/jp/ - Japan/Anime

There are some good recommendation charts at the bottom of this page.
https://animu-mango.fandom.com/wiki/Anime_Recommendations

I'd advise you to check out a bunch of different genres and see what you like. Or just pick something that jumps out at you. There's not really a "wrong" way to watch anime but some stuff might reference other shows or things that you might not understand. So that's why I advise you to look at the charts to start off with, even though some of them are kinda old. Plus they give a good breadth of lots of different types of shows. As far as learning Japanese, it's not mandatory by any means, but it can be a useful skill if you wanna go deeper into the hobby and related areas. But there are good quality subtitles for pretty much everything these days. You can try dubs too but a lot of people think they generally suck (me included). Anyway don't feel overwhelmed, just go at your own pace and watch the stuff you wanna watch. And yes I would say it makes life better, at least for me, it's brought me a lot of happiness especially watching movies like Paprika and Millennium Actress which really touched me somehow.

>>30009
>Is anime a worthwhile thing to get into?
Yes.
>Where do I begin?
This >>30010 wizzie gave a good start. I would personally recommend watching death note, because it has the least amount of fan service while also not being too boring or slow-paced.
>Should I learn Japanese?
It definitely becomes a good question down the line, when you have watched 300+ titles. Right now you should just get acquainted with anime. Wouldn't want to learn a language just for a medium you might not enjoy.
>Will anime improve my life and make me a better person?
Eehh, it could go either way. Opening up new horizons is always good, I think.
>Will it make the bad things in life, like wageslaving and disease, more bearable?
Yes, definitely. The japanese really succeeded at making content specifically for escapism.

I'd say start out by watching one series of few main genres - try watching a moe like non non biyori, try something serious like madoka or parasyte, check out a gag comedy like nichijou, try some fanservice-heavy echhi stuff like queen's blade or highschool of the dead, look into some action heavy stuff like one punch man you mentioned or kekkai sensen. Once you have an idea what sorts of things you enjoy and what sorts of things annoy you it will be far easier for you to figure out where to go from there.

OP here. Thank you for your responses. I finished OPM and I am now watching No Game No Life. I am beginning to understand the hype. I feel almost impervious to the drudgery of real life.

That being said, it seems as though many anime series are very complicated, with lots of OVAs and spin-offs and seasons. How do I watch these? Any suggestions for simple anime series?

>>30017
just watch chronologically. or dont watch the ovas at all. usually stuff 12 episode seasons contain enough story, and there will inevitably be so much flashbacks you will gain all the info anyway

>>30017
Yep, just watch the order they were released in. You can use MAL or Wikipedia to find that out. I can also second Death Note as an easy anime to watch, in the sense that there's not a lot of OVAs and stuff.

Anime is just like any other medium. It can be good or bad. I think the quality is generally better than western media because there's no Jewish influence.

>>30017
what exactly did you like about OPM? for a popular show, it has a fair amount of depth in that people like it for different reasons.

>>30022
OP here.

The animation, the humor, the characters. I found it very accessible for an anime newbie like me.

Can’t wait to go home and watch more ANIME!!

Recommendations appreciated.

>>30024
If I were new to anime I would watch a lot of the great stand alone anime movies out there first. They tend to have the best animation and tend to be pretty accessable. My favorite movies are: Patlabor (1,2, and maybe 3 if you liked 1 and 2), Redline, Ghost in the shell 1 and 2(the series is great too), Perfect Blue, Paprika, the Miyazaki movies (all of them are good). There are a lot more good ones out there but thats all I can think of right now.

Watch Texhnolyze and then when you're done watch K-ON.

Serial Experiments Lain is required watching.

>>30030
>>30032
These are troll replies. These are the most boring and pointless anime ever.

>>30033
They're "style over substance" kind of anime. I wouldn't outright say that they're boring and pointless, I enjoyed lain quite a lot actually.
Judging by what OP has watched (OPM) and what he's currently watching (no game no life) I will agree that lain and technolyze is not worth watching for him.

