Getting recommendations is always a good idea when people want to get into something new. It becomes an even better idea when it comes to ‘anime’. Anime refers to a specific style of cartoon produced or inspired by Japanese animation, as stated in the article “What Is Anime? An Introduction for Parents and Families” on the Bark website. However, since ‘anime’ is more of an art style and less of a genre, many different rated shows can fall under this category. 

Anime Nation/Research 

   To get recommendations on this topic, I went to a meeting of Miami High’s Anime Nation. I talked to their president Emily Ramirez, who’s been watching anime since they were 7-8 years old, and their vice president Kayleen Robison who started watching anime at 5-6 years old. 

    I watched around 2-3 episodes of each anime mentioned so, that I can give a fair opinion on each. 

Top 3 recommended for beginners from Anime Nation 

   Anime is watched by mostly 15–25 year-olds according to the statistics done by the article titled “20+ Anime Statistics & Facts”, which is posted on the website Headphone Addict. Having a ‘genre’ with a large diversity of ages results in many different opinions on what anime is best to start off with. 

   Emily Ramirez started watching anime with her father so she holds many of these shows close to her heart. She recommended Mob Psycho 100 for comedy fans, which is about the life of a middle school esper, which is a person that can communicate with ghosts, named Shinto Kageyama (nickednamed Mob), who works part time at a con artist’s ghost-hunting business.  

    Emily recommended Demon Slayer for those who want to get into an action anime. Demon Slayer is about the quest of Tanjiro Kamari to kill the demon who killed his family and turned his younger sister Nezuko Kamari into a demon. He’s also trying to find a way to turn his sister back into a human. 

    Emily then ended her recommendation with one of her favorite’s called Sergeant Frog, which is about an alien who starts living with a family, but the alien is a cute anthropomorphized frog. 

Top 3 recommended for beginners from another Anime Nation officer 

   Kayleen Robinson was 5 when she became an avid anime fan, and when asked for her recommendation, she was jumping at the seams trying to come up with an answer. Nana was her immediate answer. This show is about the life of these two girls who both have the name, ‘Nana’, and their struggles as roommates, especially since one of the ‘Nana’s’ is going through a rough patch in her relationship with her long-time boyfriend.  

   Kayleen also recommended One Punch Man, which is a funny action anime about the life of Saitama, a man who has become too powerful for his own good. Kayleen’s final recommendation is Hunter x Hunter, commonly abbreviated as HxH, which is about the adventures of Gon as he joins a dangerous competition to become a hunter. While in the competition, he becomes friends with many different characters whom he goes on many adventures with.  

My take on these Anime Nation recommendations for beginners 

   Mob Psycho 100 is a sweet anime and a great starter if you plan to watch comedies. However, it won’t prepare you for how creepy other anime can get. On the other hand, Demon Slayer is a great starter anime for those interested in action shows. But, I wouldn’t recommend it for those starting off, considering it’s very long and can get boring quickly. I recommend Sergeant Frog to those who want to watch old and funny anime because that’s exactly what it is. 

    I believe that Kayleen had amazing recommendations with only a few problems. Nana is a nice anime with two protagonists that complement each other perfectly. The only problem is that sadly this anime doesn’t have an official ending, and since it’s around 18 years old and fairly unpopular, it doesn’t seem like it will ever get a revival. 

    One Punch Man can be considered the complete opposite, since it’s well-known and referenced in many other media. However, I don’t recommend this to people who want to watch anime in English because I’ve only been able to find it in the original Japanese version.  

    Hunter x Hunter is quite entertaining but has the problem that it’s a long anime. A common complaint many have with this anime is the fact that one of the male adult characters, whose name is Hisoka, stares and makes inappropriate comments toward the younger 12-year-old Gon and his friend Killua. While this is a valid complaint, sadly most anime does have this problem, but this shouldn’t deter you from anime that has some of these scenes, because these scenes are ‘distributed’ throughout the show and are easy to skip without losing the plot of the story. 

My Top 3 Recommendations for Beginners  

   I’ve personally been an anime fan since I’ve been around 4-5 years old. I started watching with my sister, and still do to this day. I strictly watch anime with an English dub, in other words, anime with a voice actor speaking English. Many get judged for this, but it’s what works for me, and my recommendation reflects that. 

   I personally recommend Ouran High School Host Club. This was my first anime, so it holds a special place in my heart. It’s great for people starting off because it has interesting characters and a compelling storyline, even with its uncomfortable scenes between two twins.  

    Ouran High School Host Club is about how the main character Haruhi is in a rich school even though she’s a commoner and is then forced to pretend to be a boy and join a host club where “handsome young men entertain beautiful young girls”. Like I said before, this is a great anime for people starting off unless you don’t like cutesy romances or shows that don’t have official endings. 

