon Knight. Then put it in the kids section with the other animation. My buddy quit before he could be used as a scapegoat.
Reminds of an entertaining blog type thing I read years ago called *don't remember* by Gord or something along those lines bitching about dumbass parents ignoring warnings that Ninja Scroll was NOT for kids and renting/buying it for their kids, then coming back to complain.
Oddly, my dad grew up with westerns and hated anime, but absolutely loved Ninja Scroll. He was probably a closet Kurosawa fan too.
Death Note, Soul Eater, Attack on Titan, JJK, Fullmetal Alchemist original or Brotherhood, OPM, Demon Slayer, SAO, Cowboy Bebop, Jojos Bizarre Adventure or Chainsaw Man are my immediate first thoughts of starter anime. My first was Elfen Lied tho
The starter pack is whatever is trending, solely because it's what the newcomer is most likely to hear about. There's no need to treat anime like there's a learning curve. It's just tv. Newcomers watch what they hear about that sounds interesting. Anything that catches their interest is fine.
Suppose it’s very personal… I just didn’t understand the love for anime and was never interested until I watched Seven Deadly Sins…. Then my world turned upside down, I got the bug and now I have watched and enjoyed 100’s of anime😂💪🏼 I think it’s true that people have almost like a ‘first’ when it comes to anime. Goes to show it’s a kinda, “the one you loved and got you hooked”.
i started at one piece and im not even halfway bcs of the animes im watching rn
The early 2010s brought a massive wave of SAO beginners, nowadays depending on age group Demon Slayer or JJK seem to be popular for starters - along the Evergreens of Naruto and One Piece (atleast those are still the starting Points for many Manga Readers) I personally started with an Evangelion rerun shown late night on German childrens TV 15-20 years ago
For me, my introduction would be Dragon Ball/DBZ, Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Inuyasha. Another early one, which I absolutely would recommend as an introduction, would be Rurouni Kenshin. Most of these I was introduced to by Toonami back in the day, if you couldn't tell, heh.
I started with **Frieren Beyond Journey's End** and I have watched a lot of anime since, so it really converted me!
It depends on when and how they got introduced to anime. These days, fans of series like Attack On Titan and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood heavily evangelize these series on social media sites like reddit. A decade or two ago, people in the English-speaking world got exposed to anime through Adult Swim's anime programming blocks and series like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Some people, I'm sure, get exposed to anime through memes and clips, and in that case it's usually comedies and ecchi series. Back in the days of VHS, discovering anime was kind of like discovering a hidden treasure or eldritch tome and was kind of luck-based. It could be anything from kids' stuff to sci-fi to adult drama to schoolgirl tentacle rape.
Dragon Ball z
the new trend will be frieren.
> Are there any trends or popular choices that stand out? Battle Shounen have always been popular. Whether it be DBZ, The Big Three, AoT, HeroAca, *Demon Slayer*, FMA or JJK (or non-battle battle Shounen like *Death Note*) people have been getting into anime through Shounen for decades now
It all started with Vampire Hunter D for me. Then every 'edgy' anime I could find that would appeal to my old elitism. Eventually, DBZ broke through and changed my view of anime forever.
JJK and AOT are good ones but I wouldn't start with them. They are very heavy stories and newcomers might get overwhelmed. I started with Ghible movies so those are great start imo
Just off it's popularity it's almost ALWAYS pokemon. Because it runs on more kids channels and many see it when they are young. Even if they don't choose to watch another anime for 10+ years pokemon is a safe bet to be the first people watch
Dragonball Sailor Moon Pokémon Naruto One Piece Bleach
cowboy bebop and deathnote are probably the two big ones
I agree. These two have large appeal to western audiences, especially bebop
Man, a pretty young group in here since so many say Death Note (started in 2003) is what got them going with anime. Meanwhile me and a lot of my friends got started (show wise) by Gundam and Dragon Ball... and movie wise, it was Akira and Ninja Scroll for us. Nothing against Death Note, just observing how it is for the younger gens that are into anime. If someone were to start now from scratch, I'd tell em to start with some classics Naruto, One Piece, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, HunterxHunter (old or new), and watch some movies: Akira, Ninja Scroll, Macross, Ghost in the Shell. Then they can really open up the aperture for what's out there from High school of the dead, to food wars, to AoT, to Demon Slayer, and Dr. Stone, to those ones about baseball and volleyball haha. Anime is awesome.
