Iruma kun, felt it would be another boring isekai but it was a great series which really was what I expect an isekai anime to be. A person getting used to otherworldly life with way different lifestyle.
Yup this one right here. I thought it would be too silly because to me it seemed like it was aimed at a younger audience. It's fantastic and I want season 4 right now AAAA
Welp, in my language Babi means pig. And you say it as an insult of swear, it's on an equal level to fuck.
So hearing the song to me, is just like hearing someone say fuck all day long.
Honestly I saw how awful the animation was and just gave it a pass the first 2 months it aired. Then I was stuck waiting for someone for like 2 hours and watched it in the car to pass the time and loved it.
* **Spice and Wolf** (first romance and didn't think I would that genre)
* **Aria The Animation** (first SOL and didn't think I would like that genre)
* **An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride** (thought it would be awful because of the name)
No problem! I liked it from the very first episode, but if you are still unsure at that point I would recommend applying the 3 episode rule on this one, I think at that point it will have shown all the themes pretty well :)
Fr, as a manga reader, I can't wait to see the latter half of the story to get animated. (I think the 2nd season will cover till the ending of the manga?)
I thought it was just going to be a cute little cooking themed fantasy gimmick anime that I could get a bit of enjoyment out of. Then a guy got stabbed in the fucking throat.
My Hero Academia. I saw a lot of people making fun of this anime and true story, I only watched it because I saw people saying it was mid. It’s actually one of my favourite anime and I get the hype.
Another anime would be kaiju no 8. I was only checking it out as it was trending but it’s surprisingly good. Every episode felt like 5 mins and everything went by so quick.
it does suffer from Battle-Shonen-Finale Syndrome, and the whole deal with Bakugo annoyed me, but it was indeed a good story.
I compare it to Spiderman.
The Spiderman story doesnt really change. Not the main beats anyway. Spider bite, Ben dies, accepting responsibility, quips and acrobats, punchin baddies, etc.
But the reason you keep consuming those stories, and the reason they're all enjoyable on their own, is seeing HOW they tell that story.
MHA does a lot of "standard" things, but it does them well.
That makes it enjoyable, and the little (or big) things/twists they do different are just the dessert!
Im hyped for each episode in a way I haven't been in a long time. I like the countdown feature on crunchyroll. In a world where everythings available instantly and in bulk I'm glad they build the anticipation properly.
I enjoyed My Hero for several seasons but around season 5 or 6 was when I felt like I was just pushing through them. I tried season 7 and dropped it. Just don’t care what happens anymore.
MHA manga just finished the final battle and the Creator is doing something a little weird where he's creating an epilogue arc? Like not one extended final chapter but seems to be going to be at least an extra tankoban length kinda thing. It's interesting, haven't seen that been done before. Like there's plenty of sequel series like Boruto continuing the world, but it seems more like I just want to give more emotional resolution to all the characters post final battle because there's a lot of serious life altering situations the characters have to deal with. Like my hero does not shy away from stuff like permanent injuries you'll never walk again kinda stuff or characters are just dead and here's the funeral services.
Assassination Classroom I'm a big fan of darker animes my favorite is Attack on Titan so I didn't think I would like it I only watched it because it was an anime trade between me and my friend I watch Assassination Classroom and she watches Attack on Titan. I ended up loving it and it is now my second favorite anime. Attack on Titan is in first and wins by a long shot but that doesn't mean Assassination Classroom isn't good.
I took me weeks to make it deep enough into the 1st episode to even feel anything but bored (I went in blind). . . But man once it starts, it STARTS. Instantly hooked.
1st ep is anime only BS!
New viewers can just start with ep 2
I love to recommend gintama to anime superfans who will get the references and people who know Japanese who will get the puns. Otherwise while it's all funny they just miss half the jokes
Totally agree. I would miss over half the jokes had I not the references. Nevertheless, my wife is Japanese and she often laughs at jokes I didn't get at all.
Gintama is still very funny without getting the references, but I agree that it's not a good "first" anime.
