Can you recommend an anime for a non-anime lover?

[[REDACTED]]

Well, as a very recent newcomer to anime myself, I can heartily recommend Madoka Magica. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say this: whatever expectations you might have going in, they're wrong. Have fun!

Edit:

Go for Elfen Lied, not much of the typical anime Clichés.

Err... how about no? And if we're trying to avoid series that provoke an "Oh, Japan"-type reaction, double-no.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Anyway, does anyone have a recommendation for a good anime? It doesn't necessarily have to be a certain genre. Thanks!

I know you don't really care about genre, but do you care if it is a movie or a TV show? If not, is there any TV show length that is "too long"?

Either way, I'll just give a few recommendations. If you don't mind longer TV shows (i.e. longer than 26 episodes), then I may have a couple more:

Spirited Away: I think the movie is somewhat overrated, but I don't know of anyone who hasn't fallen in love with it to an extent. It is somewhat reminiscent of the great Disney movies that dominated many of our childhoods.

ef-A Tale of Memories: A romance that has two love stories that have next to not connection narratively, but they are thematically similar. It's somewhat awkward at times, but in its defense, the writers basically tell you that that was their intended response (I won't spoil how they tell you though). Either way, both stories are very touching and have very strong characters.

Baccanno!: Though the premise makes it seem more like a drama, it feels more like a comedy (I doubt that they were going for anything else). The characters are incredibly static, but their lively, twisted, and unbelievable natures more than make up for their lack of any real development. The story is too complicated to go over, just know that crime and immortality are involved.

 

[rutger5000]

Just avoid animes as Bleach and Naruto, or generally any anime well over a hundred episodes. With a number of notable exceptions you can generally safely assume that an anime is crap as it goes significantly over the 100 episodes. That seriously is a good rule of tumb.
Might I recommend Beck MCS, it's great for your musical education, teaching you why Rock is the superior genre of all music styles. (Of course I'm exaggerating, but no joke Beck is a great way to get introduced into Rock)

 

[T3hSource]

Go for Elfen Lied, not much of the typical anime Clichés.

Eh, it's kind of awkward to watch, thank god not because of Echhi/fanservice tendencies, but it has its moments + it isn't any easier to watch whether you're a fan or not. However it is very different and interesting for sure.

 

[blackrave]

Full Metal Panic is a great gateway drug anime
It has a bit of everything anime
FMP Fumoffu is mid season between 1st and Second Raid and is more humorous with little connection to Second Raid (but there are couple of moments in Second Raid that are related to Fumoffu)

Steins;Gate and Madoka Magica are also great anime

 

[Alterego-X]

I guess I need some more details on exactly WHAT you were wary of in anime. Like, are you actually familiar with the typical genres, art styles, or tropes, and actively hate them, or just assumed to hate them but would be interested in seeing them now after all?

So far, there have been two very different kinds of recommendations common in this thread based on guessing this variable.

On one hand, mainstream, publically beloved traditional anime-anime, such as Death Note, Code Geass, Attack on Titan, Baka and Test, or Clannad. They fit into the basic genres of what you would expect from anime, but pull them off particularly well.

On the other hand, there are the quirky outlier works that are beloved by jaded anime fans who already got bored by the hundreds of traditional anime they have watched, and also by people who always hated 95% of other anime: Paprika, Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo, The Big O.

 

[stroopwafel]

I always recommend Kino's Journey to anyone who isn't really into animation. The anime deals with complex philosophical musings on human nature yet remains to have a kind of child like wonder. It perfectly strikes that balance between depth and slight melancholy carried by the strength of its animation. It's really good.

Just avoid animes as Bleach and Naruto, or generally any anime well over a hundred episodes. With a number of notable exceptions you can generally safely assume that an anime is crap as it goes significantly over the 100 episodes. That seriously is a good rule of tumb.

D. Gray Man was pretty good I think? Although I wouldn't recommend it to everyone it kept me entertained. Altough I agree most anime will start to have filler after going on for too long.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Shiki. It's a tale of about vampires (the old-school vampires) and is one of the most thought provoking shows I've seen, I was thinking about the ending for days afterwards.

Hunter x Hunter. Shonen done so well that it can scarcely be called shonen, It's very, very dark at times and incredibly compelling.