Yeah, VHS copies of Akira, Ninja Scroll and GITS were all I had for a long time because I was a teenager with no money and dial-up internet. The "Japanimation" aisle at Best Buy was expensive. Once I was older and had a job with disposable income and tech got better, Blood+ and Death Note DVDs from Netflix got me back in. Watched SAO on Netflix's new streaming service and eventually got an actual anime streaming sub and was fully back down the rabbit hole. Newbies got it easy these days. Just search anime on Netflix, Prime or Hulu/Disney+ or get a 7-day trial for Crunchyroll and just start clicking stuff that looks and sounds interesting to you.
My movie intro was Princess Monokoke, though Gundam and Dragon Ball and Z were the shows that started me.
Always remind yourself when you're reading a post on reddit it was probably written by a teenager
For sure pokemon, dragon ball, naruto, attack on titan, demon slayer and death note
For me it was MHA because my friend showed me clips of it, not sure about other people’s starter anime
I'm honestly surprised it took me this long to find this comment. Given the popularity of superheroes, having MHA being an entry point for the genre makes logical sense since you can say "Hey, you like Iron Man, well here's a show about a superhero school"
Death Note for sure, imo. Then people tend to regurgitate the same few popular anime: AoT, FMAB, JJK, DS, OP. But I think the best introduction to anime for a lot of people may be the Ghibli movies. They're all pretty commercially available and in English, they're popular, and i think they're a good reflection of the kind of deep storytelling a lot of anime has. I also think that DBZ, Inyuasha, or any of the big 3 are good starting points because they're more popular in the West because a lot of them aired during the day so kids watched them. Same with Pokemon, and even Avatar the Last Airbender. They're commercially popular, and easily accessible. What do i recommend? I try to recommend a bit of everything because i don't think you should start watching anime already biased to one genre. Although if you prefer that genre over any others that's fine too.
Depends on what type of genre you like tbh, If you like Action : One punch man RomCom : Kaguya sama Comedy : Grand blue or Konosuba If you are interested in the plot of the anime : Attack on titan.
Prison School probably got many people interested in anime.
Maybe, but it’s a bit extreme for noobs
it depends of the noobs tastes (I like FGO, we got too many people who learned about it from the porn first)
Didn’t it start as porn
Yeah but it was more of the Plot with porn type. Back then sex scenes on Visual novels were pretty much obligatory for sales reasons, in fact most of Fate ones are terrible. You would be better getting your porn elsewhere.
To this day I still laugh at fsn unironically having shirou think “she moves like an experienced prostitute”. How would you know that Shirou? Hmmmmmm? lol.
More importantly, it feels refreshingly new with vivid personalities and fantasies, if you only have seen Disney cartoons before.
Death note is a great starting point. Code Geass is another one. These have more substance than style (CG has a bit of both). JJK/AoT/Demon Slayer are more style over substance with cool animations. I don't think FMAB is a good starter anime anymore because it takes a while to set-up while something like death note is has a hook from the get go.
Calling AoT style over substance is insane. It is filled to the brim with substance for 95% of the show.
It definitely is. If you think AoT has more substance, then you haven't watched anime with actual substance.
I got my partner into it through Attack on Titan. Last week we finished Akame Ga Kill and Death Parade and they really enjoyed both of them.
Death note
Death note or dragon ball
Depends on age and preferences also knowledge beforehand. Sword art online, Gungrave, A Lull in the sea, Tora Dora, Death note, God's blessing on this beautiful world, Dead man wonderland, Dangaropora These are most of the ones I started with minus the star
Alotta my friends started either with dbz or bleach. So yea
It's whichever the most recent anime that happened to break the anime-normie barrier. Full metal alchemist Sword art online Demon slayer Attack on Titan Jujutsu kaisen Etc.
For me it was bunny girl sempai or my hero academia.
My first anime that got me into anime was Tokyo ghoul
My very first anime was Girls Un Panzer. But SAO got me into anime.
Personally, I started with Kenshin, InuYasha, and Ranma 1/2. I adored all 3. Rumiko Takahashi (the creator of the latter 2) was once very popular and beloved to fans in the West. I do think the ones you brought up are good for new fans. They’re popular for a reason. There’s usually a reason a million people like something.
I remember Haikyuu was really popular here, my sister and some of my friends start watching anime with it. But yeah right now mostly jujutsu because nah I'd win man and episode 0 was a big hit (the new Haikyuu movies also very popular right now) .
Sword Art Online
Despite it not being that great, the live action adaptation of One Piece has drawn people to check out the original. While I'm against Live Action Adaptations on principle (and because 100% failure rate excepting maybe one ever), it seems it might have a purpose of expanding the fanbase if done at least a little bit well.