>>30030
>>30032
>>30034
Tried these. I see why people like them, but they’re too hard to watch most days for me. I might watch try watching Lain again, though.

Good series to watch on the train to work (no choice but to wageslave) everyday? Short episodes and easy to follow plot are a must.

>>30037
If it's shortness you want, I would see about getting into manga instead, because you can read a single chapter in like 10 minutes.

>>30037
dragon ball z

I generally don't like anime because I don't like the style, cliches and "ticks" that are common to them. But I have decided to give it a(nother) try.

I am watching Full Metal Alchemist because I downloaded that All-Embracing Library torrent off /hob/ or /lounge/ a couple months ago and it came with the episodes of Full Metal Alchemist in a MANGA AND ANIME folder.

I like it so far im at episode 10. The MC is cool, I like his brother Al and think their relationship is endearing. It reminds me of a lot of my brother - I am actually somewhat moved by the cartoon, which is rare, maybe a first for me. I hope they get out of this journey in one piece.

I also love the bass at the beginning of the intro.

>Is anime a worthwhile thing to get into
I think so yes, but beware that anime is a rather formulaic medium with the same plots, tropes and character archetypes over and over. You need to be able accept this and enjoy them despite their predictability.
>Where do I begin?
That's actually a pretty difficult question. My advice is to follow your instincts and watch whatever looks interesting and grabs your attention.
>Should I learn Japanese?
If you've been consistently watching anime for several years yeah it's probably worth doing. Anons who learn Japanese tend to be very into not just anime but Japanese media in general like the video games, manga, music, live action tv, porn etc
>Will anime improve my life and make me a better person?
In all honesty probably not, anime is mostly a hobby for people with shitty lives who need some sweet escapism, it functions quite similar to a drug for many. That being said if it makes you happy or leads to your learning a new skill like drawing or Japanese then it's not a bad hobby at all.
>Will it make the bad things in life, like wageslaving and disease, more bearable?
Yes, that's what most anime is designed for actually

>>30037
I am trying to think of the mini ep show with the death metal office worker bear…
Found it
Aggretsuko
AKA Aggressive Retsuko

Super short yet sweet episodes with self contained plots. Very enjoyable overall, especially if you have to wage slave.
Speaking of death metal
Detroit Metal City is amazingly funny even if you aren't into death metal. Show is ease enough to follow and the series isn't too long. I like to say it is comparable to the Japaneses version of metalocalypse when it comes to some of the humor.

>>30009
There is a lot of stuff to learn but there also is just a shit ton of surface lever stuff. They also intertwine so if you are afraid of a hill you need to climb, dont worry, its really not a big deal

>>30166
Anime has quite a few styles… you do notice the difference eventually.

avoid moeshit and you'll be fine

A

>>30009
> Where do I begin?
Find out what you like. I choose anime on the premise.

> Should I learn Japanese?
At least learn the alphabet called hiragana and katakana. Any more is up to you.

> Will anime improve my life and make me a better person? Will it make the bad things in life, like wageslaving and disease, more bearable?
No. Yes.

This is now the anime suggestion thread.

Please recommend anime that isn’t overwhelmingly depressing, but paints suicide as a legitimate option. Sort of like NHK, until everyone got cold feet.

>>30431
Koi Kaze.
Don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say everything about suicide in the series is love-related, and thus may be somewhat off-putting to some.

Anime is on the whole a rather depressing diversion from reality, I stopped watching it after realising it was a medium of the depressed to channel their depression onto others.

Ask yourself why the suicide rate is so high in Japan

It's not worth it, you'll regret wasting your time.

>>30389
You don't need to learn Japanese to watch anime. And if you will start, why half ass it by only learning "basics"?

>>30458
this is the most ridiculous post i've ever seen.

>>30431
steins gate
the tatami galaxy
shinsekai yori

>Should I learn Japanese?

