Kinda specific recommendation request for a beginner.
I'm a 24 year old and I just decided to give anime a chance again after trying a few times(few years back and as a teen) it never really stuck, but I wanna try again as there has always been something appealing to me about the medium.
My first anime as I watched when I was 16 was Death Note, back then I enjoyed it but now it's not for me, too depressing and too serious. After that I tried Code Geass, which just didn't work for me, I can't think of any specific reason for why, it's been long ago.
Few years after I watched Cowboy Bebop and fell in love with it, and it absolutely one of my favorite shows in general ever. I loved the vibe of it, being a huge fan of jazz of course helped, but I also loved the worldbuilding of it and the characters. I also loved how the action is displayed.
Now I am watching Samurai Champloo and Jujutsu Kaisen which I am both enjoying, but not as much as Cowboy Bebop.
So here are my criteria:
- I'd love to see some classics and cult classics. Like the masterpieces of anime. Of course smaller less appreciated animes are also welcome, but I wanna see the best of the best and expand my tastes, with some critically acclaimed stuff that experiments.
- I'd like to avoid shonen type stuff I think that's called. Idk I am just not too comfortable with stuff that focuses on underage characters and fan service around such characters. But overall I don't mind fan service if it's not like weird.
- I highly appreciate good worldbuilding and vibes. Like how music is used and the visual identity of an anime does so much for me. And when the world is beautiflly developed.
- I also would enjoy some, how else to put it but, more girly stuff aimed towards women, that's also pretty accepting of lgbtqia+ sfuff if that makes sense
- I don't mind action, less so fantasy, but I'm open to it
- Preference towards newer sfuff unless the older thing you wanna recommend it a classic.
- Absolutely no too heavy and depressing stuff. I don't enjoy stuff that's like drama and sad stuff, I like uplifting stuff and potentially comedy. But I am also a fan of horror.
- Feel free to ignore some of my criteria if your recommendation is like a MUST WATCH for a beginner.
I hope there is a lot of sfuff out there to check out that's popular and good that fits my critieria, and thank you so much.
Edit: quick lil addition, I like also metal and other extreme music use in media so that's also welcome
Posted Dec 7, 2025, 10:44 PM UTC · edited