- The time: every day after school, early 2000's
- The place: in front of the small TV in our kitchen
- The show: Pokémon
This was my first exposure to anime. Sitting with my twin sister eating ice cream while watching Ash, Misty, and Brock journeying...somewhere (??) with their Pokémon, always ready for battle.
In addition to Pokémon, we also had VHS tapes of two Sailor Moon movies (Sailor Moon R and Sailor Moon S) that we absolutely adored and rewatched constantly. Sailor Moon was is basically life goals. Who doesn't want to fight evil with your friends while having cool powers, cute outfits, and freakin' AWESOME transformation sequences. Swoon.
So now, why should YOU consider watching anime? I'm not going to lie, after elementary school, I definitely veered off and became uninterested in it. When I heard the term being used, it basically conjured the image of geeky, weird dudes. Anime club? Nerds. All of them.
Once I stopped assigning anime with these negative connotations and actually took time to watch shows that friends recommended to me, I found the genre truly rewarding. In fact, if I were to make a top 5 or 10 list of my all-time favorite films and/or TV shows (including live-action), I'm positive a few anime would make the list.
Anime is not just children's shows or hentai. Yes, a few of those definitely exist and yes, a few of those are quite fan service-y, over-the-top, and just plain hyper. But if you begin by checking out good starter ones, you may surprise yourself by wanting more. Some are beautifully animated and thought-provoking, some are hilarious and fun, some are action-packed thrillers, and some have a bit of everything.
I myself still need to watch some of the classics (i.e. Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood - anime fans reading this, don't hate me pls). But from my own experience, I can make a few suggestions for dipping your toes into the world of anime.
Spirited Away (2001)...Or really any Studio Ghibli film.
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I believe that there are two kinds of people in the world: people who love Ghibli movies, and people who have not seen Ghibli movies. In other words - in my opinion, Studio Ghibli should absolutely be what you start out with first. They aren't "true" anime to me (director Hayao Miyazaki has critiqued the industry, and I would also argue that his films hugely differ in spirit), but they would definitely ease you in to some aspects of Japanese culture and animation. Miyazaki's works are sort of similar to Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006) in that they center around a young female protagonist living their own version of "normal" sprinkled with fantasy. If you're into more mature action and blood and stuff, try Princess Mononoke (1997) first. If you like coming-of-age stories, watch Spirited Away (my personal favorite). If you want a light-hearted nostalgia trip, My Neighbor Totoro (1988) perfectly captures the zeitgeist of childhood.
Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
I wrote about this film already in my last post (more the reason to watch it during winter break, right?), but it is a classic and a great way to familiarize yourself with anime. Sci-fi fans would enjoy Ghost in the Shell; as aforementioned, it was a significant inspiration for The Matrix. I think I prefer the sequel, Innocence, which I actually watched first and can stand alone as its own movie. I won't repeat myself too much here, but yeah. Go watch these two. Shoutout to Joe for showing these movies to me.
Attack on Titan (2013)
I credit AoT as the anime that got me back into anime, about a year ago. Basically, it has an extremely epic premise that will captivate you from the first episode. Humans are living in communities that are surrounded by huge walls to protect them from Titans - creepy giant humanoids. The show follows the main characters as they enlist in the elite military force dedicated to battling these Titans outside of the walls. It's a tad gory at times, but totally fun and entertaining. I first heard about it on the episode of the Youtube series "Teens React" where they reacted to AoT. I found myself echoing the teens in the video, yelping in awe of its badass action sequences. Do watch that "Teens React" episode if you're interested in seeing how people who haven't watched anime before thought about AoT.
For another opinion, Youtuber movie critic Chris Stuckmann made a video about why anime is important and did a great job hitting these points as well. I really recommend checking out what he had to say.
Challenge yourself. Ignore whatever preconceived notion you had about anime, and treat it like you would as any other form of ("Western") entertainment. If you're a devoted moviegoer or Netflixer and haven't given the genre a try - give it a try.
