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The best gateways are the mainstream ones: Naruto, One Piece, SAO, AoT, Bleach and Fairytail. That's all you really need for someone whether it be a girl or a boy. Psycho Pass is most definitely NOT for everyone. You have to have good comprehension if you want to enjoy the show to its fullest plus you have to have interest in murders and mystery. Fruits Basket is less likely to get a boy started than a girl it's just true.

Last edited by EricJ2 on Sun Aug 24, 2014 2:21 pm; edited 1 time in total

Animegomaniac wrote:

EricJ2 wrote:

*removes Tenchi Muyo, and replaces with Tenchi Universe*
(Muyo is pure head-beating frustration a first-timer just doesn't need...)

The OVA series not only makes you think, it requires you to think. Universe is the processed cheese to the OVA's brie.
I guess the question is: do you want them to get a taste for something or not?

I want them to get a taste for character, which you certainly get in the OVA series (to some extent), but all the "thinking" you have to do to make head or tail of what's going on will give you a three-day headache...Even for non-first-timers who DON'T give up easily if the first half of an episode is too frustrating.
(Okay, so Grandpa is really immortal and can change ages, Sasami is really possessed by an ancient spirit, and Ryo-Ohki can now change into a semi-talking anthro for no clearly explained reason at all...Got it, now bring on the hard stuff... Confused

)

Which brings up the other comments:

Alex_Sandy wrote:

Most of your choices are oldies, fondly remembered,]
I wouldn't want to scare away someone with the typical teenagers in robots and half naked school girls. (Though I don't really mind them myself, but then I'm kind of childish)

Animegomaniac wrote:

And I should have said this earlier: Mainstream anime isn't anime. {Most of the popular animes don't even have Japanese names... or have them changed... so yeah}
Recent shows with non Japanese appeal that doesn't just cater to Japanese otakus {rather than just shows that hate them...}, talk about your "mission impossible". Well, yeah, there is the giant in the room but let's skip him for now.

Mainstream anime "isn't" anime? (And no true Scotsman watches it?)
So, if Ranma 1/2 aired on afternoons or prime time to a mass Japanese audience, that somehow takes away its membership card?
I'm not sure what the deserving qualification of what "is" anime, unless it's the core-fan definition that anime "HAS" to blow your mind and/or shake your doors of experience, but I can guarantee you that's NOT what first timers want. Thanks to bad stereotypes and cultural grudges, first-timers already do expect it to be weird, impenetrable and M-rated icky; what they want to know is, hey, this stuff really does make sense, it's just better, that's all....First-timers want Castle of Cagliostro, not Angel's Egg; they want Kiki, not Princess Mononoke.
As was said in the other thread, some fans treat their loyalty like religion, and one rule about religion is that you have to persuade converts on their level--Tell them about shepherds and servants, not fire and brimstone. You won't win converts by being a nut...Unless, of course, you're converting other fanatic nuts your own age.

Which is one reason all the great gateway series are "Oldies" from the 80's and 90's: That was when Japan used to show anime to normal people, back when, quote, "normal people" watched it...Ie., before they decided that you weren't normal if you watched it, and made anime for weird NEET otaku.
Nowadays, the Japanese kid anime watchers for being "childish" enough to watch Doraemon, but just how bad luck would you have with Disney's Doraemon as a first-timer's gateway?

sunflower wrote:

Thanks! I've never seen Cross Game. Is it a complete story in the anime or does it end mid-manga (in a dis-satisfying way)? I'm trying to stay away from incomplete stories.

I'd say it has a very satisfying ending for the all the characters.

sunflower wrote:

Monster is definitely on my list. I just wasn't sure how to get it for him. I'd love to be able to show him the dub but there's no way to get it, unless it's streaming somewhere. I need to look around.

You can definitely find the dub online. Wink

I panicked (yesterday) at hearing that Viz lost the license, but thankfully it's an easy google search away. Just make sure to include Naoki Urasawa in the search bar; for some reason that makes a difference. o.O

EricJ2 wrote:

Which is one reason all the great gateway series are "Oldies" from the 80's and 90's: That was when Japan used to show anime to normal people, back when, quote, "normal people" watched it...Ie., before they decided that you weren't normal if you watched it, and made anime for weird NEET otaku.

Not so sure about that. I agree with most of your post, but I don't think most gateway series are from the 80s and 90s. Sure, some are, depending on who you are trying to convert, but in my experience(and specifically in my peer group{20-30 year old guys}), a lot of people will be completely turned off by the older art. More western shows from the mid-2000s through today seem to be the most successful for me. Death Note, Ghost in the Shell, Sword of the Stranger, Fate/Zero, Attack on Titan, Elfen Lied. Of course, I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the age group I'm trying to convert, but even my parents(65 years) would rather watch something that is new and shiny, rather than Lupin, Castle in the Sky or Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

sunflower wrote:

Monster is definitely on my list. I just wasn't sure how to get it for him. I'd love to be able to show him the dub but there's no way to get it, unless it's streaming somewhere. I need to look around.