    On the other side of the spectrum, Blue Exorcist is a funny hyperactive action anime, which follows the life of the sons of Satan, Rin Okumura and Yukio Okumura as they surprisingly learn to be exorcists. This anime, like Ouran High School Host Club ,was one of my first and is what really got me into anime. Unlike Ouran High School Host Club, it has less creepy scenes, keeps the characters personality consistent, and has a proper ending that will leave you satisfied. 

    An anime similar to Blue Exorcist is the ever-popular Assassination Classroom, which is about a class of middle-schooler’s that have been abandoned by the principal and who later get contracted to kill their teacher, or else their teacher will blow up the earth. This is an amazing starter show because of the hyperactive interesting characters and the interesting background of the man the students were contracted to kill. 

Top 3 recommended by Anime Nation for experienced watchers  

   As stated before, anime is less of a genre and more of an animation style, so it’s safe to say that there is a stark difference when it comes to anime intended for people starting off and anime for people who know how weird and creepy anime can get.  

   Emily Ramirez recommended the classic Dragon Ball, which follows the life of 12-year-old Goku and his friend Bulma as they search and fight for the seven legendary Dragon Balls.  

    Her second recommendation was Soul Eater, which follows three teams of meisters (weapons users) and their weapons (scythes) who fight against corrupted souls, so the weapon can eat the soul and then become one of death’s scythes.  

   Her last recommendation for fans of anime is Serial Experimencants Lain, about the young girl named Lain and her relentlessness to join the digital martyrdom.  

    Kaylee Robinson, after a lot of debating with other members, landed on Bleach as her first recommendation. Bleach follows the adventures of the main character Ichigo Kurosak, who inherits the destiny of his parents after he became a soul reaper.  

   Her second recommendation was Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, sometimes shortened to JoJo’s.  This show is broken up into many arcs, so it’s quite hard to explain. Essentially it’s about different generations of family who have the same nickname going through bizarre adventures.  

    Her last recommendation was Tokyo Ghoul , which is about a college student who is attacked by a ghoul. He then must go into surgery where he receives an organ transplant from a ghoul, which turns him into a ghoul. Ghouls are essentially humans except they can only eat human flesh, and if they eat normal food, they could die.  

My take on these Anime Nation recommendations for experienced watchers 

    Bleach is a great anime, fun with an amazing main character. JoJo is insanely complicated, which I don’t recommend to anyone who can’t watch things out of order. Finally, Tokyo Ghoul is a classic watched by all. It’s insanely dark but has a very interesting world society.  

    Dragon Ball is a great anime for beginners and longtime anime viewers. The only complaint I had about this anime is that there are 153 episodes; however, each episode is only about 22 minutes and it’s a great laugh.  

    Soul Eater, on the other hand, is great funny anime that only has two seasons so it’s a quick watch. The only problem that some might have with it is that it has a lot of fan-service, which is a scene where they show/imply something sexual or show one of the characters half-dressed. Many anime have this and its just something you will have to live with when watching these shows. 

   Serial Experiment Lain is a beautiful dark anime that more people need to see and experience.  It’s an amazing show that is hard to put into words.     

My Top 3 Recommendations for Experienced Viewers 

    I’ve watched a total of 46 anime in my lifetime, both amazing shows that I love and terrible ones that I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy. All of the following are shows I’ve recommended to people at some point in time. 

    My first choice, Death Note, is about Light Yagami’s quest to kill all the criminals in the world and become the new god of the world. This anime isn’t long, and it has amazing twist and turns. The only problem is that after the main antagonist leaves the show, it becomes slow and quite boring.  

    My second choice, Black Butler, is about Ciel Phantomhive’s quest to find out and destroy the cult/people who killed, burned, and tortured him. This anime is quite dark, and it has many uncomfortable scenes regarding the torture done to the 11–12 year-old child. Similar to many dark shows, one thing that can bring this up is the comedy. Other complaints about Black Butler is the fact that it’s out of order, and the ending is considered unsatisfying to the life of Ciel Phantomhive. 

    My last recommendation is Michiko and Hatchin. This story is the quest of Hatchin Morenos, who’s looking for her father with the help of her father’s lover whose name is Michiko Malandro, who is the one that saves Hatchin from an abusive orphanage. This is an interesting anime that’s lots of fun and gets you genuinely invested in these characters and this man. However, it does have some low points and has a lot of cursing, so be warned. 

Where To Watch Anime 

• Funimation 

• Hulu  

• Crunchyroll  

• Netflix