What's a good anime for an anime first timer?

By _Yuki. 26/07/11, 03:57 pm

＠Seakittens I loved pokemon and cardcaptors ヾ(´▽｀*)ゝ　LOL what is childhood

I think that mainstream is a good way to start someone off, because even those with the most particular tastes have started with something that's mainstream.
It's mainstream for a reason, so there's usually people to talk to about it, lots of fanart, fanfiction, a fanbase.

I'm not just thinking of the watching experience, a lot of my enjoyment came with interacting with the fandom and people who I could identify with.

By Yush. 26/07/11, 04:24 pm

@Duckeh

Lol, there's a difference between taste and actual good content.

For example, you could like a character, the atmosphere of the anime, etc, etc because of your personal taste. (Character that you can relate to, that interests you, whatever)

The latter on the other hand would be something like plot development, the expanding of characters (developments, background stories, etc.), good music (fits the situation or the idea of the anime) and everything else that is normally criticized in a review.

It would be blunt to rank an anime based on, for example, a personality that you like. In rankings, you aim for the depiction of that personality (through the skill of the seiyuu, character animation, etc.)

So me imposing that 'Naruto, Bleach, and Katekyo Hitman Reborn' are bad being as an opinion? No it isn't an opinion, but rather it is based on the analyzation of well-known critics that I rely on.

To be honest, I did like these three...right at the start :\
I'll give you a few handy observations of the last couple of years for Naruto (if you'd like an example):
Naruto =
The animation is HORRIBLE. Dude you don't even need to ask, the only time we ever get decent flow is during the action scenes (and even then, it loses its toning, and you may only see two shades of a colour). Otherwise it's just some cheap movement with half-assed accuracy in their drawings. If I ever wanted a Naruto show with good animation, I'd have too look at the OVA or the movies, which is kind of annoying. The progress of the story isn't really due to the anime, but rather because of the manga. "The longer a series goes, the more its flaws stand out". But since it does affect the anime, then we must consider it. Most episodes contain so much dialogue that it's ridiculously boring. A majority of it are flashbacks of scenes that we have seen in past episodes, and some animations are looped during these scenes (jumping from tree to tree...urg). The story tends to revolve only around the founders of Konoha. ALL of Naruto's moves are based on one thing: the little circle with scribbles in it that Kishi calls the 'rasengan', which is a cheap excuse of a special move. /

SPOILER ALERT/ He manages to control the Kyuubi's chakra in the last recent chapters but still Kishi wishes to give him more rasengans. Rasengan, Oodama rasengan, Rasenshuriken, mini rasenshuriken, tons of rasengans, rasengans from his chakra hands, oh goood make it stop. Now Kabuto, Sasuke, Tobi and Naruto are so ridiculously overpowered that all respect given for the ranks of ANY new characters have been demolished.

The music has also become repetitive as they have not composed anything new for the later half of the series.

Now the only good point with this anime as does any other mainstream anime have these days are the characters, which is basically why we got reeled into this anime in the first place. I know that most people tend to find some of the characters here annoying, and they tend to be biased about that, but the personalities shown here are somewhat realistic, even as Kishi tends to exaggerate morals and cliche outcomes to the characters' back stories. The character development here is totally fine, but other aspects that support these developments are particularly annoying (defeat is not necessary for Naruto, and he somehow tends to get stronger at an abnormally fast pace).

So yeah.
The mainstream cliche shounen manga/anime that we all love is basically loved since we either saw it during our childhoods, or because it was the first anime that we ever saw. Basically anyone who has managed to leap out of their tiny range of anime findings and recommendations has said that:
"Personally, I love this series. However, I have to admit that, looking at it from a critical standpoint, most aspects of this manga are so utterly mediocre that the series ends up looking even worse than it is." - ichikiba

Example of good shounen manga/anime to start off with? Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

By commandercandyfloss. 26/07/11, 04:30 pm

The idea that story development, etc. etc. are what make something good is something that some people have decided because it's what they prefer.
Are you going to say Spongebob is bad because the characters stay consistent and the music is repetitive?
And I wouldn't say the Naruto animation is bad. Have you youtubed My Life Me?

Just, putting my 2 cents in.

