Anime can be a charged topic in many conversations, particularly with adults. Many adults I've talked to have some skepticism about the medium, or don't know what to explore, where to start, and things like that. The goal of this guide is to give you the contra of skepticism. I will suggest shows based not on their qualities, but as if refuting an argument given against anime, the medium.
Before that, the basics.
Anime is a medium. It is not a unified art style, nor is it a genre. But many people believe that all anime looks the same (it is an art style), and/or that it is all one genre. It is neither of these things. There are trends in anime like there are trends in any art medium, but these trends reflect what's popular or a certain production team's style. Obviously, there is stylistic anime, there is bad anime, and there is good anime. But fundamentally, anime is a medium, and should be viewed as such.
Anime is Japanese1), but very well-produced English audio versions of most shows worth watching exist. Millions of dollars have been poured into this project from groups like Sony. Anime is approachable now more than ever. That being said, many shows are better when you use English subtitles. I will start with anime with excellent English adaptions.
You can watch 99% of anime with one subscription, and you can easily switch services. The overwhelming majority of anime worth watching is on Crunchyroll or HIDIVE in the US. Other regions may vary, but usually it's just a single licensor or two licensors per region. There are Netflix and Amazon “exclusive” shows, but these shows will be excluded for the sake of sanity from this discussion. If you already have these streamers, great. If not, no harm no foul.
Anime is released in Japan weekly, divided into 4 broadcast seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Your average anime season is 12-13 episodes, but things can get fuzzy with multi-season shows and multi-cour seasons. All of the anime I will suggest have already finished broadcast, but you can use a service like AniChart to see what's airing in each season. In modern times, you can watch shows weekly at the same time they're released in Japan, or very close (e.g., within 1 hour) through the magic of simulcasting. Millions of dollars have been spent from groups like Sony on ensuring that anime is accessible. If you care about a series, you'll figure out how to keep track of it and watch it regularly.
Each episode is typically 23 minutes, and consists of an opening theme song, a closing theme song, and an eyecatch in the middle where a commercial break would go (sometimes removed in the release versions of each show).
Put simply, I was disillusioned with western media and bored. There is only so much live action productions can bring to the world. The Avatar movie franchise spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to break boundaries using CG and motion capture, but this is the exception, not the norm. It takes a group like Disney and multiple years to produce animated media in the west, but anime is readily available and produced methodically in Japan with the goal and purpose of having consistent entertainment pipelines. Anime is fundamentally novel in that it can depict anything that can be drawn.
Anime is also, fundamentally, a Japanese genre with Japanese roots. Without diving into literary theory, most western media will rely on western tropes, western ideals, and western fairy tales for the basis of things. Disney is all The Brother's Grimm. Exposure to Japanese tropes is, at least, novel and interesting to the curious mind.
Part of the stigma around anime comes from the reputation of “kids anime” that was adapted and broadcast in the 1990s and 2000s on the likes of Cartoon Network and other children's networks.
Anime is not entirely for children, nor is the majority of anime for children.
It's hard to classify these shows into one genre, because they span genres, but they're like Yu-Gi-Oh! (licensed by 4Kids and heavily edited to remove any mention of death), Pokemon (self-explanatory), Bleach (known for lasting an infinite amount of time and having very little substance per episode), One Piece!, etc.
I am not an expert in these shows, and I do not suggest that you watch these shows. So called shonen action anime is aimed at children and young adults, and it's not my taste, nor would I ever suggest watching these shows or their overseas adaptions.
With that being said, let's begin.
This section will give a claim, a barrier, or other reluctance to try anime, and match that statement with one or several shows. I go by reluctance, not by show or genre. For all shows, I suggest them with minimum details necessary, but will annotate them with interesting details to distinguish them. My goal is to provide a vague allure, not spoil anything, and not give informed context.
If you have or need content warnings, I do not have these on-offer except for particularly challenging shows.
Many shows will be listed more than once in different sections. You can use this to clue you into what you might be interested in, without necessarily relying entirely on one contra.
English adaptions of anime have good English audio versions. All of these versions I have personally watched and consider them equal or better than their Japanese counterparts.
This is my second warning that none of these shows should be considered made for children. Please refer to Common Sense Media or some other content check resource. I believe these sites will spoil you, but they do contain appropriate content warnings. Obviously, many people start watching anime at age 13+, but this is a decision you should be informed about if watching anime as a family activity.
“Anime looks the same! I want something that looks totally different!”
Anime isn't serious. I want something that will challenge me mentally.
Anime is too serious. I want something that isn't serious that I can relax and watch without effort.
I want to watch a show that makes me feel happy!
I find that anime is too whimsical and needs more horror elements.
You would like emotionally charged shows.
There's too much that is aimed squarely at a male audience in anime.
You're looking for a show that will last several episodes, you say?
You want to be confused.
Anime is not realistic. I want anime that has educational elements!
I don't watch anime because I watch Gritty shows and movies, like Minority Report.
I don't watch anime because it doesn't have complex political themes to explore.
I don't want to watch a show that requires attention to enjoy. I want something I can be entertained by on a week-to-week basis.
I don't want to watch another show dominated by a male main character. I know Psycho-Pass has a strong female protagonist, but she doesn't count because the male character is in the show and primary on the poster.
The list above is, as I described, my list of contras to get a new anime watcher into anime. But it also serves as a good way for me to communicate some of my favorite series. If you watch one or two series, which is my goal in writing this page, then you're officially “an anime watcher”. What's next?
Discovering and tracking anime is often done by using an anime list product, like My Anime List, AniList (makers of AniChart, the aforementioned season chart service), or AniDB (pretty advanced, not suggested). These services exist to catalog, track, and collect information on various anime projects. The best way to discover new anime is by browsing top lists on these services, and paying attention to the seasonal anime schedule.
New anime projects are often announced near season breaks, at conventions like Anime Japan and Anime Expo, and following the conclusion of other anime projects by big studios.
Obviously, not all of the media you consume will be anime, but I hope that this opens a door to more enjoyable entertainment. My goal is always to share what I love with others, in the hope of getting others to have an enjoyable time. By watching just one new show, I have achieved my goal, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey into finding more entertaining media.