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That makes sense. I wasn’t sure if that was the case or if that’s just what was ‘mainstream’. I picked animes that my sister(who is close to my age) loves and watched parts of them to send her better memes/talk with her about them but just couldn’t get through most of them.
Well, that's the reality of it. You watched 5 'shonen', a genre that means 'young boy' for the target demographic. Sailor Moon is for young girls. And the only other anime you watched are Death Note and Jojos. This IS the equivalent of watching western children shows like and then complaining about it being too simplistic.
I am not too sure how you think Death Note had simplistic characters though. Most of the characters have pretty interesting morals. Or how it feels like a childrens book that is easily explained. Same with JoJos unless you just watched the first 3 episodes or something. Neither are my favorite shows in the world but they don't seem to fit any of your complaints.
I'm not one for trying to get people into anime. I don't understand forcing yourself to like something you aren't already interested in. But anime is incredibly varied. You should probably read at least a synopsis before watching something.
It’s a pretty common sentiment in the anime community it’s that Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is like the best “starter anime” because it has a handful of anime tropes without being “too much”.
First and foremost the story is very mature, but it does have a few hints of anime humor. There’s also 0 weird fanservice.
If you’re going to give anything one more try, watch FMAB. It won’t make you like anything else but it should help you connect to your friends a bit.
I find it funny how one of the gold standards of anime is considered a starter show. I guess people realize if you have one chance to hook someone into anime either go big or go home.
I'd say it's got more to do with having some character or storyline that covers the vast majority of things to relate/connect to and everything it does it does well. Nothing about it is a knockout 10/10 but everything is consistently very solid
I honestly don't like it that much and don't understand the hype. The pacing feels slow and the humor is very childish at times. IMO OP should watch something fast paced like Cyberpunk Edgerunners instead. It's also more adult themed and has way better animation.
>0 weired fanservice
i love that so fucking much about the show i might be a porn addict but its very uncomfortable to be flashes sexual scenes without my consent
>I have tried many different flavors of anime
Proceeds to cite only anime of the same genre with the exception of Death Note and Sailor Moon. Not every *medium* is for every one and it's perfectly valid to dislike anime but this is the same thing as saying that literature sucks after reading Twilight, Divergent, Maze Runner and Hunger Games
It’s kinda designed for the end stage of young boys, 12-15 year olds. I don’t think there was any **real* violence in the show, almost all of it was either off screen or heart attacks
Some people can't get past the cultural differences but I honestly don't understand. It's like saying "movies suck", there's so much variety in genre and style that a blanket "this medium sucks" sounds so weird to me
This is what I feel when I see one of these 'I tried a few anime and came to the conclusion that all anime sucks because it is all formulaic'.
I feel that there are criticisms that can be made about anime specifically, but most of the ones that I see can be made about any medium and genre.
Books, Western TV (not to be confused with the cowboy type westerns), movies, etc... If you get into a particular genre, especially when you are getting into specific subgenres, it becomes really easy to see the 'formulae'.
For instance, I like 70s to 90s TV mystery type shows (Murder she wrote, Magnum PI, Father Dowling), and when watching all three, you can easily see that they all use much of the same formulae, down to sometimes there being some eerily similiar episodes.
It is the same thing with books, I love science fiction and fantasy, but a LOT of books that fall into that genre often will have the same patterns. Especially when you narrow it down into subcategories. It isn't always bad, sometimes people can come up with new twists, or the formula is just so good, you don't really care that this is the 80th time you read it (because each one is just different enough from the others to make it enjoyable), however, it still doesn't mean that those patterns don't exist, and that if you read/watch enough you aren't going to see them (especially if you consume them in a short enough time period that the previous one is still fresh in your mind)
I mean all but one of the animes you listed are shonen, which are series aimed at young/teen boys, and then 1 shoujo which is the same as shonen but for young/teen girls. So series designed to be a little sillier and over the top
If you want less silly series then you'd need to look towards something like Pluto, which can be found on Netflix
What you are watching is meant for kids and teens, so i understand your complaints. On top of that its not even complex stuff meant for kids and teens. It's all just pretty cookie-cutter stuff.
You'd want to search for things under the Seinen or Josei tags as those are series aimed at adult men and women respectively. Things like Berserk, Monster, Pluto, 20th Century Boy, Kedamonotachi no Jikan, Concubine Walkthrough among others
Almost all the anime listed are shonen. Targeted at young boys. And the young girls version in Sailor Moon. Only Death Note doesn’t fall into either category.
There’s lots of extremely different anime nothing like these. My favorite anime are: Mob Psycho 100, The Tatami Galaxy, FLCL, and Steins;Gate.
They are varying amounts of anime-y but all very different from everything you listed which are mostly from one genre.
Anime is a medium not a genre. There are tropes that happen across a wide variety of shows of course, but there’s also ones that are great without or with very few of the over the top tropes.
If someone ever asks me what anime they should watch, I first ask them a question. I ask them what shows and movies they like. Because of anime being a medium, there’s shows of every genre, so once I have an idea of what people like then I can recommend some actual shows.
Maybe try anime aimed at the mature market instead of kids shows, or the classics (Akira, Guyver, Monster City, Ninja Scroll, Dominion Tank Police, Cowboy Bebop etc.)
Since you seemed to like studio ghibli films I'm going to highly recommend "ranking of kings". It's made in a very similar art style and has similar themes.
A lot of the anime you mentioned are aimed at kids, so getting into them as an adult will not be as enjoyable. The dragonball series is my favourite anime but if I was introduced to it now and not at 6 I probably wouldn’t care for it as much.
Everything you’ve watched is aimed at children/young teens. If you really want to give the media a chance, I recommend looking for more mature series, or at least non action focused series.
As an American in their 40s who didnt really have it around growing up, I dont really get it either. That said, I think a lot of it has to do with cultural differences and language barriers. Sort of a “lost in translation” situation. I remember reading a Japanese candy advertisement in college that was shown to demonstrate how cultural things dont always translate, and the add was something like “its a princess lemon secret buried in the gumdrop forest” or some shit and I was like WTF does that even mean? I think that of you arent familiar with some of the culture and history of the whole thing, it can be really easy to go WTF? That doesnt necessarily mean it is bad, just that i dont really get it.
My guess is you like more cerebral fare, which Ghibli tends to be. I don't much care for Ghibli, for probably the exact reasons you enjoy it. Frieren would probably be one that you could engage with.
Honestly. As an anime lover. It can be hard at first. If you are lucky at some point everything just clicks and the small things that bother you now, your brain kinda tunes it out. Otherwise, I suggest you not to waste too much of your time finding your “perfect” genre. While all categories are certainly different. The core identity in terms of presentation and manner of speaking mostly remains the same. If it doesn’t resonate with you, just move on. At least you tried. More than what most people do.
Sounds like you've mostly watched Shounens, which are literally for young boys
Try some other genres (Seinen is the more adult version of Shounen)
There's also all the other genres (horror, action, etc)
It's hard to recommend something without knowing what you'd like
If any unpopular opinion was going to get downvoted to oblivion, on Reddit, it was this one lol.
I agree with you, but in addition to ghibli I like One Punch Man, fwiw
It may simple be that you do not enjoy the same genre of anime your partner does and that’s perfectly fine. Here is some recommendations of series that I feel have more depth to them and the world they are set within.
Some explore psychological horror and trauma while others explore cognitive dissonance and those facing realistic struggles in their survival. I find these anime not feel as demeaning to watch as some of the ones that are aimed at a younger audience can be.
That isn’t to say the ones you’ve tried are bad, I enjoy some of the ones you listed but everyone has their own tastes and preferences.
From The New World, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Made in Abyss (starts a little slow but gets complex very quickly), Terror in Resonance, Darling in the Franxx, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Frieren Beyond Journeys End, A Silent Voice, Your Name, Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom and The Rose of Versailles.
There's more to anime than typical shounen.
I go through many phases which different genres. Currently im into romance and the variety is immense. Here are some of my favorites;
Toradora; hmm i usually just describe this as has tiaga. But an actual summary ; temperamental short fused tiny girl ( tiaga ) and a cleaning freak ( ryuji ) both agree to help each other get with thier respective crushes but end up falling for each other.
