The Best Anime for Beginners
- kendallbarber24
- Sep 12
- 5 min read
Just in the last several years, anime has grown tremendously. Along with new shows comes new fans. Most people that want to start anime always ask the same question: “What anime should I start off with?” Well, that’s what I’m here to share so you can know just what to look for when starting your anime journey. Before I get started with this list, I would like to point out that it’s best to NOT suggest any anime that is extremely long or not yet finished. So don’t expect to see One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, or Bleach on this list. I say a finished story because it’s good to start someone off with a complete story rather than them now finding themselves asking “when’s the next season coming out?”. Okay, now let’s get started:
Death Note - 37 episodes
This is a story about a high school genius named Light Yagami who discovered a supernatural notebook that Ryuk (a Shinigami) has dropped in the human world. This notebook allows the user to kill anyone they want when they write a person’s name in it. The series centers around Light’s actions with the book as he massacres individuals in Japan who he deems unworthy of living in the new world he wants to create while using the vigilante name “Kira”. While these random killings are happening, the Japanese task force led by a man named “L”, is tasked to investigate and identify who Kira is in order to stop him before it’s too late. Death Note is a show I highly recommend watching as a first-time anime watcher because it’s an amazing story that’s not hard to follow, doesn’t take long to finish, and brings suspense every episode down to the last one. If you love true crime, you’re going to love this!
Genre: drama, horror, mystery, thriller
Erased - 12 Episodes
This series centers around Satoru Fujinuma, a manga artist who experiences a power called “Revival”. The power of Revival sends Satoru back in time moments before a life-threatening incident, allowing him to prevent it from occurring again. When his mother is tragically murdered by an unknown man, Revival sends him back eighteen years, enabling him to not only save his mother but other children the serial killer has been preying on. This story brings emotions of friendship, trust, loyalty, and shares how the impact of past events can affect the future.
Genre: thriller, supernatural, mystery
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 64 episodes
One of the greatest stories of all time! This series revolves around two Alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric. After a failed attempt to bring back their mother using alchemy, each one of the brothers lost parts of their body as a trade-off for their mistake. Edward lost his arm and leg, while Alphonse’s entire body was sacrificed, but his soul was saved by Edward at the last minute by placing it in a suit of armor. As the story develops, the brothers continue to state the importance of equivalent exchange - the idea of obtaining something requires a sacrifice of something with equal value.
In order to restore their bodies back to what they once were, the brothers embark on an epic journey searching for the Philosopher’s Stone that will give them what they need to be back to normal. While on this journey, they encounter a vast array of enemies but none bigger than the Homunculi - artificial beings representing the seven deadly sins of Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, and Sloth. These Homunculi all stand in the brothers’ way as they are led by their ruler, Father, who has his own reasons for wanting the Philosopher’s Stone. Not only does this series have a lot of action, it also covers a lot of social issues such as discrimination, political greed, scientific progress, family, and war. This may be a longer show than the previous two mentioned, but when you press play, it will be an experience you’ll never forget!
Genre: dark fantasy, adventure, action, political thriller
Cowboy Bebop - 26 Episodes
Are you into cowboys, westerns, or sci-fi? Well, this is the anime for you! This is a story that centers around the lives of space bounty hunters (also referred to as “Cowboys”) Spike, Faye, Jet, and Edward. The bounty hunters are ones that are in legalized contracts with the Inter-Solar System Police (ISSP) to chase and bring in criminals alive in exchange for a reward, all while working in the spaceship called Bebop. As the story unfolds, the hunters get involved in various obstacles leading to money issues and confronting each of their past lives. No bigger story line than Spike’s as he is in a deadly rivalry with Vicious, a criminal affiliated with the Red Dragon Syndicate. As this rivalry goes on, Julia, Vicious’s girlfriend, gets involved, and it all goes downhill from there.
Cowboy Bebop is such a good story full of action, laughter, and catchy music to catch your eye as soon as the opening begins. It is an older anime, but there’s a reason why it’s considered one of the best to start with.
Genre: space western, sci-fi, action
Assassination Classroom - 47 Episodes
This isn’t your ordinary classroom. In this series, you must kill the teacher in order to pass! Assassination Classroom begins with the people of Earth left in disarray after finding out 70% of the moon is destroyed by a yellow tentacle creature who proves to be impossible to kill regardless of all the methods tried against it. The creature then says he will destroy Earth next within the year but leaves the humans with one last chance to save mankind.
Now known as Koro Sensei, the creature has become a teacher to a classroom of students that are academically challenged due to low grades and inability to follow school policies and rules. Koro Sensei teaches these students regular subjects, but the biggest lesson of them all is his teaching of assassination. The students are granted permission to kill the teacher and are gifted specialized weapons in order to do so. Per agreement with the Japanese government, Koro is not allowed to hurt the students, but that doesn’t mean he’ll let himself be in harm’s way intentionally. As the series goes on, the students find out just how hard it is to assassinate their teacher and uncover the truth of why they must do it before the end of the year.
This series is a nice one to start off with because it has a lot of humor and life lessons such as being yourself and never giving up. A fun journey to watch as you wonder if mankind will be ended by this teacher.
Genre: sci-fi, action, comedy
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