The only way to get Monster that I know of now that its no longer on Itunes, is to import it from Australia(well worth the money). If you have access to a PC with decoding software, or a region free player you are good to go. Of course, most people don't have either of those things, but I think it is a good investment for any anime fan.

Eh i definitly wouldn't recomend Cowboy bebop to anyone

But maybe thats just me, i absolutely hate episodic animes where you can pretty much skip half of them and not miss a thing. I want every episode to flow into each other and make me want to start up the next one immediately.

relyat08 wrote:

The only way to get Monster that I know of now that its no longer on Itunes, is to import it from Australia(well worth the money). If you have access to a PC with decoding software, or a region free player you are good to go. Of course, most people don't have either of those things, but I think it is a good investment for any anime fan.

I have decoding software. Because of the way our home video system is set up with a mish mash of excellent but old equipment I end up having to decode and rip all our DVDs/BDs into files to watch them. Where can one buy anime from Australia? Is Ebay the only choice?

Jajanken wrote:

Psycho Pass is most definitely NOT for everyone. You have to have good comprehension if you want to enjoy the show to its fullest plus you have to have interest in murders and mystery.

There is something else, which was something that I kind of...well, I wouldn't say struggled...held me back a bit from anime. And that was, for a time, I treated animation more as a genre than an entertainment medium. So, I did have the mindset of animation = children's programming, and whatever didn't fit was "wrong".

That is a barrier you'd have to get through, though I've no idea how common it is, with most of the series on this list. The series that may slip past that are FB and Tenchi (just judging from what I've heard).

Last edited by Shadowrun20XX on Sun Aug 24, 2014 9:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

At some point you are going to have to face that most of these "gateway" titles are in 4:3 format. The new generation will not give that old anime format the time of day. UPGRADE! HD only.

Old and handpainted is not what new fans are into. They don't even know who Robin Williams is, why would they have any patience for old anime!

How about:

1. To Aru Majutsu No Index S1
2. Zetman
3. Madoka Magica TV
4. Kill la Kill S1
5. Danganronpa S1
6. Hunter X Hunter TV
7. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure S1, 2 and 3

Bring em up to speed.

I'm actually a bit surprised that my go-to for gateway anime, Trigun hasn't been mentioned more. It's a fun series with lots of "western" elements that starts off with a bunch of episodes that can standalone for the most part, though there is overarching plot in there as well. It also has a good dub, which I think is a necessity since it's much harder to get someone to watch something if they have to read subtitles.

Trigun is what got me back into anime and I've shown it to a few friends before and had them want to see more. But I do tend to go by what I think they would like, which is why I've shown X-TV and Wolf's Rain to one friend, while others I started on Gunslinger Girl.

I say most Dubs are OK. Have the person sing out loud before you gateway them. If they are tone deaf (like most), it wouldn't matter if the dub was bad (judged over time, comparison issues). Does that stop any of you from liking the first dub you heard? Hell no. It's the greatest because of the nostalgia factor. It's not the 90's anymore, we've gotten better.

sunflower wrote:

I have decoding software. Because of the way our home video system is set up with a mish mash of excellent but old equipment I end up having to decode and rip all our DVDs/BDs into files to watch them. Where can one buy anime from Australia? Is Ebay the only choice?

Siren Visual is where I got my set: https://www.sirenvisual.com.au/CatalogueSearch.php?term=monster&x=0&y=0

The whole series runs about $250 USD, which might be a bit much, but considering that its 74 episodes its not a bad deal. The best part is that it's completely legitimate so I felt good supporting the guys who actually licensed the whole thing.

Shadowrun20XX wrote:

At some point you are going to have to face that most of these "gateway" titles are in 4:3 format. The new generation will not give that old anime format the time of day. UPGRADE! HD only.

Old and handpainted is not what new fans are into. They don't even know who Robin Williams is, why would they have any patience for old anime!.

Still, show them Aladdin, and they'll wonder why they liked Frozen.

(Or, in anime terms, show them Card Captor Sakura, and Madoka Magica will lose some of its appeal.
Unless, of course, they go the Lupin III on CN route and say "Eww, it looks so, like, OLD, it's like 50's, why does it not totally die?"...) Rolling Eyes

relyat08 wrote:

sunflower wrote:

I have decoding software. Because of the way our home video system is set up with a mish mash of excellent but old equipment I end up having to decode and rip all our DVDs/BDs into files to watch them. Where can one buy anime from Australia? Is Ebay the only choice?

Siren Visual is where I got my set: https://www.sirenvisual.com.au/CatalogueSearch.php?term=monster&x=0&y=0

The whole series runs about $250 USD, which might be a bit much, but considering that its 74 episodes its not a bad deal. The best part is that it's completely legitimate so I felt good supporting the guys who actually licensed the whole thing.

If you're into getting collected editions, you may want to wait a bit when it comes to Monster. From the comments of the recent Answerman, someone made mention that a collected edition may be coming out.
animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=4335126#4335126

But, Siren is running a 30% off sale till the end of the month...so you may be able to get it now at a cheaper price than when/if they release a collected edition of the series.
http://www.sirenvisual.com.au/News/201408/378.php

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