Anime has grown in popularity over the years, and with its growth, many new fans of different ages, genders, races, and more have joined the fold. Now, because of the widespread of anime and its countless shows, one of the things that people wonder about when they want to get into anime is where to begin. While it's different for everyone, this is how I got some of my friends into anime.
The genre. There are so many different genres in anime that it's easy to find one that suits your taste. Do you want to see an anime about ninjas? Alright, here's Naruto, but not Boruto. We don't talk about Boruto. Want to see an anime that's psychological? Death Note is a good one, or maybe The Promise Neverland. Just not season 2 of that; there is no promise in Season 2. What about an anime that has superheroes? Two big ones would be My Hero Academia and One Punch Man. Regardless of what you can think of, there is an anime out there for everyone, and new anime is being made daily.
The characters. I'm sure this has happened to you before. You see a cool-looking character from some post on the internet or a video, and you wonder who they are. This actually helped one of my friends discover the anime Afro Samurai. He saw the main character and thought that he was incredible, and it reminded him of one of his favorite characters, Huey Freeman from The Boondocks. After finding him, he binge-watched everything Afro Samurai and started watching more and more anime. I had another friend who found a love for the anime Black Butler after she fell in love with the design of the anime character Sebastian. In fact, this happened to me as well. I watched a YouTube video called "Bakugo has no chill," which featured clips of Bakugo from the first two seasons, belittling people and being absolutely unhinged. I couldn't believe he was an actual character, and it made me want to check out what anime he was from. After my cousin and I found out it was My Hero Academia, we started watching it. Sometimes, a character design or clips of what that character does or says make you want to check out their anime.
The soundtrack. Personally, I grew up playing music. I played three instruments; in fact, the majority of my family did because my grandpa wanted us to be part of his orchestra, so music has always been part of my life. However, sometimes you hear a song from an anime or a particular post that makes you want to give that anime a try. One of the reasons I started the anime Spy X Family was because of its anime opening—the same thing with Tokyo Revengers. I absolutely love these anime now, but it's the opening theme song that got me interested in the first place. There are many people who started anime like My Hero Academia because of the 1st opening, which has about 80 million views. "You Say Run" from My Hero Academia has also brought new fans to the franchise. The music that anime brings is usually well-composed to the point that people will listen to it in their day-to-day lives.
Now, let's say you made it in the anime community or you have a friend in there; what do you do now? Honestly, if you want to keep them in the anime community, then one of your best bets is to keep them away from the anime fandoms for at least a few months. Specifically, anime fandoms that are, for lack of a better word, problematic. For instance, the My Hero Academia fandom is notorious for being one of the most unhinged communities on TikTok and even in public. While it's not the entire community, some people will stop watching a show just because of the people associated with it. Every fandom and community has its bad apples. Still, one of the reasons that anime was considered cringe years ago was because of the individuals who took anime to another level. I'm sure all of us can name an example that people cling to when they say the anime community is cringe, such as Naruto running in the hallway. While these are usually just people having fun and aren't the majority of fans, there are many that will go out of their way to gatekeep anime, but that's for another article.
Overall, there are countless ways to get into anime, and it can be enjoyed by everyone, so never feel like it's too late to start or get overwhelmed by the abundance of anime out there. Take your time and browse through the anime. From anime that are 25 minutes to anime that are 5 minutes long, the ones that are 500 episodes and the ones that are 12, and the ones that are popular or not much seen, anime is out there for anyone that wants to enjoy it.
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