What are some good starter anime?

[Ricken]

My watchlist is small. You find what you like and you roll with it, really.

I liked the start of Attack on Titan but I hate the overall pacing
Deathnote good
Neon Genesis Evangeleon is... a favorite but it's intense
Sword Art Online, so you can enjoy Sword Art Online Abridged (which is glorious)
Kill la Kill is a good roller coaster
Tokyo Ghoul
Black Butler

 

[PityOnU]

It would be very easy for me to list a bunch of more accessible titles, but honestly I'd suggest just investigating based on character designs/art style and synopsis that appeal to you.
Initially, avoid anything that's more than a couple of seasons and perhaps stick to movies or series/ova's that are wrapped up fairly succinctly.

This

I'm in my mid-30's, and I was never into anime at all growing up because (1) the style/content/ease of access was not to my personal taste at the time [mid-nineties, early-2000's] and (2) there is definitely a certain stigma associated with your average anime watcher. However, during the pandemic I got a Crunchyroll subscription, and that was that.

You just have to keep in mind that anime is a medium, not a genre. I've seen everything from survival and existential introspection in a huge metropolis during the final decline of humanity's existence (Girls Last Tour), to gritty buddy cop adventures - played completely straight - where one of the cops is a magical space elf princess from another dimension (Cop Craft), to examinations of political and economic structures in post-scarcity societies (Log Horizon). I was personally surprised at how interesting and unique a lot of the main "hooks" in some of the stories are.

Now's a great time to start checking things out - I believe anime production is currently at an all-time high - to the point that I've heard some crazy statistic that something like half of all anime was made within the last ten years. Citation needed, but it certainly seems true. So, that is to say, no matter what genre you're interested in, there is probably an anime of it.

GLHF!

 

[tmnr1992]

It's already been said, it depends on your preferences, but here's recommendations anyway in no particular order:

• Dragon Ball Z: this was my chidhood so of course it's gonna be my number one recommendation. If you're gonna watch one of the "big three" that you mentioned, wach this one.
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: this one's hard to explain. It's a very serious anime where lots of very stupid and silly things keep happening throughout the series. It's a lot of fun.
• Demon Slayer: haven't finished this one, the story is interesting enough and visually it's very flashy, I'd say it's worth a watch for the visuals alone.
• Cowboy Bebop: a 90s classic, very short, mixes a bunch of different genres.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: another 90s classic, depressing and convoluted story, also quite short.
• Attack on Titan: awsome story, the plot twist in the final season is one of the greatest I've watched in a while.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: there is one version from 2004 which has a different ending from the manga, and then there's Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which is a more faithful adaptation. I'd say watch Brotherhood but you can't go wrong with either one.

 

[mrgone]

What amuses me about Naruto is that, according to fans, entire seasons can be skipped without any loss of continuity.

that is true,
and what i dislike the most:
the ending from the manga (happens after a timeskip) has been dragged out to be placed into the followup series boruto


as an addendum:
i recently watched frieren, after not having watched new anime for ages, and i enjoyed it, but i fear it will become an eternity series as well

 

[Robert Newbie]

• Dragon Ball Z: this was my chidhood so of course it's gonna be my number one recommendation. If you're gonna watch one of the "big three" that you mentioned, wach this one.

I really do wonder what it'd be like to start at the original Dragon Ball and work your way to Super. The estimate is around 800 episodes, not to mention the movies. That's an episode a day for at least two years.

I think that estimate includes Kai, but isn't DBZ Kai just an edit of original DBZ episodes?

that is true,
and what i dislike the most:
the ending from the manga (happens after a timeskip) has been dragged out to be placed into the followup series boruto


as an addendum:
i recently watched frieren, after not having watched new anime for ages, and i enjoyed it, but i fear it will become an eternity series as well

Yeah, you can be calculating and wait for a series to finish, or you can jump in and ride the wave. There's no right answer, really.

 

[tmnr1992]

I really do wonder what it'd be like to start at the original Dragon Ball and work your way to Super. The estimate is around 800 episodes, not to mention the movies. That's an episode a day for at least two years.

Dragon Ball is 153 episodes long, DBZ is 291 and Super is 131, so 575 episodes total. As for the movies the ones for DB and DBZ are not canon and you can skip them (but if you enjoyed DBZ they're pretty good), just watch the last two made for Dragon Ball Super.

I think that estimate includes Kai, but isn't DBZ Kai just an edit of original DBZ episodes?

I haven't watched DBZ Kai, from what I've read they made small changes to some characters, removed some filler and changed the soundtrack, but many people seem to dislike it. I would skip this one.

 

[Robert Newbie]

Dragon Ball is 153 episodes long, DBZ is 291 and Super is 131, so 575 episodes total. As for the movies the ones for DB and DBZ are not canon and you can skip them (but if you enjoyed DBZ they're pretty good), just watch the last two made for Dragon Ball Super.



I haven't watched DBZ Kai, from what I've read they made small changes to some characters, removed some filler and changed the soundtrack, but many people seem to dislike it. I would skip this one.

Thanks for the detailed response. I didn't know that most of the movies aren't even canon! It's still fascinating that there's 575 episodes to go over.

So, 575 episodes at ~20 minutes apiece is 11,500 minutes worth of content.

