Joegreenbeen said
What anime should I start watching to see if I like the genre?
I know Nat already recommended Higurashi, but if you ask me that one's a lot better for testing the waters regarding horror anime, specifically (yes I know that there are much scarier horror anime out there that make Higurashi look tame by comparison, but it still makes for a good first horror anime, I think).
If you want to see whether or not you like anime
in general, I'd recommend either Soul Eater or Samurai Champloo. It can be hard to recommend a "first anime" to someone since anime by itself really isn't so much of a genre as a medium spanning
many genres, so I can't find too many titles where I can say "if you don't like this then you probably won't like most anime" - since most titles are really only representative of one genre of anime.
But when someone does ask for a first anime, Soul Eater's the first thing that comes to mind since it seems to have something for everyone in it. The title makes it sound rather dark - which it is, kind of, but it's peppered with so much humor and strange situations that a lot of times the dark concept of what the show is actually about is often kind of ignored, so it doesn't feel like it's being dark a lot of the time. In fact, most of the time (at least in the early episodes), it feels like a much more lighthearted, humorous series. But it
does have some very dark and interesting moments scattered about which I also find enjoyable. Also it has a
ton of interesting characters - so many I think it's kind of impossible to not find a single character you enjoy in the series. Oh, and it has a good dose of fanservice mixed in, as well, without being constantly in your face like most animes known for their fanservice. So yeah, like I said, something for everyone.
On the other hand, Samurai Champloo is just an amazing anime I would recommend to anyone any day. I love the characters, I love the stories, I love the music, and I
really love the fight scenes. This anime has better fight scenes than I have ever seen in any anime ever, imo. I suppose that, like Soul Eater, it has a good balance of serious and ridiculous moments, and can also really go for the extremes on both ends of the spectrum while still feeling like it all flows right. Oh, and there's also a bit of fanservice in it as well. Though now that I think of it, you'll find that in about 95% of all the anime you'll ever watch.
...I apologize, Nat, for overruning your thread. I just really wanted to get that opinion out there.