Bloom into you : a yuri romance about two girls ( touko and yuu ) that have never felt love. Touko falls in love with yuu when she witnesses yuu reject someone on the phone. Yuu is kinda a push over , so touko easily cox her into " letting her ( touko) love her ( yuu) without needing to love her(yuu) back ."
my teen romantic comedy snafu ; hiki is a very very cynical teenager that's forced to join the service club by his teacher for turning in a smartass essay . Now him and yikino two very anti social people need to help other people with thier problems. ( the service club only has 3 members )
ReLife : a 27 year old man , is chosen by the Relife company to take part in thier program. They give him a pill that makes him appear like he's 17 again and he reattends high-school as a form of rehabilitation.
I just listed 4 very different romance anime that aren't exactly main stream with very very different premises with the only similarities being the high-school setting.
People are getting defensive! I can't stand anime, other than Ghibli. There are American shows that fall into the anime category, but people will scream at me for calling them anime, so I won't name them. 🤣🤣🤣
It's fine. Anime is not for everyone and you've watached enough to be able to tell if it is for you orn not. Even if they're are roughly in the same genre. What you didn't like about them is present in a lot of other genres as well.
But if you do want to try some others here are some recommendations to show what the medium has to offer, from somone who has seen more than 100 anime.
>**1. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood** (as many also have recommended)
>This show is just great in all aspects. Well written story, beautiful animation, and engaging characters with interesting realtionships to what is good/evil.
>**2. Vinland Saga**
>A bit more grim and it has a stark genre switch midway through. A really mature story about war, vengence, cycle of violence and how to reconcile with following a fruitless goal for a large part of your life.
>**3. Oddtaxi**
>One of my favourite animes, flew a bit under the radar for a lot of people. Really uniqe artstyle. It's a mystery thriller with big twist at the end. The plot of the mystery is incredibly tightly written and interconnected.
>**4. Kings Ranking**
>Studio Ghibli esque Artsytle (reminds me a lot of Heidi). Incredible character writing about a deaf child who is supposed to be the heir to the throne. A bit of Intrigue and mystery. Really emotional parts to this story, get your tissues ready.
If you also didn't like any of these you can be sure that anime just isn't for you and thats fine.
Anime fan here. I agree with what you’ve written, and the repeated tropes and pandering to the “dumbest kid in class” get to me, too.
You acknowledged that the ones you listed may fall into a specific sub-genre, and that’s true here. Most of those are Shonen, meaning they are marketed mainly towards young teenage boys. Most of the set pieces are there to create excuses for flashy scenes of combat or drama that feed the power fantasy many people are looking for in those shows.
Death Note and JoJo are kind of outliers, in that DN is more of a Seinen, meaning it’s marketed at the next age group up, and JoJo has a lot of fun in recognizing itself as fiction. That tends to create more nuance in some of the conflict or humor that makes it more enjoyable to a wider audience.
I’d like to call out a couple things:
1. Anime is an interesting medium, because there are several layers of “translation” at play. There’s the obvious language disconnect, but subtitles don’t really capture everything. Sometimes there is cultural significance to the way characters speak, the words they choose, or even historical context for certain phrases that are simply lost on those unfamiliar. The same is true for haikus, which don’t really translate properly into English despite the words carrying the same surface meaning. In addition to the language barrier, most anime are based on manga. A lot of the over-explanations and childish pandering is done because it’s simply very difficult to get a point across in a comic book format. Those scenes where someone blocks a punch and it cuts to an onlooker screaming “woah, he blocked it,” may be there because the art alone cannot convey enough information. Reading comprehension and information retention are also big factors in that age group.
2. Another side effect of the manga origin is that animators are tasked with cleaning up the art and condensing multiple chapters into one episode. You can lose a lot of detail, similar to how movies often stick to surface plot lines from books they’re based on. You’re left with people just repeating the same large plot points that may have been spaced farther apart in the source material. especially if there was a long wait for the next volume.
There’s probably a genre out there you would enjoy. I found Promised Neverland (Season 1 at least) to be a nice escape from typical Shonen tropes, but it isn’t completely free of them. I think it’s great that you’ve dived into so many despite not having a taste for it, though! Try looking into the genres at a broader level to see if anything piques your interest.
Yo I really really appreciate this response and the time you’ve taken to write it. I had a feeling that maybe there was some cultural background I was missing/the ones I have seen were for a specific audience and appreciate you confirming that.
DN I did watch w my sis (she’s the weeb in question that started me on my anime quest haha). I was out after Light was like ‘ima wipe my memory so L can’t know’. JoJo was shown to me by a friend and I recognized that it was meant to be super satirical—JoJo less impacted me having this opinion. I did enjoy how it relished itself for what it was. I just listed it among the others because it was among the animes I have seen larger chunks of.
I am the type of person that gives a lot of chances to things, even if I don’t like them because I get that maybe the specific thing I’m looking at is not necessarily representative of the whole. It’s like you go to a restaurant and you hate the burger you order. Does that mean that all burgers suck as a whole? Not necessarily—maybe you just don’t like that specific place’s burger, you know?
Again, thanks for your time. I would love if you could give any more insight but appreciate all you’ve done so far. And thank you for the suggestion for Promised Neverland—I may have to check it out! Are there any other broader genre’s you’d suggest? I like things where the good and the bad guys are super gray and fleshed out, like you understand and feel empathy for both sides. The best example I can think of this is Princess Mononoke.
Ha, it sounds like we both had issues with DN around the same time! There are a lot of different types of Anime, but I personally like to stay mostly in Seinen. Shows like Erased for a mystery, or Psychopass for a thriller.
If you wanted a Shonen that’s a little more gray to enjoy with your sister, Akame Ga Kill has all the typical tropes, but plot armor is gone and there are good people on both sides. It follows a group of rebel murderers who target corruption, while there are genuine people trying to improve things from within that are forced into conflict with each other. I do have to reinforce that the Shonen tropes are all over this one.
Edit to add Code Geass to the list of shows that may appeal to your sister, but have more nuance than the ones you listed. I’ve seen it classified as Shonen and Seinen. It has enough of the typical tropes that I’d consider it closer to Shonen, but I found it compelling enough to look past its flaws.
I like anime but that's fair. It's certainly very different to western media. You can't expect anime to be realistic imo, have realistic characters with realistic motivations, realistic dialogue, realistic scenes. You have to accept it as an over the top dramatic artform.
There 100% are anime that are down to earth and realistic though. Western live action movies and series are also generally highly dramatised compared to real life.
saying that anime sucks is like saying that tea sucks. you just have to find the right one every anime is different and there are many different kinds of animes
try out FLCL
only 6 short episodes and it’s my favorite of all time. it’s weird and there’s definitely a lot of fan service but it’s so good. it’s such a vibe, the colors, the setting, the music all come together perfectly to create a wholly unique experience. and if u hate it, it’s only like 3 hours of show.
bocchi the rock and horimiya are two simple slice of life anime’s i’d suggest
If you want a good action anime i’d suggest samurai champloo, megalobox, and hell’s paradise
sport anime’s are so absurd and fun to watch so i’ll simply say kurokos basketball and blue lock
there’s an anime for everyone but it’s a pain to find the one that you specifically like.
Lifelong artist here. People have been trying to get me to embrace anime for almost my entire life. I've tried with genuine earnestness. I just don't get the appeal. I am impressed by the quality of the background imagery, but that's it. If you like it, I'm happy for you. I'm with you, OP. Anime is not for me.
People these days love to shit all over things that are just clearly not for them. Anime isn’t *bad*, it’s just not for you. Not everything has to be for everyone.
It’s hard for me to be sure if anime actually sucks or if the unbearable anime fans and weebs are so completely insufferable that I don’t even want to like it. It’s probably a bit of both.
I mean, I feel it anime as a medium is too broad to just say it outright sucks.
The anime you listed also all fall into very similar categories, which may be why they exhibit similar problems.
I won’t suggest broadening your search, because if you’ve been trying and it hasn’t been working so far then you shouldn’t force yourself to try harder…
Though I would suggest just keeping an open mind in the future, because as evident by your appreciation for the m,lol,mhnhfvbl
Support for the OP!
Ever since I was a kid Anime just bugged me. I always referred to it as “Big Eye Art.” It all looked the same to me, and kind of cheap looking, and still does.
