First Anime (Sortof)

[TheYellowCellPhone]

If dubs are available, I usually watch them, because if I'm going to be listening to something for whatever-how-long episodes, it better be in a language I can understand.

And, no one's said Outlaw Star yet? It's like if you took Star Wars and injected it with multicolored Pixie Stix - action packed, funny, and ... weird.

EDIT: One I liked was Gunslinger Girl, mainly for its characters and story type, one of those secret government stories.

And if you can tolerate its high amount of blood, gore, violence, and nudity, Elfen Lied, which is by far my favorite anime, and it was strangely enough one of my firsts.

 

[Firia]

I am extremely picky when it comes to anime. There's more crap in anime than you can imagine. There is a lot of anime die-hards that will love whatever comes out of japan, making reviews and opinions hard to accept as unbiased.

Having said that, I'd like to say, I LOVE good anime. An anime done well rises beyond its genre as anime. The one that I fell in love with was also what started my love for the Cyberpunk genre; Ghost in the Shell. The original movie was a thinkers action flick. When you hear Movie Bob talk about movies that are deep but have enough flash and bang to keep most audiences engaged, you can include Ghost in the Shell in that mix. It has a lot of concepts of what is human, at what point are you still a person, and where can that dynamic expand to? Then on top of that is a nice layer of cyborgs, automatic gun fights, explosions and car chases. This movie I prefer watching in English. The voice actors do a pretty good job. Future inclusions to the name (there's a series that's seperate from the movies, but plays close to the manga) are almost like it's meant for english dub.

In the same era of anime, "Akira" is a classic. Also in the Punk genre. It's sci-fi, dystopian future, but has some of that super power stuff that animes are spotted with. Very tollerable doses of it though. Less "deep" than Ghost in the Shell, but still very enjoyable.

Ninja Scroll; same era as the above two. Imagine if you will, super powered ninjas with very iconic powers unique to themselves to one on one with the hero of the movie. Not in ANY way deep. No sir. This is pure violence, pure action, very enjoyable reguardless. It'd be like if Naruto grew a pair. Only, yaknow, good.

 

[Alex Harty]

Ouran High School Host Club, Subbed

 

[Firia]

And if you can tolerate its high amount of blood, gore, violence, and nudity, Elfen Lied, which is by far my favorite anime, and it was strangely enough one of my firsts.

That was such a depressingly boring anime. As a story teller myself, I was extremely critical to the story telling technique it tried to use. I felt it executed to badly to warrant anyones "first."

 

[Sacman]

Cowboy Bebop should be everyone's first in my opinion... But I also think Ergo Proxy does first timers some good...

 

[smashmaniac64]

DBZ on toonami was my first anime
as for subs vs dubs, in my opinion subs are almost always better

 

[kaveradeo]

I've been really standoffish about Anime since as long as I can remember. Sure I watched Pokemon and Yogioh but they were just marketing for toys (can't believe I actually enjoyed them for a time...)
Anyways, I've watched Avatar the last Airbender and I believe it is probably in the top 3 of my favorite cartoons. What I want now is to actually watch a real Anime, the kind people normally are discussing when I avoid them like the plague.
Problem is I really don't like much spiritual stuff like demons and spirits, and wikipedia isn't much help so I'm relying on you lot to help me out.
The only clue I have so far is Full metal alchemist because it is about the only one I've heard of other than bleach, and I don't want to watch that.

So I have two questions.
1. What series to start off on. Please no pet series, something that I might enjoy being a first timer.

2. Dubbed or not dubbed? I heard some people think it is better to watch with subs. I like reading so this wouldn't be a problem if it is indeed better.

One piece subs. Deathnote and Full metal alchemist dubs.

 

[tehroc]

I'm surprised there not one person who mentions Ninja Scroll. Good art and animation. Violent and gory.

I started with Fist of the North Star. I miss 80s-90s anime.

 

[[Gavo]]

Cowboy Bebop. Amazing series. Also, the new Fullmetal Alchemist.

 

[geldonyetich]

Problem is I really don't like much spiritual stuff like demons and spirits, and wikipedia isn't much help so I'm relying on you lot to help me out.

My advice? Either let go of not liking spiritual demon/spirit stuff, or don't watch anime at all. Japan is a country heavily influenced by Shinto [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto]. You'll find fleeting mention to demons and/or spirits in nearly any anime just as you'll find fleeting mention of something related to Christianity (like a character exclaiming, "God!") in nearly any American show.

I say this because I think cultural differences should be respected. I don't go to watch the media of another country and demand they remove the parts of it that are unique to their country. It belongs to them. Instead, I savor those aspects as imparting a unique glimpse of their culture - if anything, it makes the media more interesting to an outsider to see there's different ways look at the world. Just watching it doesn't mean I'm converting to Shinto.