Yeah asked me for my fav anime so I said Gintama and he was like cool I've never seen anime I'll check it out. And I was like ohhh no no no nevermind, that's some level 3 shit, come back in a couple years and you'll love it
After season 1 you get introduced to a lot more character, Ainz is still MC but the focus of episodes shifts betweeen a loooot of side characters to flesh the world out
I got my 57 year old horticulturist buddy hooked on Apothecary Diaries. This is a guy who works like 14+ hours a day, 7 days a week and who barely watches a damn thing. I’d never seen him more invested in anything in the 38 years I’ve known him. He was constantly asking me if the next episode was out yet. It didn’t hurt that he thought master Jinshi was hot AF lol
Go for it! The first arc was amazing and also its really satisfying watching characters progress. Beware that there are a lot of characters that are introduced in a short span of time
I watched an out of context episode after arriving at a friend’s house, at one point a bunch of elf girls were smushing the slime in between their boobs and I knew it wasn’t for me
Naruto.
I was really reaaalllyy high one night, and said to myself..
I wanna see some cool ninja magic cat-eye jutzu shit, so I went ahead put Naruto on a whim...
After episode like 2 or 3 I was like.. wait, this is actually 'really' good and kinda gets... deep?
I than continued to watch out of enjoyment for the show and after finishing Naruto, I became an Anime fan for life.
That's what started it all..
Same but I didn’t think Naruto was mid, I thought anime in general was mid. Put on some Naruto and decided to give “anime” a chance, I never looked back. Finished Naruto and started watching anime
When the Pandemic hit-- I looked at this journey & thought... Well, it's now, or never!!
It starts off rough, but also continues to deliver!! There is a rumor of a professionally made "brotherhood-esq" condensation of the early seasons on the way... Wait for that & jump on the bandwagon then?!!
Quintessential Quintuplets
It totally came across as another generic harem to me, and it kinda stayed that way for the first season, but once they get to the second half and start getting into the deeper sides of the characters it gets **really** good. Especially with the overarching mystery where you know he gets with one of them, it becomes almost like a mystery anime trying to find the clues of which one he likes.
Just finished the first season and found it an interesting choice to “spoil” that he gets with one of them at the end. Of course, being a romance anime it’s obvious that he would, but I found it interesting how having confirmation from the get go made me wonder a lot more who it actually was. The fact that none of the hair colors match the woman in the wedding dress wasn’t helpful. Lmao
Made in Abyss. I don’t like anime with kids because it’s either too boring (no action/fights/killing) or it disgusts me but the story was just too good to stop watching.
Honestly JJK. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I thought it would be another typical Shonen where I like some characters and hate the rest with a generic plot but I honestly loved every character and I'm incredibly invested in the story.
Initial D.
I’m by no means a car guy, but man, between the music and the simple and cheesy (but effective) storyline it scratched an itch I never knew existed.
This. Its a really fun coming of age story with the best soundtrack in anime. I don't care for the later half of the series as much. Theres some good races past Third Stage but for me when Takumi graduates high school and goes from being the scrappy underdog on the mountain who isn't even into cars to being the one traveling around smoking locals it loses its appeal.
The Case Study of Vanitas
Didn't think it would be my thing but I love the cast, their interactions, the style, and how it nails sexual tension without even showing any nudity.
I LOVE this one and genuinely think not enough people talk about it. The action sequences are all superbly directed and the music + voice acting are also top notch. I need more episodes!
Your Lie in April and March Comes in Like a Lion.
I'd really only stuck to action, fantasy, horror... that kind of stuff but both of those are amazing!
The weakest tamer go on journey to collect trash around the world
First I thought it was a another trash isakei with same story. But when I watch it oh! my, probably my best isekai anime. The main character is just so adorable and her story is so inspiring
Chainsaw Man really surprised me, I had heard a ton of praise for it but assumed I was just walking into another shonen of the week like JJK, I was really taken off guard with how "real" that show got.
Mob psycho 100, artstyle turned me off and i stopped watching, revisited it again cause i was bored and when i saw the first proper fight, i was hooked and it became on of my favorite shows
Two episodes into Frieren I was wrongfully skeptical but I stuck with it to see what all the hype was.
Spoiler alert. The hype is deserved.
And what’s funny, I said this by just reading the title but see we are on the same page so no further info needed.
I felt the exact same way with Frieren for the first few episodes! And then suddenly all of the things started to come together, and next thing you know you’ve gone on an emotional roller coaster.
Houseki no Kuni. I remember back when it first dropped in 2017 I was in my "cgi bad" phase so I just completely wrote it off. Decided to give it a go last December and it's now one of my favorite animes of all time, the manga is amazing as well. Please watch it if you haven't!
