anime recommendations for someones first idol anime?

My friend is just getting into anime, learning all the different genres and themes and I want her next one to be an idol anime. It has to be in English dub

She has seen: Most of demon slayer, Erased, your name, buddy daddies, A silent voice.

She is about to watch: yuri on ice, sing a bit of harmony

I would prefer to show her a male idol anime but females are okay

Ones I have considered but aren’t keen on: idolish 7, no eng dub, i think its long? I never really enjoyed it. And zombie land saga, the only reason why is because the director guy yells so much which would be a bit unpleasant for her to watch.

At the moment, I think d4dj is my best option

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AutoModerator2025-12-30 23:11

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Oatmealwookiie2025-12-30 23:14

I know it’s not men but I can’t recommend love live enough, it’s what got me into idol anime honestly

CJP12162025-12-30 23:21

Strictly idol, or band anime as well? based off her watched list Girls Band Cry, Bocchi (if she likes that kind of humor and juxtaposition that comes with it anyways), some of the bang dream stuff is decent as well. Of the recent-er ones, I like MyGO and Ave Mujica.

Idol anime wise, I'm gonna recommend oshi no ko. I found it enjoyable, and there's a new season coming out next month.

ishtuwihtc2025-12-30 23:37

I can't reccomend oshi no ko enough, rather than idolising being an idol (hehe see what i did there?) it shows the ugly sides of it, but also doesn't show ONLY the bad. It's also generally a great series showing what the general entertainment industry is like. Its a little wierd at first but then keeps getting better and better

CJP12162025-12-30 23:59

Agreed, I especially like the fact that it delves into the darker side of things. Most other idol/band anime has a tendency to focus on either the personal development (read: coming out of my shell) of the lead, or working through a personal past trauma. Oshi no ko gives us a lot more of the actual idol life side of things, and all the potential conflicts that arise from that imo. I've loved it so far.

ishtuwihtc2025-12-31 00:17

Alot of other series also focus only on the good, the side you'd mostly see as a fan yourself

I personally finished the oshi no ko manga 2 days ago and man it was amazing. It really made me rethink what entertainment industry as a whole is

CJP12162025-12-31 00:24

How did the Manga compare to the anime (at least what we have adapted so far lol) for you? I haven't read any of it yet but it's in my plan to read list. I've heard from other people they liked it adapted to animation more because the format better lent itself to the anime format. I've heard the same argument for some popular shonen stuff though and I personally preferred the impact of one or two extremely impactful panels over the adaptation of a full fight.

ishtuwihtc2025-12-31 00:53

Honestly i found it was a really good anime adaptation

Nothing really was skipped over, and because its an idol anime performances are obviously better than the manga in the anime

Generally though the anime is pretty on par or even better (because as i mentioned some things with this series just work better in a video format). I enjoyed the manga just as much as the anime, but until i got oast what was adapted i did feel a little dissapointed that I wasn't missing out on anything by not reading ykwim?

FetchFrosh2025-12-30 23:30

> I would prefer to show her a male idol anime

Then you'd probably be best served by Idolish7

Ginsan-AK2025-12-30 23:33

There's this male idol anime that I really liked called Shounen Hollywood, there are 2 seasons of it. The story is a little different than the usual idol anime for me, so you may or may not be looking for something like this.

Dodo_Galaxy2025-12-30 23:34

Maybe:

Heroines who run the show

Phantom of the idol

Fullmoon wo sagashite

Overall though I would say Idolish7 might the best male idol series right now. The first season may still seem a bit silly and stereotypical, but at the end and starting from the second season it starts tackling realistic issues and darker sides in the entertainment industry, psychological themes like trauma and inferiority complexes, idol fandom conflicts, family and interpersonal relationships conflicts, etc. But I get your arguments with the length and no English dub as well as your lack of personal enjoyment. So that is very valid.

KookyFly41322025-12-31 11:48

Idolmaster 2011. It's a fairly old show and there's no english dub for it but just in case anyone else interested in this post and have no problem with sub.

I'd say as someone's first idol anime, the show is fairly grounded albeit a couple of quirks here and there and some outlandish scenes but it still doesn't shy away from showing that the entertainment industry is not all sunshine and rainbow while not being too preachy about it. I've seen a couple of people discovered the show just this year and they liked it.

On the other hand, Oshi No Ko is NOT idol anime. I don't know why people keep saying that till this day unless you never truly watch any other traditional idol shows.

BeanyIsDaBean2025-12-31 11:49

Phew, someone agrees with me on oshi no ko. It has idols in it but that doesn’t really make it an idol anime