An Anime to ease me into Anime.

[Agayek]

-snip-

Tengenn Toppa Gurren Lagann



Though not really. That one, while an incredibly good anime, is about as far from Western tastes as one can get (as a sample, by the end of the series, people are throwing galaxies at each other as weapons). I'd recommend watching it eventually, but not as a starter. It's just likely to get way too zany for your tastes.


Good entry animes are: Trigun, Ghost in the Shell and Outlaw Star.

Trigun is basically a Western, and the main character, Vash the Stampede, is amazing. It's my favorite anime of all time.

Ghost in the Shell is about a special counter-terrorist task force in cyberpunk Japan. I enjoy it, and it's not too much of a departure from some common themes in Western media.

Outlaw Star is a rather interesting bit on pirating/treasure-hunting with spaceships. Definitely one of my favorites.

 

[Agayek]

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Trial by Fire, but without going the whole "Legend of the Overfiend".

NGE is so depressing though.

Not to mention Shinji makes me want to walk across the Pacific and murder whoever came up with him. Completely useless, whiny protagonists annoy the shit out of me.

 

[Mr.Petey]

Cowboy Bebop, EVERYONE likes Cowboy Bebop. People I know who are in the "anime is for losers" crowd like cowboy bebop. I have yet to meet someone who has given it a try and watched at least 5 episodes who hasn't liked it

Sorry to burst your bubble but I sat down to watch it all, movie included and haven't really been compelled to watch it again since. It's alright but I found it a bit repetitive and everyone but Ed and Einy seemed kinda smarmy 'n a bit too sassy.

For my first anime I ever bought and loved was Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. Four female characters all with varying personal histories placed into mechanical suits to fight rogue robots. Sounds clichéd but it built up to something big and questions the very nature of humanity without all the head popping philosophy that other shows dwell too much on.
Oh and it has an incredible cyber punk style soundtrack to boot.

That or Tenchi Muyo.

I loved that show as a kid.

This I can't agree with fast enough! Tenchi, in either the OVA or Tv series is an excellent example of how some animes can be very accessible

 

[Eric the Orange]

Cowboy Bebop, EVERYONE likes Cowboy Bebop. People I know who are in the "anime is for losers" crowd like cowboy bebop. I have yet to meet someone who has given it a try and watched at least 5 episodes who hasn't liked it

Sorry to burst your bubble but I sat down to watch it all, movie included and haven't really been compelled to watch it again since. It's alright but I found it a bit repetitive and everyone but Ed and Einy seemed kinda smarmy 'n a bit too sassy.

Allow me to amend my statement, nobody hates Cowboy Bebop. The aforementioned "anime is for losers" people generally think it's OK, but not great.

 

[Sieonigh]

through my exsperiance with anime i have been able to put it to two subsections, seriose and not. for sriouse one i defenetly recomend death note how ever i feel that the series has been licked to death by fandom although you end up looking like the poor boy at school if know fuck all on the matter. another seriouse one id hartlay recomend is code geas, cause who doesent like big mecs shooting thier lazars, which also has a the death note essence in the there is puzzles in the coflicts that get solved and play out. elfin lied id say is a good watch if you want to see a naked girl cause 23 gurds to "head explod blood gush". now as for unseriouse thats when the anime thends to be sum what self awair that it is an animation, pani poni dash is perfect example of this and is a grate laugh if you somthing compleatly random and to say the liest seeing a main charated dress up in a cow suit with 8 brests and embarases them selvs infront of a bazooka whielding bull never looses it hilarty as a spectical. oran host club i say is less slef awair but the charatrise ation is varied for all sorts of funny situations.

so to sum up death note to just know what everone is on about, code geas to see the robot shot thier gunns, elfin lied if you wan to see some briests and severd heads, pani poni dash if dont want to understan what the fuck is going on and oran host club if you want to see rich kids make a poor one do things for them.

 

[warbaloon]

Trigun, westerny
Black Lagoon, Badassy
Dragon Ball ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, start with dragonball thought better combat and story, if you don't get hooked then I can't help you the Z is an acquired taste(besides being one of the highest selling anime of all time or something)

Trigun is really good if you like the humor, and it becomes more serious later into the show.
I really disliked dragonball z for being boring and...yeah. Dragonball is really good though just for the culture shock and crazy stuff that happens.
If you're looking for a really "western" anime Berserk is basically anime conan.

Also death note starts to suck halfway through (just giving you my sense of taste)

 

[Actual]

Full Metal Panic is a lot of fun.

http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/full-metal-panic-english-dubbed-online-free

I also recommend Cowboy Bebop, it's a great show.

