wanna get into anime but....

[Ziel]

Bleach is a great beginner anime if you can stand the lengthiness. Just skip the fillers and you're set! All the crap parts are taken out and the lengthiness is halved!

Seriously? Between the stereotypical character types, the distinctly animeish slapstick humour and the fact that he'd need to be able to identify and prune the filler, I can't see a single aspect of Bleach that makes it newbie friendly.

Edit: And for people saying Gungrave? No. The first episode of that series was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had watching anime. The thing should have started at episode 2 and ended at episode 14.

 

[the lapalminator]

Bleach is a great beginner anime if you can stand the lengthiness. Just skip the fillers and you're set! All the crap parts are taken out and the lengthiness is halved!

Seriously? Between the stereotypical character types, the distinctly animeish slapstick humour and the fact that he'd need to be able to identify and prune the filler, I can't see a single aspect of Bleach that makes it newbie friendly.

the first few arcs are engaging fairly simple to follow and importantly funny
id easily reccomend it lol

 

[Ziel]

the first few arcs are engaging fairly simple to follow and importantly funny

Well of course it's easy to follow, it's a kids show. Again though, while it may be funny for an anime fiend, Bleach's humour is like jumping in at the deep end for someone who's new to anime. It's a very different sense of humour compared to what we're used to over here.

 

[the lapalminator]

the first few arcs are engaging fairly simple to follow and importantly funny

Well of course it's easy to follow, it's a kids show. Again though, while it may be funny for an anime fiend, Bleach's humour is like jumping in at the deep end for a newbie.

i see your point but i have converted some people with it, so i know its not bad at that

 

[stormcrow5]

[Warning, heavy use of wiki-links]

To start with, avoid ALL meta-series. They are not a good starting point, and are known for turning off people new to anime.
Meta-anime includes: Dragonball: Anything, Bleach, Naruto, One Peice, Sailor Moon, Ranma, or anything else that has a 3 digit episode list.

[Edited for content]

^ this guy
For some of my top picks tho, i would say Higurashi, Eva series (movies and all) Black lagoon the Hellsing OVAs, Claymore, Kurokami, Index, TTGL ^^. i could go on. Or if u just want tits on screen for about 99% of the time watchin Queens Blade (tits tits tits tits about sums it up) Ikkitousen (tits tits fighting tits small plot)

 

[Ziel]

Well of course it's easy to follow, it's a kids show. Again though, while it may be funny for an anime fiend, Bleach's humour is like jumping in at the deep end for a newbie.

i see your point but i have converted some people with it, so i know its not bad at that

That depends who you "converted". Keep in mind this is someone who's obviously having trouble finding something he likes.

its just not happening asides from the boondocks

what anime should i watch to get into it?

Edit: Can someone explain the appeal of Claymore? The kid's unlikeable and the combat was worse than Dragonball Z.

 

[LBringer]

For some of my top picks tho, i would say Higurashi, Eva series (movies and all) Black lagoon the Hellsing OVAs, Claymore, Kurokami, Index, TTGL ^^. i could go on. Or if u just want tits on screen for about 99% of the time watchin Queens Blade (tits tits tits tits about sums it up) Ikkitousen (tits tits fighting tits small plot)

I'd say Higurashi is WAY too heavy to be a starter anime, even if it was utterly awesome if you could watch it all. Black Lagoon was decent if not a bit heavy. Haven't watched the Hellsing OVAs yet. Kurokami was ok until the near-end 'twist'. Claymore just reminded me of the Berserk style, but with girls, and the anime ended horribly. Besides, if he wanted tits onscreen for 99% of the time he'd be asking for hentai, not anime.

But yeah, for most of that stuff, while good, is a bit heavy for an anime newb. Hell, IMHO, if I would have watched Eva when I first started watching anime, I would never have touched another one again just due to the end.

 

[Azure Sky]

[Warning, heavy use of wiki-links]

To start with, avoid ALL meta-series. They are not a good starting point, and are known for turning off people new to anime.
Meta-anime includes: Dragonball: Anything, Bleach, Naruto, One Peice, Sailor Moon, Ranma, or anything else that has a 3 digit episode list.

