Anime EDU: Learn About Anime
How's it going? I'm Lance Heiskell at FUNimation Entertainment, the leading company for anime in North America. What do I do? I sell cartoons to adults. I love my job.
To help people new to anime, I wrote a six-part Anime EDU in the Anime section of the Movies & TV department. Whether you are very new to anime or have watched a lot but have never collected, these guides are here to help. Anime has bit of a learning curve with understanding all the different types of shows, vocabulary and the overall anime fandom culture. You might be asking yourself, "Is anime for me?"
Yes.
Basically if you can pick out a genre and a plot type, there is an anime series for you. If you enjoy movies like Blade Runner, The Matrix, Iron Man, and Star Trek, we’ve got a lot of series for you to check out. Are you into emo vampires like Edward from Twilight? You will be delighted with all the bishonen (hot guys) to fall in love with.
Creating an anime collection determines on your own individual tastes. There are shows that can be recommended for everyone, but the majority of anime titles to select for your collection depend on how old you are, gender, the type of stories you like to watch, and your anime buying budget.
The following are eight anime titles that appeal to the majority of anime fans.
TV Series
Cowboy Bebop: Ultra-cool bounty hunters who battle their own personal demons.
Fruits Basket: A fairytale for the rejected. One part outrageous humor and the other part tender tearjerker.
Azumanga Daioh: Imagine if Seinfeld were made into an anime. Everyday life can become extraordinary.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Mix a coming-of-age, teen-angst story full of sexual tension with the backdrop of a futuristic wartime threat that pushes these teens to the limit.
Fullmetal Alchemist: The perfect blend of tear-jerking drama mixed in with just the right amount of outrageous humor and action to build the most realistic characters that viewers can truly and deeply care about.
Movies
Akira: Landmark sci-fi anime movie from 1988, which still influences anime today (Blu-ray only).
Ghost in the Shell: The best cyberpunk movie period that’s not Blade Runner.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust: This movie is based on one in a series of novels. You have to check this movie out. I saw it at a movie theater and the ending got a round of applause. It’s a spectacular movie.
Next is Anime 201: Collecting by Genre. Once you know what type of anime series you like, this guide provides you with suggestions to check them out. --Lance
Josh on July 19, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Akira is from 1988, not 1998. Typo.
Armchair Commentary on July 20, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Thanks, I fixed the date.