It’s no surprise that I watch anime, it’s entertaining and sometimes you just need to watch a good old-fashioned anime. If you had an anime phase in high school (be honest with yourself, you probably did), here are my five picks to re-awaken that phase in college or if you never had an anime phase, my five picks of where to start with anime.
- Death Note
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Death Note is the OG anime that everyone watched in their OG anime phase, so this is the obvious place to start to re-awaken your anime phase. Death Note is about a normal high school student, Light Yagami, who is bored with school and life until he finds a notebook on the ground that gives him the power to end people’s life by just writing their name. The anime follows his battle to continue his work as Kira, the God of a new world, and against the great detective L.
Rotten Tomato’s Rating: 100%
Rating: TV-14
- Soul Eater
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Again, this is probably another one you probably watched if you had an anime phase in high school. The series revolves around three teams consisting of a weapon user called a “meister” and at least one “demon weapon,” humans that can transform into a weapon. These teams attend a special school called Death Weapon Meister Academy that’s run by the headmaster, Death. They defend the world from the forces of evil as well as attempt to craft a death scythe, a weapon fit for Death, by hunting down 99 evil human souls and one witch soul.
Rotten Tomato’s Rating: 100%
Rating: TV-14
- Yuri!! On Ice
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Oh boy, when I say I’ve watched this about 300 times, I’m being serious. This is probably my favorite on this list. If you were on Tumblr in like 2014, you know what this is. The series follows Yuri Katsuki, an ice skater from Japan who is down on his luck after losing in last place at competition and is about to retire when his ice-skating idol, Viktor Nikiforov, sees a video of Yuri skating to one of his routines and decides to coach him. I HIGHLY recommend this one.
Rotten Tomato’s Rating: N/A
Rating: TV-14
- Attack on Titan
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This one is not for the light hearted, I had to stop as I was watching this because it is a bit gore-y and graphic. Attack on Titan is set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by enormous walls that protect them from Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. The story centers around Eren Jaeger, his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackermann, and their childhood friend Armin Arlelt, whose lives are changed forever after the appearance of a Colossal Titan which brings about the destruction of their home town and the death of their mother. Vowing revenge and to reclaim the world from the Titans, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin join the Scout Regiment, an elite group of soldiers who fight Titans outside the Walls. Again, this isn’t a soft and cuddly anime like the other ones, this one will make you uncomfortable the entire time, but it’s so good and who doesn’t love Levi Ackermann?
Rotten Tomato’s Rating: 93%
Rating: M
- My Hero Academia
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Finally, My Hero Academia, which is the show that is starting to push anime into popular culture (I see you all who used to bully me for liking anime watching it now), My Hero Academia is in a world where people with superpowers (known as quirks) are the norm, Izuku Midoriya has dreams of one day becoming a Hero, despite being bullied by his classmates for not having a Quirk. After being the only one to try and save his childhood bully from a villain, All Might, Japan’s greatest Hero, saves him and bestows upon him All Might’s own Quirk “One for All.” The story follows Izuku’s entrance into U.A. High School, a school for training the next generation of superheroes. This anime is so cute and fun but also has action and has serious topics such as bullying and parental abuse (I’m looking at you Todoroki).
Rotten Tomato’s Rating: 100%
Rating: TV-14
Again, these are the five that I think work best for someone who just wants to start out watching anime, there are classics I didn’t mention, but I think these are the best for a new watcher.
HCXO, Erika