[Edited for content]

^ this guy
For some of my top picks tho, i would say Higurashi, Eva series (movies and all) Black lagoon the Hellsing OVAs, Claymore, Kurokami, Index, TTGL ^^. i could go on. Or if u just want tits on screen for about 99% of the time watchin Queens Blade (tits tits tits tits about sums it up) Ikkitousen (tits tits fighting tits small plot)

While I am a massive massive Eva fan, other than the rebuild, I think that the series might be a little too much for someone new to anime, same goes for Higurashi, it can get a little... Heavy?

 

[the lapalminator]

Well of course it's easy to follow, it's a kids show. Again though, while it may be funny for an anime fiend, Bleach's humour is like jumping in at the deep end for a newbie.

i see your point but i have converted some people with it, so i know its not bad at that

That depends who you "converted". Keep in mind this is someone who's obviously having trouble finding something he likes.

touche'

 

[Ziel]

While I am a massive massive Eva fan, other than the rebuild, I think that the series might be a little too much for someone new to anime, same goes for Higurashi, it can get a little... Heavy?

Definitely. I'm a fan of both series, but I wouldn't suggest either one to someone new to anime.

Higurashi is fucked up in ways that only the japanese can manage, while Eva has the whiny protagonist and a certain philosophical style that is unique to japanese media.

I think people are getting their wires crossed between helping this guy get into anime, and trying to make him watch their favourite series.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

Bleach is a great beginner anime if you can stand the lengthiness. Just skip the fillers and you're set! All the crap parts are taken out and the lengthiness is halved!

Seriously? Between the stereotypical character types, the distinctly animeish slapstick humour and the fact that he'd need to be able to identify and prune the filler, I can't see a single aspect of Bleach that makes it newbie friendly.

Edit: And for people saying Gungrave? No. The first episode of that series was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had watching anime. The thing should have started at episode 2 and ended at episode 14.

Not everything has to be a masterpiece to be enjoyable. Don't take it so seriously and over-analyze it and it's good.
It borrows heavily from Dragon Ball Z so you have to turn a blind eye to quite a lot of story and character development if you want to over-analyze.
And I don't know about 'stereotypical character types', it's not that stereotypical, there are just many, many characters. And the 'slapstick' humour is fairly rare exempting fillers.

And Bleach isn't like D.Gray-Man for instance where the fillers are hard to prune out, it's all separated into arcs for the most part, so you just cut out the filler arcs.
If he want's to watch bleach I would be more than happy to tell him what to watch and what not to watch in this regard. (Feel free to PM me if you're interested )
Bleach may not be the best anime, but cut it some slack! It isn't as horrible as you make it out to be, and it is VERY beginner friendly.

Snip
Edit: Can someone explain the appeal of Claymore? The kid's unlikeable and the combat was worse than Dragonball Z.

Edit: Claymore I also like. I don't see your dislike for the combat, but yeah, Raki is one of the worst main characters ever devised, and the Claymore anime had the worst ending I have ever seen.
But up until the ending I thought it was a high quality adventure, hack/slash anime. No masterpiece, but very enjoyable.
And you shouldn't hate on DBZ

 

[LBringer]

It borrows heavily from Dragon Ball Z so you have to turn a blind eye to quite a lot of story and character development if you want to over-analyze.

They're all shounen with the same generic style if you're talking about bleach. The generic story is that guy gets involved in something and has to fight, finds dude that's more powerful, guy gets more powerful and beats the first dude, finds dude that's more powerful, etc. And a lot of shounen anime get into the triple digit range. I mean, if you want to get into one that has started recently you could just watch Fairy Tail.

Though, I have to give it to Bleach in the fact it has some of the worst filler arcs I've been 'fortunate' to experience, to the point where I just read the manga now so I don't have to mess with the craptastic filler.

Claymore I also like. I don't see your dislike for the combat, but yeah, Raki is one of the worst main characters ever devised, and the Claymore anime had the worst ending I have ever seen.
But up until the ending I thought it was a high quality adventure, hack/slash anime. No masterpiece, but very enjoyable.
And you shouldn't hate on DBZ

EDIT: Isn't it a blessing that Raki disappears for a nice large chunk of the manga then? Though when he comes back, he's not as cringe-worthy.

