What anime fan doesn’t burst with excitement when they finally convince their non-anime-fan friend to tune in for an episode or two? Still, choosing a first anime for someone unfamiliar with the medium can be tricky. Your favorite show might not have an accessible narrative or suit your friend’s interests.
Panic starts to set in when you realize that if you don’t choose a good show—or, heck, a good pilot episode—your friend might not stick around to watch more. They could walk away even more closed off to anime and confused about why you like it so much. To avoid that, here are a few picks that will provide an accessible introduction.
Space Dandy
The union of director Shinichiro Watanabe and animation studio BONES could only produce a wacky-yet-insightful, visually stunning series. 2014’s comedic hit Space Dandy is a show about a dandy guy in space. Dandy, robot sidekick QT, and catlike alien Meow travel the galaxy in search of new species of aliens to capture and register for cash rewards. Meanwhile, an intergalactic war is brewing, and an empire led by a gorilla with a Ph.D. pursues Dandy at every turn…unbeknownst to our hero.
With Space Dandy being an episodic show, you don’t have to rely on the pilot as your first-episode pitch. Dandy’s adventures range from pursuing the greatest ramen in the universe (You think it’s going to be funny, but, surprise! It’s existential. Oh, BONES.) to a zombie apocalypse, a cat planet stuck in a Groundhog Day loop, a Dandy multiverse, and an impromptu musical episode. For fans of Watanabe’s most iconic directorial role, Cowboy Bebop, we even get a fridge gag fifteen years in the making.
While Watanabe and BONES are both reputable go-tos for anime first-timers, Space Dandy gets the nod here as a recent series to showcase what anime has been up to in the last year. Space Dandy is available from FUNimation.
Tiger and Bunny
With the wave of superhero adaptations still going strong, a superhero anime shouldn’t be too hard to pitch to your friends. Tiger and Bunny is a fun, fresh take on the genre, so whether superheroes are your thing or not, it’s worth checking out.
In this world, crime fighting is televised and merchandised, and the commercialization of heroism is a constant undercurrent of the narrative. Superheroes compete against each other to see who can take out the most villains and win points for annual recognition as the top hero. The show alternates playing superheroes straight and deconstructing them. They complain about their costumes, catch phrases, and double lives, and viewers are always aware of what must be sacrificed in order to maintain superhero status.
While Kotetsu (“Wild Tiger”) embodies the woes of an aging superhero on the brink of obsoleteness, Barnaby (mockingly nicknamed “Bunny” by Kotetsu mid-series) is a young hero and media darling seeking vengeance for his parents’ murder. Though they share a power—super strength limited to five minute intervals—they despise one another. Naturally they end up partners in crime-fighting and entangled in a greater scheme of villainy brewing in their city.
Though its marketing leans on the side of fanservice at times, Tiger and Bunny possesses a strong narrative and incredibly accessible to Western audiences. Tiger and Bunny is available from VIZ Media.
Grave of the Fireflies
Suggesting a full-length film instead of a series can be a good way to introduce friends to the realm of anime as well. Studio Ghibli’s reputation for animation and scoring precedes it, and director Isao Takahata’s film adapts a semi-autobiographical short story by Akiyuki Nosaka. Unlike the fantasy settings of fellow Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki’s films, Takahata goes the route of stark realism in this historical adaptation.
The film follows siblings Seita and Setsuko, who must survive on their own after their hometown of Kobe is firebombed during World War II. Seita, Nosaka’s avatar, is in his early teens and readily accepts the task of caring for his sister, who is no more than five. However, his ability to stay positive and protect her dwindles the longer the siblings must fend for themselves, and hunger and illness soon make themselves known.
Grave of the Fireflies is a great pick for your friends who are interested in history or media that addresses more serious subjects. Keep the tissues close, though. The film is available from Sentai Filmworks.
Big Windup!
If you want to introduce your friend to contemporary realistic anime, give Big Windup! a spin. The series follows Ren Mihashi, a freshman who suffers from crippling self-esteem issues after being bullied by his baseball teammates in middle school. He loves pitching, though, and when he joins his high school’s team, he’s embraced by a group that accepts him for who he is. Leading the team in its support for Mihashi is the analytical catcher, Takaya Abe, who sees potential for greatness that Mihashi himself doesn’t recognize.
The pilot welcomes first-time anime viewers and establishes the protagonists and conflict clearly. While the pacing is a bit slow—in the first season’s twenty-four episodes only two full games of baseball are played—it’s realistic for the setting. Baseball fans will appreciate the accuracy and integration of sport and story, but viewers who know little or nothing about baseball won’t get lost. Big Windup! is a family-friendly show, focusing on teamwork and prioritizing health and safety in athletics while also addressing more serious issues like bullying.
The first season (which does complete a story arc) of Big Windup! is available from FUNimation. In July 2015, Right Stuf/Nozomi announced that they would be releasing the second season, subtitled only, in 2016.
Baccano!
Baccano! can be a tricky pick, because it features more than a dozen major characters, presents its story in anachronic order, and gets super violent out of nowhere in the last third of the series. That said, Baccano! possesses panache that would make Cyrano proud and develops all of its characters and subplots so well that viewers will feel extra satisfaction at series’ end.
If you’re thinking, woah, wait a second, I can barely keep up with the summary—that’s totally fair. Baccano! isn’t kind to viewers who don’t pay attention, and even the first episode is specifically choreographed so that it makes no sense until you’ve watched the rest of the series. From there on, episodes jump from one timeline to another, jigsawing into cohesiveness somewhere around episode ten.
What makes Baccano! worth watching—even for anime first-timers—is its incredible attention to detail. Characterization helps to keep its enormous cast from overwhelming viewers, and the opening theme song highlights all of the prominent characters and their names for reference. The plot provides enough information to hook you and enough questions that you have to keep watching. 1930s New York being the primary setting of the series makes it familiar for Western audiences, and the English dub has fun with its slang and accents.
If you have a friend who’s agreed to sit down with you for a full show, make it count with a series all anime-watchers should experience. Baccano! is available from FUNimation.
Have you ever pitched anime to a friend and got them into it? Or perhaps a friend got you into it with a favorite of their own! Feel free to share in the comments below! Either way, if you’re ever stumped looking for a recommendation, hopefully these picks will help.