What is anime? Anime is pretty popular but if you don’t know what it is, anime is a series of animated hand or computer drawn images. Hailing from Japan, anime is very colorful and full of extravagant / magical themes, but with all the anime nowadays, it can really range from the fantastical type to more grim and serious genres. You can really distinguish anime from regular cartoons by their artistic style, despite there being several hundreds, if not thousands of artists that compose these anime pieces. Some examples of well known anime production studios are Studio Ghibli (an anime studio I personally am a huge fan of), Toei Animation, and more.
After watching different anime series for a while, I’ve learned that there are actually some cool benefits that come with watching anime. If you currently watch anime, you’ll probably agree with the statements below. If you haven’t ever watched anime before, maybe these might interest you in getting into anime! At the very bottom of this post, I’ll also include some helpful words to know, as well as some anime series I loved!
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Anime can be pretty educational
If you watch anime with subtitles, you can pick up on the language! I’m not a fan of dubbed anime because I dislike the voice actors & actresses (sorry to offend any dubbed fans but I just can’t) so I’ve always watched subbed anime. I can’t tell you how many phrases I’ve learned from just watching anime! Even though they might be short and basic, it’s still much more than if I hadn’t watched it.
Besides being fun and good-natured, there are series that can be fairly educational. It may not be the main focus of the anime, but you can learn a thing or two about economics and business or other topics such as PTSD and certain diseases you may not have heard of or known much of. In addition, it can help improve your drawings (if you do draw like me). Anatomy can be pretty hard and despite some anime being more “chibi” like, most animes have the right proportions and as someone who used to draw more anime-like stuff, watching them helps me out. It really depends on what you’re interested in watching, but there is great potential for learning a few things from anime!
You learn about Japanese culture
Besides the Japanese language, you can also learn other aspects of the Japanese culture: the amazing food they have (anime food always looks super appetizing and makes me hungry … IN FACT, I think I’m going to make a future blog post dedicated to showing the difference between anime food vs reality), different holidays and important celebrations, family traditions, beliefs, town vs rural living, and more.
Like, what the heck bro?
There are so many genres, there is something out there for everyone
Just like regular TV show genres, anime encompasses a lot of genres. For example, there’s romance, comedy, sports, school-life, mystery, etc. To those who prefer watching magical girls, goblin slaying, or maybe pirates who can stretch like Mister Fantastic from the Fantastic Four, there’s something for you, too!
Anime helps you understand relationships and human psychology
There is something about anime that makes it different from your regular TV shows. A lot of animes deal heavily with relationships with other people, and gives us insight into how the characters think, how their mind works, and how they deal with life situations. We’re able to do this because we are often allowed to get into their heads and audibly hear what they’re thinking, which is something not commonly done with regular TV shows. This cool feature lets us form a stronger connection with the characters involved.
Important words to know when choosing an anime:
Here are some helpful words or terms to know when looking at “genres” of anime.
Harem: Type of anime where a male is surrounded by many women. Usually, the female characters are attracted to or interested in the male main character. There’s also reverse harem, in which a female main character is surrounded by many boys.
Shounen: Shounen, or “shonen” (少年), meaning “few years”. Shounen anime refers to anime boys 15 years old or younger and focuses on action and adventure.
Seinen: Focuses on young adult main characters, usually males between the ages 15-24. They tend to be more serious and perhaps more violent than shounen animes, although there are also comedy-focused seinen shows.
Shoujo: Focuses on young girls between 10 and 18 years of age. They feature action and adventure as well, but also more romance and interpersonal relationships.
Josei: Josei anime focuses on adult women. It frequently contains romance or slice-of-life, but can also involve action and adventure.
Yaoi/Yuri: Both yaoi and yuri anime focus on same-sex relationships, both romantic and non-romantic in nature. Yaoi centers on male relationships, and yuri on female relationships.
Slice of Life: This term is probably the most straight-forward out of the rest of the words here, but animes in this genre literally focus on “slice of” a character’s life, kind of like “a day in the life of …” whoever. Generally the themes center on teenage life, interpersonal relationships, romance, family, etc.