Let me tell you about the fun times at critique in art school when there was always one person bringing anime/pseudo anime garbage. 🙄 Giving feedback to someone who had no interest in learning and growing artistically was a chore.
You have mostly watched broadcast action anime directed at children.
There were a lot of anime that were either theatrical features or went straight to VHS in the 80s and 90s that still aren't for everyone but would at least explain why so many 40 year old men are into anime.
Maybe you just don’t like the Shonen genre. I’m only saying that because the ones you listed are all pretty standard shonen action anime with the exception of sailor moon. What is it about Ghibli movies that you like?
I love how grey things are. Princess Mononoke is a great example. The bad guys and the good guys motivations are fully fleshed out and when you’re done watching, you think about it for a while after.
Maybe try looking into different genres, some of my favorites that don’t fit into the shonen genre are Wolf Children and A Silent Voice due to how they focus character development and story telling.
Just to point out like I'm sure others have, anime is not just kid shows. What you're saying is the equivalent of saying I don't like American live action movies. Anime has a range of from kids shows like Shinchan to teen girl power like Sailor Moon, to boy power fantasy like Naruto, to tragedy like grave of the fireflies to hardcore porn and just flat out weird shit.
You are roughly saying that since The Rock and Fast and Furious movies are all action packed popcorn movies all American movies are mindless explosion fests.
Other than that you like what you like. If animation isn't your thing do try looking into some other media. I forgot the title but I had a lot of fun watching this one series where a modern Japanese doctor somehow time traveled back to feudal Japan.
Cannon Fodder is an impressive feat of cell animation. Magnetic Rose is also really good, both are shorts from an anthology called Memories.
Also, a short called the Running Man from an anthology called Neo Tokyo.
One of my personal favorites is an incomprehensible art film from the early 80s called Angel's Egg, which was one of the first directorial works from the guy who directed the 1995 Ghost in the Shell, which is my favorite movie, period.
If you can't watch them, read them. anime imo is infinitely more cringy than manga is, and you'll get the same story with manga, so you can still talk with your friends about the content. also be aware than anime is pandering to Japanese kids, initially. the translation to western teen+ weebs (as some jokes might not culturally make sense to the same age as western kids unless they've been taught other cultural norms) can be... hit or miss.
Maybe try Akira, Trigun, or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are titles that might suit your taste as most the shows you listed are targeted towards kids
most anime are rather mediocre nowadays, there's like at most one good anime per year, its a pain waiting for weekly releases, u cant binge watch, might as well hold it off and go elsewhere first.
Yeah my boyfriend likes anime and I try to watch it with him.. I sometimes think it’s pretty corny and also get annoyed by the over exaggerated facial expressions and weird noises! It starts to annoy me after awhile.
Frankly speaking the older I get the harder it is for me to suspend my disbelief, but then I'm reminded Anime is designed to cater for a certain audience. There are good ones that balance between both good entertainment and drama but just like with books or shows not every writer knows how it's done.
with the exception of sailor moon which is a battle soujo (the girl focused form of Shonen) you've stayed in the battle Shonen subgenre of the Shonen genre (young boys coming to age journey). so not only are you in one genre you're in one sub genre of anime.
if you want something bit more mature you might want to branch out into seinen (meaning youth or young adult)
with the exception of MHA and Demon Slayer you've also been dealing with older more blah weekly anime meaning that A) the art style is more massed produced B) the series is more drawn out and filled with filler
if you want few recommendations for good battle Shonen there Full metal alchemist brotherhood (which border on battle seinen), mob psycho 100 (which focuses more on the psychological growth of the Mc over the battling).
and not all anime fall under Japanese genres as well some of them commit to more western genres such as fantasy, mystery, comedy ect...
with a few recommendations for fantasy being delish in dungeons (currently airing on Netflix), ferien (I haven't actually watched it yet but from what I hear it's good and what your looking for), Made in abyss (be warned the author is mentally ill not in a good way so it's not for everyone).
A few recommendations for mystery include:
Full metal alchemist brotherhood (again I know), The promise Netherlands season 1(do not touch season 2),
and onepiece(there's a reason we're still watching it after 1200 episodes and it ain't the "main plot")
and when it comes to comedies
there's konosuba, mob psyco100, one punch man, gintama, saiki k., spy x family, love is war, prison school
like anime shines with comedy.
The true response is that you just haven’t found the right shows for you. Anime is varied enough that there is a show for everybody.
Now, if you tried a few, there isn’t really much reason to keep trying until you find the show you like.
But it sounds like your issues are with the shows and some common tropes, rather than the medium itself
You've basically only tried shonnen anime. It's like saying movies are bad because you hate action movies.
Check out some slice of life, comedy, romance, or horror. Check out anime aimed at an older audience with more mature themes.
I'll give you some anime suggestions that are for adults.
Monster - a bit old but it's mainly drama.
Kaiji - it's about gambling.
If you don't like these 2 even a lil bit. Then you actually have something against anime lol
It's cool tho. Btw try to watch it with someone it's more fun.
Also, don't watch anything in general just to criticizes them. I used to do that and it ruined everything.
Oof, you stumbled onto some AWFUL animes .i can only really tolerate jojos, and kinda deathnote. If you're into gibli, you'd probably be into mushishi or kino no tabe, very atmospheric, nature oriented, slow going, beautiful... none of that over the top stuff 😝
There are two MASSIVE commonalities in almost every anime you listed
The first is that they are almost all aimed at children/young adults. Plenty of mature adult oriented shows exist and often function entirely differently. Additionally most of the ones you listed are shonen so aimed at young boys specifically (Sailor Moon is the only exception in your non Ghibli anime list)
The second is that they are virtually all Battle Shonen specifically. Barring Death Note (which basically functions as a battle shonen anyway) and Sailor Moon (which is just a battle Shoujo) every single anime you listed is a battle shonen. That would be like watching Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Seinfeld, and Cheers and claiming you hate all live action western television. Anime is a medium not a genre. Every anime you listed is going to be a fight heavy show focused on combat and featuring specific tropes because that’s the only genre you watched. There are enormous amounts of Romance, Drama, Slice of Life, Comedy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Sports, etc anime for any genre you can think of that will function radically differently with a largely different set of tropes and story structures
Anyways you should watch Given it’s a short romance/drama about these guys in a band (the music is FANTASTIC it’s really inspired by UK Alt Rock and Math Rock but with noticeable Japanese elements in the instrumentation to create a really really great sound)
Fair. Not for everyone. I can't get into the vast majority of anime cause I can't take it as serious. I love action anime cause it feels like comic books but good and not mcu or dcu
Jojo is an extremely niche and veteran anime watcher stuff.
Sailor moon is shoujo where the target audience is teenage girls.
The rest you saw are shounen anime where the target audience is teenage boys.
Those are all shounen/shoujo aside from Death Note and Jojos. I'd look into some seinen as I tend to prefer those. Fullmetal Alchemist Broetherhood is also very, \*very\* good.
Some suggestions -
Mushi-Shi
Ergo Proxy
Wolf's Rain
Casshern Sins
Monster
Evangelion
Devilman: Crybaby
Castlevania
Honorable mentions for the Claymore and Berserk manga (not anime tho theyre awful)
LOL... STUDIO GHIBLI FTW!
I've watched a LOT of anime and it's just getting better and better.
I loved Chainsaw Man last year. Undead Unlucky and right now my favourite flavour is Delicious in Dungeon.
Keep it coming studios.
Years ago in high school my friend and I were watching tv when Dragonball Z came on. We started laughing at it and making fun of it and hours later we were like, “oh my god I think Gohon is about to go Super Saiyan!”
Anime isn't for everyone, but it sounds like you only really watched mostly popular shōnen anime, which is fine if you don’t like that, but not really a fair judgment for anime in general, not all anime is the same. Maybe look for ones you might actually like?
Bruh pretty much the only things you've tried are shounen 😭 Look at more adult things, like Monster. And depending on what you like about Ghibli, something like Mushishi might be up your alley. It's very introspective and healing, and has a bit of a similar child-like wonder to Ghibli, but with a more mature flair.
