You want your friends to become real anime nerds – but they still resist? With these 5 series you introduce them to anime and condemn them forever …
When you have a nice hobby, you want to share it with friends, family and acquaintances. It can be quite frustrating when one’s own amusement elicits only significantly raised eyebrows or a disdainful snort from others. This is often the case with anime in particular. They’re “kids’ cartoons” or you’re a “miserable weeb.” And you keep thinking to yourself, “If you only watched two or three episodes, you would love anime too.”
And that’s exactly why we’ve handpicked 5 anime series that will send your regular friends into a downward spiral of anime addiction.
Why is [Serie X, Y und Z] not in the list? When making the selection, we considered a few criteria in order to appeal to people who had little to do with anime before.
All series are those that are either finished or whose seasons each represent a logical end. We deliberately left out “endless anime”. We have also made sure that the series have little of the clichéd deterrent “anime madness” – ecchi depictions and more “squeaky” characters are therefore reduced to a minimum. But don’t worry – we’ll get your friends there too.
Also, we didn’t mention exactly your favorite series so you can still mention it in the comments!
Violet Evergarden
Alternative names: /
Genres: drama
Stream available on: Netflix
Episodes: 13
The young Violet Evergarden was used as a child soldier from an early age, is trimmed for leadership and efficient cruelty. When the war ends, they take care of her and try to give her a new place in the world. In the future she will work as an “Auto Memory Doll” – a service in which people’s thoughts and feelings are recorded in letters in order to then send them.
Little by little, Violet learns more about humanity and feelings, reflecting on what her deeds did during the war and how she herself was trapped in a spiral of suffering for a long time.
What to expect from the anime: Violet Evergarden is a very soulful and deep anime. The search for one’s own purpose in life and the meaning of feelings or interpersonal conflicts is portrayed in few series as strongly as here. Anyone who is built “close to the water” will shed a tear or two in this anime.
In addition, Violet Evergarden has a unique attention to detail and extremely good animation that is still unrivaled to this day. If you want a little heartbreak and just a damn good story, Violet Evergarden is the place for you.
DeathNote
Alternative names: /
Genres: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Stream available on: Currently not available from any streaming provider – only available as a purchase
Episodes: 37
The 17-year-old Light Yagami is a genius and virtually predestined to have a glorious career ahead of him. One day, right before his eyes, a mysterious notebook lands on the floor in front of him, the “Death Note”. The person whose name is written in this book dies. After a moment’s hesitation, Light tests the book, making sure of its capabilities – and realizing the potential impact this book can have on the entire world.
Driven by his twisted sense of justice, Light now begins as “righteous Kira” to systematically rid the world of all criminals in order to make it a better place.
However, his plan falters when the FBI, the police, and Detective “L” begin an investigation to stop this type of vigilantism and hold Light accountable for his murders.
A challenging game of cat and mouse begins: can “Kira” reveal the identity of “L” and kill him with the Death Note? Or is Light first transferred and asked by “L”?
What to expect from the anime: Death Note is unusual because the story doesn’t focus on the “good hero” but rather on the outright villain, Light Yagami. His mental duels against the police and detectives are at the heart of the series. Sophisticated plans to prove one’s own innocence or to mislead pursuers are always on the agenda.
Death Note also gives a lot of material for discussion. How would you react in such a situation? How tempting is the thought of just taking out all the criminals in the world? Is that really fair? Would the world – regardless of whether it was fair or not – be a better one?
Death Note was already a questioning phenomenon when it was released nearly 20 years ago and hasn’t lost any of that since. For many, it’s still “the one anime” that got a whole generation excited about the medium.
You can find three more anime to turn your friends into Weebs on the next page.