Matt Schley
April 25, 2016 
It’s a topic that comes up every so often on sites like Reddit or 4chan (and on message boards, BBSes and in convention halls before that): what should people just getting into anime watch first?
For a Japanese take on the matter, we turn to a recent post on popular anime blog Yaraon, in which the original poster asked for recommendations for newly-minted anime otaku.
A lot of the picks sounded pretty familiar for a list like this: late director Satoshi Kon got a lot of shoutouts, with films like Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paprika getting multiple recommendations.
Mamoru Oshii also made out well, with his classics Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, Patlabor 2 and Ghost in the Shell getting mentions. One poster commented, “if you can get through Oshii’s Angel’s Egg without falling asleep, you’re officially an otaku.”
Another responded, “I heard somewhere Oshii himself fell asleep while watching it again.”
Some posters took a chronological approach, saying first you have to get familiar with classics like Goku no Daiboken (1967), Paul’s Miraculous Adventure (1976), Space Runaway Ideon (1980) and Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985).
Some more recent suggested series included Code Geass, Steins;Gate, Baccano!, Haruhi Suzumiya and Guilty Crown.
One debate that ensued over the course of the post was how “safe” the choices should be. Some posters reacted to “difficult” picks like Wings of Honneamise and Tatami Galaxy by reacting “hold up, you’re going to start a new fan on that?”
But others responded that it’s best to start by jumping in to the deep end, so to speak.
What was your first anime? What would you recommend to folks just starting out? Would your picks look anything like these?
Source: Yaraon
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