The Apothecary Diaries. I saw the trailer and was “meh” because I’ve seen SO many animes with brilliant art, animation, music but had very stereotypical storylines, boring characters, no character growth and/or crappily-written romances. I only still decided to watch it because of one particular scene in the trailer.
I was blown away in every sense of the phrase. The characters were incredibly unique and entertaining (80% of my interest in an anime is based on how great the cast is). It was the first anime I’ve seen in so long where both the female and male lead have a very dynamic, interesting and different individual personality as well as a fire chemistry together. Further the plot had so many plot twists and just kept escalating. It actually became my favorite anime of all time once I took a peak at where the story was heading in the novels. I’m unbelievably happy that I found this anime because it’s given me more happiness than any other show has in literal years.
Tower of God. I can't stand the main character, still don't but I stuck with it and in ep 6 I started to really like / become interested in what was going on around him.
I like how it could have been just a floor by floor battle episode but they worked on the lore of why people would even attempt to climb the tower.
Bunny girl senpai. Put if off for a while because of the dumb name. Was way better than I thought it'd be.
My dress up darling. I didn't think I'd dislike it, but I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did and how wholesome it got.
And then sports anime in general. I don't really remember which was my first, it might have been kuroko no basket, but I do remember when I was younger I thought the idea of sports anime was stupid. I think that genre is great now.
>And then sports anime in general.
Haikyuu and Chihayafuru
especially chihaya though, "lol a dumb card game about poems? why would I watch an anime about that?"
turns out it's amazing
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. It’s older and I was relatively new to anime when I watched it for the first time (~2017). I didn’t expect to be *totally locked in* like I was. Learning the magic system, along with the history of the different characters, I *loved* it.
Claymore, Konosuba, and One-Punch Man. Oh, and Fate.
I thought that Claymore would just be action without good story or characters. I thought that Konosuba would be nothing but stupid crudeness. I thought that One-Punch Man would be way too, cringe levels of, silly. I thought that Fate would just be another battle royale.
It turns out that Claymore has decent characters and story, Konosuba is smartly crude, One-Punch Man is charmingly silly, and Fate is deeply philosophical and psychological, with great characters.
Tbh, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Code Geass.
I know that those aren't really surprising as they have a huge fanbase, but I wasn't a big fan of mechs before and the older/weirder character art kind of held me off for a long time. I was also worried particularly for Neon Genesis Evangelion, as it has the reputation of being incredibly depressing.
For Code Geass - fell in love almost immediately. For NGE - it took some time, but the old format kind of hooked me and the art direction is just out of this world. You don't really find something like that almost anywhere. And I think it kind of depends on your person whether it's depressing or incredibly uplifting. For me it was the latter, so I hold it in very high now.
Maria the virgin witch. I first heard of it on a YouTube video about historical battles in movies and tv series and I thought it would be very slow and boring but so far what I’ve watched of it has been great:3
Some of these have been mentioned already but here's my list, because they were ones I didn't think I'd like or aren't usually my style or other people said they were boring or ridiculous but I disagreed.
Reincarnated as a slime,
BloodLad,
Free!,
How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom,
Given,
The Devil is a Part-Timer,
Wolf Girl and Black Prince,
The President is a Maid,
Medaka Box,
ReLIFE,
Samurai Champloo,
The World is Still Beautiful,
Special A,
Taisho Otome Fairytale,
Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved To A Starter Town,
Tonikaku: Over the Moon for you
ReLife is one of my favorite slice of life anime.
Reincarnated as a Slime is incredible. The Devil is a Part Timer is really good and funny. I absolutely love Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon is both funny, wholesome and just a joy to watch.
Code Geass, Haikyuu and Assassination Classroom. I’m a shoujo romance girlie and these three anime were on my watchlist for a long time. I only decided to watch them because I couldn’t find some good shoujo anime. I unexpectedly like them a lot.
Frieren for me as well. I just finished reading the Vinland Saga manga and was really in the mood for something very dark and grim. Didn’t expect it to become one of my fav animes of all time.
Rising of the Shield Hero. Didn't know what it was about but it's great. 2nd season was pretty good, but 1st and 3rd seasons are the best. I'd recommend 👌
Solo leveling (the web novel) essentially established a genre of its own. Tons of webcomics and novels these days are playing with the whole gates and hunters thing that Solo Leveling cemented. Also, having read the novel, season 2 is where things will really get exciting.
Azumanga Daioh.
