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If you were asked to recommend a couple animes to "curious" friends...

I'd point them towards both FMA shows, both good mixes of drama and action. Death Note is a good one too, a cool cat and mouse chase between a supernatural serial killer and an eccentric genius detective.

Monster is a good mix of drama, tragedy and intrigue about a doctor framed for murder by an ex-patient turned serial killer and his journey to track the elusive murderer as he himself is hunted down by police and an eccentric genius detective.

Unless they have an aversion to sports then there's no way that Hajime no Ippo, an adaptation of a boxing manga, would sour anyone Westerners on anime. It's pretty much the love child of Rocky and Karate Kid.

For mecha, I'd recommend Big O with it's Bruce Timm inspired artstyle though it goes off the rails in the second season.

Gundam Wing has traditionally been the gateway for many Westerners into the Gundam franchise tho for adults it's probably very dumb and convoluted,so I hesitantly recommend 08th MS Team which is essentially a Vietnam war story with mechs mixed in with a Romeo and Juliet style love story. There's some elements that show up that could turn some people off particularly that one part in the second episode but nothing that would get people to swear off anime forever. It's also got a retro artstyle which I've noticed non-anime fans gravitate to for some reason.

I'd also highly recommend movies like Sword of the Stranger or Redline. Anything by Satoshi Kon, Hayao Miyazaki and maybe Mamoru Hosoda.
 
Can't believe some people mentioned No Game No Life and Sword Art...

that would turn off a ton of people. Sword Art is just horrible. Creepy fanservice, incest subplot, a plot that involves a father who can legally marry off his 14 year old comatose daughter to a man 2x her age. It quite frankly is a bit of a gross show.

No Game No Life also has a lot of strange incest subtext... hell some of it isn't even subtext. Just outright incest. And creepy fanservice. It's a turn off.
 
Joyful said:
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya
Click to expand...

Seriously, wtf. That show has been the context of more bannings than.... .


CornBurrito said:
Can't believe some people mentioned No Game No Life and Sword Art...

No Game No Life also has a lot of strange incest subtext... hell some of it isn't even subtext. Just outright incest. And creepy fanservice. It's a turn off.
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If they removed lil' sis and made her a friend the same age, then the show would be amazing...
 
Cornbread78 said:
If they removed lil' sis and made her a friend the same age, then the show would be amazing...
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It still has some fairly inappropriate fanservice, and a bit of a rapey element at the beginning where the MC makes some woman forcibly fall in love with him. Those are potentially alienating things. I liked NGNL, but the show has some fairly gross aspects even ignoring the incest stuff.
 
So these friends have never seen anime before?

Cowboy Bebop
Death Note
Ghost in the Shell
Princess Mononoke
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Evangelion only if I know my friend is already interested in the show's themes.

Berserk only if I know they'd be willing to read the manga afterwards.

jmxxii said:
Why hasn't anyone recommended Bleach??
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The first arc of Bleach is okay. After that, you might as well watch Dragonball Z.
 
series_deathnote.jpg


Definitely would recommend Death Note
It is not overly strange or over the top. It is quite mature in its storytelling, content, pacing and delivery. The problem with many Anime is that even those with mature content are told really childishly. Death Note has quite good cinematography and OST which also help.

Additionally, once started, the end is actually in sight, so many are willing to stick with it.
 
Yawnier said:
From the New World is one of my favorites of the last several years, but idk if I would recommend it to someone who is curious and new to anime haha.
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Its not an overly "anime" type of show. Theres a lot more of a western psychological horror element to it.
 
Cowboy Bebop is anime for people who don't like anime, so that's kind of cheating.

Barakamon is a great choice. Best anime of 2014, imo. When the very first scene involves a guy punching out an old dude with a cane, you know it's going to be good.

Also, Baccano! It's basically Tarantino meets Del Toro, a black comedy involving the supernatural with a non-linear structure.

And Monster. Everyone should watch Monster.
 
Something that slipped my mind but would be perfect: The Count of Monte Cristo. Does the novel good service and is absolutely stunning, visually. Most people haven't read the novel as well so it isn't like the plot is already known since the movies have not been as faithful.
 
Cornbread78 said:
Cruel and unusual punishment of greatness, lol.

After Bake, *Monogatari is only for anime vets...
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Ye, Monogatari may not be the best gateway. Even as an anime vet, I've dropped it after Nise... even though Bake was top tier.

People have already mentioned most of these but I might as well mention them again:

Cowboy Bebop - a straight up classy sci-fi, with great soundtrack and a great dub.
Haibane Renmei - pretty spiritual.
Samurai Champloo - a great samurai adventure flick.
Mushi-shi - great art and soundtrack
Ghost in the Shell (movies) - a cyberpunk classic, you can funnel this further into Standalone Complete TV series
Space Brothers - a pretty long and funny drama about astronauts
5 Centimetres per Second - 3 short interconnected movies about a long distance relationship (kinda)
Perfect Blue - a great thriller where Satoshi Kon is taking you to paranoia land
Millennium Actress - a life story of a retired actress, basically anything Satoshi Kon is golden but there two are the ones I would recommend the most
One-punch Man - a show about a super hero who is so strong he can defeat anyone and anything in one punch. A great comedy action series, I'm even surprised that I'm recommending it because it only just started airing this season. If you liked that, you can also try Gintama, which is similar, only a lot more sillier and funnier at times. Lots of amazing toilet humour...:)
Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, From up on Poppy Hill, Nausicaa - but anything Ghibli works, these are just my personal favourites. A bit of everything - 2 fantasies, sci-fi(ish) and a 60s coming of age drama love story thing.
Chihayafuru - a sort of sports anime about a Karuta (which is a sort of Japanese card game) club. Karuta is just a backdrop for these great characters, it could have been any other sport and it still would have been great. It has a sort of heartwarming feel to it.
Your lie in April - it's about music, people, comedies and tragedies of life.

