What is anime you may ask? According to the Nashville Film Institute, which is a platform that informs readers of the history of anime and how it came about, “Anime is a Japanese animation style. It is the Japanese term for cartoon or animation where the Japanese use the word to describe all cartoons irrespective of the nation.”
Of course the United States has cartoons, but their aim is mostly focused towards children. On the other hand, anime is aimed at an adult audience as well as children because some of the stories can be complex. It grabs childrens’ attention with other aspects within the anime such as opening and ending songs, unique power system and good storytelling.
The first anime series, dating back to 1917, was called “Namakura Gatana” which is less than five minutes long, according to Eastern Arizona College’s library.
Even though “Namakura Gatana” was one of many anime series, “Astro Boy” has a strong case for being the series that helped the industry evolve. The series holds importance for developing anime and the manga industry.
Anime has a wide variety of genres, some of those are romance, horror, sports, psychology, thriller and many more.
There are five anime that I think a non watcher can get into and maybe even become a fan.
“Naruto”
“Naruto” is super popular in the states, with lots of profit being gained off of the merch. Also, the story alone is well written. There are many unique characters with interesting backstories and the fans are able to build bonds with those characters.
Naruto Uzumaki, who is the main character, has a tragic backstory growing up. Due to this, he wants to become Hokage so everyone can acknowledge him. He has a rival throughout the story who he loves and hates, but that makes him want to be the best version of himself.
“Death Note”
The story is amazing and it has one of the most recognized soundtracks in the anime community. The composer and musician for the Death Note soundtrack is Hideki Taniuchi, who was helped by composer Yoshihisa Hirano. And, as the title implies, there’s lots of violence.
Light Yagami, the main character, is a 12th grader before attending college. His dad is a detective superintendent of Japan’s National Police Agency. A death note notebook drops from the sky and when Yagami touches it he sees a god of death. He starts to write the names of criminals in the book so they can meet their maker. While Yagami tries to make the world a better place, he becomes addicted, which turns him into the criminal.
“Attack on Titan”
“Attack on Titan” takes place in a dystopian world where titans have power. They destroy and eat whoever is in their way. It’s also very politically based because there are parties fighting for different ideologies. The government vs. the military vs. the titans vs. the citizens and society. The first episode of AOT grabs the watchers attention because something tragic happens to the main character which is stunning. The pacing of the show flows smoothly and it’s able to make the watcher pick a side of the battle.
“Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World”
“Re:Zero” is an isekai anime, it starts off in the real world until suddenly the character is brought to a fantasy world and rarely goes back to the world where they once lived.
The main character is Subaru Natsuki and he has a cool power, but it can mess with him mentally. Whenever Natsuki dies, he has the ability to come back to life and figure out what went wrong. He calls it “Return by Death.” The downside of this power is whenever he dies, the people he loves and fights for forget about him. Natsuki has to find checkpoints so he doesn’t have to start from zero.
“Hunter X Hunter”
“Hunter X Hunter” is an adventure anime, following the journey of four characters who have different dreams but come together and build a strong bond. The main character is Gon Freecss and his goal is to meet his dad who left him at a very young age to become a hunter. During the adventure of Freecss he meets three amazing people and one of them becomes his best friend. They learn each other’s dreams and ambitions and fight together. They also run into many powerful villains. The characters are likable, there are great fighting scenes and a very catchy opening to the show that gets the watcher ready for the long journey ahead.