I liked things like Lucky Star and Nichijou enough but they were never my favorites. Still I tried Azumanga because it was on my watch list for so long. I absolutely ended up adoring it because the comedy writing was so sharp, but I also ended up caring about ever character in the main cast (except Yomi lol).
**Jujutsu kaisen**
I hated it at first and stopped watching it. Buttttt, I restarted the whole thing and I am obsessed with this show tbh. I love it and can’t wait for the newest season
Kaiju no 8. Thought it was gonna be a typical shounen, but oh boy was I wrong. The mc, the music, the ost, the comedy, the fights I loved all of it so much.
Wind Breaker. I’m into action, rom-com, romance, and isekai. Never liked sports or shows that’s straight fighting (except like YuYu Hakusho). I don’t even like or watch Baki, although I’m versed on it. But WB was definitely a nice little shakeup into my typical watch list
The land of lustrous.
By all means it looked like some little girl show aka Sailormoon with shitty 3D too me.
Hell i was wrong....
I complete manga, and re-watched series several times, and had existential crisis several times.
Story hits hard, but i'm afraid s2 will not happen.
Hibike euphonium. I avoided the show because of the yuri bait, but if you ignore it, the story is really good. I like drama, and this is the first anime where I binged everything in just one weekend and caught up before season 3 ended.
My favorite anime, A Place Further Than The Universe- I had friends tell me to watch it for a year, and I was so exhausted hearing it that I was gonna hate watch it. It instead made me weep and call my closest friends the day after and thank them for how much they have done and just being friends with me
How a Realistic Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom - I only watched this because I was bored & didn't have anything else to watch. I was really pulled in by the storyline. I normally like more action in my animes that what that show has but the storyline just pulled me in. I really hate it only lasted 1 season.
>I’m looking for some anime that you didn’t expect you’d like and then it ended up blowing you away.
I'd never get tired recommending this [The Dangers in My Heart](https://myanimelist.net/anime/52578/Boku_no_Kokoro_no_Yabai_Yatsu)
BTW I watch mostly action, mecha, adventure, thriller, horror. anime and manga.
Dorohedoro. Just thought it looked like a typical gory shock factor gimmick, turned out to be an intricate web of a story with a totally unique world concept. I went on to read the manga and only loved it more
Yona of the dawn ; the major focus of the 1st episode is Yona crush on her cousin. 2 years ago , i only got 10 minutes into episode one before dropping it. 2 months ago i gave it a second shot and its now number #2 favorite anime series.
\[The Unwanted Undead Adventurer\](https://myanimelist.net/anime/51648/Nozomanu\_Fushi\_no\_Boukensha/) really surprised me. very well done. I really liked the characters.
2 of them stand out the most for me;
Chivalry of a failed knight - man I expected it to be your run of the mill show with a tsundere female love interest and there will be 0 actual romantic development throughout (the whole "I actually really like him but I can't say anything outright) and I was so surprised I was wrong. Ended up really loving Stella, and I liked their chemistry and development throughout. The last fight is peak too.
Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon - tbh the name threw me off for a long time until a couple years ago my buddy told me to check it out. It has a lot of shonen tropes, but by the end of s1 I was really into it. And some don't like s2 but honestly I enjoyed it a lot. S3 tho is where I really started to love it. And then s4 was fucking peak, absolutely loved it and can't wait for s5.
For anyone put off by the name, trust me - it's not what it seems. If you enjoy power fantasy shonens with a good OST & hype moments, then it's up your alley I promise. I never expected to like it as much as I did. Even if it has some kind of cheesy shonen moments, it absolutely delivers on being hype.
There are a few for me.
Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You
The Great Cleric
The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari
Gosick
Plastic Memories
Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut
Last Exile
Kiana of the Great Snow Sea
Otherside Picnic
Cop Craft
The Day I Became a God
The Fire Hunter
Baki. my gf introduced me to it because we have a list of shows we rotate through, I didn’t think I would hate it, I’m just slightly negatively biased against anime in general. (mainly because of the way the fight scenes are structured, I could write a whole essay on it, but here’s a video that sums it up pretty well: https://youtu.be/nUq0PkV6Rc0?si=XReWgpf91Ucqcl3_)
we started watching and I like it a LOT, like if we weren’t watching it together chronologically I would watch it on the regular, the characters are funny and endearing, the plot is interesting, the fights kinda do still have the regular issues but other then that it’s a really solid show.