Ecchi: Ecchi is derived from the H letter (that’s how it sounds in Japanese) in “hentai”, which means pervert in Japanese. Sooo… this type of anime usually is filled with sexually provocative images, but toned down enough so that it can be viewed by the general audience.
Mecha: Mecha anime is also known as robot anime, in which it features utilizing fighting robots for battle.
Some animes I enjoyed watching:
- Death Note (genre: mystery, supernatural, thriller)
- Nagi No Asukara / A Lull In the Sea (genre: fantasy, romance, shounen)
- Ouran High School Host Club (genre: reverse harem, shoujo)
- One Piece (still watching!! genre: shounen, action, fantasy)
- Honey and Clover (genre: josei, romance)
- Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler (Shounen, dark fantasy)
- Tokyo Ghoul (shounen, dark fantasy, horror fiction)
- Fruits Basket (shoujo, romance, fantasy)
- Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (slice of life)
Do you like watching anime? What are some shows you really enjoyed? Make sure to leave it in the comments below!
Until then! ♡
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Love this post! I’m a big Studio Ghibli fan and have watched some anime series; I watched hundreds of episodes of Bleach years ago before I had too much school work to do and never finished, and I absolutely love Peach Girl and rewatch it every couple of years! It’s pretty cheesy but fun to watch. I also agree the food looks amazing! I didn’t know a lot about those key words so that’s really helpful, I’d love to get back into watching it again!
I love love love Studio Ghibli! It’s nice to meet a fellow fan! 😁 I’ve never finished Bleach either, I think I stopped at 290s-300’s haha. I’ve never heard of that anime, I will check it out! 😉 I’m glad you found it helpful, thanks for reading Chloe!!
Oh my gosh, BLEACH! I remember that one, I don’t think I ever fully finished it either. Kind of fell off after the Arrancar Arc when some of my favorite Espada got killed off. Sad times. 🙂
Never heard of Peach Girl, but it sounds cute as heck.
I used to watch so much anime back in the day. The highlight of my week was catching Inuyasha on Adult Swim during the week!
I recently started watching that reboot of Dororo and I’m rather enjoying it.
Aahh you know what I’ve heard of Dororo before, I heard it was good! My mom actually watched the remake of it and I got to pass by and see a few scenes. I’ll have to watch that at some point myself!
Loved reading this! I have watched quite a bit of anime, I love Death Note and Tokyo Ghoul – they’re probably in my top faves. I also love Studio Ghibli though, I have probably watched Howls Moving Castle over 30 times lol. Another favourite anime of mine is Psycho Pass, it was such an interesting one to watch! I also watch a lot of k drama on Netflix.. maybe I watch too much ahaha
Chloe xx
Ahh yay fellow anime fan 😊👋 Those anime’s are so good! Howl’s Moving Castle is definitely a great one. I’ll have to look up Psycho Pass as I’ve never heard of it before!! I heard K drama is pretty addicting…😭😂 thanks for sharing Chloe!
I have never watched or know much about Anime at all, so I found this post useful. Thank you for sharing Geraldine ❤️
I’m so glad you found it useful! 😊❤️
Ohmigod I LOVE ANIME! I’ve been a fan ever since I saw a Tokyo Mew Mew AMV on Youtube back when I was in fifth grade haha! But I’ve watched some episodes of Doraemon and One Piece and Blood Plus and Magic Knight Rayearth even way back when I was younger because they used to have the translated dub version on after both the morning and afternoon news, which my grandpa liked to watch.
It always pisses me off when people dismiss anime as a genre when it’s more like an animation style. There are anime series made by non-Japanese folks and that does not make them any less anime, imo. My recent faves are My Hero Academia, Cells at Work, Gakuen Babysitters, Haikyuu, and Kaguya-sama: Love is War. All of which are from different genres; I used to only watch shoujo animes and then a bit of Fairy Tail haha! Ouran is a CLASSIC! I’ve always wanted to watch AnoHana 🙂 This is such a great post, Geraldine!!!
YAY fellow fan!! Hahah Tokyo Mew sounds so familiar!! Ahh Doraemon is a classic! I’ve never heard of Magic Knight Rayearth though 🙂 I totally agree with you Kate!! I love little shounen and shoujo ones haha 🙂 Warning, you may need tissues if you watch Ano Hana! Thanks for reading Kate!!
