Five Anime Genres Beginners Should Absolutely Watch and Avoid: Anime 101

I understand that prospective fans are going to have questions.

These upcoming Anime 101 articles will steer you in the right direction.

This list will go through five anime genres that I recommend and five that I advise against for beginners.

The next steps are to pick an anime from a Genre that I recommended that interests you the most.

Definition:

Shounen’s stories are long and epic focusing on a young boy’s dream of reaching an insurmountable goal.

The journey often can span an entire character’s lifetime.

Appearances can be deceiving

Young boys might be the target audience, but the appeal of Shounen expands to adults both women and men.

Not all content in Shounens are for boy only with many parts appealing to adults

Why is it Good for Beginners?

You will get a great story that is not overly complex.

These animes are addictive because each episode makes you want to watch the next one.

70 Episodes can feel like 20 in a great Shounen anime.

The content in Shounen is tame compared to other animes.

Shounen also has many sub-genres, so you become exposed to new ones by watching Shounen anime.

My Experience from Watching Shonen Anime

Bleach was the first Shounen anime that I watched which transformed me into an anime fan.

Read about the impact that Bleach had on my life: The Bleach Anime and Its Impact On My Life

Many of my favorite animes come from the Shounen genre

For more on this here is my list of The Ten Best Anime Series that I have ever seen

There are few genres that can compete with the awesome stuff found in Shounen anime.

I come back to my favorite Shounen animes to relive some of the best fights in anime history.

Definition:

Female protagonists lead Shojo stories, which focus on relationships and emotions. (Levi 163)

Some even define any anime that focuses more on emotions and relationships as a Shojo.

Why is it Good for Beginners?

These animes have fantastic world-building and great relationships among the characters.

These relationships are part of what makes the audience care about the future of these characters.

My Experience from Watching Shojo Anime

Fushigi Yugi, Escaflowne, and 12 Kingdoms are three Shojo animes that are in my top 20 animes of all time.

Some may not agree but I like watching shows from the female perspective.

Shojos often discuss topics or ideas not found in other genres because they are based around a female protagonist.

Definition:

Seinen are anime that are made for young adults over 18.

They are like Shonen anime except the stories are more mature.

Seinen is home to the strange and dark anime.

What is Considered a Seinen?

Most anime fans associate Seinen with horror, gore, violence, and nudity.

You will find some of those aspects in Seinen but not all of them.

Studios seek out Adults as their market for Seinen.

The maturity of the content does not determine a Seinen (they are usually juxtaposed).

For example, Claymore has similar aspects to Berserk a Seinen but it was released as a Shonen.

Ping Pong the Animation is a story about ping pong but it was marketed towards adults making it a Seinen.

Why is it Good for Beginners?

Some of the weird anime stuff can be divisive so avoiding it early is a good thing.

Any of that stereotypical anime “stuff” is not in these shows.

For fans who are dipping their feet into anime, this can be a good thing.

Watching a Seinen will show new fans how intelligent and mature anime is.

Some of the best animes of all time are in this genre so why not start by watching the best that’s out there.

My Experience from Watching Seinen Anime

Monster is my favorite Seinen anime and altered my perspectives in life.

Seinen animes proved to me that anime was more than kid stuff like Pokemon or typical Shonen antics like in Dragon Ball z (there is nothing wrong with either).

Definition:

Romance anime concept is like the western world versions with some tweaks. For example, the shows focus more on comedy.

Slice of life is the depiction of the mundane things people do in real life.

Animes that have romance will also contain a slice of life elements.

Why is it Good for Beginners?

There is a small amount of offensive or weird content in these stories beyond typical anime stuff.

The stories provide an excellent way to escape reality and enter a new world.

The romance genre also focuses on relationships and emotions.

It should also alter your preconceived notions of what anime is.

My Experience from Watching Romances and Slice of Life Anime

A certain romance anime inspired me to get married and start a family.

If I am having a tough time in life, these shows can provide a good cry or a great laugh.

Definition:

Mecha is derived from the English word mechanism and refers to giant robots or other high-tech items. (Levi 161)

The two biggest shows that got this genre off the ground were Gundam and Macross.

Japan has always had a stereotype for its love of Mecha.

Fantasy is a genre that is interesting in the context of anime.

The fictional worlds of fantasy are based off folklore or literature of that culture.

Many of anime also take inspiration from Japanese folklore or Japanese history.

Why is it Good for Beginners?

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest directors of all time not in anime but in all of film.

Known for their realistic character designs Miyazaki’s films appear different from traditional anime.

Most of his films fall under the fantasy genre which is one of the reasons fantasy was included on the list.

Any Studio Ghibli film is a good introduction in anime.

Do not listen to some fans who hate mecha, the genre is great.

There are so many different kinds of Mecha out there.

I am confident you could find at least one to watch.

Also, in every generation, Mecha anime shows the evolution of animation.

In retrospect, you are getting a history lesson and the opportunity to watch a great story.

