You’re not an Anime Fan, but you want to be? You want to get into Anime,

but don’t know where to start. That’s what we’re here for! But why is Anime Great?

The Greatness of Anime

Aclairic: Anime is overlooked, mainly because the average individual hears about the more “famous” anime that have come to the US or UK. Names like Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Dragonball Z are synonymous with Japanese animation. However, anime doesn’t stop there. And there is probably an anime out there for everyone. As long as you don’t mind watching your shows in animated format, you don’t have to believe you’re stuck watching shows about cute girls with shrill voices or overly buff dudes fighting the same space alien for twenty episodes. However, it was due to these entry-level anime that allowed me to get into the genre and start exploring the types of entertainment that I really enjoyed. My godfather, who showed me the 1975 Toei Animation of The Little Mermaid, was my introduction to it. It follows the original Hans Christian Anderson version almost word-for-word (so, spoiler alert, the Little Mermaid dies, and as a seven-year-old I bawled my eyes out). But it was the animation style that caught my attention, and it wasn’t until I was in early middle school that I realized that I was watching something different than the usual cartoons that came on television. This art style was different. And so, my love for anime was born.

Chloe: I’ll begin by reiterating that under no circumstance are you required to be a fan of anime to earn/maintain your nerd card. I know quite a few people deep into other nerd-domes who for one reason or another can’t get into anime. But what I will say is that if you do swing in the direction of geeking out over other types of media, chances are there’s an anime (or several) out there you will highly enjoy. That’s one of the reasons why anime is so great. The way I see it, anime is not a genre, it’s its own medium in itself. Of course, one could argue, anime often shows similar story tropes, jokes, art style, and character types with each other. But all of those things evolve and change throughout the years. And the truly great anime out there are either the ones that invent such tropes, or perfect them. The other reason why anime has fascinated me for almost two-thirds of my life now, is because the medium of animation along with it not just being limited to the “for kids” demographic is that it allows almost unlimited imagination to visualize a story. And if you find an anime you truly love, that story could affect you just as much, if not more than, the best films and live action shows you’ll ever see.

You can often age an anime nerd by what series first got them into anime. While I unknowingly watched a lot of Japanese animation as a small child (as it was often dubbed and not advertised as anime back in those days), my first foray into official anime territory is Sailor Moon. Absolutely predictable, right? So many anime nerds around my age range owe everything to that show. As for me, it came at the exact right time. I was about 12, still loved animation, but was starting to crave something with more “meat” to the story than western cartoons were offering me. Then, for some reason I woke up very Saturday morning, turned on the tv, and my life changed. I saw a teenaged girl centric fantasy series, with actual romance, pretty aesthetics, silly humor, and a wildly imperfect main character I could actually relate to! After becoming thoroughly obsessed with the series and running out of episodes to watch, I craved more. Luckily, good guy Cartoon Network had just launched “Toonami” an afternoon television block dedicated entirely to anime. I’ll admit, many of my favorites on my list were introduced through “Toonami”. After that was a slippery slope of renting, and eventually getting a job just to buy anime dvds. Let me tell you, as an anime old-timer fan. Streaming anime services may seem expensive, but they are nothing compared to my early anime junkie years in which I would pay upwards of $30 for a three episode DVD.

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Anime for Beginners: 18 Great Shows for the Anime Fan in You

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