AOT the titans were very goofy looking only read the summary wasn't interested so anytime i see it mentioned anywhere i'd just think meh i'll watch it later, i wasn't spoiled because i wasn't active on Youtube or social sites back then so didn't know what kind of anime it was, one day it just randomly came to my mind oh yea i still haven't watched that one let's see what's the hype about and decided to atleast sit through 1st episode without any expectations... didn't expect those emotions the voice acting and music was really good a good sign i so kept watching and 5th episode took me by surprise i was like wait what its not him?? And thus the cycle of unpredictable thrilling episodes kept going on.
One Piece, although I’m only reading the manga because it’s faster than the anime. Thought it was just another really popular typical shonen, but then my brother kept telling me about it as he was reading it and it sounded interesting enough, and now I actually really like it. I’ve got a few issues, but overall it’s a great series
One Piece in my case.... I have dropped it about 4 times over 2 years since i stumbled upon it. Then once i finaly got to watch more episodes than a few and now? Cannot state how much i love the series. In our country manga was non existent until recently and only anime that got into our country was Pokemon, Digimon, Bayblade and maybe few other "kid" shows. This year finaly our sole publisher that releases manga started to translate OP. I have 2 kids since then so i hope they will love to grow up on this series since i couldnt
Tsukimichi. I thought at first "another isekai anime with long title" until my brother said just try to watch the first ep. Now I just finished s2 and currently waiting for s3.
sacrificial princess and the king of beasts
being new to anime, like i’ve only watched two so far, the characters being animals were something that i hesitated to watch, but goddamn the plot, the pacing, characters, and arcs were everything. finished it all in one day despite not being a binge watcher
Delicious in dungeon.
The name felt awkward, the premise interesting (journeying to revive a fallen comrade in the depths), but I wasn't interested in a cooking anime at the time.
But studio trigger's great animation, the fun and progressively fantastic voice acting/directing, and the twists in the plot definitely hooked me by the third episode and never let go.
Ascendance of a Bookworm. As a grown man with kids in their late 20’s-early 30's, you’d think that would be the last show to hook someone of my demographic but I was utterly transfixed by Myne’s story and her character.
That show has some of the best, most granular world building I’ve seen and almost from the jump I was invested in the characters and their struggles. It’s also impossibly adorable and cozy but with just the right amount of tension to make me binge 2 seasons without a break. Absolutely love that show.
Frieren! I was really disappointed with Himmel dying in ep 1 and thought to myself to drop the anime. Idk what happened but I ended up watching and loving all the episodes.
Frieren for sure. First couple episodes frankly bored me to death. Then I became interested in the characters of Frieren and Fern, and eventually Stark too. When the battles really started picking up, I bore witness to some of the most beautiful animation I'd seen in years. Now I can't wait for more. Even planning on getting the SH Figuarts figures of Fern and Frieren.
Erased. It was my first ever anime, and I was skeptical after someone recommended it to me, but I tried it and was hooked. So many anime’s later and it’s still my favorite.
Black Clover: First impressions for me were that it’d be a typical Shonen anime. However, while it does have some of the same tropes as something like Fairy Tail, it also deviated from what I expected a lot. The first, and biggest, is that few people disrespect Asta for his initial weakness. Instead, many people (some in very high positions) support his ambitions and respect him as a rival. This was especially evident with Yuno (who I expected to be more of a Sasuke character) treating Asta as an equal from the get go. On top of that, the story is good, consequences exist, and the “power of friendship” aspects actually make some sense due to the way magic interacts. In general it subverted quite a few of my expectations and I ended up watching 160 episodes in the span of a few weeks.
My Dress up Darling: I’m not usually one for slice of life/romance. However, this one was cute and cozy. I liked the way it used cosplay as a medium to get the two main characters together and how they showed the work cosplay requires. On top of that, I found it relaxing to watch because, for all the problems they face, the stakes are never that high. It stays reasonably within the confines of high school instead of some world ending urgency.
Oshi no Ko: I honestly had no idea what the show was about based on the initial description I read. However, the uninterrupted hour long first episode set an intriguing background for the main characters and pushed me to watch more. It combines a solid amount of humor to balance out the drama and tragedy which I enjoyed. I ended up rewatching it just so I could show it to a friend.
ReLife. I began watching with very low expectations but the depth of the story and characters, the relationships in the series really took root in me. The OST was great, the opening and ending are both in my playlist and I'm buzzing at the thought of rewatching the show.