Edit:
Also, this particular thread is not an, er, elitist critical thread on anime.
My first anime was Final Fantasy: Unlimited. Still love it with a flaming passion and I don't care what people say. Very Happy

By **Duckeh**. 26/07/11, 04:35 pm

So, your opinion that these are bad are based on the opinion of someone else?

That's all well and good but I'm really only asking you to be less rude about your opinions. Some people still have attachments to the show and as you have said, they are good starting points as you started there too, so they are relevant suggestions to the thread.

I'm not talking about the shows themselves but your behaviour, so examples are irrelevant. I'm sorry I'm being so rude but you're making people uncomfortable.

This is now an off-topic conversation, so if you would like to continue it please PM me, or start a new thread, though I feel I have said all I need to say.

By **JVCA**. 26/07/11, 04:43 pm

@Yush: Technical brilliance or lack thereof aside, I think what Duckeh was trying to say is that it's rude to come in and tell someone else that something they like is 'bad'. We don't appreciate rudeness on these forums, and as mods we are asking you please to be more polite. Wink

It's possible to get your point across and remain polite - instead of 'x series is bad', use something like 'x series may be popular, but technically it's not amazing. The animation is not well produced, and the storyline (in my opinion/according to critics - whose opinions are still opinions, btw) is repetitive'. Not only does this communicate your point more clearly as you've explained the 'why', but it also doesn't offend anyone like your previous commentary has the potential to. :)

Please be aware that inflammatory commentary is against our forum rules, and should you fail to heed our request for politeness, we will begin issuing you with warnings, as is forum policy for rule violation.

By Selphiroth. 26/07/11, 04:54 pm

I'm going to recommend Black Lagoon, because it's my personal favourite that came out in the past a few years. It's mostly action heavy, but what I liked about it is that the writer really knew how to pull off three dimensional characters (well mostly) and research hard core about everything. It's still fictional and over the top, but it is enjoyable that way.

Be warned though, it is a fairly amoral series.

By commandercandyfloss. 26/07/11, 04:57 pm

Going to fully agree with Sel here, Black Lagoon is really good. I've only seen a bit, but I liked what I saw. : DD

By Yush. 26/07/11, 05:09 pm

Just gonna say that I found the English dub more effective and entertaining than the originalf or Black Lagoon. Maryke Hendrikse did an amazing job with Revy.

By _Yuki. 26/07/11, 05:13 pm

＠XOrengenOX I also started watching with FFU! * v *)/ I found it difficult to understand but still interesting to watch hohoho.

I also think that Brotherhood is a fun way to start watching anime. It's a good step up from the first series.
Conflicting thoughts meng, I also think that for a first timer the standard of animated shows is better a little lower than Brotherhood, the production values were pretty high = o =

By Mr freelance. 01/09/12, 03:01 pm

Death note. it single Handley broke all negative views I had on anime. but more importantly it shows that anime doesn't have to be for children or really messed up porn

By Highlander. 02/09/12, 03:02 am

The recommendations made previously are all good. But since they have only been said once, I would repeat Full Metal Panic (Action/Comedy), One Piece (Action/Comedy), Gunslinger Girl (Serious Drama/Action), Love Hina (Sitcom) and Serial Experiments Lain (About the wired).

Sci-Fi action definately Ghost in the shell (movie), and then Ghost in the shell Stand alone complex (series). Steampunk Last Exile and Steamboy. If you really like role playing you could try the .Hack series. Some find it slow, but meh. If you like paranormal Boogie Pop Phantom (mind bending), Witch Hunter Robin, both very different to each other. Or Otogi Zoshi which is a short series in two arcs, one historic one modern. One action, one street, but both tied into the paranormal. Also spotlight bits of Japanese culture. In comic adaptations Witchblade (the scantily clad one) is surprisingly good. Paranormal/Gangster try Baccano. Paranormal action try Gilgamesh or D-Gray Man. For action Get Backers and Gun Smith Gats. Bittersweet young love/mass destruction She, the ultimate weapon. There are plenty of high school martial arts series if you just want light action.

And from there it is an almost endless choice of genres, styles, storylines and characters, and age brackets. No one has yet mentioned westerns or detective or police or film noir, or much horror ...

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