My Experience from Watching Mecha and Fantasy Anime

Mecha delivers, intense action, comedy, and mind-bending ideas.

This might be hard to believe but one of my favorite romance anime is also a Mecha.

Some of these series will surprise you with their deep ideas and intense combat.

Fantasy anime is great especially when it has elements of the other genres mentioned.

Definition:

Parody animes make fun of pre-existent genres or serotypes.

For example, one punch man is a parody on Shonen anime, otaku no video is a parody on the anime fandom, and Gurren Laggan parodies mecha animes.

The majority of parodies are comedies and some have a decent plot to boot.

Why is it Bad for Beginners?

Most of these parody old animes or anime genres.

If you are starting out you will only get half the jokes.

You can still have a good time watching but you are missing out if you do not get all the references.

This is why it is best to wait until you have seen enough shows to understand what anime is all about.

My Experience from Watching Parody Anime

I understand the appeal but they are not my favorite shows to watch.

There might be two to three parodies that I have watched.

In each of those, I remember not getting jokes because I lacked any anime knowledge.

However, I finally get the jokes when I rewatch the same shows today

Definition:

Yuri is a genre involving a lesbian relationship as the main part of the story.

Yaoi is the same but it is a gay relationship.

Yuri and Yaoi shows have the reputation of being very erotic and it many cases flat out porn.

Why is it Bad for Beginners?

I have no issue with homosexual relationships in real life or in anime.

But in these genres, the story quality is just terrible.

The top-rated shows in either of these categories are porn titles.

Some animes have homosexual relationships that are not labeled as either one of these genres.

Those shows usually present relationships in a more mature way.

If you are looking for these types of stories look for animes under Shojo Ai (lesbian) and Shonen Ai (gay).

My Experience from Watching Yuri and Yaoi Anime

None I have not seen only read about them

Definition:

Ecchi are animes that have playful sexual interactions with no actual sex.

There is a lot of teasing and nudity with no sex so it is considered softcore porn.

It is quite common to find shameful displays of women in virtually no clothing in the most precarious positions for the purposes of sexual arousal

Why is it Bad for Beginners?

The stories use sexually playful situations at poor attempts at humor.

I am not the biggest feminist but most of these shows are straight out sexist.

I do not think this genre puts anime in the best light which goes against the purpose of why I am doing this.

My Experience from Watching Ecchi Anime

I have seen the few quality ecchi and they are guilty pleasures that I would not want to be caught dead watching.

I am always impressed by the lewd scenarios that these shows come up with to get women in their undies.

Some are kinda funny but it is not worth your time.

Definition:

Harems are animes where the male character has several female characters fighting for his love.

Ecchi and Harem are both very perverted, which is why the two genres overlap.

Why is it Bad for Beginners?

Harems present the opposite of a slice of life in its unrealistic portrayal of ordinary life.

The only real tension is which girl will the guy choose.

Most people will never get to that part because it’s hard to care about unrelatable problems.

Many fans have pointed out that this genre is boring and stale, I agree.

If the first anime you watched was a harem, I would not blame you if you decided to stop watching anime altogether.

My Experience from Watching Harem Anime

I watched three good harem animes and they were: Escaflowne, Ouran High School Host Club, and Code Geass (technically not a harem but has similar elements to one).

The two of those animes were reverse harems.

The majority of the other harems that are watched are also just for a guilty pleasure.

Harems have always bothered me because the male characters act like jerks or uninterested and all of the women still grovel at their feet.

Definition:

The term hentai means perverted or pornographic.

The term hentai means perverted or pornographic. (Poitras 50).

Searching through the dark corners of anime you will find Hentai.

The most messed up stories are found in this genre.

The more messed up part is that some of these stores actually sexually arouse people.

Every genre listed above in the avoid section and others are shown in Hentai in the most extreme way.

Why is it Bad for Beginners?

Porn is an addicting and hentai are no different.

Treat this like the shadowy place from the lion king you must not go there.

My goal is to remove the stereotypes about anime.

I cannot do this by having new viewers watch hentai which is what most people consider to be anime in general.

When will this stereotype die?

There is a video of a man named Rick Wilson who claimed that Trump supporters “jerk off” to anime.

Even though Hentai represents a small percentage of anime it dominates people’s understanding of what anime is.

My Experience from Watching Hentai Anime

Yes, I have watched Hentai and some of the “plots” are excellent.

The trade-off is it is addicting and messes up your mind.

Hentai is disgusting that offends people who watch it.

The more someone watches it the more accustomed they get to it.

It will come to a point where you crave the depravity of it.

Something like rape should not be worth getting that excited about even in a fictional setting.

Watching Hentai will put you in a deep hole that may not be possible to climb out of. So take my advice and do not even start.

The hardest part about this list was narrowing my choices to five good genres.

I technically cheated by adding an extra two.

Regardless, the options presented here are of good quality and will not disappoint.

I am quite curious about what you thought.

Would you swap the list or add different ones let me know?