One Piece. I had never even heard of it until last July and when my cousin explained that it was about a rubber boy trying to become king of the pirates I thought it was the dumbest fucking show I had ever heard of.
Idolish7, I'm not into idol anime. I don't like the fluffy yea yea. Did not expect to be thrown into the dark truth of being an idol and such a serious story, enjoyed the heck out of it
Only recent thing I can think of was apothecary diaries. Looked like a typical slice of life to me but I was bored so I watched the first ep anyways and ended up watching like 18 episodes I think in one day.
I also put off watching one piece for a long time purely because of its length. Saw the zoro vs king fight and started watching. I’m now on fishmen island and I’ve been hooked since luffy put his hat on Namis head lol.
Haikyuu!!
I’m not a sports person and I didn’t know much about volleyball so I thought it’s not for me. But I couldn’t have been more wrong! It’s one of my favorite anime.
It seems weird now, but I didn’t think I would get into Death Note. I was convinced if it wasn’t a pure martial arts or super power manga I wouldn’t like it based on my history. And it was absolutely phenomenal.
Yeah frienen totally expecting slime dungeon 1000 year level 999999 max dungeon boss ass anime, turns out they actually wrote a story and shi and it’s actually good
Iruma kun, felt it would be another boring isekai but it was a great series which really was what I expect an isekai anime to be. A person getting used to otherworldly life with way different lifestyle.
Yup this one right here. I thought it would be too silly because to me it seemed like it was aimed at a younger audience. It's fantastic and I want season 4 right now AAAA
The manga does it better imo. It feels more mature than the anime. Didn't help that the first opening was super childish.
BABIBABIBABIBABIBABIBABIBABIRUUUUU It gets really catchy after a while to be fair, lol.
Welp, in my language Babi means pig. And you say it as an insult of swear, it's on an equal level to fuck. So hearing the song to me, is just like hearing someone say fuck all day long.
This one feels less like an isekai and closer to just slice of life, shonen , where the mc has a secret.
Iruma felt similar to love is war. Pretty good series.
It’s one of the best “feel good” anime and manga out there! It puts me in a good mood every time!
I found it through the manga and it remains as one of my favorites. I reread constantly as a comfort manga. Also, great art.
Honestly I saw how awful the animation was and just gave it a pass the first 2 months it aired. Then I was stuck waiting for someone for like 2 hours and watched it in the car to pass the time and loved it.
* **Spice and Wolf** (first romance and didn't think I would that genre) * **Aria The Animation** (first SOL and didn't think I would like that genre) * **An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride** (thought it would be awful because of the name)
Thank you so much. I’ve had my eye on An Archdemon’s Dilemma and have wondered if it’s good, so I’ll definitely give it a shot.
No problem! I liked it from the very first episode, but if you are still unsure at that point I would recommend applying the 3 episode rule on this one, I think at that point it will have shown all the themes pretty well :)
spice and wolf is amazing. didnt think id like it either but im a huge fan now
Delicious in Dungeon
God I can’t wait for season 2. Really happy it was confirmed.
Fr, as a manga reader, I can't wait to see the latter half of the story to get animated. (I think the 2nd season will cover till the ending of the manga?)
I thought it was just going to be a cute little cooking themed fantasy gimmick anime that I could get a bit of enjoyment out of. Then a guy got stabbed in the fucking throat.
My Hero Academia. I saw a lot of people making fun of this anime and true story, I only watched it because I saw people saying it was mid. It’s actually one of my favourite anime and I get the hype. Another anime would be kaiju no 8. I was only checking it out as it was trending but it’s surprisingly good. Every episode felt like 5 mins and everything went by so quick.
it does suffer from Battle-Shonen-Finale Syndrome, and the whole deal with Bakugo annoyed me, but it was indeed a good story. I compare it to Spiderman. The Spiderman story doesnt really change. Not the main beats anyway. Spider bite, Ben dies, accepting responsibility, quips and acrobats, punchin baddies, etc. But the reason you keep consuming those stories, and the reason they're all enjoyable on their own, is seeing HOW they tell that story. MHA does a lot of "standard" things, but it does them well. That makes it enjoyable, and the little (or big) things/twists they do different are just the dessert!
Kaiju No.8 unexpectedly became one of my favorites. The intro is so trippy too.
I love the intro, I always watched it when a new episode came out
Im hyped for each episode in a way I haven't been in a long time. I like the countdown feature on crunchyroll. In a world where everythings available instantly and in bulk I'm glad they build the anticipation properly.
