Anime is making its way to the cool side of the pillow in 2018. Something that use to be looked at as strange, weird and odd is now being claimed by a large majority of us 20 something's and it feels pretty awesome. Just recently, Big Sean posted Assassination Classroom on his Instastories. Funimation even sent him a fully loaded box of anime gear. Michael B Jordan even stated in his Vogue interview that he is an anime fan and came through with a tough clap back on twitter defending his anime favorites. Even Supreme has been using some DBZ characters in its design. The anime culture is huge and still growing. Yet, there are some people out there still looking at the anime culture with their nose turned up and trying to be super cool "OKAAAYYY". So I'm here to try my best to introduce some anime to you and let you know what's out there and what to expect.

Now I am no expert when it comes to anime. I have only been into anime for the past 6 years, not counting semi watching it in high school. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what is out there and it's been 6 years. You have your basic anime that even people who don't watch anime know of like DBZ( Dragon Ball Z), which has now begun a new era of DB Super. I am not particularly a fan of DBZ for personal reasons stemming from not being interested in watching characters yell at each other for 5 minutes and then the episode is over, howeverrrr I know that it's an OG and deserves respect for sure. Another anime most people have heard of is sailor moon. That was huge when I was a kid and I honestly didn't know what anime was but I knew Sailor Moon.

Now those are just two examples of anime that most people probably have heard at some point of their lives. For those who are new to anime, you have a lot to learn. Shoot I have a lot to learn and IT'S BEEN 6 YEARS! There are tons of different types of anime. If you have a favorite movie genre, you more than likely can figure out what kind of anime you will like. There is Harem, which is when there is a male character surrounded by female characters. Most of the females are usually romantically interested in the main character. The characteristics of this type of anime isn't particularly my favorite nor are chick flicks. A lot of these tend to have a lot of bouncy boobs, panty shots, and a lot of swooning accompanied by high pitch voices. Give me a break (insert eye roll). Not my favorite. High School of the Dead is a perfect example of this.

I am more into Action/Mecha Military. I need blood, guts and guns. I love seeing dramatic movements and rough characters. My all-time favorite anime is Samurai Champloo. This anime has everything I love wrapped up into one show. Dramatic movements, no guns but swords are a good replacement, bad ass fight scenes and a great mash up of hip-hop music. What more can you want? Other shows like  that I like that are action filled are Black lagoon, Afro Samurai, Castlevania, Akame Ga Kill, Attack on Titian, Bleach, Parasyte and Tokyo Ghoul just to name a few. These are little to no panty shots, bouncy boobs or questionable scenes. Trust me, there are some good shows out there that have very questionable scenes, like Kill La Kill. Love the action and humor but there is just something about those outfit change scenes that are just eye roll worthy. You do get over them eventually and they soon don't even bother you anymore. Mecha Anime is large robots fighting, like Gundam Wing, or Gurren Lagann. I have yet to make it through Gurren Lagann because of how whiny the main character is buuuttt I will finish it one day. Kurro Mukuro is a pretty good Mecha series on Netflix.

The latest craze within anime has been the "new world" genre. This is when a character(s) travel to another world. Sword art online is popular one, No Game No Life and Re:Zero. This genre isn't particularly my favorite. These tend to have a lot of fanfare in them, more mystical magical and a bit more childlike. These kind of anime cater to fetishes if you ask me. Not saying that anything is wrong with that, I just don't care for them myself. So I don't really have too many to recommend to you to watch. As you can tell there is a lot to know about anime characteristics. Seven Deadly Sins is close to these characteristics but also has a great story, bad ass characters and the cringyness is tolerable. Though this show isn't technically another world genre, it can be seen as a bit childish at first glance. It's not! 

Each show is different and sometimes you can get a very action packed anime like Kill La Kill but still have those cringy sexual moments that aren't really necessary to make the anime. Akame Ga Kill is a great show with lots of blood, gut and gore, a lot less cringyness than Kill La Kill but it does play into some fan service with woman that are part lion. However, the story is great, the action scenes are awesome and you get really attached to the characters. I've been told that I NEED to watch Food Wars, BUT the episodes that I have seen have been WAAAAYYYYY too cringy. It's over the top with the fan service, but I've been told that once you get past that, it's a really great story and character development is great. Full Metal Alchemist is a cringe free show that has a great story line and good action. The characters are hard not to love and get wrapped up in. If you've seen Full Metal you know that there are some episodes that are just so sad you can hardly stand it. MINNNAAAAAA

Aside from action there is adventure, mystery and thrillers. A few of those are Death Note, which Netflix recently did a live action version of, we could have done without this. Death Note is more of a thriller and supernatural based. This series is for sure a binge worthy anime. Another good anime is Kakegurui, which is a new Netflix original. This show is a strategy anime and pretty intense. If you liked No Game No Life for the strategy aspect then you would like Kakegurui. No Game No Life is a good strategy anime but it is a new world Genre anime and like i said previously, it partakes in some fan service that I'm just not a fan of. Other shows that have adventure and mystery are Case Closed and Lupin the 3rd, and Cowboy Bebop.

What would an intro into anime be without mentioning the cult classic Naruto. Naruto will always be in my top 5 just because the story line is so good, fight scenes are A1 and characters you get really attached to. It has something that I think everyone can relate to as well. Not only that, the entire world that they create and make you really believe in, is like no other. Full Metal comes really close to giving you that feeling. Naruto is a very long anime but trust me you never really want it to end. When I got to the last few episodes I wasn't ready. It took me a year to finish Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Naruto is one of those shows that anyone at any age can enjoy. It's just good. A lot of filler episodes buttt you can weed those out.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this Intro to Anime post. If you watch or have any recommendations please leave me some comments below. Also these are all personal opinions these are not facts. So don't take any offense.

All Shows can be found on Netflix, Hulu or Crunchyroll