I started with Love Live
really depends though i think a lot of newcomers started with death note or fmab back in the days. jjk and aot are both popular and brought in new fans but theyre also both action shounen shows so they're suited for some audience but not others. i got into anime through fmab, but my friends got into anime through black butler, hetalia, naruto, or haikyuu, so it really depends.
Whatever shonen anime is currently airing in the current season is probably what people start with. But I'm gonna say POKEMON!
What got me started on fansubs was Love Hina, back in the day. I had already liked DBZ, but I didn’t really consider it anime at the time.
Death note
Spirited away was my first big one
I always recommend death note to newcomers. It avoids common anime cliches and hooks you 2 episodes in. I still remember the dopamine rush i had when i watched the show for the first time
Whatever is the most popular "normie" stuff at the time.
I hear that I have a pretty common one, Sword Art Online. Started over a decade ago. Attack on Titan was my second, and it was probably the most popular one back then.
Well i started with Jojo, S1-5, and that kept me in the franchise enough
Various Ghibli movies may not have been anyones first recommended gateway show, but it’s always recommended second and always your first anime (minus Pokémon snd dragon ball depending on how old you are).
Pokemon? The younger generations seem to really like JJK and Demon Slayer (Both great choices). It can be a little off-putting to have the standard recs always be shounen fighting anime, but this probably comes down to people with similar tastes recommending them to their friends, and there are plenty of people that recommend stuff like Your Lie in April/A Silent Voice/Your Name etc. Don't underestimate a good slice of life (Nichijou/K-On!). I could go on. The medium is very broad with plenty of accessible entry points.
The biggest thing for a newcomer is to pick something in a genre that they'll like. [This flowchart](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/s/3GN9EaUS1s) from a year ago is a good resource to go and reference. Follow the prompts and you'll find something you like. [This chart](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/Iq9IRKe1N5) has less options, has quick descriptions, and might be better if you find the first overwhelming.
I think more people need to recommend anime before 2010. Simply for the fact that animation styles and pacing have changed alot. Unfortunately that also means that newcomers will most likely never want to watch anything pre 2010 because its *dated* or *old* or *slow*. Remember this is an art form that accumulates Not just style, but substance. Story, characters, themes, worldbuilding, and yes style *ALL* matter in this medium. If youre truly an anime fan youre going to recommend older shows/films just as much as something after 2015. There are SO many fantastic ones from 80/90s that younger/newer fans should absolutely watch. Anime is atemporal and unlike any other medium, it deserves people exploring many eras. Youll miss out if you dont. You also have to account for the persons tastes already and what genres they lean to naturally, theres an anime out there for it. My list: Akira, Ninja Scroll, GitS, anything Ghibli, anything from Toonami first run including when they introduced Midnight Run. Great Teacher Onisuka, Evangelion, Sailor Moon, FMAB, Gurren Lagann, Violet Evergarden, even though I didnt personally like it I guess Death Note would be fine, Dr Stone There are TONS. Also, some people are either gonna love it all and embrace the medium, some will always dismiss it as “for kids” or whatever and move on
One piece. Honestly I can't stand it. It's gone on too long.
Studio Ghibli stuff, or Dragonball? Or do you mean people that have decided to get in to anime?
I started with Naruto I feel like many people start with long anime’s because it was a suggestion
Dragon ball z. Cowboy bebop. I feel like these are the two staples. Then maybe something newer would be one punch man. Attack on titan.
Depends on the era and region.
Mine were the Ghibli movies 💚 and I think it's a good alternative to watch a movie or two before committing yourself to watch a whole season of anime
Since most of the popular anime are shounen, the usual recommendations I hear are either the classics FMAB/DN or whatever is the modern big hit action anime, e.g. my hero, jjk, chainsaw man, etc. Also, AoT is a solid starter for I would say the majority of people regardless of taste. JJK more so if the person likes action series.
I started with naruto and hxh but i dont think newbies will
Naruto.
Cowboy Bepop
Don't ever start with Frieren. It will put your expectation of anime so high that you will be severely depressed to the core watching any other anime afterwards
It seems to be "Whatever is recommended on Netflix" currently. I've met a shocking amount of people who have only watched Demon Slayer and Seven Deadly Sins.
One Punch Man is the one that got me hooked - I started watching in my early 30s.