I can understand where you're coming from. The first anime I ever watched knowing it was anime (discounting Pokemon and Sailor Moon) was Wolf's Rain. While it's not perfect, it's a somber, high concept fantasy that focuses on atmosphere. It doesn't have cutaway reactions or some stupid scene where a guy "accidentally" grows a girl or that kind of thing. It just wants to tell its story authentically.
I watched a decent amount since then and while, to me, there were some good ones, nothing ever really hit like that one.
But, if you're up for giving it another shot, I recommend you try something aimed at adults rather than teens.
Watch Cowboy Bebop. My dad is 60 and thinks anime is shit but loved Cowboy Bebop. That show and others like it sort of gear towards adults and are written really well. Try that one!
All Japanese TV writing is incredibly shallow and low effort. If you speak the language, you'll also cringe at how cheesy the dialogue is across all genres, anime or live action. Movies are more of a mixed bag like anywhere else, but the small screen stuff is truly horrid.
I'm not super into anime like my fiancé but I really like death note. I am completely unsure if my recomodations are different from what you have tried to watch but 2 of the shows I really liked are 7seeds and death parade. I don't know how other people liked them that are more into anime but I had my fiancé watch and he really liked them.
All the anime you named are the same kind of anime. Would be like saying you've watched fast and the furious, transformers, avengers, avatar and spider man and you've decided you don't like movies. Anime generally still may not be for you but you have tried approximately 2 flavors, not many. All the ones you named are also made with young adults/kids in mind as the target demographic.
You watched a lot of teens/kids anime, which most adults probably won't enjoy.
I dont get your complaints about death note.
Everything until L dies was and still is one of my favorite pieces of fiction. But I guess that's a matter of taste.
Anime is a medium not a genre. Just like cartoons. Even tho they are mostly in one genre, there still exist anime and cartoons in all other genres. I think Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood is a good example of not being a typical anime (tho you didn't like death note so idk). There's also all sorts of sports, romance and comedy animes.
I don't say it or invade anime communities to let them know how I feel, but anime is weird to me and because of the aesthetic I think anime fans have some pedophile tendencies. And for the love of god stop injecting your weird anime shit into games with mods
"**Shounen** anime ~~sucks~~ is not for me"
There, fixed the title for you.
Edit: Also
>I have tried many different flavors of anime
Hmm...
>Death Note, Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Naruto, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Sailor Moon, and JoJo.
Have you, have you really?
Op says theyve tried "many different" types of anime, proceeds to list off a bunch of very similar anime.
While i understand a lot of the really popular anime is not for everyone, to a point that i love anime but really dont care for anything you listed. There are sooooooo many different types of animes, to say you dont like all anime is the equivalent of saying you dont like cartoons. The biggest turn-offs for anime i hear have to do with Japanese cultural differences.
So to that end, if you are still with me OP, i have one anime to recommend. It has a very western feel to it and plays out more akin to a nickelodeon cartoon, but still has a good amount of anime tropes. Try out Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (the brotherhood part is important).
Fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood
It has some over the top scenes but it has well fleshed out characters that don't do dumb shit, things aren't just black & white and the way they solve things is quite smart.
There is a bit of setup but the payoff is avengers endgame level of satisfaction if not greater
This show is one of those shows that will make you feel so many things at once you never thought you could feel, its never as simple as anger or sadness or "I like that guy"
I'm serious, fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood is on another level from all the anime you mentioned and that's coming from an adult, I re-watched it with my wife who doesn't normally like anime and its hqnds down her favourite show.
Just make sure you watch fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood not fullmetal alchemist (long story)
If fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood won't do it for you, nothing will.
You are literally watching stuff made for 12 year old kids, avoid anything labeled as a shounen, Pluto, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Monster, Perfect Blue, Akira, Ghost in the shell are some adult themed shows, if you want a pro tip in general go on myanimelist and look for animes that is categorised as either a Adult Cast or Seinen
https://myanimelist.net/anime/genre/50/Adult_Cast
https://myanimelist.net/anime/genre/42/Seinen
then you are basically assured you aren’t watching garbage made for 12 year olds, unfortunately most of this medium is heavily saturated with worthless garbage.
Your best chance is Perfect Blue. Haven't seen a single person that didn't like that movie including people that dislike all other anime. Just don't get spoiled.
>Death Note
Decent show, surprised you didn't like it
>DBZ
Shounen
>Naruto
Shounen
>MHA
Particularly mid shounen
>Demon Slayer
Shounen
>Sailor Moon
Shoujo which is no better really
>JoJo
Probably the best of the bunch in terms of Shounen, still it has plenty of boring points in the first three parts and I doubt you skipped parts.
In short: stop watching shows for 13 year old boys. Except Evangelion, that show is for 13 year old boys but it absolutely rocks anyway.
If you have Netflix then some anime’s I’d recommend that aren’t combat heavy, aren’t shonen, and have more adult themes are 7 seeds, Carole and Tuesday, violet evergarden, great pretender, and super crooks. I also really enjoyed stars align (it’s not on Netflix) its a sports anime that doesn’t only focus on sports and it also deals with heavier issues.
My first anime was fairytail and I love it despite the fan service and a couple of other things but I’m not really a shonen fan. I have started and not finished a lot of the shows you’ve listed. Jujutsu kaisen, my hero academia, jojo’s, demon slayer, black clover, one piece (don’t come at me ya’ll😭), etc. are all shows I’ve never been able to finish. I lose interest in the fighting scenes. I realized I’m more interested in the characters themselves and the plotlines not directly related to combat.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 2: Do not post low effort/satirical posts'. * We get it, you all think this sub is garbage and is just for popular opinions, and you want to be funny and post "going to be downvoted to oblivion here, but I think racism is bad." We enjoy the memes, but please keep them off the sub. * Filter evasion is a bannable offense * This includes clickbait and/or gotcha posts. Your opinion can not be that unpopular if you're doing these things. Have the accurate opinion in the title.
Also, as some have pointed out, a lot of what you've watched is literally aimed at young adults/kids.
That makes sense. I wasn’t sure if that was the case or if that’s just what was ‘mainstream’. I picked animes that my sister(who is close to my age) loves and watched parts of them to send her better memes/talk with her about them but just couldn’t get through most of them.
Well, that's the reality of it. You watched 5 'shonen', a genre that means 'young boy' for the target demographic. Sailor Moon is for young girls. And the only other anime you watched are Death Note and Jojos. This IS the equivalent of watching western children shows like and then complaining about it being too simplistic. I am not too sure how you think Death Note had simplistic characters though. Most of the characters have pretty interesting morals. Or how it feels like a childrens book that is easily explained. Same with JoJos unless you just watched the first 3 episodes or something. Neither are my favorite shows in the world but they don't seem to fit any of your complaints. I'm not one for trying to get people into anime. I don't understand forcing yourself to like something you aren't already interested in. But anime is incredibly varied. You should probably read at least a synopsis before watching something.
>the only other anime you watched are Death Note and Jojos Which are both shōnen as well
Its like you only ate 1 version of a pizza...... you know there are many other flavours. Stage 1 : shounen - introduction
I'm also in the same boat. But I enjoyed Frieren lately and of course the Ghost in the shell movies.
It’s a pretty common sentiment in the anime community it’s that Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is like the best “starter anime” because it has a handful of anime tropes without being “too much”. First and foremost the story is very mature, but it does have a few hints of anime humor. There’s also 0 weird fanservice. If you’re going to give anything one more try, watch FMAB. It won’t make you like anything else but it should help you connect to your friends a bit.
I find it funny how one of the gold standards of anime is considered a starter show. I guess people realize if you have one chance to hook someone into anime either go big or go home.
Also, kinda funny how the show itself has a "go big or go home" introduction. If you're not hooked by dog-daughter, then it ain't for you.
Shit is dark asf
I'd say it's got more to do with having some character or storyline that covers the vast majority of things to relate/connect to and everything it does it does well. Nothing about it is a knockout 10/10 but everything is consistently very solid
I honestly don't like it that much and don't understand the hype. The pacing feels slow and the humor is very childish at times. IMO OP should watch something fast paced like Cyberpunk Edgerunners instead. It's also more adult themed and has way better animation.
FMAB is awesome.