 

[Elonas]

For my first anime, and what got me into it. Was Death note, then onto Code Geass, both are not overly... "japanese"? If you know what I mean. It's not too much of a culture shock. But as said, Death note begins to decline near the middle, but picks up again nearer the end.

 

[twasdfzxcv]

Dragon ball. Not DBZ, the original dragon ball series. It's much more lighthearted and interesting than DBZ. It's easy enough for anyone to get into and it requires almost no knowledge of Japanese or anime/manga culture.

 

[DSEZ]

my first anime was dragon ball z like many people on here

i recommend either dragon ball z,gundam,histories strongest disciple kenichi,or hajime no ippo

 

[Comrade Mateo]

I've been really standoffish about Anime since as long as I can remember. Sure I watched Pokemon and Yogioh but they were just marketing for toys (can't believe I actually enjoyed them for a time...)
Anyways, I've watched Avatar the last Airbender and I believe it is probably in the top 3 of my favorite cartoons. What I want now is to actually watch a real Anime, the kind people normally are discussing when I avoid them like the plague.
Problem is I really don't like much spiritual stuff like demons and spirits, and wikipedia isn't much help so I'm relying on you lot to help me out.
The only clue I have so far is Full metal alchemist because it is about the only one I've heard of other than bleach, and I don't want to watch that.

So I have two questions.
1. What series to start off on. Please no pet series, something that I might enjoy being a first timer.

2. Dubbed or not dubbed? I heard some people think it is better to watch with subs. I like reading so this wouldn't be a problem if it is indeed better.

Baccano. Baccano! Baccano!!!! There's even a review on here, which says,

Bottom Line: Blending memorable characters, wild action, absurd humor, quirky romance, and a unique storytelling method, Baccano! is full-flavored anime that goes down smoothly except for that rough first episode.

Recommendation: Watch Baccano! now.

I seriously can't give higher praise to this anime. Give it about four episodes to make sense, then love every minute of it.

 

[klaynexas3]

deathnote and stop watching after the shinigami disappears in episode 25 and watch like the last 2 minutes of episode 37.

and anything that's dragon ball other than GT. try to start from the beginning cause if you start off with DBZ it's a little confusing. plus, gives you more to watch then. best place to watch this stuff i think is animefreak.tv

 

[geldonyetich]

This is funny in that I'm looking down this is list of recommendations and just about every one of them have parts related to Japanese concepts of spirits/demons, which is something the original poster was asking advice how to avoid. For example:

* Dragonball Z, Fist Of The North Star, most martial arts based animes - They're always developing their Ki. What's Ki? Spiritual power. (Also, in Dragonball Z at least, they regularly visit the spirit world in several episodes, which is occupied by spirits and demons.)

* Death Note - An anime about a note with great spiritual power that is used to direct demons to kill people.

* Baccano - A story about immortality serum granted by a demon.

* Clannad - While mostly a slice-of-life anime (and absolutely awesome show), the supernatural factors heavily into the undertones of this show.

* Akira - This one's a bit dicey. While not a demon per se, but Akira has a lot of happenings heavily inspired by demons, and the espers psychic powers can be seen as spiritual.

And so on. That said, there has been a few recommendations which passed this criteria, for example:

* Gundam - I'm pretty sure that, aside from maybe the name of some of the characters/gundams, there's no demons or spirits here.

* Cowboy Beebop - Mostly straight up Sci-Fi, though there's a few episodes involving characters who utilize spiritual tricks. Spike's Native American consul, for example.

* Ouran High School Host Club - Pretty much zero spirits and demons here, although the concept of a "host club" is somewhat Japanese, and sometimes they dress up in traditional Japanese outfits, and then there's that guy who believes in black magic...

* Ghost In The Shell - Pretty much straight up Sci-Fi involving the concepts of cyborgs.

 

[Gigano]

Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, and perhaps even Elfen Lied - if not faint of heart - would all be pretty good starters. The first two especially aren't that "Japanese" in their themes and style, and features excellent production values and dubbing.

Depending on genre preferences, something like Slayers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/anime/6487-Anime-Review-The-Slayers] (comedy/fantasy) might also be a good start.

While definitely not a "starter series", I'm also obligated by UG law to recommend Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (incredibly awesome [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/anime/6503-Anime-Review-Higurashi-When-They-Cry] psychological horror/mystery series) for (by all that is good and holy subbed) viewing somewhere further down the line.

 

[tristow]

the ghost in the shell movie and akira helped anime become populer in the west so maybe there a good starting point