Video Essay Research - Top 25 Anime to Hook Non-Anime Fans

For me chainsaw man was a show that got me hooked back onto anime as I had a falling out with anime. Chainsaw man was something that brought me a lot of joy as I found the characters to be relatable but super interesting and unique which made them very loveable. Alongside with great characters the animation and soundtrack were wonderful and I even find myself listening to the soundtrack from time to time. I think chainsaw mans weirdness at times may turn some people off but I think it adds to the essence of what chainsaw man is.

I think Attack on Titan is one of the anime that you should absolutely have on there, considering its reach went beyond the boundaries of culture and became something everyone could enjoy regardless of what they know about japanese animation. Dragon Ball and Naruto are also examples of this. If there's anything that could hook a non anime fan it would be one of those.

In my opinion I think One Punch Man should also be included as it is one of the first shows I ever watched before I understood what anime was as a medium. It has a story that isn't particularly hard to understand or limited by japanese culture, and it has characters that a viewer from any background could imprint themselves on. The same goes for the previously mentioned anime too. I feel anime that are heavily based within japanese culture have a harder time grasping a global audience because the experiences within can often times only be experienced within the context of japan's social structure.

I think inclusions like Edgerunners, Cowboy Bepop and Little Witch Academia are good too, those anime are frequently mentioned as starters in any forum about anime or otherwise. They have vibrant character designs which often brings in people looking to experience something new.

There are a few anime on this list which I personally feel are much too niche to hook the majority of newcomers to the medium. Oddtaxi is one of them. The character designs are unique, but the story itself is based heavily on the perspective of a japanese citizen, and therefore will be difficult for newcomers to relate to. I think Love is War and Angel Beats unfortunately have this problem too. I've watched a decent amount of anime myself and the sole reason it took me so long to give Angel Beats a watch is because of its appearance. It just looks like japanese high school drama, which some people may be interested in, but I'm willing to wager most newcomers won't be interested in.

Kaguya has some humour that might not hit well for those unfamiliar with anime.

As for other suggestions, unfortunately the only things I can think of aren't dubbed, but there are some recent and varied shows I can think of.
HIGH CARD – Superpowered team rounds up the superpower granting objects and fights a superpowered mafia in Not UK™. Also fairly dark/heavy, which I realise may not have come across in that summary. Also the artstyle may be of note.
AI – Many very interesting and fairly relevant questions raised in an interesting future setting.

This one could be offputting because one stray scene in the hot spring case, but may be worth considering, as it's a straightforward episodic murder mystery with a slightly offbeat, but not too over the top, lead.
anilist.co/anime/158926

Also if it would be alright to add a donghua, then obligatory Link Click suggestion.
anilist.co/anime/126403
A gripping and tightly written mystery/thriller with a gradual but early-ish shift from an episodic plot structure to the main overarching plot~ Also the only one here that I know has been dubbed in English.

I'll recommend four shows.

• PLUTO. It's short, on Netflix, and has a great dub. The story and animation is pretty incredible, and it's different than some anime you commonly see, while harking back to a classic. Science fiction used to be one of the biggest genres of anime, so a little more science fiction on this list is a great look.
• Dungeon Meshi. Though it just came out recently, it's hooked a lot of non-anime fans I know, who started it because they enjoyed D&D or other RPGs. It's on Netflix and has a good dub too, and appeals to a really broad demographic of people. I've heard this manga kind of began the trend of your typical anime fantasy worlds, and it does it the best, so genre-wise, it's good to fill the fantasy/isekai spot.

Also, music anime and anime for a female demographic are kind of what you're missing. I know that when I started to watch music anime, it really opened up a new world for me because I'd enjoy the song-and-dance numbers so much. You have Your Lie In April, but I'd add another. Though I haven't seen it yet, I'd go with:

• Given. I don't want to recommend my favorite female-audience music anime, Idolish7, because I feel like it's less universally liked and popular and would be more likely to turn off a non-anime fan; so though I haven't seen this, I think it fills multiple spots that you're missing (including having BL and more thoughtful romance.)

And because there's still an imbalance in intended audience, I'd have another shoujo, ideally one quite different from the shows already on your list. Maybe:

• Cardcaptor Sakura. Your list is missing a magical girl show, and this is a nice, traditional one that's shorter than a show like Sailor Moon. It's very cute and sweet, and has enough drama, weirdness, and adult elements to keep an older watcher engaged even though it's a kids' show. If they like it a lot, they can get more into CLAMP stuff, and they're a classic mangaka quartet. The one issue is the teacher-student agegap romance, but that's a small thing between side characters in a 70 episode show with a lot of other elements. It's also generally charming, fanservice-free, and unapologetically girly.

To fit those in, I would probably start by taking off ERASED, Irina, and Hell's Paradise (though this one is good to show the historical genre... not sure, but I'm basically looking at the genre balance and trying to shift it around a bit).

