Pookar Chand
Contributing Writer
Anime is something most people have heard about but don’t know much about. In a quick and dirty summation, anime is just animation from Japan. Although there are increasing amounts of anime being produced outside of Japan, that is a topic for another time.
For most, anime is thought of as a genre, but it is actually more akin to a medium. This means that getting into anime can be a difficult and confusing process. This is why I am here! I’m going to help you dip a toe into this vast and very opaque expanse. I cannot stress this enough, this list is subjective. That being said, this list is the definitive way to get into anime, unless, of course, you disagree.
I’ll tackle action, romance, and comedy as they are probably the easiest entry into anime and I have a six-hundred-word limit. Don’t worry, there will be alternatives to each recommendation.
Action: “One Punch Man”
“One Punch Man” is thirteen episodes of superhero satire and action in each episode. But what makes it the easiest to recommend for the action genre is how amazingly the show is animated. Most action anime have moments where the quality of animation drops to save time or money, but not “One Punch Man”
Alternative: “Demon Slayer” (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
“Demon Slayer” is as amazingly animated as “One Punch Man”, for the most part, and is probably an easier entrance into anime as it has a simpler premise and does more work to hook you into its narrative and characters. Also, the movie “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” cannot be skipped as it is objectively incredible, which is why it was the highest grossing movie of 2020.
Comedy: “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!” (Konosuba for short)
“Konosuba” is about a group of selfish idiots with no luck. The comedy is heightened by the absurdness of having the series take place in a fantasy world with some inspiration taken from D&D. The anime is basically “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” set in a D&D-like world, and that gets at least a chuckle out of me.
Alternative: “The Devil is a Part Timer” (Hataraku Maou-sama!)
The comedy comes from the fact that a demon lord from another world is stuck in modern day Japan, trying to make a living working at a fast food restaurant. Not having money is just part of the comedy in the series as the demon lord plans to claw his way up the corporate ladder.
Romance: “Kaguya-sama: Love is War” (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen)
Don’t be intimidated by the long name. This show is as much rom as it is com, and it does both spectacularly well. The romance always seems to advance the comedy and vice versa. It helps that the two main characters are also characterized well enough to carry the premise, romance and jokes.
Alternative: “The President is a Maid” (Kaichou wa Maid-sama!)
Don’t worry, it’s nothing political. The strict student council president is working part time in a maid café and the most popular boy at her school finds out. I know that it sounds like a comedic premise, and there is a fair bit of comedy in the anime, but the romance is played pretty straight. At least that’s what I remember. You know what, go and watch this then report back.