This is a guest post from Justin of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.
So I’m going to play along with a game that took place a week and a half ago. You see, Japan Powered wrote a post about anime for people who hate anime, and then Yumeka joined in and offered some suggestions as well. Let’s face it: it’s pretty difficult to know what can be for people whose minds either believe that anime is, “Aw, isn’t it childish and cute” to “well that crap’s weird” to “HOLY **** tentacle rape get the **** out with that” to a whole bunch of other stuff that involves knowledge and societal awareness. But, in looking at anime that I have completed, I think I may have a few anime works that anybody can stop by and watch and enjoy with ease.
Usagi Drop
One of the goals in attempting to do a list like this is to avoid using the same anime that has already used. In this case, I will already have three in this post that have already been taken. This can either mean people who don’t like anime should definitely check it out, or my anime watching has been severely limited. Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop) should be a work to check out. Telling the story of 30 year old salaryman having to take care of a child unexpectedly, this is my favorite anime of all time. Executed almost flawlessly, there’s a nice charm about the anime (along with it looking good), with wonderful composition and great voice acting. Anime recently hasn’t been producing a lot of good shows. This is one of them however. And I think a lot of people will enjoy the show.
Black Lagoon
Black Lagoon is the type of show that seems to be popular: guns, girls, and lots of action. But man is it an enjoyable action anime. I watched it at my school’s anime club about a year or so ago (and dubbed–I mean, the dub is legit good). There was a person who doesn’t watch anime all that often, and actually jumped in cold to Black Lagoon. Let’s just say when Roberta appeared and things started going down, our newest member basically joined the rest of us in abject shock and enjoyment. Kuuki, one of the writers for OASG, took a look at Black Lagoon a while ago and recommended it. I recently got a copy from Funimation to complete the series. Needless to say, I expect to have some fun with this one!
Space Brothers
There admittedly hasn’t been a lot of anime in 2012 that have impressed me all that much, but Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyoudai) is one show that I just can’t help but watch each and every week with a smile on my face. Maybe it has something to do with space; maybe it’s because of Mutta; maybe it has something do with all the constant cliffhangers this show succeeds in doing. Whatever the case, I’m always interested in what happens with this anime, and I think anyone looking for a solid story should check this anime out.
Death Note
Death Note is probably one of those series that anyone could get into. It involves wits, has a mystery component to it, is supernatural, and it is pretty exciting from start to finish. Ok, some say the Near/Mello was lame, but I ended up enjoying it somehow. That’s how taken I was with the show I guess, and a show I ended up only watching dubbed (I hear the sub is good though) on Adult Swim. It’s probably not as popular as it was in the past, but it is still a show someone could step in and have a good time with it.
Tokyo Godfathers
Now, for most of the lists, movies were omitted from the selection. I won’t go do that. After all, aside from the Ghibli stuff, there are anime films that people should take a look at that are relevant and pretty worthwhile. Tokyo Godfathers is one such film. Directed by the late Satoshi Kon, Tokyo Godfathers is a seemingly simple story about three people who threw away what they had and they end up finding a baby lying in some trash. It turns out to all tie together in a beautiful way, though it definitely takes some weird turns (I mean, there’s a car randomly hitting someone. What). If you need to sell someone on an anime to like, this film would be it.
Let’s get some suggestions!
So, what anime do you think would be good for people who don’t like anime? Or is there anime for people who don’t like it? Anime will always have a certain trope or skill set that is unavoidable and that instantly turns people off. Feel free to give suggestions in the comments below.
Justin is the Editor-In-Chief of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, a Japanese Pop Culture Blog. Visit the website or subscribe to the blog.
Loading ...
Hmm.. kind of hard to think of an anime like that but… how about Ghost In the Shell? It’s pretty much guns, girls and lotsa action. I haven’t seen much due to unknown reasons but I can see it being liked by many.
Haha, the two posts I linked to chose Ghost In The Shell as well. A) I already was choosing enough shows that were already taken
B)I did watch Ghost In The Shell. I…don’t really care for the show -_- I was mostly bored. But it seems to be a hit for some people, so there you go! But no, thanks for the suggestion!
To find a solution for a problem, we need to know what the problem and its symptoms are first. Similarly, to find something that can cater to the tastes of someone who “hates” anime, we need to know the reason why they hate anime to begin with.
If the person just avoids anime because the don’t like ecchi/fanservice/H, then the problem is very simply avoided. There are lots of anime out there that have no such scenes in them.
If the person hates anime because they think it lacks depth or a good story, you can easily prove them otherwise as well.
And if they prefer more “normal” facial proportions, there also exists plenty of anime that can cater to such tastes.
There are lots of anime that have mainstream acceptance including Evangelion, Gundam animes, Digimon, Pokemon and Miyazaki works. Starting with these should be pretty alright.
True. It definitely does depends on taste, and whether or it not you can track down the right work.
I think the worrisome thing about all the shows you just mentioned (well, kind of aside from some Miyazaki works, but still old) are pretty revered in the anime community, but also pretty old or long running franchises. At some point, there’s gotta be a new work that does the same thing. So far Madoka has been that show, SAO seems like it’ll be that way, and then it becomes a guessing game. Gotta try and find more hits
Dropped Space Brother because too many flashback.
Anime that could attract normal people or someone who hate to watching it, they should try watch Byousoku 5 cm. At least the story quite normal and also have gorgeous artwork.
B-but I like flashbacks ;_;
That’s an interesting choice. Shinkai’s film has definitely been lauded, and it seems like anyone could watch it and have a good time.
Ah yes, how could I forget about 5cm/s! That is definitely a good movie that I’d recommend to others indeed. Its selling point for people who avoid anime would probably be that it has no fantasy but instead tells a story of real-life relationships, which I believe most people will be able to relate to.
here’s my list:
Last Exile
Usagi Drops
Eureka Seven
Kaiba
Higashi no Eden
Hyouka
Paranoia Agent
Samurai Champloo
Summer Wars
The Place Promised in our early days
5 centimeters per second
Children who chase lost voices from deep below
Spirited Away
The Cat Returns
From up on Poppy Hill
Whoa, some unexpected shows on the list (Kaiba, Last Exile…didn’t think about those at all!) That’s a pretty solid list I think
Thanks for the comment and list jakob!