I will say, there is almost universal agreement in the thread that the list is bad.
But as someone who came here because I've barely watched any anime and was curious, there is precious little in terms of actual, practical suggestions.
I would go with Frieren as a good beginner fantasy anime, as a person who hasn't watched a whole lot of anime. Very clearly follows RPG party tropes, but is slow-paced enough to enjoy it without getting overwhelmed with rapid-fire anime in-jokes and references.
Be skeptical of Sword Art Online, one of the few animes I couldn't even bare to make it through the 2nd season given how bad it was, 1st season wasn't that much better. I've noticed with anime that popular isn't the same thing as good. The OP list is clearly an indication of this.
Frieren was better than great, it deserves it's place as #1 top rated of all time. If you really want to watch something like Sword Art Online, watch Log Horizon instead, much better.
I don't know if it would be my recommendation for a first anime. It would probably be a fine experience, but it might set the wrong expectations if they wanted to watch more.
I'd argue truly appreciating Frieren requires you to be familiar with typical anime storylines and tropes to appreciate the SOL style subversion it does.
The concerns are valid, mainly with the story tropes and we cant ignore people that dislike Fantasy settings in general (i know a few people like that). However I think Frieren still has plenty parts of everything so you can pinpoint the parts a person likes. Less or more action, higher or lower focus on characters or setting, serious or goofy, you name it.
On the other hand something like AoT with its early Titan designs in season 1 might be a hard hill to climb right out of the gate.
I think about this a lot however, and regularly come to the conclusion that there is no one perfect first Anime, there is many of them and it depends on the person.
Ty, I might have missed that. I started reading it becouse of how fucking wild that sounded and now I really don't want anything to happen to these characters.
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My friend had a roommate who's girlfriend threw it on the TV for them all to watch. It was in the middle of season two with no warning whatsoever. Friend had to excuse herself and call me because she was freaking out hardcore. Known this girl for over 10 years, she never gets upset like that with media.
I know the show is good but you can't just show it to people. Totally irresponsibile.
I feel like you (and others) may be missing the point of the accessibility part.
The idea isn't "here's a list of THE MOST ACCESSIBLE ANIME IN THE MEDIUM", but rather "here's a list of the range of anime you might find in each genre".
For example, One Punch Man is definitely an extremely accessible comedy anime that you could show to pretty much anyone and they'd "get it". The over-the-top humor of Nichijou on the other hand could fly over the heads of some (not all) Western beginners. But if you were to watch the anime from left to right then they'd have a (relatively) alright progression in becoming accustomed to the medium.
A lot of choices are definitely flawed and weird, but there's definitely a logic to how it's made and I appreciate them trying to make something a little different than the hundreds of other "beginner anime" lists out there.
Most of the weirdness with the chart has more to do with the inherently awkward nature of trying to make a chart to serve as a blanket recommendation for people they will never meet or know the personal preferences of.
I like One Punch Man, but I think it sort of relies on anime tropes. You can understand it, but it's just not as funny, if you don't know the tropes it's parodying. I don't think it's the over the top part that flies over the heads of non-Japanese, but some puns, and cryptic scenes.
Anecdotal, but every 'non-anime' person I know of liked S1 One Punch Man a lot. A good show is a good show. I disagree that it relies on anime tropes. Rather, I'd say those tropes add a certain interpretation. Going into it without that knowledge can add it's own interpretations that an avid anime viewer might miss. Bill Burr is a perfect example, and I highly recommend looking up his commentary on One Punch Man.
I get what you're saying, but I just feel like an individual person's taste is the most important factor in choosing what to watch rather than prior anime knowledge. Incidentally, that is why lists like this are alright as generic suggestions and nothing more.
A vast majority of media is made with influences to other media, and trying to find the "perfect" starting point risks ruining yours/others' ability to enjoy what the medium can offer.
One Punch Man doesn't "rely" on anime tropes, but it can definitely be "enhanced" by a better understanding of the medium. That doesn't mean it's not an excellent and accessible starting point for a beginner.
Except it is the most accessible among them, and relative to most anime in general. Do you REALLY think that Nichijou is more accessible with a wider appeal for a mainstream audience than One Punch Man?
The very clear popularity that One Punch Man has had indicates otherwise. It's not rocket science to figure that out.
The progression is too steep in some cases, it should still stay on the accessible side of the spectrum. Made in Abyss is one of my favorites, but I am not recommended it even to a seasoned anime fans.
Yeah there definitely is a lot of unevenness with how it's designed, but I think it's very subjective whether Made in Abyss should or shouldn't be recommended or be seen as accessible. Someone in this thread even mentioned that they have recommended it to a lot of beginners who ended up loving it, also making the excellent point that a lot of anime fans have a skewed idea of what non-anime fans can handle.
Personally, if I were OP I'd extend it to 10 anime each row, fix their genres, and fix how steep the progression is. Jojo is certainly less accessible than the other action anime on the list, but its placement relative to other shows like Made in Abyss, Gundam, and Chihayafuru makes it feel wonky. Jojo would be more towards the middle on the accessibility scale while the far end of action would be a pretty obscure and contemplative show like... Casshern Sins or something.
Also, OP probably could rename it from "beginner" to "anime progression" or something just to make more sense for the people who are confused about his placements.
Exactly, the curve is just all over the place The top row is a great example of that. You've got a fun volleyball anime, followed by..... fucking Black Lagoon.
Which apparently, with its explicit tone that veers into edgelord territory, is more accessible than goddamn Yu-Yu Hakusho.
A show many of us literally grew up on and were introduced to on Toonami.
That because its structured poorly. It’s not a list of all beginner animes as the list title might imply.
There is an arrow at the top saying the further right you go the less accessible it is you should recommend to new beginners. So really only the first 2 in each row are what they are saying you should recommend people.
Great English dub, episodic, and a mix of popular mainstream genres (sci-fi, westerns, noir)? Easily one of the best introductions to anime. There's a reason it's considered a classic among English fans.
I'm curious why'd you think a show being episodic would be a negative? At least in the US, the majority of shows have traditionally been episodic so if anything it'd be a plus in terms of format familiarity.
A few people I know, who weren't really familiar with cinema (which is mostly the case in my community), couldn't really get into it because of the self-contained nature of most of the eps, even though there's a central plot (I love CB btw). There are many people who prefer an overarching plot. It probably comes down to one's familiarity.
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u/TrickyAudin 27d ago
Glad this is top comment, this graphic is ridiculous. Of the roughly 50 listed here, I wouldn't consider more than a dozen actually beginner-friendly.
Seems like OP equates high-scoring with accessible, which is absolutely not the case.