PhantomStranger

Many recommend Cowboy Bebop as a gateway into anime. Anime is just as varied as Hollywood's content, so genre preferences would play into any suggestion I'd give. It usually takes watching a few different anime types (shonen, mecha, high school, comedy, etc) before figuring out your own preferences.

Saying that, here are a few of the most famous and popular anime programs. I'll let others recommend anime movies, these are all shows which run at least 12 episodes and some have multiple seasons. I think the most accessible from this list for a new anime viewer would be Clannad, Sword Art Online, or One Punch Man.

Clannad
Steins; Gate
Sword Art Online
Attack On Titan
My Hero Academia
One Punch Man
Death Note

fujishig

I also want to say, don't necessarily watch anime to understand Japanese culture (unless you're somehow talking about anime culture?). Or else this happens:

asianxcore

Finished a re-watch ofBludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan.

Probably will watch the sequel today or tomorrow.

PhantomStranger

Made it through Domestic Girlfriend - a love triangle develops between a guy and his two new step-sisters after his dad remarries. There is a little adult fanservice but this is not a light series at all. Heavy on the melodrama and real-world ramifications of the forbidden relationship. Probably would be more enjoyable if it didn't take itself so seriously.

Maxflier

Just getting into Lupin III and already in love with this franchise. Don't know why I slept on it for all these years.

fujishig

Don't sell it short. The guy is in love with his high school teacher, loses his virginity to a girl he barely knows, then finds out that they are his new step sisters. And it's not a comedy.

Also, I know the manga ending is... interesting. Some would call it complete trash. It's not exactly an Usagi Drop situation or anything and I have no idea if they're going to adapt it, but man.

In my continuing quest to find stuff to watch with my daughter:
I was going to start RE:Zero but remembered that the directors cut will be coming to HBO Max this month, so we'll wait

I was hesitant at first but we started Demon Slayer/Kimetsu No Yaiba. It's too much for my smaller kids but it was fine for her.

I wanted to watch Back Arrow but saw the title of the first episode and I'll screen it first. Also started on Mushoku Tensei but had to turn it off because there's like breast feeding in the first 5 minutes and the other kids were in the room. sigh.

PhantomStranger

Same here - I had watched bits of Lupin over the years and the franchise never did much for me. The recent Lupin III: The First is a very fun movie and looks gorgeous on BD. Probably the best 3D CG animation I've seen out of Japan.

TheBigDave

So far, I've been really impressed by Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. I'm not familiar with the LN. But I follow the manga, and this anime is a huge improvement. It's not a typical OP MC isekai. They're taking the time to do a good story. And the animation is beautiful at times.

https://www.funimation.com/shows/mus...reincarnation/

https://www.hulu.com/series/mushoku-...2-4fb3b10c860a

WTK

I'm glad to see the Lupin franchise has gotten more attention over the last couple years. I think it helps that more legal streaming is available and more home video releases are getting released by Discotek. TMS Ent. is also promoting more of the franchise as well.

WTK

The series has been a pleasant surprise for me so far. It's listed a 23-episode series as well (split-cour).

Koby

Honestly the only difference between the original and DC version is that they put two episodes together for double length episodes. The only actual worthwhile new content was a 4 minute segment on the end of the last episode... which became completely redundant since that same segment was then used in the very start of season 2.

fujishig

Ah, thanks Koby, I didn't realize that. Seems kind of a weird thing to have a separate cut for.

WTK

MAL posted this article last year: What's New in the Re:Zero Director's Cut? It goes in depth of the differences (most of which are subtle).

https://myanimelist.net/featured/231..._Directors_Cut

WTK

Mushoku Tensei vs Lord of the Rings

PhantomStranger

Binged Arifureta: From Commonplace To World's Strongest. Yes, it's an isekai and it's fairly edgy in terms of anime conventions. Pretty decent first season with interesting action. I wish they had taken their time pacing the events of the first 3-4 episodes and given the plot more time for nuance. People complain about decompression in comics, this was a case of overcompression. Felt like the producers were scared they wouldn't get a second season, so rushed through some of the narrative's bigger developments so they could introduce more characters.

