Favourite anime of all time?
I guess this has probably been asked a thousand times, but I’ve never really been into the medium even though I’ve tried in the past. You have to be fair to me, there is a lot of ‘weird’ stuff in this medium, but I swear to try whatever you recommend, as long as you swear to not include a plot with an incest plot line or weird sexual shots that add nothing other than fan service or anything of the like. I like good writing.
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I can recommend my all-time favorite *Liz and the Blue Bird* of course, but I can't guarantee you're anywhere near the audience for a work like it. All I know is that you don't want an incest subplot or excessive ecchi (easy enough to avoid) and like "good writing", which, as much as people try to think otherwise, is a very subjective matter.
> You aren’t selling me on this stuff not being freak shit for weirdos.
That's some attitude you have for someone just waltzing in here...
It's just that most anime fit your criteria, so it's hard to give you something you may enjoy (good writing being subjective ofc).
I'm also not sure why you immediately assuming "freak shit for weirdos" is the default because (judging from the other comments) your ex watched a couple of popular shows a decade ago.
I mean, Game of Thrones may have been the most watched show around the world last decade, but it's certainly not representative of all American TV, you know?
And you have to give me this, there is a disproportionate amount of that stuff in anime. It was a bit of a shock to me that it was considered so normal
\> there is a disproportionate amount of that stuff in anime.
There actually isn't. It's no different than other media, given the sheer amount of anime out there. Everyone in the younger demographics in East Asia watches anime, and even in North America, we have 75 million people subbed to Crunchyroll.
Of course, only a *very* limited amount of anime (until the past few years) was exported internationally, so I completely understand where you're coming from.
For example, around half of the anime released in a year are G/PG rated shows for little kids or otherwise suitable for all ages (despite tackling mature topics). But you won't see those since they don't really get exported outside of Japan.
- Disco Elysium
- Silent hill 2
- Look Outside (game of the year 2025 absolute masterpiece)
So I guess I like things that are bleakly depressing with a unique art direction, and like I said in my post, well written. Even though I know thats subjective
Recency bias be damned, e33 is good too
I don’t have a favourite film but The Thing (John Carpenter) is up there
Welcome to derry was pretty good
That's what began this entire journey anyway, and it's easily the series I've put the most hours into.
A lot of that though is from reading the Light Novels, the Show got me into a new medium entirely So i'll always appreciate it for that alone even if something I like more comes along.
2.Re:Zero. Peak
3.Blue lock. peak.
And one Manga "Onani master kurosawa", it's actually peak you have to read it fully ( less than 40 chapters ). Ik it's not anime and it will never be animated, but it's peak.
Also read bonus chapters.
I can also recommend kuroko's basketball , hayikuu, Talentless Nana and konosuba.
Now, that was my 1st anime, do I recommend it as a 1st
Hell
No
I'd personally go with full metal alchemist, I personally prefer the original, the remake 'brotherhood' is the general go to
That can be a little long, so maybe......Frieren - short and sweet
Either way, it’s great.
There are sexualized shots throughout the entire show. You can say they are narratively justified, rather than fan service maybe, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
Possibly a 'fair warning' to OP - it's really hard to totally avoid things like the above, nearly every anime has them, but.....I think western media isn't 'better' I just think it's sometimes less, but yeh you will have to accept a certain amount of base level 'fan service and titillation' as much as I generally hate it
to me it seems the bar for what people see as egregiously weird these days is much lower.
Its a Fantasy Adventure Anime about a little girl and a robot that go on an Adventure in a mysterious, beautiful, fantastical, dangerious and cruel netherworld.
This series is adorable, wholesome, joyful, heartwarming, dark, brutal, sad and heartbreaking.
Its the most adorable most wholesome shiw I know and Riko is one of the happiest protagonists I know.
This series has a reputation for being crazy dark and sad. You will find it on "Darkest Animes ever" lists.
Those two sides synergize well with one another.
In my opinion the series is also visualy beautiful and one thing most people agree on is that the music is amazing.
It’s amazing though
I'll forever thank the girl who recommended it to me during my trip to Nagoya. 😭❤
Personal favourite:-That time i got recarnated as a slime (I just like overpowered mc that's all)
Personal favourite (romance genre , but with much deeper characters and growth and loss) :- Violet Evergarden,I want to eat your pancreas
Personal favourite (Romcom , comedy , wholesome , little drama , no love triangles genre , lol i just like to watch this stuff) :- fragrant flowers bloom with dignity, Kaguya sama: love is war
Also it has a really good English dub and I will only watch it dubbed. (It was one of my first anime)
Madoka Magica, One Punch Man (only season 1 :(), Frieren.
Also, some of the shows in this thread are... interesting choices, so I suggest you look up reviews because some people don't have the best taste.
So if I’m looking at anime experience alone, Gundam might be pretty high up there for me. Cowboys Bebop and samurai Champloo are two of the only ones that I can rewatch often. Rurouni Kenshin is also a favorite of mine. And then for new stuff let’s be real, JJK is a great shonen and the animation takes it next level.
The anime is:
Natsume Yuujinchou / Natsume's Book of Friends.
It has 7 seasons, first season was released in the late 2000s so the first two seasons are in an old anime style but gets better. But if you're not into supernatural, slice of life genres, tear-jerkers and emotional shows, and prefer actions instead.. then you should skip this one.
I gatekeep this show cause its definitely not for everyone, and but if its for you, it will resonate deep into your soul LOL!
This is like 20% of anime
>or weird sexual shots that add nothing other than fan service
This is like 75% of anime
Try watching Shin Sekai Yori, probably my favorite. It's about a distant future in Japan that feels like a mythical past where all humans have telekinetic powers and live in a dystopian agrarian society. Most of the joy comes from slowly learning about the world.
It's an adaptation of a Japanese scifi novel, so it skips all of the worst anime tropes. Great world building, interesting moral tensions, excellent writing.
This is like 75% of anime
don't get why you need to make stuff up tbh
Berserk, Higarushi, Stein's Gate, Frieren, Tanya the Evil.
Biggest reason it's my all time favorite is because the character writing is fantastic. (So good in fact that it got me to read the original novels the show is based on when I finished the original anime back in 2009)
Watch the remake (2024) it's just a straight upgrade from the original visually. Also highly recommend the English Dub as the Voice Actors do a fantastic job. (The Japanese VAs are better in the remake than they were in the original but the English cast knocks it out of the park)
Or maybe I’m just old and like old stuff.
Any scene/camera shot that highlights the body to arouse the audience would be considered sexualization/fanservice, imo
Even Monster technically has fanservice because of a few seconds in \~71st episode with the fully-dressed prostitute lol.
that's just not true lol. it's 2026, anime is mainstream.
what have you been watching exactly?
It can range from gunfight action to giant robots to romcoms to fantasy adventures to workplace dramas.
Seems like you might have been watching shows aimed at young/teen boys, like SAO?
Do you have favorite genres/shows in other media? Otherwise, just look at the sub's recommendation wiki ([Your Guide to Anime](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/wiki/recommendations/)) or a flowchart ([Reddit - https://i.redd.it/6wy58vox7xv61.png](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F6wy58vox7xv61.png)).
Other than that I would say blue exorcist, I liked the style and the cat is really cute.
there you go