 

[Tenkage]

Full Metal Alchemists : Two brothers who tried to bring back their mother back to life with alchemy, however in doing so, one lost his arm and leg and his brother's soul is now in a suit of armor

You can find it all on netflix

Full Metal alchemist is its own anime, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is based on the manga, both start simalerly but both are great. Its a good start in my opinion to the tropes of anime, the style, and some of the voice acting

 

[Raine_sage]

Paranoia Agent is great if you want a gritty psychological crime drama with a little paranormal mindfuckery thrown in. It's drawn in a more realistic style ala tokyo godfathers. I don't mean gritty in the hollywood movie sense of the word, but in that it deals with some adult themes so maybe don't watch it in front of your parents. Unless they like that sort of thing.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

OK, you NEED to try Tokyo Godfathers. I'm not the first to say that, and I almost certainly won't be the last. Oh, and I agree with Queen Michael that his one-sentence summary is all you need to know.

Also, anything by Hayao Miyazaki - just keep in mind that Princess Mononoke features considerable amounts of graphic violence and blood. Nothing really disturbing, but it can be VERY jarring if you've seen a couple of his movies previously (you do mention Nausicaa) and gotten used to thinking of his works as completely wholesome and family-friendly. You should definitely try Mononoke, though!

Alternatively, if you want some vulgar comedy to offset all the more ambitious titles on offer here: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. The series is called that because those are the names of the three protagonists. Yeah. Twin sisters Panty and Stocking are angels, temporarily banned from Heaven for spectacularily inappropriate behavior, and Garterbelt is a stoic, afro-sporting reverend who basically serves as their parole officer.

Once per episode, he must make them drag their lazy asses outside and kill whatever demonic entity is going to town on the city's souls this week. Highlights include a gigantic, flesh-eating glob of sentient sewage, an abandoned contraceptives factory haunted by the souls of every sperm ever killed by one of its products, and the obligatory zombie epidemic!

To sum it up, P & S w. G is what happens when a group of Japanese animators watch South Park and go, 'What the - Americans get offended by THIS?!'

 

[Arraxis]

I don't know what you like, but I'm going to say Planetes.

Planetes is a hard sci-fi series about garbage collectors in space. Seriously. Debris has become a large problem in the not too distant future, and in order to keep space safe for people, Debris Section - or Half Section as they're derogatively called for being half-staffed - has to clear out scrap. It has drama, action and comedy, as well as interesting characters and a realistic depiction of space.

 

[WindKnight]

About the only one I can suggest that hasn;t cme up already is Haibane Renmei.

Its an interesting mood piece, with the first half as a slice of life story that spends its time building the world, and getting you invested in the charming characters, before taking a more intense, personal and emotional turn towards the latter half.

Thinking on it, i'd also suggest the patlabor movies if you can find them (at leastthe first two), though I would argue its necessary to get a cheat sheet to get a handle on the characters, as both pretty much assume you know who these people are, the setting and the character development they've been through given they spin off of a manga, tv and video series. Very good movies though.

 

[EHKOS]

I don't really like anime either, but I can vouch for Big O and One Piece, although the latter has way to much fucking filler. Same with Dragonball Z, it's good, but the amount of time characters stand around shocked is TOO DAMN HIGH!

 

[Zakarath]

Last Exile was the what really got me into anime, it's a steampunk action/adventure that follows a civilian pilot&copilot who find themselves in the middle of a war between two nations. Kinda combines a WWI motif with flying battleships, and is overall quite good.

Other good things to see are some Studio Ghibli films like Nausicaa, namely Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, as had been mentioned.

 

[Ratty]

I don't really like anime either, but I can vouch for Big O and One Piece, although the latter has way to much fucking filler. Same with Dragonball Z, it's good, but the amount of time characters stand around shocked is TOO DAMN HIGH!

There's also Hellsing Ultimate, which I notice your avatar comes from, and which I love to death. Though I'm not sure I'd recommend it to OP since I don't think the batshit insane ultimate exploitation movie "OMG nazi-vampires, 4th dimensional catholic priests and Dracula!" thing would appeal to them.

I can heartily agree with those who have recommended Big O though.

 

[SirDerpy]

What hasn't been mentioned?
Oh! Fate/Zero. It's amazingly actiony, with excellent animation. It's about a battle royale for a wish-granting device by seven powerful magi and their assigned superhuman spirits of immortalized heroes, including (spoilers, though minimal, you find out within the first couple episodes):

Spoiler

King Arthur, Alexander the Great, Gilgamesh, Diarmuid ua Duibhne, and some others

With obligatory story: I was watching it once, when one of my friends, who was your typical "Anime...isn't that like Japanese porn" guy, looking over my shoulder, got really interested and promptly watched the entire thing. It's a bit bloody, and there are some really creepy moments, but it's an excellent anime for an non anime lover.

