I Am New To Anime

Anime is no longer this taboo subject that would constantly get misconstrued for its more dark web-like counterpart and has actually thrived from a hardcore niche into a mainstream wave which has been a blessing for long closeted anime fans. 36% (or 2.88 billion) of viewers worldwide enjoyed watching anime in 2021 which means that there’s a massive interest worldwide for this genre.

However, with this revelation new fans are asking old fans “where do I start?”.

Old Classics, or New Age Anime

How do we protect our friends’ interests while also sharing a piece of ourselves along the way while introducing friends to some of our favorite animes? Let’s make a list!

Cowboy Bebop (1998) - Classic

As one of the classics, Cowbop Bebop has been unmoved as the highest-rated anime series of all time. Following a group of bounty hunters who hop across the Solar System in their ship, the Bebop, the show navigates ideas of existentialism and the search to belong amidst a collection of misfits. Described as a blend of sci-fi cyberpunk, Western, and neo-noir, the series is a chaotic mix of unexpecting and exciting.

The show is easily binge-able, with 26 half-hour episodes in one compact season. Gaining a score of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes, Cowboy Bebop is easily accessible yet universally acclaimed, perfect for those looking to enter the world of anime. I also hold a personal bias as this is my favorite anime of all time.

Jujutsu Kaisen (2020) - New Age

Jujutsu Kaisen may be fresh off the press, but it has already made an impressive mark in the anime world. Released in late 2020, viewership of the show has skyrocketed past many of its current peers. Detailing a young sorcerer's journey to exorcise a demon he consumed, Jujutsu Kaisen also comments on deeper links between the soul and the body.

As a gripping dark fantasy, this series is perfect for fans of the occult. Supplying an array of stunning animation, compelling characters, and gory fight scenes, Jujutsu Kaisen is suited for beginners entering the modern generation of anime. Expect season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen to be released in 2023.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) Classic/New Age

This steampunk dark fantasy series is a complex tale of grief, war, and moral ethics. Through alchemy, two brothers tamper with mortality and must seek to restore their physical bodies following the skewed experiment to bring their mother back to life.

With episodes only running for 12-18 minutes, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is quick yet effective with storytelling. It paces beautifully, with each character arc flowing freeing into one another, and utilizes its time to detail the powerful bond between the brothers. Another series with a 100 on Rotten Tomatoes, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is here to impress and guaranteed to tug at heartstrings.

Attack on Titan (2013) - New Age

Attack on Titan is another wildly popular series that has taken the world by storm. The series explores darker and heavier themes, depicting a violent dystopia where humanity has walled off cities in a war with colossal, flesh-eating Titans. Gritty and heart-stopping, Attack on Titan is a mental challenge that takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster.

Visually unlike anything else, the series produces a dynamic space by experimenting with scale and size. Attack on Titan sports a more graphic aesthetic, where the uncanny humanoid titans and their barbaric nature border disturbing more than intriguing. As violent and brutal as the show may be, its well-rounded nature and near-perfect acclaim have won many over as another modern classic.

Naruto: Shippuden (2007) - Classic

For those here for the long haul, Naruto: Shippuden is another classic that has carved out a league of its own in pop culture. Having a show run spanning a decade with exactly 500 episodes, Naruto: Shippuden is a part of the Big Three Shonen that globally popularized anime. The premise deals with Naruto's coming of age and his journey to master his skill as a ninja to become the head of his village.

Naruto sees the hero’s journey to its fullest extent, with many long-time fans voicing how growing up alongside this show has shaped who they are. Beyond its sentimentality, the show also boasts some of the most iconic hand combat animation in anime history. The series is more easy-going and perfect as a starter to anime.

Death Note (2006) - Classic

Another classic series that put anime on the map, Death Note is a broody crime thriller that tinkers with life, mortality, and the idea of justice at the hands of karma. Light Yagami is a young vigilante who comes across the Death Note, a book in which any name inscribed will face death.