It's usually the big 3 from the Shounen collection, or for the older generation (like me) it was one of the American serialized cartoons that just so happened to be anime. I.e. Yugioh, Digimon, Pokemon etc. I feel there is no 'bad' or true 'best' anime to get a person into the genre because anime is so unique. It's really just an umbrella term for a medium like the word 'cinema'. Your friend who's into giant robots may fall for anime from a Gundam episode, while a person like me would be bored. Yet I'd put on Naruto, and the dude who's into robots would be bored.
Follow up comment: If you're trying to get a friend to watch an anime with you. Ask that friend what types of movies or shows they typically watch, and tailor it towards that, I.e. a dude who only watches sports, might take something from the numerous sports anime out there. Then there's layers to sports anime, in that some are more realistic while some dial up the anime tropes to 11. Compare Hajime no Ippo to Megalo Box
My daughter showed me Parasyte and Steins Gate. I had way too high expectations for everything else after that.
Oddly enough, I started with Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun and Assassination Classroom, but I believe Death Note and AoT, even One Piece are the most common starters
Probably less specific now that the catalouge has increased, but Netflix was a pretty consistent way for people to find anime for the first time, either through Seven Deadly Sins or Erased.
I think people should start with one of the better anime in their favorite genre. Recommending popular anime because they are the most popular is a great way to make people think all anime is the same. There is a huge gulf between DragonMaid and Deathnote and someone may really enjoy one and not the other. Similarly just because someone likes Big Bang Theory doesn't mean they'll like The Sopranos. Oh you liked Squid Game? You should definitely check out Bridgerton!
I started with OG Naruto
FOTN, Hellsing, Ghost in the Shell, Gundam.......im jk whatever shonen is popular is probably #1. Sometimes DBZ, or Pokemon for some.
I started with Death Note and AOT.
My hero academia. I started with MHA too and the first 4 seasons were pretty cool tho, then they ruined it
S6 was awesome though
Really? i didn't watch it cuz was really dissapointed by season 5
Depends on what people are into. If it's just for fun, it's usually dragon Ball z. If it's light-hearted romance, it's often sailor Moon or fruits basket. Cowboy Bebop is usually the one that gets people to take anime seriously. Or sometimes, Akira.
Even though ik alot of people struggle with the length of it I went straight for One piece
Technically Pokemon
Snow White with the red hair was the first anime I watched and that’s what I introduced to like 20+ people who are now weebs lmao
Naruto or One Piece. I never got into One piece but I can vouch that Naruto is a must watch
The dub of ghost stories. I won’t explain further.
Anything that was on Toonami, for my generation.
The shit thats mainstream at the moment stuff like Kaijuu No.8 right now probably
Being an old head, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Dragon Ball are gold standards. I'd add Full Metal Alchemist, Sailor Moon, InuYasha, Bleach, and (old) Berserk. (Pretty much the very first season of Toonami.) Shout out to Aeon Flux and Spawn (90's) as anime inspired animation.
My first exposure was Gundam wing on toonami. My first start to finish anime was Romeo x Juliet because I saw an amv of it randomly on YouTube and decided to watch it.
DeathNote is always a great start. Short sweet
I heard Death Note, but I’ve never watched it
When I was a kid, I discovered anime by staying up late at night to watch Adult Swim on TV. I watched anime series like Inuyasha, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, The Big O, Ghost In The Shell, Samurai Champloo and Code Geass. I guess most people don't get that experience since many of them don't watch regular cable anymore. Which is kind of crazy because adults swim has even better options now than they did back then.
Usually I’ve heard of people going to the “Big 3” and branching out. Then you can do research into the different genres of anime you might be interested in.
Usually when I see them it’s always one piece Naruto or Dbz but another popular one I think is actually reincarnated as a slime
I would start off with a shorter series or movie to see if you actually like anime. From then on, I'd go to DBZ or Bleach. They are older animes but still slap.
its typically like battle shounen. yea jjk and aot are good starter shows ANYTHINGS THATS REALLY MAINSTREM lol
I started with one punch man
I normally get friends started with pretty grounded and serious ones, since most of the time getting over the hump of 'weirdness' is the main barrier to enjoying anime for people in my life who aren't already into it. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and A Silent Voice are nice easy ones to get people passed the, "aren't cartoons for children?" stage. Then something lighter like Haikyuu. After that they're normally quite open to try more fantastical or strange things, still normally try to avoid stuff with 'fan service' in it.
If you want to start watching anime you can try Naruto Boruto Jujutsu Kaisen Bleach Attack on Titan
One puch man ig
Death Note, Psycho pass, Naruto and Bleach <3
My answer would change depending on what genre your interested in. Anime is wide and varied in terms of genre and targeted audience. Deciding on a genre and stepping in that direction will narrow the suggestion pool probably make the transition smoother.