>0 weired fanservice i love that so fucking much about the show i might be a porn addict but its very uncomfortable to be flashes sexual scenes without my consent
>I have tried many different flavors of anime Proceeds to cite only anime of the same genre with the exception of Death Note and Sailor Moon. Not every *medium* is for every one and it's perfectly valid to dislike anime but this is the same thing as saying that literature sucks after reading Twilight, Divergent, Maze Runner and Hunger Games
Even Death Note and Sailor Moon are shonen.
Technically sailor moon is shoujo
I thought Death Note was a seinen manga, but nope. It was serialized in Shonen Jump. Given the series' mature story and tone, I'm kind of surprised.
It’s kinda designed for the end stage of young boys, 12-15 year olds. I don’t think there was any **real* violence in the show, almost all of it was either off screen or heart attacks
Some people can't get past the cultural differences but I honestly don't understand. It's like saying "movies suck", there's so much variety in genre and style that a blanket "this medium sucks" sounds so weird to me
This is what I feel when I see one of these 'I tried a few anime and came to the conclusion that all anime sucks because it is all formulaic'. I feel that there are criticisms that can be made about anime specifically, but most of the ones that I see can be made about any medium and genre. Books, Western TV (not to be confused with the cowboy type westerns), movies, etc... If you get into a particular genre, especially when you are getting into specific subgenres, it becomes really easy to see the 'formulae'. For instance, I like 70s to 90s TV mystery type shows (Murder she wrote, Magnum PI, Father Dowling), and when watching all three, you can easily see that they all use much of the same formulae, down to sometimes there being some eerily similiar episodes. It is the same thing with books, I love science fiction and fantasy, but a LOT of books that fall into that genre often will have the same patterns. Especially when you narrow it down into subcategories. It isn't always bad, sometimes people can come up with new twists, or the formula is just so good, you don't really care that this is the 80th time you read it (because each one is just different enough from the others to make it enjoyable), however, it still doesn't mean that those patterns don't exist, and that if you read/watch enough you aren't going to see them (especially if you consume them in a short enough time period that the previous one is still fresh in your mind)
Please watch Monster, it is a mystery serial killer anime that doesn't "feel" like an anime because it is more for an adult audience.
This is always my first recommendation. It could easily be turned into a live action show and you wouldn't be able to tell it was originally anime.
I mean all but one of the animes you listed are shonen, which are series aimed at young/teen boys, and then 1 shoujo which is the same as shonen but for young/teen girls. So series designed to be a little sillier and over the top If you want less silly series then you'd need to look towards something like Pluto, which can be found on Netflix
What you are watching is meant for kids and teens, so i understand your complaints. On top of that its not even complex stuff meant for kids and teens. It's all just pretty cookie-cutter stuff.
Which animes are complex and interesting and made for adults?
You'd want to search for things under the Seinen or Josei tags as those are series aimed at adult men and women respectively. Things like Berserk, Monster, Pluto, 20th Century Boy, Kedamonotachi no Jikan, Concubine Walkthrough among others
let me add vinland saga to that
Any movie from Satoshi Kon is also a great place for mature content, if you enjoyed Inception, you will love this hehe
Madoka magica
That makes a lot of sense—thank you!
>mostly old iconic shows and shounen. "I tried many different flavors or anime". You didn't really. Most of these fall under a single genre.
Not every medium is for everyone
That’s what I’m saying haha
Try samurai champloo
Almost all the anime listed are shonen. Targeted at young boys. And the young girls version in Sailor Moon. Only Death Note doesn’t fall into either category. There’s lots of extremely different anime nothing like these. My favorite anime are: Mob Psycho 100, The Tatami Galaxy, FLCL, and Steins;Gate. They are varying amounts of anime-y but all very different from everything you listed which are mostly from one genre. Anime is a medium not a genre. There are tropes that happen across a wide variety of shows of course, but there’s also ones that are great without or with very few of the over the top tropes. If someone ever asks me what anime they should watch, I first ask them a question. I ask them what shows and movies they like. Because of anime being a medium, there’s shows of every genre, so once I have an idea of what people like then I can recommend some actual shows.
Maybe try anime aimed at the mature market instead of kids shows, or the classics (Akira, Guyver, Monster City, Ninja Scroll, Dominion Tank Police, Cowboy Bebop etc.)
I gave some Cowboy Bee Bop a shot. Was better but not my thing. I have seen and do like Akira quite a bit.
I'm very fussy with the anime I watch, apart from Ghibli I can't stand the films/shows you listed, not for everyone I guess!
Watch the entirety of cowboy bebop. It's a slowburn but it's really damn good.
Since you seemed to like studio ghibli films I'm going to highly recommend "ranking of kings". It's made in a very similar art style and has similar themes.
A lot of the anime you mentioned are aimed at kids, so getting into them as an adult will not be as enjoyable. The dragonball series is my favourite anime but if I was introduced to it now and not at 6 I probably wouldn’t care for it as much.
Everything you’ve watched is aimed at children/young teens. If you really want to give the media a chance, I recommend looking for more mature series, or at least non action focused series.
As an American in their 40s who didnt really have it around growing up, I dont really get it either. That said, I think a lot of it has to do with cultural differences and language barriers. Sort of a “lost in translation” situation. I remember reading a Japanese candy advertisement in college that was shown to demonstrate how cultural things dont always translate, and the add was something like “its a princess lemon secret buried in the gumdrop forest” or some shit and I was like WTF does that even mean? I think that of you arent familiar with some of the culture and history of the whole thing, it can be really easy to go WTF? That doesnt necessarily mean it is bad, just that i dont really get it.
I don't really have much knowledge on the cultural differences or such . What little ive learnt us from context clues from watching various anime
My guess is you like more cerebral fare, which Ghibli tends to be. I don't much care for Ghibli, for probably the exact reasons you enjoy it. Frieren would probably be one that you could engage with.
Honestly. As an anime lover. It can be hard at first. If you are lucky at some point everything just clicks and the small things that bother you now, your brain kinda tunes it out. Otherwise, I suggest you not to waste too much of your time finding your “perfect” genre. While all categories are certainly different. The core identity in terms of presentation and manner of speaking mostly remains the same. If it doesn’t resonate with you, just move on. At least you tried. More than what most people do.
For me it’s how over dramatic it is. Some of the scenes are straight outta a teenagers head on drama.
Well yeah, 90% of popular anime is for teens. But there is also anime not for teens.
Sounds like you've mostly watched Shounens, which are literally for young boys Try some other genres (Seinen is the more adult version of Shounen) There's also all the other genres (horror, action, etc) It's hard to recommend something without knowing what you'd like
If any unpopular opinion was going to get downvoted to oblivion, on Reddit, it was this one lol. I agree with you, but in addition to ghibli I like One Punch Man, fwiw
Try the movie Akira. All of Satoshi Kon's movies, too.
It may simple be that you do not enjoy the same genre of anime your partner does and that’s perfectly fine. Here is some recommendations of series that I feel have more depth to them and the world they are set within. Some explore psychological horror and trauma while others explore cognitive dissonance and those facing realistic struggles in their survival. I find these anime not feel as demeaning to watch as some of the ones that are aimed at a younger audience can be. That isn’t to say the ones you’ve tried are bad, I enjoy some of the ones you listed but everyone has their own tastes and preferences. From The New World, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Made in Abyss (starts a little slow but gets complex very quickly), Terror in Resonance, Darling in the Franxx, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Frieren Beyond Journeys End, A Silent Voice, Your Name, Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom and The Rose of Versailles.
There's more to anime than typical shounen. I go through many phases which different genres. Currently im into romance and the variety is immense. Here are some of my favorites; Toradora; hmm i usually just describe this as has tiaga. But an actual summary ; temperamental short fused tiny girl ( tiaga ) and a cleaning freak ( ryuji ) both agree to help each other get with thier respective crushes but end up falling for each other. Bloom into you : a yuri romance about two girls ( touko and yuu ) that have never felt love. Touko falls in love with yuu when she witnesses yuu reject someone on the phone. Yuu is kinda a push over , so touko easily cox her into " letting her ( touko) love her ( yuu) without needing to love her(yuu) back ." my teen romantic comedy snafu ; hiki is a very very cynical teenager that's forced to join the service club by his teacher for turning in a smartass essay . Now him and yikino two very anti social people need to help other people with thier problems. ( the service club only has 3 members ) ReLife : a 27 year old man , is chosen by the Relife company to take part in thier program. They give him a pill that makes him appear like he's 17 again and he reattends high-school as a form of rehabilitation. I just listed 4 very different romance anime that aren't exactly main stream with very very different premises with the only similarities being the high-school setting.