For detective lovers:
DEATH NOTE

For a friendship history:
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

For sport fans:
Haikyuu or Hajime no Ippo THE FIGHTING

Political stuff:
Youjo Senki

Classic shounen:
YuuYuuHakusho

Comedy for youngers:
Kaguyasama wa Kokurasetai First Kiss wa Owaranai

Comedy for oldies:
GTO

personally, i think this list could use some diversifying irt demographics since pretty much everything there is a shonen/seinen. some shoujo/josei i'd recommend:
Cardcaptor Sakura
classic magical girl anime, a very fun time and easy to watch

Yona of the Dawn
fantasy adventure with dragons and a female protag with really interesting development

Lady Oscar The Rose of Versailles
historical drama set before and during the french revolution

given
beautiful romance and really good music

Kasesan and Morning Glories
short but sweet romance, not as well known as the others but i like it a lot

also, these are seinen but i have to include them:
Skip and Loafer
one of my favorite slice of life romances, honestly i'd say if you want to include a seinen romance this would be a better pick than kaguya and that's not only because i didn't like kaguya much lol

Delicious in Dungeon
super fun and comfy adventure food series that gets increasingly profound

So, I think a good beginner needs to be something that is just anime-like enough to warm you up to the media, but not so much that it is and up being alienating to those who aren't deep in it already. If you are going to recommend something to someone who doesn't usually watch anime, you don't want to scare them away with something full of fan services and anime tropes they might not get.

And that is why I recommend this:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

I think this might be the best beginner anime to recommend anyone, it's not only a really well made story, but I feel like it's very appealing to western audiences in a way that some other popular animes might not.l be, at least at first contact.

Another great thing about it is that it is a very complete anime. Do you like action? Fullmetal alchemist got you covered. Do you want a good magic system? You will find one here. Do you like stories that cover interesting themes? This is one for you. The characters are fun and complex, there is a lot of political intrigue, there is humor, there is mystery.

I am not going to say that Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the best anime ever made (because I don't believe such a thing can even exist), but I think it probably is one of the ones with the most broad appeal, no matter who you are, chances are you will probably like it, this is a series that does a bit of everything and still does it well. If someone wants to get into anime, this is a great place to start.

"Non-Anime Fan" is a VERY wide spectrum. I guess you try to cover it as much as possible?

Mahou Shoujo MadokaMagica
Popularity and the whole "deconstruction of the magical girls genre" thing

Kimi no Na wa
Popularity and engaging love story.

Azumanga Daiou THE ANIMATION
The SoL anime before Lucky Star existed and, unlike the latter, understandable without deeper knowledge of Japanese popculture.

SteinsGate
Popularity and story.

PERFECT BLUE
Very good thriller.

Mononokehime
Best Ghibli movie.

Sakura Quest
Mature story about women working in the tourism sector in the countryside.

Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX
Ghost in the Shell, but with bigger cast and more action.

Baccano
Non-stop action with a very likable cast.

Katanagatari
Great combination of action and philosophy and the best fight I've ever seen.

Hibike Euphonium
The first season is not the best of the Hibike franchise, but you need to watch it to be able to be able to watch the other, better entries (but S3 isn't good).

I'd probably lean towards anime that aren't that long and also have a more modern art style. As someone who is pretty new to anime but has since consumed a lot, shows like One Piece have way too many seasons for me to feel like I would want to catch up to, so even though I know people who love it, I haven't bothered even trying to watch it. I'd also probably aim for shows where you don't need to know a lot about Japanese culture to get references or understand why someone's doing something. I'd also maybe lean towards shows with adult main characters, assuming the list is for adult viewers (adult as in not children, not that it has "mature" themes) so that it's easier to connect with. Maybe also shows where there's a progressing plot line so that it's enticing enough to watch all the way through (even though I like Spy x Family, the fact that the story doesn't really go anywhere might be harder to get attached to and keep watching).

Here's some that I think would be great for people who haven't gotten into anime before:

Buddy Daddies
It's only 12 episodes but it's got a complete story arc with a satisfying ending. It's got a lot of heart, comedy, and some action. It's not overly complicated, has good animation, and great characters in my opinion. Even though it's short, I didn't feel like it was rushed when I was watching it.

Moriarty the Patriot
This one ties into a character that non anime fans are likely familiar with (Sherlock Holmes) while putting an interesting spin on it. It's not too long, and each episode is pretty entertaining while progressing towards a final endpoint.

the no shoujo is an L, i think you need a hobby anime in there too and something directed by this woman
https://anilist.co/staff/101856/Yamamoto-Sayo

While hells paradise had a fun concept and a good op the writing felt really bad and the animation wasn't the best, I reckon something more rom com ish like Horimiya would be good for new fans, but really a shounen like Aot could take its place as well, has a fun concept but imo better writing. Cool list tho, alot of these shows seem to fit the premise quite well.

For mecha genre I wouldn't anymore recommend Code Geass. It's a really good series and one of my favorites, rated top, but I wouldn't anymore use it to hook people, perhaps
Kidou Senshi Gundam Tekketsu no Orphans Break Blade

Another is Iyasikei, you have Somali there but something more general, Somali feels like it's target audience is strongly male but something more general like
Natsume Yuujinchou
Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou

Another common trope is missing what I would recommend is Youkai genre, well in Dororo there is already but it focuses more on action than youkai theme
Mushishi
Would be better on this genre.

And there isn't that many comedy series in your list, Might be that Little Witch Academia is but never seen it. Here is three what I would recommend in this genre, these focuses a lot on (surreal) comedy, joshiraku less than others.
Joshiraku
Nichijou
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

And also something like this for shoujo
Ouran Koukou Host Club

As someone who bounced off of anime for a long time (aside from DBZ, Pokemon, and any other anime I watched as a kid), the biggest thing that drew me in wasn't anything specific to anime; good story, good characters, good art, etc. are what grabbed me. The things that pushed me away are certain overused or annoying tropes. Stuff like sibling complexes, fan service, etc.

Based on conversations I've had with people that don't usually watch anime, stay away from recommending stuff with hundreds of episodes. A complete, self contained story in 12 or so episodes is generally what I recommend and what I've had most success with.

psycho pass easy