If you just want to watch anime you don't really need to, I think the vast majority of anime post-2000 are subbed, and seasonal stuff generally gets subbed within a day of release. If you go back to pre-2000s some of the more obscure stuff that's like 100+ episodes is unsubbed (Warau Salesman, Kabocha Wine, a bunch of mecha shows) but even then there's probably not enough to really warrant learning Japanese.

If you get into manga and visual novels then it'll be worth learning though I think, there are quite a few untranslated manga and scanlators can be flaky from what I've seen, so English releases of chapters might get delayed, or the series might just get dropped. And the vast majority of visual novels are untranslated, while the ones that do get translated are often done poorly.

So yeah, my recommendation would be to at least finish a few series before jumping into Japanese, to determine whether you'll really be into otaku media in general, or just want to watch some shows occasionally and relax. Learning a language is great but it requires a lot of studying in the beginning, especially for Japanese.

>Will anime improve my life and make me a better person?

I don't know, maybe. I mean I don't think the act of watching itself is going to improve you, but there are a few things I've gotten into through anime/VN's. One VN got me interested in running, which also led to me starting to lift and eat healthier. And I started reading novels and nonfiction after seeing references in anime and VN's. And I generally feel calmer when watching anime regularly than when trying to stay away from it.

>Will it make the bad things in life, like wageslaving and disease, more bearable?

Probably, it has always been a good cope for me. When I'm not focusing on anime or games or books or whatever my mind tends to wander towards looking for things in the world to by cynical, depressed, and angry about, like general incompetence and unfairness in the workplace or retarded news stories. I experienced this the last couple of days, it's mental torture, but I finally escaped it today by just watching a few episodes of anime and booting up a VN.

But I think the one important thing is to realize anime is an idealization of reality. I've seen people here get depressed before - from anime and video games as well - over not having what characters in fiction have - friends, lovers, adventures, etc. What these people fail to realize is that these things as depicted in media aren't attainable in real life anyways, that anime presents an extremely sanitized and improved version of them. Real friendships, lovers, adventures in reality would never go as smoothly as they do in fiction. So there's no reason to be depressed over it, because it could never be in the first place. Draw a clear distinction between 2D and this reality and anime will be a great cope for you.

>>30166
Started watching this as well. Im not a anime fan since I feel like a lot or maybe just a majority, of anime is just over sexualized to the point it just feels like watching porn. But im enjoying this show so far and planetes another anime im watching. The intro in planetes is kino in my opinion been playing in my head non stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io3uS4uA0wI

>Is anime a worthwhile thing to get into?

If you find enjoyment from it.


> It's a little intimidating for a newcomer. Where do I begin?

It doesn't actually matter. Just watch whatever looks interesting to you.

>Should I learn Japanese?

If you want but there is not really a reason too. Everything is subbed now anyway. However often the subs don't quite get the nuances right but you will pick that up after watching anime enough. The real reason to learn Japanese is if you are after more niche type things, even most manga gets translated but not all of it and most is not published either so if you want a hard copy knowing Japanese will help(although the industry is getting better in this regard). Books on the art and design of an anime tend never to get translated either, some anime will have games that are only available in Japan and are not translated and there are often other times when you comes across something that you wish you could read but it is only in Japanese. If you are only watching anime though it does not really matter unless you personally want to learn it.

>>30474
Most of those countries are 3rd world.

Japan is a developed nation. It shouldn't be sat amongst those countries.

Suicide is entrenched in their culture and Anime is part of their culture, if you watch anime you're joining a death cult. At best you'll be depressed if you aren't already.

>>30460
Learning basics is half-assing? Is that why you never start anything?

>>30009
Saitama vs Boros can't be topped.

>>30009
Watching cartoons is not a hobby.

>>30712
it is, you can argue it's a shit one but it's still a hobby

>>30009
Anime should have stopped at season 1. OPM S2 and the manga went a little too standard fighting-shounen after the spectacularly animated Boros fight.

>>30735
I'm going to pull a 'read the webcomic'. The manga, made from the webcomic, expands the original with tons more shonen fighty stuff, and the anime is based on the manga.