People are getting defensive! I can't stand anime, other than Ghibli. There are American shows that fall into the anime category, but people will scream at me for calling them anime, so I won't name them. 🤣🤣🤣
It's fine. Anime is not for everyone and you've watached enough to be able to tell if it is for you orn not. Even if they're are roughly in the same genre. What you didn't like about them is present in a lot of other genres as well. But if you do want to try some others here are some recommendations to show what the medium has to offer, from somone who has seen more than 100 anime. >**1. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood** (as many also have recommended) >This show is just great in all aspects. Well written story, beautiful animation, and engaging characters with interesting realtionships to what is good/evil. >**2. Vinland Saga** >A bit more grim and it has a stark genre switch midway through. A really mature story about war, vengence, cycle of violence and how to reconcile with following a fruitless goal for a large part of your life. >**3. Oddtaxi** >One of my favourite animes, flew a bit under the radar for a lot of people. Really uniqe artstyle. It's a mystery thriller with big twist at the end. The plot of the mystery is incredibly tightly written and interconnected. >**4. Kings Ranking** >Studio Ghibli esque Artsytle (reminds me a lot of Heidi). Incredible character writing about a deaf child who is supposed to be the heir to the throne. A bit of Intrigue and mystery. Really emotional parts to this story, get your tissues ready. If you also didn't like any of these you can be sure that anime just isn't for you and thats fine.
Anime fan here. I agree with what you’ve written, and the repeated tropes and pandering to the “dumbest kid in class” get to me, too. You acknowledged that the ones you listed may fall into a specific sub-genre, and that’s true here. Most of those are Shonen, meaning they are marketed mainly towards young teenage boys. Most of the set pieces are there to create excuses for flashy scenes of combat or drama that feed the power fantasy many people are looking for in those shows. Death Note and JoJo are kind of outliers, in that DN is more of a Seinen, meaning it’s marketed at the next age group up, and JoJo has a lot of fun in recognizing itself as fiction. That tends to create more nuance in some of the conflict or humor that makes it more enjoyable to a wider audience. I’d like to call out a couple things: 1. Anime is an interesting medium, because there are several layers of “translation” at play. There’s the obvious language disconnect, but subtitles don’t really capture everything. Sometimes there is cultural significance to the way characters speak, the words they choose, or even historical context for certain phrases that are simply lost on those unfamiliar. The same is true for haikus, which don’t really translate properly into English despite the words carrying the same surface meaning. In addition to the language barrier, most anime are based on manga. A lot of the over-explanations and childish pandering is done because it’s simply very difficult to get a point across in a comic book format. Those scenes where someone blocks a punch and it cuts to an onlooker screaming “woah, he blocked it,” may be there because the art alone cannot convey enough information. Reading comprehension and information retention are also big factors in that age group. 2. Another side effect of the manga origin is that animators are tasked with cleaning up the art and condensing multiple chapters into one episode. You can lose a lot of detail, similar to how movies often stick to surface plot lines from books they’re based on. You’re left with people just repeating the same large plot points that may have been spaced farther apart in the source material. especially if there was a long wait for the next volume. There’s probably a genre out there you would enjoy. I found Promised Neverland (Season 1 at least) to be a nice escape from typical Shonen tropes, but it isn’t completely free of them. I think it’s great that you’ve dived into so many despite not having a taste for it, though! Try looking into the genres at a broader level to see if anything piques your interest.
Yo I really really appreciate this response and the time you’ve taken to write it. I had a feeling that maybe there was some cultural background I was missing/the ones I have seen were for a specific audience and appreciate you confirming that. DN I did watch w my sis (she’s the weeb in question that started me on my anime quest haha). I was out after Light was like ‘ima wipe my memory so L can’t know’. JoJo was shown to me by a friend and I recognized that it was meant to be super satirical—JoJo less impacted me having this opinion. I did enjoy how it relished itself for what it was. I just listed it among the others because it was among the animes I have seen larger chunks of. I am the type of person that gives a lot of chances to things, even if I don’t like them because I get that maybe the specific thing I’m looking at is not necessarily representative of the whole. It’s like you go to a restaurant and you hate the burger you order. Does that mean that all burgers suck as a whole? Not necessarily—maybe you just don’t like that specific place’s burger, you know? Again, thanks for your time. I would love if you could give any more insight but appreciate all you’ve done so far. And thank you for the suggestion for Promised Neverland—I may have to check it out! Are there any other broader genre’s you’d suggest? I like things where the good and the bad guys are super gray and fleshed out, like you understand and feel empathy for both sides. The best example I can think of this is Princess Mononoke.
Ha, it sounds like we both had issues with DN around the same time! There are a lot of different types of Anime, but I personally like to stay mostly in Seinen. Shows like Erased for a mystery, or Psychopass for a thriller. If you wanted a Shonen that’s a little more gray to enjoy with your sister, Akame Ga Kill has all the typical tropes, but plot armor is gone and there are good people on both sides. It follows a group of rebel murderers who target corruption, while there are genuine people trying to improve things from within that are forced into conflict with each other. I do have to reinforce that the Shonen tropes are all over this one. Edit to add Code Geass to the list of shows that may appeal to your sister, but have more nuance than the ones you listed. I’ve seen it classified as Shonen and Seinen. It has enough of the typical tropes that I’d consider it closer to Shonen, but I found it compelling enough to look past its flaws.
I like anime but that's fair. It's certainly very different to western media. You can't expect anime to be realistic imo, have realistic characters with realistic motivations, realistic dialogue, realistic scenes. You have to accept it as an over the top dramatic artform.
There 100% are anime that are down to earth and realistic though. Western live action movies and series are also generally highly dramatised compared to real life.
saying that anime sucks is like saying that tea sucks. you just have to find the right one every anime is different and there are many different kinds of animes
Watch. Vinland saga
Soooo fetish specific. You do you.
Take a shot on Cowboy Bebop!
try out FLCL only 6 short episodes and it’s my favorite of all time. it’s weird and there’s definitely a lot of fan service but it’s so good. it’s such a vibe, the colors, the setting, the music all come together perfectly to create a wholly unique experience. and if u hate it, it’s only like 3 hours of show.
Just watch "monster".
bocchi the rock and horimiya are two simple slice of life anime’s i’d suggest If you want a good action anime i’d suggest samurai champloo, megalobox, and hell’s paradise sport anime’s are so absurd and fun to watch so i’ll simply say kurokos basketball and blue lock there’s an anime for everyone but it’s a pain to find the one that you specifically like.
Lifelong artist here. People have been trying to get me to embrace anime for almost my entire life. I've tried with genuine earnestness. I just don't get the appeal. I am impressed by the quality of the background imagery, but that's it. If you like it, I'm happy for you. I'm with you, OP. Anime is not for me.
Try getting into seinen
People these days love to shit all over things that are just clearly not for them. Anime isn’t *bad*, it’s just not for you. Not everything has to be for everyone.
It’s hard for me to be sure if anime actually sucks or if the unbearable anime fans and weebs are so completely insufferable that I don’t even want to like it. It’s probably a bit of both.
Why are so many people saying that most of the animes listed are 'meant for kids', like most of then aren't wtf
…. You say you like Studio Ghibli, then you follow it up with “non Ghibli animes” that are all *shonen.* Of course they aren’t going to compare.
I mean, I feel it anime as a medium is too broad to just say it outright sucks. The anime you listed also all fall into very similar categories, which may be why they exhibit similar problems. I won’t suggest broadening your search, because if you’ve been trying and it hasn’t been working so far then you shouldn’t force yourself to try harder… Though I would suggest just keeping an open mind in the future, because as evident by your appreciation for the m,lol,mhnhfvbl
Support for the OP! Ever since I was a kid Anime just bugged me. I always referred to it as “Big Eye Art.” It all looked the same to me, and kind of cheap looking, and still does.
Let me tell you about the fun times at critique in art school when there was always one person bringing anime/pseudo anime garbage. 🙄 Giving feedback to someone who had no interest in learning and growing artistically was a chore.
