Anime is a huge industry and it can be overwhelming to anyone who wants to try to get into it but hasn’t watched much beyond a bit of Pokemon, Naruto, or Dragon Ball.
I should know, I was in the same position earlier this year. Most of my friends love anime and through their recommendations I have become more familiar with the genre, though I am by no means an experienced fan.
However, I’ve watched a relatively decent variety of shows so I believe I know enough to help new anime fans get started.
A note: Sub is short for subtitle, meaning the original Japanese audio with subtitles in a different language. A dub is when the audio is rerecorded in a different language with different voice actors.
A lot of anime fans feel strongly one way or the other. To me it depends on the show so the sub/dub recommendations are my personal opinion with some research thrown in.
1. If you like "Avatar: The Last Airbender" Try "Fullmetal Alchemist" or "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood"
Sub or Dub? Both are done well, though the English dub is more popular.
I prefer Brotherhood myself but both series are great. Set in a world where alchemy (or a loose interpretation of it) exists, the viewer follows the journey of two brothers, Ed and Al, and a colorful cast of secondary and side characters.
Ed and Al tried to bring their dead mother back to life with alchemy, but as anyone who has read or seen fantasy knows, magic cannot raise the dead, at least not without severe consequences for the living.
This is what happens to Ed and Al. Ed loses his arm and leg, and Al loses his entire body and is bound to a suit of armor. The two brothers join the military to fund their research into the powerful Philosopher’s Stone, and find themselves caught up in a massive government conspiracy as they question everything they know.
The series goes into themes of skepticism towards both religion and science, but also themes of human connection and the importance of family. It does contain graphic violence and body horror, but little explicit gore except for the odd missing limb.
Where To Watch: Netflix, Crunchyroll
2. If you like "Harry Potter" or" Winx Club" Try "Little Witch Academia"
Sub or Dub? The sub definitely has the better voice acting.
The creator of Little Witch Academia loves Western animation and it shows. It might look like a Harry Potter ripoff, but it still manages to be its own thing.
It’s colorful and cute, but manages to pull off some impressively emotional moments too. Definitely a feel-good anime and doesn’t hide it. It can get a bit saccharine and stretches suspension of disbelief, at least in the TV show.
Yeah, it has two or three shorts and a TV show. It can get confusing when you try searching for it. If you’re a perfectionist when it comes to plot, the two shorts are more self-contained.
You don’t have to watch the show to understand the shorts or vice versa.
Where To Watch: Netflix
3. If you like John Green novels Try "Your Lie in April"
Sub or Dub? Both are equally good in my opinion. The fandom opinion is mixed.
Two classical musicians, Kosei the piano player and Kaori the violinist, meet one day in April and fall in love. Kosei is dealing with a traumatic childhood that made him unable to hear his own notes when he plays. Kaori sees it as her mission to help him, but she is hiding her own dark secrets.
Gorgeous animation and beautiful music, and an ending that will require a box of tissues and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. There are complaints, not entirely unfounded, that it goes on a bit longer than it should, but in my opinion the animation alone makes it worth watching.
If you follow any chillstep music channels, this is where they get a lot of their background images.
Where To Watch: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu
4. If you like "Sherlock" Try "Death Note"
Sub or Dub? Dub, though the sub is also worth watching
Light Yagami is a normal honors high school student who finds a notebook belonging to a Shinigami (death god). When he picks it up, he becomes the owner of the Death Note.
Anyone whose name is written in the pages of this book will die.
Light soon loses all qualms about using this newfound power and kills dangerous criminals en masse, attracting the attention of multiple authorities, including top detective L.
The two share a fascinating Sherlock and Moriarty dynamic, and the series explores difficult questions about the value of life as well as the darker aspects of human nature and what happens when a human becomes a god.
This is another one that gets violent and might disturb more sensitive viewers.
Where To Watch: Netflix, Hulu
5. If you like superheroes Try "One Punch Man"
Sub or dub? Both are good.
Yet another one that requires a violence warning. I swear I don’t do that on purpose.
Anyway, One Punch Man is a hilarious deconstruction of superhero tropes. The protagonist Saitama is ridiculously strong, so strong that he can beat any opponent with one punch.
However, this makes every fight extremely boring for him, so that being a superhero becomes as banal as sitting in a cubicle all day. He longs for a true challenge. This formula does get repetitive but it’s still a fun watch.
Where To Watch: Netflix, Hulu
I hope this list helped you in some way. Again, my experience with anime is still rather limited, but I feel like I have enough knowledge to help at least someone.
Another great way to find a good anime is to go to your local library and see if they have any manga. Most manga have anime adaptations that are relatively faithful.
Sites like Crunchyroll also upload trailers for upcoming anime on YouTube, sometime even full episodes!