Alongside a Shinigami spirit (Grim Reaper equivalent), what Light does with the Death Note is a critical commentary on personal ethics and how power and ego influence the role of playing God. With elements of horror and thriller, the series entices viewers with just enough emotional damage to keep coming back. Yet another series with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating, Death Note is a twisted, mind-bending game of cat and mouse.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (2012) - New Age

Take a deep breath before heading into the flashy world of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, because bizarre it is, indeed. The series follows the many descendants of the odd Joestar family, who take down forces of evil with powers passed down from a generational curse. The show is known for its quirky humor and eyebrow-raising absurdity.

The show travels through different eras with different members of the Joestar family in eight split volumes. Each season increasingly becomes more vibrant and slowly uncovers how the curse came to be. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure feels like a fever dream, from its campy fashion to its theatrical villains.

Steins;Gate (2011) - New Age

Perfect for science-fiction fans, Steins;Gate is a cerebral adventure on time travel, exploring the classic theory that something altered in the past will change its future. Situated in the gadgety Japanese district of Akihabara, three friends tip-toe into the future and send text messages back into the past to adjust their fates.

When one slip up can trigger an entire butterfly effect, the choices made in Steins;Gate is nothing short of anxiety-inducing. The show is a heartfelt thrill containing complex character dynamics and requires viewers to use active thinking.

Bleach (2004) - Classic

Another series of the Big Three Shonen, Bleach is a classic for those who love action, adventure, and anything supernatural. Set around angsty teenager Ichigo Kurasaki, Bleach follows his journey as he inherits the abilities of a Soul Reaper and must harness these skills for good.

Filled with sword fights and one-too-many sexual innuendos, Bleach is a smug teenager’s fantasy. For a series that covers many themes rooted in graphic and heavy material, it still manages to have a tongue-in-cheek air about it.

This list is a combination of Classics and New Age that should bridge the gap accordingly. (I will always be a sucker for Cowboy Bebop as it is my favorite anime of all time) The parameters for Classic vs New Age is right around 2008/2009.

Classics Had Bad Trends

Purists will argue that these were necessary starting points for any genre and that they need time to grow to learn what really resonates with their audience and what creates a complete disconnect. The list below showcases how anime has upped its attention to detail to provide the New Age Anime a leg up on the competition.

Anime Approaches Filler-less Country

One thing anime has become infamous for throughout the years is tons of pointless filler episodes. Many series use fillers to buy time while they wait for the manga's storyline to progress or catch up. Titles such as Inuyasha and Naruto have become well-known for their filler, and many fans go out of their way to skip these episodes.

While filler is still a reality, anime nowadays has far less of it, much to fans' delight. Overall, modern anime keep close to the manga, and most episodes are plot-worthy is some way. I will argue; however, that an anime that makes REALLY good filler is an absolute gem but is usually left to the eye of the beholder (aka Goku and Piccolo learning to drive in DBZ).

Series With Hundreds Of Episodes Rarely Exist

It used to be a popular trend for anime series to run on forever, racking up hundreds of episodes during their time on air. This was especially true for genres like shonen that rely on fight scenes that carry over for several episodes. This is beneficial for new fans who don’t have to experience shonen animes in their previously daunting format of 100+, 200+ or even 900+ episode series.

Thankfully, modern anime series tend to stick to a fixed amount of episodes, making them more approachable for newcomers. Long anime are perfect for committed fans who are used experienced, but with anime moving into the mainstream, it's good that the trend is becoming a thing of the past.

Harem Anime Have Lost Their Luster

During the ‘90s and 2000s, harem anime were everywhere. They were a part of every genre, and it was impossible to get away from them. However, nowadays, harem series can't compete. Many fans have grown to dislike the trend, seeing it as overused and too focused on fanservice. Fanservice has always exhausted myself ever since I was an anime fan.

There are still harems here and there. However, these series are often criticized by viewers and the harem aspect is looked down on by most. Though it was once a funny and popular dynamic, it's become overused and in poor taste over the years, and it seems everyone is okay with letting it fade away into obscurity.

A genre sometimes just runs out of room to run and I feel that there was a time and place for the comedic relief of the harem genre, but as time continues to ebb and flow the harem genre cannot find a good footing for growth and the audiences of grown tired of the same ol’ gags.