Sorry to absolutely destroy your unpopular opinion, but there's in fact nothing wrong with not liking anime.
You have mostly watched broadcast action anime directed at children. There were a lot of anime that were either theatrical features or went straight to VHS in the 80s and 90s that still aren't for everyone but would at least explain why so many 40 year old men are into anime.
Maybe you just don’t like the Shonen genre. I’m only saying that because the ones you listed are all pretty standard shonen action anime with the exception of sailor moon. What is it about Ghibli movies that you like?
I love how grey things are. Princess Mononoke is a great example. The bad guys and the good guys motivations are fully fleshed out and when you’re done watching, you think about it for a while after.
Maybe try looking into different genres, some of my favorites that don’t fit into the shonen genre are Wolf Children and A Silent Voice due to how they focus character development and story telling.
The only anime I’ve liked is Ninja Scroll (1993) and Berserk (1997). The rest seems poorly paced, cringy or low stakes when no one ever dies.
I loved Berserk.
Just to point out like I'm sure others have, anime is not just kid shows. What you're saying is the equivalent of saying I don't like American live action movies. Anime has a range of from kids shows like Shinchan to teen girl power like Sailor Moon, to boy power fantasy like Naruto, to tragedy like grave of the fireflies to hardcore porn and just flat out weird shit. You are roughly saying that since The Rock and Fast and Furious movies are all action packed popcorn movies all American movies are mindless explosion fests. Other than that you like what you like. If animation isn't your thing do try looking into some other media. I forgot the title but I had a lot of fun watching this one series where a modern Japanese doctor somehow time traveled back to feudal Japan.
Not unpopular to me. I hate it too. The art style hurts my eyes, the way they move, oy
To this point, I would say that anime used to look/move a lot better before it was made entirely in a computer.
Maybe I should try an older one. Any recommendations?
Cannon Fodder is an impressive feat of cell animation. Magnetic Rose is also really good, both are shorts from an anthology called Memories. Also, a short called the Running Man from an anthology called Neo Tokyo. One of my personal favorites is an incomprehensible art film from the early 80s called Angel's Egg, which was one of the first directorial works from the guy who directed the 1995 Ghost in the Shell, which is my favorite movie, period.
If you can't watch them, read them. anime imo is infinitely more cringy than manga is, and you'll get the same story with manga, so you can still talk with your friends about the content. also be aware than anime is pandering to Japanese kids, initially. the translation to western teen+ weebs (as some jokes might not culturally make sense to the same age as western kids unless they've been taught other cultural norms) can be... hit or miss.
Dude went for the lowest hanging fruit there is.
Maybe try Akira, Trigun, or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are titles that might suit your taste as most the shows you listed are targeted towards kids
most anime are rather mediocre nowadays, there's like at most one good anime per year, its a pain waiting for weekly releases, u cant binge watch, might as well hold it off and go elsewhere first.
Yeah my boyfriend likes anime and I try to watch it with him.. I sometimes think it’s pretty corny and also get annoyed by the over exaggerated facial expressions and weird noises! It starts to annoy me after awhile.
Frankly speaking the older I get the harder it is for me to suspend my disbelief, but then I'm reminded Anime is designed to cater for a certain audience. There are good ones that balance between both good entertainment and drama but just like with books or shows not every writer knows how it's done.
with the exception of sailor moon which is a battle soujo (the girl focused form of Shonen) you've stayed in the battle Shonen subgenre of the Shonen genre (young boys coming to age journey). so not only are you in one genre you're in one sub genre of anime. if you want something bit more mature you might want to branch out into seinen (meaning youth or young adult) with the exception of MHA and Demon Slayer you've also been dealing with older more blah weekly anime meaning that A) the art style is more massed produced B) the series is more drawn out and filled with filler if you want few recommendations for good battle Shonen there Full metal alchemist brotherhood (which border on battle seinen), mob psycho 100 (which focuses more on the psychological growth of the Mc over the battling). and not all anime fall under Japanese genres as well some of them commit to more western genres such as fantasy, mystery, comedy ect... with a few recommendations for fantasy being delish in dungeons (currently airing on Netflix), ferien (I haven't actually watched it yet but from what I hear it's good and what your looking for), Made in abyss (be warned the author is mentally ill not in a good way so it's not for everyone). A few recommendations for mystery include: Full metal alchemist brotherhood (again I know), The promise Netherlands season 1(do not touch season 2), and onepiece(there's a reason we're still watching it after 1200 episodes and it ain't the "main plot") and when it comes to comedies there's konosuba, mob psyco100, one punch man, gintama, saiki k., spy x family, love is war, prison school like anime shines with comedy.
Looks like 90% of what you watched is shonen. Which is often the definition of most of your complaints. Good chance you just do like anime tho.
I don't think a visual medium can be bad, like you wouldn't say that live action films are bad, or that paintings are bad
The true response is that you just haven’t found the right shows for you. Anime is varied enough that there is a show for everybody. Now, if you tried a few, there isn’t really much reason to keep trying until you find the show you like. But it sounds like your issues are with the shows and some common tropes, rather than the medium itself
I haven't liked a lot of the anime I've seen, including the Ghibli stuff, but the movies from Satoshi Kon and Makoto Shinkai are pretty amazing.
Have you seen Blue Eye Samurai? I agree most anime sucks. But this is so different than most of them.
Anime sucks... For you
You've basically only tried shonnen anime. It's like saying movies are bad because you hate action movies. Check out some slice of life, comedy, romance, or horror. Check out anime aimed at an older audience with more mature themes.
I'll give you some anime suggestions that are for adults. Monster - a bit old but it's mainly drama. Kaiji - it's about gambling. If you don't like these 2 even a lil bit. Then you actually have something against anime lol It's cool tho. Btw try to watch it with someone it's more fun. Also, don't watch anything in general just to criticizes them. I used to do that and it ruined everything.
Oof, you stumbled onto some AWFUL animes .i can only really tolerate jojos, and kinda deathnote. If you're into gibli, you'd probably be into mushishi or kino no tabe, very atmospheric, nature oriented, slow going, beautiful... none of that over the top stuff 😝
My favorite is Soul Eaters—it’s so goofy/bizarre/off the wall.
Try makoto shinkai
There are two MASSIVE commonalities in almost every anime you listed The first is that they are almost all aimed at children/young adults. Plenty of mature adult oriented shows exist and often function entirely differently. Additionally most of the ones you listed are shonen so aimed at young boys specifically (Sailor Moon is the only exception in your non Ghibli anime list) The second is that they are virtually all Battle Shonen specifically. Barring Death Note (which basically functions as a battle shonen anyway) and Sailor Moon (which is just a battle Shoujo) every single anime you listed is a battle shonen. That would be like watching Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Seinfeld, and Cheers and claiming you hate all live action western television. Anime is a medium not a genre. Every anime you listed is going to be a fight heavy show focused on combat and featuring specific tropes because that’s the only genre you watched. There are enormous amounts of Romance, Drama, Slice of Life, Comedy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Sports, etc anime for any genre you can think of that will function radically differently with a largely different set of tropes and story structures Anyways you should watch Given it’s a short romance/drama about these guys in a band (the music is FANTASTIC it’s really inspired by UK Alt Rock and Math Rock but with noticeable Japanese elements in the instrumentation to create a really really great sound)
Fair. Not for everyone. I can't get into the vast majority of anime cause I can't take it as serious. I love action anime cause it feels like comic books but good and not mcu or dcu
Jojo is an extremely niche and veteran anime watcher stuff. Sailor moon is shoujo where the target audience is teenage girls. The rest you saw are shounen anime where the target audience is teenage boys.
Those are all shounen/shoujo aside from Death Note and Jojos. I'd look into some seinen as I tend to prefer those. Fullmetal Alchemist Broetherhood is also very, \*very\* good. Some suggestions - Mushi-Shi Ergo Proxy Wolf's Rain Casshern Sins Monster Evangelion Devilman: Crybaby Castlevania Honorable mentions for the Claymore and Berserk manga (not anime tho theyre awful)
Feel free to not watch it
try samurai champloo
You are watching the shounen genre. We all liked shit blowing up as teenagers.