A word of caution, though: This is probably the only show that's good in the entire Fate/ series. Avoid watching the rest of them, unless you're really, really into the world.

 

[Alterego-X]

Oh! Fate/Zero.

A word of caution, though: This is probably the only show that's good in the entire Fate/ series. Avoid watching the rest of them, unless you're really, really into the world.

The problem with the Fate/ series, is that while the main anime adaptation is bad, the actual main Visual Novel, Fate/Stay Night, is ridiculously awesome. Although it being a VN, it takes about 100 hours to read, and about 10 before it gets going, so it's a heavy investment compared to the action-packed shiny prequel anime, which on the other hand is written with pre-existing fans in mind, and spoils some of the things that were more dramatically revealed in the main story, as a foregone conclusion.

So it's good enough if you are CERTAIN that you just want to watch that one show, but it burns bridges if you don't actually know whether you will be more interested in the franchise later.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Pretty much anything by Hayo Miyazaki, such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Maybe movies by Mamru Hisoda (like Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children.

I also recommend classics like Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist and also Baccano and Puella Magi Madoka Magica (just give the first few episodes a try and see if you like it.

 

[Zetatrain]

Well anything by Miazaki is pretty much a given, my favorite being "Princess Mononoke"
- A young prince ends up being cursed by a demon and he leaves his village to find a cure. Along the way he comes across a human settlement that is at war with the nearby forest's animal tribes. It's a Man vs Nature kind of story but unlike a lot of such stories it doesn't paint either side as being good or evil.

Cowboy Bebop (26 episode TV series + one movie)
- A series about the adventures of a small group of bounty hunters that is set in space. Mostly episodic, but there is a main plot that is told through 6 episodes.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (52 episodes TV series/2 seasons + 1 movie)
-Set in a futuristic cyberpunk japan, the series follows the exploits of a civil protection agency known as Section 9. Its a Sci-fi ish police drama that occasionally delves in to philosophical themes particularly the line between man and machine.

Full Metal Alchemist (both the original and Brotherhood)
-After an Alchemy ritual leaves one boy with out an arm and a leg and his brother's soul trapped in a suit of armor, the two set out to find the Philosopher's Stone; a legendary stone that they believe can restore their original bodies.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (TV series 26 episodes I think)
-Don't know how faithful it is to the novel, but I have a brother who loves the novel and he told me it was better than all the live adaptations he saw.

Attack on Titan (on going, currently at 26 episodes/ 1 season)
-I know some will disagree with me especially since it is at its core a shonen series, but i showed it to a friend of mine who's a non-anime fan and usually stays clear of shonen anime, and he loved it. So i guess that counts for something.

Area 88 (OVA, not the TV series)
-a Japanese civilian pilot gets tricked into signing up for a Middle Eastern county's foreign legion air force and in order to get out of it he must either pay a fee of 1.5 million dollars, complete a 3 year tour of duty, or desert. If you enjoyed jet fighter movies of the 80s like Top Gun or Iron Eagle this might be up your alley, although it does have a surprising anti-war message.

Puella Magi Madoka Magicka (12 episodes TV series + 1 movie)
-I really can't say much on this except that it is a deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre (Sailor Moon for example). Also, never judge a book by its cover and believe me, at first glance that is exactly what you will want to do.
(actually there are three movies but the first two are basically a condensed version of the TV series)

Baccano (16 episode TV series)
-Basically if Quentin Tarantino made an anime set in America's 1920s prohibition era.

Black Lagoon (24 episode TV series + 5 OVA episodes)
-A Japanese business man gets kidnapped by modern day pirates/mercenaries and becomes part of the crew. At first glance the series seems to be just a fun but mindless action series, but it has surprisingly well written and diverse characters and a very strong English dub.

Other quick mentions

Welcome to the NHK (26 episode TV series)

Jin-roh: The Wolf Brigade (Movie)

Wings of Honneamise (Movie/OVA)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (6 episode OVA series)

Note: OVA (Original Video Animation) basically means something that wasn't originally broadcast or shown in theaters.