Poorly Translated Dubs A Thing Of The Past

During the early days of anime, dubs were often comedically bad. It's why there will always be a debate over sub vs dub in aime. Many early dubs were poorly translated and had voice acting that lacked lip synching nor character likeness.

There will always be those that are naysayers, but the voiceacting in dubbed anime has improved vastly as time and money continue to flow into it. Nowadays, most are pretty faithful to the source material and have better acting through and through. Though old dubs are funny and enjoyable in their own right, modern dubs are clean and well executed.

Anime-Only Endings Have Mostly Phased Out

It's well-known that anime parallel their manga. So when the series catches up to the manga's current storyline, they have to start relying on filler. Sometimes anime have even gone as far as creating their own endings, rather than waiting for the manga to conclude first. Anime-only endings aren't always bad, but they're usually poorly received by fans who prefer the manga's story over whatever the anime comes up with.

However, some are infamously bad and ruin an anime adaptation altogether, such as the ending to Fullmetal Alchemist. This used to be a much bigger problem within anime, but not anymore, most series tend to stay as faithful to the source material as possible, making a better experience for fans.

Boringly, Plain Protagonists Are Harder To Come By

One thing many past anime have suffered from is a boring, average protagonist. Normally, this main character is considered Mr. Irrelevant. Yet, somehow he always winds up as some kind of chosen one like Neo, or a princess falls madly in love with him.

These protagonists haven’t disappeared entirely, but they're beginning to phase out. The effort towards personality and development of characters has started to erase these default “plain heroes.”

The "Charming Prince" Characters Are Now A Relic Of A Forgotten Trend

During the '90s and 2000s, many anime series featured a pretty-boy "prince" character that the main female would fall in love with instantly. This character archetype was all over the place in magical girl and shojo series, one of the most notable examples being Yuki from Fruits Basket.

Many of these characters had little personality outside of being kind, handsome, and "princely" and yet the heroine somehow was completely enchanted by him. These days, that archetype has been long forgotten, replaced instead by characters with more depth and interest.

Lead Male And Female Characters Formerly Displayed Violent Slapstick Relationships

For a long time, the lead male and female characters in a series often had very unhealthy, borderline abusive relationships. It didn't matter what genre, this was almost always the case, with goofy and obnoxious main guys who constantly get pummeled by an overly angry main girl.

This routine used to be considered funny by audiences, but now it makes fans uncomfortable. Times change and so has the writing for this trend typically leaving this type of squabbling far and few between.

Comic Relief Characters Aren’t Just Shoehorned In Anymore

Anime often heavily relies on comedy, no matter the genre. As a result, there's usually a designated comic relief character that is mostly used as a running gag. While these characters are fun, it gets old seeing the same annoying character over and over. In recent years, comic relief characters have flourished with more depth than before.

Many are portrayed with the same respect as the rest of the cast, and they develop over time to become more than just the goofball of the group. It's refreshing to see these characters taken more seriously these days, and it makes for a more enjoyable series overall.

Localizations No Longer Add Westernized Names And Culture

Anime fans mostly agree that anime with subtitles are far superior to English dubbed versions, and a big reason for that is due to the many poor localizations of the past. Many anime dubs have been butchered in the process losing all original context.

What makes it worse is when localizations change up names and throw in Western culture that wasn't originally there. Some of the most infamous examples include the '90s dub of Sailor Moon and the 4Kids version of Yu-Gi-Oh. Thankfully, anime localizations are treated much more respectfully these days and maintain the integrity of the original.

Anime is Here to Stay

With everything discussed above, you are ready to take your friend under your wing as you embark on an epic anime filled journey side by side. As you can tell, there might be some pratfalls to avoid in the Classics but it seems like it’ll be hard to go wrong anywhere as long as that journey is taken together.

This graph comes from : https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/anime-market

So might as well show your friends down the memory lane of animes you loved, you feel they will love, or heck maybe you want to show them what the wild west of anime was like and lead them into the desert land of filler. Either way we know you’ll have fun, and of course be responsible and remember to always go…PLUS ULTRA!!!!