Nobody's mentioned it, but you will pick up a lot of Japanese phrases from watching subbed anime. Anyone who's seen more than 50 anime knows what doushite or betsuni or sasuga or yokata means because they're phrases used all the time and often in isolation.
Obviously you'll be watching with subtitles, but some parts of the language won't necessarily be translated, so you should be aware of them. The only parts of Japanese I'd say are worth knowing before watching anime are honorifics and how names work, but these are so basic that if you're using a site like wizchan you must already have some vague idea. I'll start with names.
First of all, the name order is the opposite of English: family name, then given name. The man who Westerners call Hideaki Anno would be Anno Hideaki to a Japanese person. Yukio Mishima is Mishima Yukio.
You call somebody by their family name to be polite, but keep in mind the Japanese are extremely autistic about politeness. I would address my classmate (but not friend) by their family name plus an honorific, but I'd address my best friend by their given name. Romance anime, particularly with shy/awkward protags, will make a big deal out of them asking each other if they can address each other by their given names, and they'll blush like mad as he addresses her as Akane-chan rather than Mizuno-san.
Before I move on to honorifics I should mention that sometimes succubi will have -n put at the end of their name for cutesy reasons, like Megumi becoming Megumi or Minori becoming Minorin.
Second of all, you probably noticed the -chan and -san suffixes. These are honorifics, which denote the relationship between the person speaking and the person being referred to and can be used to show respect - think if Mr, Mrs, adding '-y' to the end of something to make it cutesy, etc had a bigger role. While they aren't the only ones, I'd say there are three essential ones that you'll pick up quickly anyway and four more that will actually be used in anime.
The main three are san, chan and kun. San is to show respect, whether it's used to refer to someone above me in a hierarchy whom it would be rude to disrespect or to someone equal to me that I just want to respect (like a classmate if I'm not very assertive). When Iwata died a lot of people said to say 'RIP Iwata-san' rather than Mr Iwata.
Chan is to show that you find something endearing or cute, and is basically like adding -y in English, -chen in German or -ka in Russian. It's virtually always for children or females, but there are exceptions, and using it on someone you don't know well enough or who is above you is considered rude.
Kun is for people who are below you or a more casual way of referring to a male.
The other four are tan, sama, sensei and senpai. Tan is chan taken further and often used by otaku to talk about their favourite J-pop idols, sama is san taken further and is basically treating them like a deity (God is 'kami-sama'), sensei is for a teacher or instructor and I know you know what senpai means already.
Often anime subs will leave Onii-san, Onii-chan, Onee-san and Onee-chan untranslated, as they should. Onii refers to an older brother, Onee to an older sister. People will often refer to their older sister as Onee-chan or Nee-chan instead of by their name, or maybe put it all together to make Aki-nee-chan, but unfortunately this doesn't translate well into English, where nobody calls their sister Big Sis outside of crappy incest porn, and everyone picks it up anyway. However, Onee and Onii can be used on someone who is not actually related to the speaker, in a way analogous to some other languages but not English. Let's say you're a cute 15 year old succubus and you find a lost child and bring them back to their parents - you'll probably be referred to as Onee-san by the kid, kind of like 'this big succubus helped me' but not really. You'll pick it up from context.
I wrote way too much for this, you'll pick it up just fine. I don't speak Japanese, all my understanding of the subtleties is from anime and manga, although I'm not an EOP either.

>>30906
Arigato wizard senpai san chan

Watch Cardcaptor Sakura, it's easy to watch and its pretty cute and comfy too.

Is DragonBall Super any good?

>>35404
it's trash,they're trying so hard to milk the old dry dbz cow

>>35427
GT was the best because I rather see Pan than half naked men

>>35443
early Dragon Ball was best, it had Bulma naked in like every episode

Death Note is a good beginners anime

>>35404
I have a pretty high tolerance for dragonball's plot and such but the decline in care or effor in the animation really lowered my interest in the show.
The animation of db was never amazing or anything but it was over a certain minimal bar.
Super is consistently below that bar. Especially for a show with that kind of money behind it.