11,500 minutes = 192 hours
192 hours = 8 days

So, if you make it your full time job to watch Goku, you could be done with DB/DBZ/Super in about a month.

Wait, wasn't there a sub-series or two? What about Dragon Ball GT?

 

[Xdqwerty]

Thanks for the detailed response. I didn't know that most of the movies aren't even canon! It's still fascinating that there's 575 episodes to go over.

So, 575 episodes at ~20 minutes apiece is 11,500 minutes worth of content.

11,500 minutes = 192 hours
192 hours = 8 days

So, if you make it your full time job to watch Goku, you could be done with DB/DBZ/Super in about a month.

Wait, wasn't there a sub-series or two? What about Dragon Ball GT?

gt and super dragon ball heroes arent canon

 

[BakerMan]

Dragon Ball is 153 episodes long, DBZ is 291 and Super is 131, so 575 episodes total. As for the movies the ones for DB and DBZ are not canon and you can skip them (but if you enjoyed DBZ they're pretty good), just watch the last two made for Dragon Ball Super.



I haven't watched DBZ Kai, from what I've read they made small changes to some characters, removed some filler and changed the soundtrack, but many people seem to dislike it. I would skip this one.

If it's just a changed DBZ, should I just watch TFS DBZ Abridged instead of Kai?

 

[Xdqwerty]

If it's just a changed DBZ, should I just watch TFS DBZ Abridged instead of Kai?

dbz abridged is a parody

 

[BakerMan]

I was thinking of telling my dad that I've stopped hating on anime for no necessary reason and am willing to try it, and my sister told me that if I did (because I told her that I was considering telling him), he'd likely have me sit down with him and watch Initial D with them, since he was already going to watch it with her.

TL;DR: The first anime I watch might be Initial D, opinions?

 

[Xdqwerty]

TL;DR: The first anime I watch might be Initial D, opinions?

never watched it

 

[Hanafuda]

Uchuu Senkan Yamato
Galaxy Express 999
Kidou Senshi Gundam (1979)
Crusher Joe
Densetsu Kyoujin Ideon
Queen Emeraldas
Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Harlock
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

 

[Robert Newbie]

gt and super dragon ball heroes arent canon

Ah, thank you. I've learned so much about DBZ through fans, but I never got these details. If I ever take the plunge, it's good to know what's skippable.

I was thinking of telling my dad that I've stopped hating on anime for no necessary reason and am willing to try it, and my sister told me that if I did (because I told her that I was considering telling him), he'd likely have me sit down with him and watch Initial D with them, since he was already going to watch it with her.

TL;DR: The first anime I watch might be Initial D, opinions?

I've never seen it, but I've heard good things. Watching anime as a group activity is nice in and of itself, so it may be a win-win. I did a quick check and it looks like the series is about 87 episodes.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

You know, it's funny, people told me for years to avoid this movie. I never understood why. When I did watch it, it had David Hayter voicing Lupin. Unfortunately, that's about all I remember of it, so I may never understand what people were on about.

 

[Hanafuda]

You know, it's funny, people told me for years to avoid this movie. I never understood why. When I did watch it, it had David Hayter voicing Lupin. Unfortunately, that's about all I remember of it, so I may never understand what people were on about.

Well, that's crazy. It was Miyazaki's directorial debut, pre-Ghibli. Anyone who likes the Ghibli films needs to see it. I'm glad you did. But next time do it with the original audio and subs. With any anime, dubbed just sucks.

 

[BakerMan]

With any anime, dubbed just sucks.

debatable, some prefer dub over sub, we just prefer not having to understand japanese or read the subtitles the whole time

 

[Xdqwerty]

debatable, some prefer dub over sub, we just prefer not having to understand japanese or read the subtitles the whole time

And it also depends on the native language of the person watching it and the language of the dub.

 

[Hanafuda]

debatable, some prefer dub over sub, we just prefer not having to understand japanese or read the subtitles the whole time

You're right, I shouldn't have brought that up. We can have another thread about that sometime.

 

[urherenow]

Looks like most of the good ones have been named. A little bit sad that this is a gaming site, and it took so many posts for anyone to mention Lupin III. But unless I missed it, nobody mentioned Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star). IIRC, the whole thing is like 152 episodes, which have a distinct part I and part II of the story. To this day, there are new pachislot and pachinko machines made from it, and it has also had several games too. And an OVA... maybe 2...

 

[Robert Newbie]

Well, that's crazy. It was Miyazaki's directorial debut, pre-Ghibli. Anyone who likes the Ghibli films needs to see it. I'm glad you did. But next time do it with the original audio and subs. With any anime, dubbed just sucks.

Yeah, I'll never know what the hold up was. No one ever gave reasons, just "don't watch that."

You're right, I shouldn't have brought that up. We can have another thread about that sometime.

I appreciate how civil that exchange was. I remember the days when Sega vs. Nintendo debates got heated.

I do agree that subs are generally the better experience, but I do have a soft spot for the Funimation dubs of Yu Yu Hakusho and Full Metal Alchemist. Cowboy Bebop works really well in English too.

It really is a case-by-case basis because both sides have merit. It's true that many dubs may have dubious acting, creative liberties taken, and edits. Meanwhile subs are the raw, unedited experience at the cost of a possible language barrier. Now fight!