 

[USSR]

Death Note, Yu Yu Hakashow (if I remember it's name correctly.), and Dragon Ball Z are good starters.

 

[Rayansaki]

Death Note, Code Geass and Neon Genesis Evangelion are the best to ease someone in. I should know, they eased me in :X

Also, if you liked Light and/or L from Death Note, you will love Code Geass, since the main character is basically a combination of the two.

 

[antigodoflife]

i suggest FLCL... it's both straight forward and entertaining.

Highly recommended

 

[Feller1948]

Cowboy Bebop is a very western anime, with hardly any anime cliches or weird japanese culture stuff. I'd go with Bebop, its just solid all around.

 

[Feller1948]

Some of the other shows people have suggsted, especially FLCL, are great! But not for getting someone into anime. Dont just dive into the anime pool, you need to wade in and test the waters. Neon Genesis Evangelion is my favorite one, because it deals with so many human issues. Things like depression, loneliness, joy, sorrow, parent/child relationship, loss etc. Plus I'm really into religious studies, and Eva is can be a religious study in itself! So much cool Judaism and Christian symbolism in it. Don't forget that over 60% of anime is PURE CRAP. So a lot of what I have read are good shows, but shows that aren't for beginners. If you want studios that make quality anime I'd suggest anything by studio Ghibli,(thats the Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away people) and Gianax, (The Eva and FLCL people). But I'd still stick with Cowboy Bebop.

 

[vonabor]

X/1999 got me into anime series, despite a few things I didn't care for about it. Also have watched Hellsing, FLCL, Lain, and Chobits. All worth watching the first few episodes to see if you like it. Lain is probably my favorite, but a little weird.

 

[Feller1948]

X/1999 got me into anime series, despite a few things I didn't care for about it. Also have watched Hellsing, FLCL, Lain, and Chobits. All worth watching the first few episodes to see if you like it. Lain is probably my favorite, but a little weird.

Lain??! Ehhh god I hated Lain lol. Watch Boogiepop Phantom. BP is everything Lain was trying to be.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Death Note and Cowboy Bebop. Easy as pie.

Oh, and if you like gratutious badassery and gore, don't go past Hellsing. But it is a 'love it or hate it' thing.

 

[Agayek]

Trigun is really good if you like the humor, and it becomes more serious later into the show.
I really disliked dragonball z for being boring and...yeah. Dragonball is really good though just for the culture shock and crazy stuff that happens.
If you're looking for a really "western" anime Berserk is basically anime conan.

Also death note starts to suck halfway through (just giving you my sense of taste)

Dragonball Z is good precisely until the end of the Frieza bit. Soon as they beat the strongest being in the universe, the show should have ended. Instead, they dragged like 300 more episodes out of it, kicking and screaming. And all of them sucked

And Death Note most certainly went from pretty damn good to complete and total cesspool at a bit over the halfway mark. Anyone who's seen the season knows the exact moment.

Some of the other shows people have suggsted, especially FLCL, are great! But not for getting someone into anime. Dont just dive into the anime pool, you need to wade in and test the waters. Neon Genesis Evangelion is my favorite one, because it deals with so many human issues. Things like depression, loneliness, joy, sorrow, parent/child relationship, loss etc. Plus I'm really into religious studies, and Eva is can be a religious study in itself! So much cool Judaism and Christian symbolism in it. Don't forget that over 60% of anime is PURE CRAP. So a lot of what I have read are good shows, but shows that aren't for beginners. If you want studios that make quality anime I'd suggest anything by studio Ghibli,(thats the Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away people) and Gianax, (The Eva and FLCL people). But I'd still stick with Cowboy Bebop.

NGE hurts my brain.

It's a fairly good piece about the human condition and that kind of thing, but about 4 episodes in I start to suffer from Emo-Overload and the subsequent brain hemorrhages. All it would take to make that show one of my favorites is to give Shinji just a little tiny bit of a spine. Instead, he sits around chanting "I mustn't run away!" while the psychotic robot does all the work. It's just an incredibly depressing show, and I don't watch TV to be depressed.

 

[reg42]

Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sure, it's meant to be for kids, but it's American anime, so it's anime without the offputting Japanese mannerisms.

 

[Brad Shepard]

My first anime(s) where Rurouni Kenshin and Gundam Wing at the same time, Kenshin was one of the best Animes ive ever seen in my life

If your loking for a Easy Mech anime to get into, go with Zoids.