EDIT 2: Oh, and Raki is by FAR not the main character.

 

[Azure Sky]

While I am a massive massive Eva fan, other than the rebuild, I think that the series might be a little too much for someone new to anime, same goes for Higurashi, it can get a little... Heavy?

Definitely. I'm a fan of both series, but I wouldn't suggest either one to someone new to anime.

Higurashi is fucked up in ways that only the japanese can manage, while Eva has the whiny protagonist and a certain philosophical style that is unique to japanese media.

I think people are getting their wires crossed between helping this guy get into anime, and trying to make him watch their favourite series.

Very much agreed. I did post this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.235552-wanna-get-into-anime-but#8371362] earlier but it seems that most of the people here just saw the title and posted rather than reading the forum.

 

[the lapalminator]

I like you am not big on anime but Cowboy Bebop is good. Boondocks is a good show, the comic strips are really good too check those out if you haven't.

 

[LBringer]

While I am a massive massive Eva fan, other than the rebuild, I think that the series might be a little too much for someone new to anime, same goes for Higurashi, it can get a little... Heavy?

Definitely. I'm a fan of both series, but I wouldn't suggest either one to someone new to anime.

Higurashi is fucked up in ways that only the japanese can manage, while Eva has the whiny protagonist and a certain philosophical style that is unique to japanese media.

I think people are getting their wires crossed between helping this guy get into anime, and trying to make him watch their favourite series.

Very much agreed. I did post this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.235552-wanna-get-into-anime-but#8371362] earlier but it seems that most of the people here just saw the title and posted rather than reading the forum.

In defense of a lot of the meta-series stuff though, they were all MEANT to be exciting and easy to get into. The downside is that they last forever so the mangakas can keep getting paid.

 

[Judgement101]

Code Geass, easy to get into, good characters, decent plot, and NO FILLER!

 

[Ziel]

Not everything has to be a masterpiece to be enjoyable. Don't take it so seriously and over-analyze it and it's good.
It borrows heavily from Dragon Ball Z so you have to turn a blind eye to quite a lot of story and character development if you want to over-analyze.
And I don't know about 'stereotypical character types', it's not that stereotypical, there are just many, many characters. And the 'slapstick' humour is fairly rare exempting fillers.

And Bleach isn't like D.Gray-Man for instance where the fillers are hard to prune out, it's all separated into arcs for the most part, so you just cut out the filler arcs.
If he want's to watch bleach I would be more than happy to tell him what to watch and what not to watch in this regard. (Feel free to PM me if you're interested )
Bleach may not be the best anime, but cut it some slack! It isn't as horrible as you make it out to be, and it is VERY beginner friendly.

Ichigo the rash protagonist, Rukia the tomboy, Ishida the snooty nerd, Inoue the warmhearted big-breasted girl, Chad the stony-faced athlete...the series is practically an A-Z of anime character stereotypes.

I'm not saying it's horrible. Hell, I enjoyed it for as long as I could bother to keep up with the incessant filler. I'm just saying it's typical anime in it's characters and humour, which probably doesn't pass as newbie-friendly considering the guy is having trouble finding something he likes.

 

[captaincabbage]

Any Studio Ghibli film is good.

The two animes that I'd really recommend are Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo.

They're both made by the same guy (Shinichiro Watanabe) so they've got the same vibe throughout them. Plus Steven Blum is the creator's muse, so he's in both series (in english dubs, which I'd recommend for a newcomer) playing a main character, which is good, because he's got an awesome voice. XD

Cowboy Bebop is basically a Western Sci-fi, with lots of great bluegrass, soul and rock in the soundtrack. It follows Spike Spiegal (Steve Blum), Jet Black, Faye Valentine, Edward and Ein, the dog. They just go around the solar system collecting bounties (trying to, at least) and getting into some awesome fights along the way. It's got an overarching backstory for Spike, but other than that the series is pretty non linear, since you can pretty much watch any episodes in any order, which is also great for newcomers to anime.

