The 12 Best Anime to Watch if You Think You Hate Anime
This article provides a curated list of 12 anime recommendations specifically tailored for viewers who believe they dislike the genre. It suggests starting with self-contained films before moving on to series, emphasizing emotionally resonant storytelling over common tropes.
Why it matters
It serves as a cultural guide to help mainstream audiences access high-quality international media that is often misunderstood or stereotyped.
But Japan has been producing some of the most emotionally resonant and visually audacious storytelling in contemporary media for half a century, and a great deal of it looks nothing at all like the stereotype it holds.
So here’s a case for the uninitiated. Start with self-contained films you can knock out in a single evening before graduating to series worth committing wholly to. The common thread, if you’re keeping score, is that not one of these requires you to know anything about anime, or Japan for that matter, going in.
Note that many of these picks are available in both the original Japanese audio with subtitles or as “dubs” with dialog dubbed by English voice actors. Dive in however you’d like.
Solo Leveling
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in