The later harem developments undercut some of the show's dramatic power.

Koby

Did you read the source material? They cut so much out of the anime, they were flying through entire volumes in one to two episodes.

The rate at which the show was skipping and adapting volumes was astonishing. The first five episodes adapted Volume 1 of both the manga and light novel mostly okay, but then go to episode 6 and volume 2 has been adapted into just two episodes? They even went as far as to make Hajime’s group clear a labyrinth in just one episode, as opposed to the five episodes needed to clear the first one. By episode 8 the show is already adapting the third volume of the manga, which was way too quick. A bunch of new characters were introduced with most of their character development omitted or completely left out.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, the show skips the last 60 pages of volume 3 just so episode 11 can adapt Volume 4 into the last 3 episodes. This put the anime ahead of the manga.

If they wanted to adapt 4 volumes, they should've allowed the anime to run 24 episodes in order to properly handle it. Fans of the source material outright hated the anime, giving it the name of worst adapted anime ever....

PhantomStranger

No, I hadn't read the light novels/manga. Makes sense, the anime's pacing feels off. That entire first arc alone could have been 13 episodes.

PhantomStranger

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation is a good mystery anime. Clearly influenced by Sherlock Holmes, possibly even the recent Western television shows like Elementary. The first season does feel incomplete, leaving a huge dangling thread unanswered. The mysteries are laid out fairly well until the final mystery, which is terribly convoluted and the "solution" is ridiculous.

fujishig

Kids were home with a long weekend (well, they're home all the time, but no school this time), so we watched
Earwig and the Witch: it was ok, but man the hand drawn Ghibli charm is sorely missing here
Boy and His Beast: I actually had never watched this before despite owning it since it came out. I only read a couple of volumes of the manga so I was kind of surprised at where it went.

On the one hand, I kind of wish these kinds of stories had full season adaptations so we could marinate on the characters a little more (I feel the same way about A Silent Voice). On the other hand these theatrical releases (for Boy and His Beast and Silent Voice) are pretty amazing so as one and dones I can't complain too much.

It's still a challenge for me to find non traditional-shonen type stuff that I can show my kids without having to explain why so and so is a pervert, though. We might go all the way back to Nadia for some old school Gainax goodness (I would do Future Boy Conan but to my knowledge it's never been officially released).

edited to add: Oh, I almost forgot, we also watched Pom Poko. I thought it would be difficult explaining the "pouches" but my kids understood. It still feels like I should wait a bit for Mononoke, though.

TheBigDave

If you're trying to avoid perverts, you better stay away from Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. That kid's a little rapey.

fujishig

Yeah, I think I mentioned earlier that I started it because the animation looked beautiful and within the first few minutes there was a lead in to a breast feeding scene and I noped out of it (my daughter was watching with me).

WTK

It's not 100% clear why this remains unlicensed. It has been released on Blu-ray in Japan. Hopefully one day it will be licensed in North America (even if it's streaming only).

Justin Sevakis talked also talked about this back in 2015 (Answerman): http://4NN.cx/.90419

I would agree (especially with the lastest episode).

milo bloom

We finally located a way to watch Ghost Stories, and let me tell you, everything you've heard about the English dub is absolutely true. Absolutely off the wall but still maintaining a sense of plot and story progression. Very funny show.

And still working our way through the original DragonBall.

PhantomStranger

I was blown away by Kokkoku: Moment By Moment. The sci-fi concept thriller has a really interesting premise and actually delivers a good finale, even if it is out there. An average family has the special ability to enter a dimension where time is frozen for everyone else. Probably the first anime since Death Note where I kept thinking this would make an excellent property for Hollywood. The whole arc could be written into a two-hour movie without losing much.

About the only downsides are the pedestrian animation and forgettable character designs.

WTK

Italy (Dynit) is getting a fancy Blu-ray limited edition release. It looks like the BD will be based on new master from 4K scan.

ULTIME NOTIZIE - Conan, Il Ragazzo Del Futuro
https://www.amazon.it/dp/B08XD4PPLF