You’re probably not watching enough anime. No, seriously.
A lot of people who aren’t super close to me don’t realize just how much anime I’ve watched over the last few years. Which is quite a bit, but honestly still nowhere near as much as a few friends of mine. But I have seen quite a bit. And I’m here to say if you watch anime, and you’re waiting for dubs for a series, you’re not watching enough. And if you’re only watching things that air on US television, you’re definitely not watching enough anime. And that’s truly to your detriment.
“But anime’s just cute girls and Naruto and Bleach and boring shit for kids!” Much like video games and comics aren’t necessarily “for kids”, neither is a lot of anime. Case in point: anything either too bloody that it needs to be censored to be shown on television, Panty and Stocking, or shows that have general adult themes the way a good drama series would. Just because it’s animated doesn’t mean it can’t be serious, or deep, or not childish. You’re missing out on some interesting stuff.
“But how will I watch it?!” Well… I don’t condone illegal activities, but there’s always a way to download new anime as airs *coughnyaa.eucough*. And if you’ve got pretty good internet, there’s Funimation’s site (which shows quite a few series new from Japan as they air), Crunchyroll (same thing), and Hulu and Netflix tend to have decent anime selections. And Hulu and Netflix probably have older series worth looking into. What’s that? Shitty internet? No Hulu Plus/Netflix account? There’s a pretty good chance your local library has DVDs of some older anime. Or you know, make friends (which is hard, I know; how do I friends?) and even watch things together! Might be a good time.
“But where do I start?! There’s so much!” Well.. yeah. There is. Every 13 weeks, there’s probably 30 new anime starting up, plus continuations of long running series, and all that fun stuff. There’s some core things you should try to get through your system, if only so you know what the so-called classics are (Evangelion, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, to name a few). Or check out My Anime List, and see what other users are watching and recommending. From there, find a series that sounds interesting by description. Or look at a trailer or some screenshots. If you wanna give it a shot, give it 3 to 6 episodes. Many series are between 13 and 26 episodes long, so 3 to 6 episodes is usually long enough to you’ll know you’ll enjoy a series. If you don’t like it, drop it and move on. There’s a whole lot of shit out there to find some gems, and what makes a series good or bad is mostly a matter of taste. So watch a bunch, and if you like a few, continue on with those.
As far as my tastes go, I like actions and comedies. I also enjoy a good drama. Cute girls doing cute things, generic battle shounens, and super fanservice-y shows don’t do much for me. The last few years have brought me joy though, and I look forward to US releases for some of these shows just to have them on Blu-ray for my enjoyment. So go find some stuff, hope for the best, give in to your inner weaboo.