I’ve never watched any anime, but I used to love drawing different characters, they always look so awesome with the coolest fashion and hair styles! Reading your post has made me want to watch some now! I never knew you could learn so much and it sounds like there is something for everyone 🙂 I’m looking forward to reading your post on the difference between anime food vs reality, that sounds really fun! Thanks for sharing Geraldine, fab post! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
Ahh same here Bexa! I always thought they had the coolest colors and hairstyles 🙂 I hope you get to watch something new!
I’ve actually only watch anime a few times, but I loved it so much! I might continue to watch it over the bank holiday!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
Aren’t they good?! They can be so addicting, haha. I hope you find time to watch a bit during your bank holiday!! <3
I’m not a huge anime person but I do enjoy it from time to time. I’m also a subbed anime person; I can’t deal with dubs at all haha. I like Death Note a lot. Another one I like is Mirai Nikki and Fairy Tail (though I haven’t finished it). I’ve heard nothing but good things about Fruits Basket so I should just watch it haha. I did grow up watching Sailor Moon if that counts!
I’ve never heard of Mirai Nikki, will have to look that up!! I used to watch Fairy Tail but I left off after the 60th episode or something hahha! You def should watch Fruits basket 🙂
I haven’t watched anime for years but remember LOVING them! I never knew that there are benefits of watching anime, though I haven’t thought about them beyond entertainment, haha. I like that they can be educational. The anime artists are TALENTED! I love the Japanese culture so much. I remember being jealous of Naruto’s ramen, hehe. It is interesting that there are the different anime types. I mean I remember yaoi/yuri but oooh that’s what shounen means, haha. Thanks for this informative post, girly!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
YASS! I was surprised at how the other aspects of anime, you just don’t think about it haha. I am ALWAYS in love with their food, no matter what anime! Thanks for reading Nancy! <3
I spent my childhood watching anime and I love this post! Death Note is amazing and I love how smart both Kira and L are. One Piece is so popular but I still couldn’t get into it lol
I’m so happy you like it! I feel like Death Note was one of my first animes and I instantly loved it!
I have only watched ”Death note” because I prefer movies and series. If I have more time, I’ll watch anime.
https://matiime.blogspot.com/
Anime has a lot of great series! Death Note is a great one. Thanks for reading! x
This is so interesting!! A lot of my friends used to watch anime. When I was in Japan I saw so many anime things and I thought they were all so cool! I feel like watching anime now. I went to Pompompurin Cafe in Harajuku and the food was amazing and so pretty. I don’t know if Pompompurin is anime? I did used to watch and read Sailor Moon though. I got a stationery folder with her on it when I was 10. I still have it and use it to this day!
I’m so glad you found this interesting! I believe Pompompurin is an anime haha 😆 aww I’m so jealous, I want to go to those cafes in Japan! You should definitely watch some then 🥰
While I am not personally an anime fan I know many people who are and the lingo has always left me a bit lost when they talk about it! Thanks for sharing some of the definitions, at least now I might be able to follow the conversations regardless of watching the shows haha!
Ahh well I’m glad you were able to learn a few things from this post haha, I do love being in the know even if I may not watch a certain thing myself!
I love watching anime and am a huge fan of Studio Ghibli as well. These are certainly great perks to watching anime. I have picked up a number of words and phrases over the years, and in fact, it has encouraged me to actually learn Japanese. I think my favorite thing about anime is, as you said, there is something for everyone because there are so many different types of anime out there. I’m going to have to check out some of the anime you have listed, some of them I have watched, like Ouran High School Host Club (loved it) but others I haven’t seen yet.
Studio Ghibli is so wonderful!! Watching anime has also encouraged me to pick up on the language. I hope you like them!! 🙂
I’ve not watched anime before so thanks for the tour. I like the idea of learning a bit of Japanese! X
No problem at all Alison! I do want to learn as well 🙂
This is such a great post about anime! I don’t particularly watch anime but fiancé does and he’s been trying to get me to watch some for years – we actually watched Cowboy Bebop a while back and I actually liked it! We never got around to finishing it though.