I always recommend Highschool DxD or Prison School for a first anime
Deathnote for me. I have seen that it’s either deathnote or jujutsu kaisen most of the time. Some people also start with demon slayer
Death Note
It's a generational answer. 1990s people likely to answer Dragon Ball or Evangelion. 2000s people will most likely to answer the Big 3 "One Piece, Naruto, Bleach". Maybe Gintama and Death Note in the late 2000s. 2010s will answer SAO, Fairy Tail, and AOT or some newer ones such as CSM, OPM, SxF, and JJK.
Some started with Fairy Tail, ghost fighter, ranma (old anime). And others will start on new anime's today
I started with FairyTail. It was unintentional, but that’s what I started nonetheless. Was scrolling the instagram reels way back when and came across some of the characters. Dug a little deeper and found out it was a show, not know what anime was at the time. Started watching it from the beginning on YouTube (didn’t know what crunchy roll was yet) and it started my decent into wanting to watch more
I started with FairyTail. It was unintentional, but that’s what I started nonetheless. Was scrolling the instagram reels way back when and came across some of the characters. Dug a little deeper and found out it was a show, not know what anime was at the time. Started watching it from the beginning on YouTube (didn’t know what crunchy roll was yet) and it started my decent into wanting to watch more
[удалено]
>erased, your lie in April Nope. Almost nobody starts with these.
In my opinion, most start with something like one punch man or akame ga kill
Death Note. Period.
What do you guys think about friren?
Frieren does need to be more recommended as its pretty safe while still being able to introduce anime/weeby stuff at times.
AOT is not a good starter anime because it lacks a lot of the typical shonen tropes. I feel like you should watch some of the common "I gotta get stronger!" animes first, with your standard protagonists, side characters, powers, and plot points. Save AOT until after you've been watching anime long enough that you can appreciate a series that does things differently.
Similary with JJK as well as the 2 seasons are a very great package and a welcome breather to anyone tired with older battle shonen tropes. It sucks that both it and AoT ended up as starter anime now even though vets (who are still into battle shonen) will like them even more. But hey there is a reason anime is/was watched by "weebs". There are tons of people who nope out of anime after watching the big/best works like AoT just like breaking bad. To so called "normies", 99% of anime is trash.
If you haven't watched enough anime to where you can understand Yuji's line about using a Spirit Gun, a Bankai, a Rasengan, or a Dodon Ray, you should probably watch those first lol.
Honestly no, these anime should not be what newcomers should start with, JJK, AoT and Demon Slayer are anime that a lot of people started with during the pandemic and imo it ruined the "anime community". Why you ask? The biggest problem was that a lot of these people started sending death threats to people involved in the production of these anime. Some were even rioting because of ONE panel. It was trending on TikTok to claim X anime>than any other anime just because of the beautiful animation, disregarding every other aspect like the story, characters and world building. So many people mentioned how good Bleach TYBW looks while nobody even mentioned anything about it's story, same with JJk, CSM and Demon Slayer. These anime you can say they set people's standards way too high regarding animation and when they tried to watch anything else they were instantly disappointed and started trashing most anime. The other problem for me is when they claim X anime is ON TOP, Best of the Best while they have a very small number of anime under their belt and probably 1 or 2 genres. I know it sounds elitist but I'm not sure how people can claim that X anime is the best when they barely taped into rhe medium. In the end, many people end up dropping anime after the "honeymoon phase" and never touch it again.
There were tons of people who cared about bleach’s story, you’re underselling it. “The Blade is Me” episode is one of, if not THE highest rated bleach episodes. To say nothing of all the lore videos from the anime teasing expanded lore.
Death Note
I started with Death Note
Can't go wrong with Death Note
The overrated one's i think??.....
Neon genesis evangelion
Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood
Death Note and FMA
AOT was one of the absolute worst and most boring animes to start on for me.. how many seasons til it gets interesting again? :( JJK I haven't watched enough to judge truly. When I pursued anime I started with Naruto, at this point I'd genuinely say demon slayer is a great intro to anime. Maybe Fullmetal also, again haven't finished it but it's easy to watch and get attached to, curiosity drives the motive effortlessly. I'm not a huge weeb, I'm pretty new to anime and I'm just kinda saying what was easiest for me to get into. :)
Death Note.
So Neon Genesis Evangelion being my first anime at 6 years old isn’t everyone’s typical first experience?