There is also the fact that I grew up with the dub so I can't get used to Grandma Goku voice of the sub, and I refuse to watch the dub anymore since it came out that most of the VAs are dicks who hate their fans and have twater brain syndrome that seems to effect all the behind the scenes people involved in western nerd culture.
Maybe if I ever get back in to manga I will read the manga instead.

>>30009
don't imbue anime with magical life changing properties, don't do that to anything. You can't become a weeaboo because only an idiot can identify as anything. I just watch some anime here and there, maybe 2 a year. Most simply don't hold my attention. Anime has great moments but its all bogged down with tropes, eye-rollingly bad melodrama and japanese 'humor' which i suppose you need to be japanese to get.

>>30000
>>36343
it's just entertainment, bro

>>36343
That's just your opinion man

>>35404
I'm a pretty big DB/Toriyama fag and i'd say overall: No. Theres a sprinkling of things i like in there but overall it feels very exhausted and like bad fan fiction a lot of the time. I assume this is what star wars fans feel like. If you're into the visuals then maybe check out the new Broly movie. It's the best looking DB related thing to come out in years.

>>38938
Anything media franchise that gets too big will have parts you don't like. It happens…

>>38991
Pretty much. Thats why i wish things would just stay dead.

>>30009
try a romcom anime?

Watch the mass appeal tentpole anime?

out of vaguely relevant anime, 30% of it is straight trash, 40% is average, 20% is decent, 9% is great, and 1% is master level shit.
tips:
- this guy is rarely ever wrong about something being good, and occasionally wrong about something being bad. https://myanimelist.net/profile/ThatAnimeSnob
-one sign an anime is good is its rank relative to its popularity. high rank+low popularity=good, high popularity+low rank=bad. not always a good indicator, but about 50% of the time it is correct. https://myanimelist.net/topanime.php
-here are some recommendations for you:

-satoshi kon
-evangelion
-berserk
-ghost in the shell
-FMA, watch either one it doesnt matter
-nana
-welcome to the nhk
-death note
-code geass
-tatami galaxy
-steins;gate
-akria
-flcl
-ouran highschool host club
-gurren lagann
-kaiba
-bakemonogatari
-shinsekai yori


slow/weird/nonaccessible anime:
-texhnolyze
-ergo proxy
-LOGH
-tatami galaxy
-monster

>>39243
Sure. It's decent.

do you guys watch it dubbed or subbed? i am also new to anime and have trouble deciding which is better.

>>40737
Subbed most of the time, I rarely watch anime dubbed

>>40737
Subs like 99% of the time unless the dub is known for being hilarious or for nostalgic reasons (I grew up watching the 4Kids dub of Pokémon and prefer it to the Japanese)

>>40737
Subs, you get used to it. The logic is ironclad: a dub is extremely unlikely to be better than the original so you won't be missing out, at the same time there's plenty of real garbage dubs some of which you're guaranteed to run into.

Anyway, do you guys frequent any anime/general jap media related boards that are more active than here and not absolutely obnoxious?

barely tolerable medium with the payoff of amazing action and interesting concepts.

nigger just read manga. theres only a few anime that are truly profound but hundreads of manga masterpieces

>>40769
Wizchan is the best -chan site, but Wapchan has a /cel/ board for retro anime.

>>40737
Always dubbed. I want to look at the beautiful Japanimation, not at words on the bottom of the screen.

>>40737
been watching dubbed for first few years but never regretted switching to subs.

and developed a belief that dub is for weaklings. anime is stupid, but this stupidity makes little sense until you hear how japanese seiyū dub it. after you do that you begin to experience some actual fun from the absurd you observe

>>40769
Not really.
I don't like the anime "community" I just enjoy the medium/artform and do so mostly solo.
This is probably the only place I actually talk about anime online. Which isn't that often and usually just in the form of giving or asking for recommendations.

Same with animation and cartoons in general.

Chibi Maruko-Chan is very easy to watch, it's also cute and comfy.

>>40866
So is Crayon Shinchan.