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.

• Steins;Gate. The canonical time-travel anime. A non-cute aesthetic show, perhaps the most tightly written time-travel show in existence, including outside of anime. ~24 episodes.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. A coming of age story about the titular “Fullmetal Alchemist”. ~64 episodes. A non-cute aesthetic show, generally.
  • Not to be confused with Fullmetal Alchemist (sans Brotherhood).
• Death Note. “The human who's name is written in this notebook shall die.” ~37 episodes. Non-cute aesthetic show.
• Darker Than Black. Mysterious humans with supernatural powers suddenly appear as the sky is replaced by a fake one with false stars. Something like a police procedural, but not really. A non-cute anime original, this was one of my first English adaptions with Kate Oxley, who is an amazing English voice actress. ~24 episodes.
  • Darker Than Black: Gemini of the Meteor is a 13 episode sequel with different themes and focuses on new characters.
• Psycho-Pass. A police procedural with Kate Oxley again. Psycho-Pass is a non-cute aesthetic show set in the future where every human's will and intention is scannable by a computer, which determines if you are “latent criminal” or not. A dystopia.
  • Psycho-Pass has multiple series, but only the first one is suggested.
• Angel Beats!. A show about the afterlife high school battlefront. ~13 episodes.

“Anime looks the same! I want something that looks totally different!”

• All of the English adaption shows are distinctly “anti-moe”²⁾ by design, but I will add:
• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and its sequel, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebelllion R2 (~48 episodes).
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica is animated by SHAFT, a notoriously experimental animation studio, magical girl show with thriller elements (~12 episodes).
• Studio TRIGGER's works
  • Kill la Kill is anti-cute, but also revolves entirely around clothes being the enemy (~24 episodes).
  • PROMARE: How to animate fire without drawing yellow flames? (movie)

Anime isn't serious. I want something that will challenge me mentally.

• Angel Beats! involves themes such as death, coming to terms with death, and the meaning of life (~48 episodes)
• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (and R2) involve authoritarianism, politics, and sacrifice (~48 episodes).
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: One of the single most psychologically involved shows ever produced. “Depression: the anime.” (~26 episodes, 6 movies. To watch this show look for a watch order).

Anime is too serious. I want something that isn't serious that I can relax and watch without effort.

• Lucky Star is a very well-animated “cute girls doing cute things” anime. ~24 episodes.
• A-Channel is a short, 13 episode anime with very minimal complex themes.

I want to watch a show that makes me feel happy!

• Laid-Back Camp is known for being a “healing” anime. High school, cute anime. Warm design. 3 seasons, ~12 episodes each. Belongs to a genre of anime known for being healing.
• Zatsu Tabi: That's Journey. A similar vibe. ~12 episodes.
• Kino's Journey: The Beautiful World - The Animated Series. ~12 episodes about Kino traveling to various nations.
• Bocchi: The Rock! (~12 episodes) follows a high school band's creation and development.

I find that anime is too whimsical and needs more horror elements.

• Made in Abyss (~36 episodes, some movies) follows children descending into the Abyss.
• Higurashi When They Cry (~24 episodes) includes depictions of mental illness and torture.
• Attack on Titan: Giants eat humans in this gore and violence based show (several seasons, ~70 episodes total).

You would like emotionally charged shows.

• Angel Beats! (~13 episodes).
• CLANNAD and CLANNAD -AFTER STORY- (~44 episodes total) follow high schoolers who have various issues.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica (~13 episodes).
• 5 Centimeters per Second (movie).

• Kamisama, Hajimemashita is principally aimed at female audiences (~24 episodes).
• Ghost Hunt is aimed at female audiences (~24 episodes).

You're looking for a show that will last several episodes, you say?

• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (~64 episodes) is jam packed with character, plot, and everything else that makes a show good. Many would call this the single best production in anime history.
• Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (3 series, 24 episodes, not yet completed) follows the entire life of one character and trials and tribulations that last multiple episodes.
• Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (~24 episodes) develops one of the most advanced and intricate stories in anime production. Watching this series is a challenge, but it's safe to watch this show first and then figure out how to watch the rest.
  • Fate/zero is the prequel, which is also safe to watch first. From there, look up a watch order guide (~24 episodes).

You want to be confused.

• Neon Genesis Evangelion (~26 episodes).
• Baccano! (~24 episode).
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya aired in random order on TV (~28 episodes).

Anime is not realistic. I want anime that has educational elements!

• Laid-Back Camp! (~36 episodes, 1 movie)
• Cells at Work! (~24 episodes)
• Dr. STONE (~100+ episodes)

I don't watch anime because I watch Gritty shows and movies, like Minority Report.

• Ghost in the Shell (movie).
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (~24 episodes, 2nd GIG is ~24 episodes).
• Psycho-Pass (~24 episodes).

• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion & the sequel, R2 focuses on the growth of Area 11 under the rule of Brittania (~48 episodes).
• Eden of the East (~24 episodes of content, really 12 episodes with 3 movies) follows a terrorist trying to make Japan better.
• Psycho-Pass.
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (and 2nd GIG).