As for Samurai Champloo, it's a similar concoction of two adverse elements, this time with fuedal Japan and hip-hop, which, dispite my initial skepticism, turns out to be an excellent combination. It follows a similar bunch of misfits, this time including Mugen (Steve Blum), Jin and Fuu. Like Cowboy Bebop, it follows a similar path of nonlinearity, though with stronger ties to the overarching quest that Fuu is on, to find a samurai who 'smells of sunflowers'. It's also the reason why the two master swordsmen, Mugen and Jin, are accompanying Fuu, as they're both roped into it by their debt to her.

Of the two, my favorite is Samurai Champloo, simply because I saw it first and enjoyed it more, tho Cowboy Bebop was amazing for me as well.
I'm also gonna go out on a limb here and say that you have a genuine option to watch the series in english dubs, since in my opinion, they're some of the bed dubs around.


Anyway, I dunno what I was really trying to do with this massive description, I hope it helps you out tho, since both of these series really deserve to be seen.
*EDIT* I've also gotta say that the action in both aeries is fucking awesome, soif you're wanting for some good gun action or swordfighting,then you pretty much can't go wrong with Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo respectively.

 

[theonlywildman]

If you want a short anime series watch Paranoia Agent but the plot is very complicated and tough for people to get into if not well versed in anime.
But go with just about anything Gundam related to get into anime. Gundam is usually a good launcher

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

It borrows heavily from Dragon Ball Z so you have to turn a blind eye to quite a lot of story and character development if you want to over-analyze.

They're all shounen with the same generic style if you're talking about bleach. The generic story is that guy gets involved in something and has to fight, finds dude that's more powerful, guy gets more powerful and beats the first dude, finds dude that's more powerful, etc. And a lot of shounen anime get into the triple digit range. I mean, if you want to get into one that has started recently you could just watch Fairy Tail.

Though, I have to give it to Bleach in the fact it has some of the worst filler arcs I've been 'fortunate' to experience, to the point where I just read the manga now so I don't have to mess with the craptastic filler.

Again, I'm not saying it's a masterpiece, It's a simple anime that follows your basic shonen template, and because of this is easy to enjoy without being too complex for the beginner.
Bleach may be Dragon Ball Z's clone, but few can say they watched DBZ and didn't enjoy it
DBZ if taken seriously is also terrible, you start watching DBZ, and by the time you're finished you have this big, childish goofy smile across your face and it isn't a comedic anime!
The reason DBZ and Bleach work is because they take the simple shonen template and present it in a way that is engaging, makes you care about the characters, and because they use waaay too many cliff-hangers. But that is what makes it fun!
I like Ergo Proxy, Evangelion and Texhnolyze as much as the next guy, but you have to occasionally watch the enjoyable basic fluff as well!

And yeah, if he was asking for Manga suggestions I would have picked bleach too. The manga IS better than the anime, and I started reading it for the same reason as you.
Made the anime lose much of its appeal, but before I read the manga I really liked the anime a lot, and it is still the same story.

Edit:

Ichigo the rash protagonist, Rukia the tomboy, Ishida the snooty nerd, Inoue the warmhearted big-breasted girl, Chad the stony-faced athlete...the series is practically an A-Z of anime character stereotypes.

I'm not saying it's horrible. Hell, I enjoyed it for as long as I could bother to keep up with the incessant filler. I'm just saying it's typical anime in it's characters and humour, which probably doesn't pass as newbie-friendly considering the guy is having trouble finding something he likes.

Yeah Ok i'll give you that, though you can present any character from any anime under a title like that if you try hard enough.
But I think he should try bleach BECAUSE he is having trouble. Bleach is a broad anime, so of course you pitch it to a newbie who is having trouble finding something.
If he's having trouble finding something, I'm hardly going to recommend FLCL or Texnolyze, I'm going to recommend something broad and popular. Start with the basics and work from the ground up.
Besides, if you really hate bleach, which is pretty much as shonen as you can get, chances are you'll know from it that you most likely don't like the shonen genre as a whole, which makes it a lot easier to choose something.