I think I can go on for a while but let's stop here.
 
machemachete said:
White Album 2

They must suffer.
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WA2 was really good, but I think my buddies would punch me in the face unless he wanted something with that kind of drama. Plus, it had a WTF ending...... That last couple episodes were so just, damn.... I'm not going to read the manga to get the true ending although, although I'm still interested to this day what happens after..



Momotaro said:
I can't stop laughing at this gif. lol
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If you haven't watched Barakamon yet, go do it, you will not be let down. Naru (the little girl) is awesome and the show has such a great feel to it!
 
I saw the OP and saw Barakamon... Good...

Seeing the rest of the thread and no one recommended Usagi Drop... GAF, I am disappoint...

-----

Action
Rurouni Kenshin
Black Lagoon
Full Metal Panic

Sports
Hajime no Ippo
Slam Dunk!

Slice of Life
Usagi Drop
Barakamon
Non Non Biyori
Himouto Umaru Chan
I Cant Understand What My Husband is Saying

Comedy
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun
Full Metal Panic Fumoffu

That's on the top of my head. I Cant Understand What My Husband is Saying is awesome for introducing someone in anime, especially girlfriends/wives. Since its short yet funny and heartwarming.
 
DEATH™;186613103 said:
Seeing the rest of the thread and no one recommended Usagi Drop... GAF, I am disappoint...
Click to expand...

But what if my fictional friend has a habit of reading the manga straight after watching an anime?
 
So, I have no clue about anime, but I enjoyed Dragon Ball Z as a kid. Is there a way to watch this online (legally of course)? No streaming service that I am aware of seems to offer it.
 
If I were to recommend someone from the West who had never seen anime before, I'll be sure to thrust him/her right into something that takes inspiration from Eastern folklore, values and storytelling.

There are not a lot of quality ones that are in this vein but I don't see the point of watching something that's might be more relatable to his taste and preferences which are usually influenced from years of exposure to his native media.
 
As someone who's not that into anime, my friends and I have greatly enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, Attack on Titan, Paprika, Metropolis, FLCL, and pretty much any Ghibli Film (Grave of the Fireflies made things tense, though).

There's also getting stoned and watching Future Card Buddyfight on Netflix.
 
CornBurrito said:
Can't believe some people mentioned No Game No Life and Sword Art...

that would turn off a ton of people. Sword Art is just horrible. Creepy fanservice, incest subplot, a plot that involves a father who can legally marry off his 14 year old comatose daughter to a man 2x her age. It quite frankly is a bit of a gross show.

No Game No Life also has a lot of strange incest subtext... hell some of it isn't even subtext. Just outright incest. And creepy fanservice. It's a turn off.
Click to expand...

I've been watching anime for literally decades and I can't deal with No Game No Life. The incest stuff is just gross as hell.

For newcomers I'd recommend something like:

Cowboy Bebop
Monster
Space Brothers
Haikyu!!
One Punch Man
Ore Monogatari (if they were open to romance shows)

I think that's a pretty good mix of shows without too much grossness that don't require much background knowledge. Shows like Cromartie, or Evangelion are great but really depend on familiarity with the genre they are lampooning/commenting on to get the most out of them. One Punch Man is this way too but would probably still be funny if you weren't that familiar with anime or Japanese superhero shows.
 
The only anime i could reasonably recommend is OPM.
Most of the anime's in this thread i wouldn't ever recommend.

That said, My taste in anime is garbage worthy and i see tons of people begin watching anime with shows like deathnote.
I tried watching deathnote once, it was awful.
 
Cornbread78 said:
WA2 was really good, but I think my buddies would punch me in the face unless he wanted something with that kind of drama. Plus, it had a WTF ending...... That last couple episodes were so just, damn.... I'm not going to read the manga to get the true ending although, although I'm still interested to this day what happens after..
Click to expand...

White Album 2 is like MGSV, It has an introductory chapter (very short, one route) that was adapted to anime and the Closing Chapter (very long, multiple routes, 3 years after the first chapter) what made White Album 2 the greatest and highest rated VN on Japan.

Still no english translations and no anime adaptation :(


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL1cIUkPcGw
 
I'm the kind of guy who should like Anime, but I don't.

I've tried watching some, but it just doesn't grab my attention.

However, I have enjoyed two shows very much:

1. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
2. Sword Art Online

And that's it.

So if you're looking for recommendations of Anime for someone that isn't a fan of Anime, maybe these will work.
 
openrob said:
series_deathnote.jpg


Definitely would recommend Death Note
It is not overly strange or over the top. It is quite mature in its storytelling, content, pacing and delivery. The problem with many Anime is that even those with mature content are told really childishly. Death Note has quite good cinematography and OST which also help.

Additionally, once started, the end is actually in sight, so many are willing to stick with it.
Click to expand...

I just recently watched Death Note with my girlfriend who had never seen it and she was completely hooked after 3-4 episodes. When Death Note first got big in America she had a completely wrong impression of what it was about and who it was for(demographics-wise). The characters and storytelling pretty much blew her mind and it was hard not to immediately consume the next episode right away.

I'm trying to get her to start the manga now since I feel it's superior in a lot of ways.
 
Hmm, i might check that Fate/Zero

The last one i liked was one called Darker than Black, not very popular it seems and season 2 is very messy, but some charming characters and action.
 
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