☼ cabin twenty-four
Aw thanks Eena! Anime is pretty great 🙂 some series can be pretty long so it can drag out for a while esp when you’re very busy. Thanks for reading! xx
Yay!!! I love anime so much hehe
I also dislike dubbed versions! Not only does it sound better but wow, sometimes the english voice actors are the worst. Have you heard about Vic Minogna? Yuck, that’s all i gotta say lol
Aww the food is my favorite thing. i always wanna eat whatever they are in the anime :/
Wow you are so right with the relationships part, I love watching anime to sometimes learn what couples will do. A lot of times when I’m mad at my husband I start watching anime, well the anime ends up giving me advice and I will instantly be okay with my husband lol.
Thanks for the info I wasn’t aware of those terms!!!
Wow you love the ones i do!!! Fruits basket is coming back in live action, are you excited? Also did you see the live action of anohana? I really cried a lot more than when I watched the anime LOL
Great post i really can’t get enough anime but not many bloggers talk about it unless they’re a full on anime blog lol
Haha YES that’s one reason why I dislike it… Studio Ghibli voice actors / actresses are good but that’s because they get actual actors and actresses to do the job… the others don’t even know how to pronounce the character’s names! SMH. I’ve never heard of Vic Minogna but I’ll have to look! Food is my fave too it’s such a struggle! I didn’t know its coming back in live action, what?! I don’t usually watch live action of stuff haha. I am such a big crybaby so maybe not a good idea 😂
Honestly, I have no idea how people watch dubbed programmes. It is SO off putting when the mouths don’t match up with what they are saying, I can’t stand it and the voices never seem to match the person so it doesn’t seem right! That’s so interesting to see the different things you can learn by watching them – I love to draw too so I can see how that would be so helpful. It’s also definitely handy learning different languages, you never know when it might come to use! Maybe one I’m through watching my current list of programmes I’ll give one a try from your list and see if I enjoy it!
Amy,
https://creativenails.uk
Haha I don’t like a lot of the voices too, that’s one of the reasons why I can’t watch it! I just love their art style, I admire it so much. I hope you find something good in my list of animes! Thank you for reading Amy 🙂
Amen to all these! I am a big fan of anime, I started watching back when I was very little with my dad. Up until now, even though I’m an adult with adult responsibilities, I still find time to watch anime from time to time. It’s not like before though, there was one time where I binged watch the whole episodes of Naruto Shippuden— crazy times! These days, I re-watch a lot of anime movies, and my favorites are from Studio Ghibli Movies, Makoto Shinkai’s, Mamoru Hosoda, and Satoshi Kon. Haha! I’m currently watching Mob Psycho, Attack on Titan, and One Punch Man. Ahhh sorry for rambling! I just love your post and it brought out the sleeping otakuness inside me haha
Only Yesterday
Aw that is so awesome! Anime is a really great break to have from all our adult responsibilities. I still have to watch Naruto! I’ve seen a bunch of ads for Mob Psycho, it looks cool 🙂 Thank you for reading!!
I’ve never watched anime beyond very mainstream things that were subbed (does Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Howl’s Moving Castle count??), but I love the way you laid this all out and explained all the cultural benefits to watching anime. Also, it’s helpful to understand the categorization or genres of anime for beginners (like me). Where do you typically watch anime online?
Yess they all do! That totally counts 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed reading it! I usually watch on Crunchyroll.com or otakustream!
Aww I loved this post so much! I’ve recently started to watch the new Fruits Basket and I love it. I always wanted to watch the original series but never got around to it, so it being remade is a bit of a blessing. 😛
https://theremightbecoffee.wordpress.com
I’m so glad you like it! I didn’t know there was a new Fruits Basket, will have to look into it!!
As a fan of anime, I give this post 100 gold stars. I love how informative it is. My obsession with anime started with Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball back when I was a kid. Now, I binge watch new anime series on the regular. I haven’t seen Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Dayill have to check it out. Thanks for sharing. 😀
Aww I’m so happy!! I don’t come across many bloggers who are a fan of anime so sometimes I hesitate whether to post anime-related stuff on here but then again it’s my blog! I remember those were my early anime series as well!! I loved sailor moon and would watch it CONSTANTLY. Thank you for reading Angela! x