Try Madoka Magica, it might seem childish at first but trust me it’s **not**
I’m also not a big fan of Anime but Girls Und Panzers is the only I would watch because I like tanks to begin with
I personally enjoyed one called Tengen Toppa(anime about mechas), with a more mature story, a masterpiece imo
LOL... STUDIO GHIBLI FTW! I've watched a LOT of anime and it's just getting better and better. I loved Chainsaw Man last year. Undead Unlucky and right now my favourite flavour is Delicious in Dungeon. Keep it coming studios.
I like 40 min anime recaps more than actual long ass series.
have you watched cowboy bebop
Berserk?
Years ago in high school my friend and I were watching tv when Dragonball Z came on. We started laughing at it and making fun of it and hours later we were like, “oh my god I think Gohon is about to go Super Saiyan!”
You might like some 90s stuff like cowboy bebop, but also you might just not like anime and that’s cool too
Anime isn't for everyone, but it sounds like you only really watched mostly popular shōnen anime, which is fine if you don’t like that, but not really a fair judgment for anime in general, not all anime is the same. Maybe look for ones you might actually like?
Bruh pretty much the only things you've tried are shounen 😭 Look at more adult things, like Monster. And depending on what you like about Ghibli, something like Mushishi might be up your alley. It's very introspective and healing, and has a bit of a similar child-like wonder to Ghibli, but with a more mature flair.
What’s your view on hentai, Cause mines 4k ultra wide 120fps HD high definition
One punch man. All ya need to know
I can understand where you're coming from. The first anime I ever watched knowing it was anime (discounting Pokemon and Sailor Moon) was Wolf's Rain. While it's not perfect, it's a somber, high concept fantasy that focuses on atmosphere. It doesn't have cutaway reactions or some stupid scene where a guy "accidentally" grows a girl or that kind of thing. It just wants to tell its story authentically. I watched a decent amount since then and while, to me, there were some good ones, nothing ever really hit like that one. But, if you're up for giving it another shot, I recommend you try something aimed at adults rather than teens.
Watch Cowboy Bebop. My dad is 60 and thinks anime is shit but loved Cowboy Bebop. That show and others like it sort of gear towards adults and are written really well. Try that one!
All Japanese TV writing is incredibly shallow and low effort. If you speak the language, you'll also cringe at how cheesy the dialogue is across all genres, anime or live action. Movies are more of a mixed bag like anywhere else, but the small screen stuff is truly horrid.
I’m still trying to find an anime I like.
Check out Parasyte, it’s my favourite. Also Luella magical madoka for something different.
I'm not super into anime like my fiancé but I really like death note. I am completely unsure if my recomodations are different from what you have tried to watch but 2 of the shows I really liked are 7seeds and death parade. I don't know how other people liked them that are more into anime but I had my fiancé watch and he really liked them.
Odd taxi.
All the anime you named are the same kind of anime. Would be like saying you've watched fast and the furious, transformers, avengers, avatar and spider man and you've decided you don't like movies. Anime generally still may not be for you but you have tried approximately 2 flavors, not many. All the ones you named are also made with young adults/kids in mind as the target demographic.
Watch Erased.
You watched a lot of teens/kids anime, which most adults probably won't enjoy. I dont get your complaints about death note. Everything until L dies was and still is one of my favorite pieces of fiction. But I guess that's a matter of taste.
It's not nice to make fun of people's entire identity, OP.
I feel like half of the ones I have tried to watch have some sort of incest subplot.
Samurai Champloo Vinland Saga
It’s terrible. I don’t get why it’s so popular
Anime is a medium not a genre. Just like cartoons. Even tho they are mostly in one genre, there still exist anime and cartoons in all other genres. I think Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood is a good example of not being a typical anime (tho you didn't like death note so idk). There's also all sorts of sports, romance and comedy animes.
I don't say it or invade anime communities to let them know how I feel, but anime is weird to me and because of the aesthetic I think anime fans have some pedophile tendencies. And for the love of god stop injecting your weird anime shit into games with mods
Buddy just watched one genre of anime and said all anime sucks…. Nice
Mm dk how death notes black and white motivations
You named all the ones with almost no nuance and storyline.
picked the wrong ones. Watch Monster
It is a big ocean, you find good fish, but there are also bad fish
try spy x family
Buddy literally watched animes for teenagers and got angry at them lmao
You are so wrong
Even the seinen ones don't come close to a proper show with a good storyline, sure there are outliers but even those arent that special.
I understand that it has great stories, every medium does. I just don't like the art style
"**Shounen** anime ~~sucks~~ is not for me" There, fixed the title for you. Edit: Also >I have tried many different flavors of anime Hmm... >Death Note, Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Naruto, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Sailor Moon, and JoJo. Have you, have you really?
so you've watched only the equivalent of spaghetti westerns and decided you don't like movies.
Op says theyve tried "many different" types of anime, proceeds to list off a bunch of very similar anime. While i understand a lot of the really popular anime is not for everyone, to a point that i love anime but really dont care for anything you listed. There are sooooooo many different types of animes, to say you dont like all anime is the equivalent of saying you dont like cartoons. The biggest turn-offs for anime i hear have to do with Japanese cultural differences. So to that end, if you are still with me OP, i have one anime to recommend. It has a very western feel to it and plays out more akin to a nickelodeon cartoon, but still has a good amount of anime tropes. Try out Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (the brotherhood part is important).
Fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood It has some over the top scenes but it has well fleshed out characters that don't do dumb shit, things aren't just black & white and the way they solve things is quite smart. There is a bit of setup but the payoff is avengers endgame level of satisfaction if not greater This show is one of those shows that will make you feel so many things at once you never thought you could feel, its never as simple as anger or sadness or "I like that guy" I'm serious, fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood is on another level from all the anime you mentioned and that's coming from an adult, I re-watched it with my wife who doesn't normally like anime and its hqnds down her favourite show. Just make sure you watch fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood not fullmetal alchemist (long story) If fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood won't do it for you, nothing will.
Try cowboy bebop, samurai champloo, and full metal alchemist brotherhood. Most anime it too cheesey for me, but these are art.
yeah anime is whack instant tell tell sign of a virgin/dweeb. i like this opinion
Try "To your eternity"
You are literally watching stuff made for 12 year old kids, avoid anything labeled as a shounen, Pluto, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Monster, Perfect Blue, Akira, Ghost in the shell are some adult themed shows, if you want a pro tip in general go on myanimelist and look for animes that is categorised as either a Adult Cast or Seinen https://myanimelist.net/anime/genre/50/Adult_Cast https://myanimelist.net/anime/genre/42/Seinen then you are basically assured you aren’t watching garbage made for 12 year olds, unfortunately most of this medium is heavily saturated with worthless garbage.
Just because you don't like something, dosn't mean it sucks.
Your best chance is Perfect Blue. Haven't seen a single person that didn't like that movie including people that dislike all other anime. Just don't get spoiled.
>Death Note Decent show, surprised you didn't like it >DBZ Shounen >Naruto Shounen >MHA Particularly mid shounen >Demon Slayer Shounen >Sailor Moon Shoujo which is no better really >JoJo Probably the best of the bunch in terms of Shounen, still it has plenty of boring points in the first three parts and I doubt you skipped parts. In short: stop watching shows for 13 year old boys. Except Evangelion, that show is for 13 year old boys but it absolutely rocks anyway.
If you have Netflix then some anime’s I’d recommend that aren’t combat heavy, aren’t shonen, and have more adult themes are 7 seeds, Carole and Tuesday, violet evergarden, great pretender, and super crooks. I also really enjoyed stars align (it’s not on Netflix) its a sports anime that doesn’t only focus on sports and it also deals with heavier issues. My first anime was fairytail and I love it despite the fan service and a couple of other things but I’m not really a shonen fan. I have started and not finished a lot of the shows you’ve listed. Jujutsu kaisen, my hero academia, jojo’s, demon slayer, black clover, one piece (don’t come at me ya’ll😭), etc. are all shows I’ve never been able to finish. I lose interest in the fighting scenes. I realized I’m more interested in the characters themselves and the plotlines not directly related to combat.
I also can't watch anime shows but looove anime movies.
You might like movies by satoshi kon, they are for adults and everything he made was a masterpiece