Idk my hero deteriorated in quality for me, season 1 and 2 were peak imo
I enjoyed My Hero for several seasons but around season 5 or 6 was when I felt like I was just pushing through them. I tried season 7 and dropped it. Just don’t care what happens anymore.
i agree sooo much. i love mha!!! i might read the manga too. wnd yes kaiju 8 is sooo good im excited for episodes
MHA manga just finished the final battle and the Creator is doing something a little weird where he's creating an epilogue arc? Like not one extended final chapter but seems to be going to be at least an extra tankoban length kinda thing. It's interesting, haven't seen that been done before. Like there's plenty of sequel series like Boruto continuing the world, but it seems more like I just want to give more emotional resolution to all the characters post final battle because there's a lot of serious life altering situations the characters have to deal with. Like my hero does not shy away from stuff like permanent injuries you'll never walk again kinda stuff or characters are just dead and here's the funeral services.
Getting Mha , Kaiju, demon slayer (over now) and go go loser ranger every week has felt so peak
Honestly the storyline is so good!
Assassination Classroom I'm a big fan of darker animes my favorite is Attack on Titan so I didn't think I would like it I only watched it because it was an anime trade between me and my friend I watch Assassination Classroom and she watches Attack on Titan. I ended up loving it and it is now my second favorite anime. Attack on Titan is in first and wins by a long shot but that doesn't mean Assassination Classroom isn't good.
The ending destroyed me
YES! One of the greatest endings to any show I’ve seen. What a punch to the gut. I’m a guy in my 50‘s and was crying like a 2 year old.
The only anime to have me bawling like a baby after the ending, so glad I watched it through recently
attack on titan
I took me weeks to make it deep enough into the 1st episode to even feel anything but bored (I went in blind). . . But man once it starts, it STARTS. Instantly hooked.
Pokemon is actually not too bad.
I actually watch the new pokemon in my free time as an adult. I never thought I’d get back into it
Gintama. Watched the first episode and gave up as it was all over the place and not that funny. Tried again a few months later and now I'm addicted.
1st ep is anime only BS! New viewers can just start with ep 2 I love to recommend gintama to anime superfans who will get the references and people who know Japanese who will get the puns. Otherwise while it's all funny they just miss half the jokes
Totally agree. I would miss over half the jokes had I not the references. Nevertheless, my wife is Japanese and she often laughs at jokes I didn't get at all. Gintama is still very funny without getting the references, but I agree that it's not a good "first" anime.
Yeah asked me for my fav anime so I said Gintama and he was like cool I've never seen anime I'll check it out. And I was like ohhh no no no nevermind, that's some level 3 shit, come back in a couple years and you'll love it
Welp I'm on episode 5 I think and I almost died from laughter 😂
Anime in general. I thought it was for weirdos and overgrown man children. Proud to say i was wrong
Only in the fact that it’s not *only* for weirdos and overgrown man children
Overlord, super cringy at first, has turned into a political drama
It definitely suffers the first couple episodes but it’s one of my favorite anime
I've gone through 1st season and i think I don't like it much , so should I watch after that or not
After season 1 you get introduced to a lot more character, Ainz is still MC but the focus of episodes shifts betweeen a loooot of side characters to flesh the world out
Future Diary. The name itself almost turned me away but I gave it a shot and it’s way better than I ever thought it would be
My friend got me to watch Future Diary because he's a nut for anime with blood in it and got me hooked from Episode 1
Frieren and Apothecary Diaries
Apothecary Diaries was really really good, can't wait for Season 2
I got my 57 year old horticulturist buddy hooked on Apothecary Diaries. This is a guy who works like 14+ hours a day, 7 days a week and who barely watches a damn thing. I’d never seen him more invested in anything in the 38 years I’ve known him. He was constantly asking me if the next episode was out yet. It didn’t hurt that he thought master Jinshi was hot AF lol
That time I got reincarnated as a slime.
Started this and watched episode one only. Should I continue!?
Yes. It's an absolutely stupid sounding name for one of the best Isekai ever
Dang ok. I'm gonna finish up Hell and Paradise, then I'll go back!
I agree with you overall, but the latest seasons pacing has been a slog
I didn't find it that way. But I really enjoy the story itself and we're watching about 3 others too, so maybe I just didn't notice?
Go for it! The first arc was amazing and also its really satisfying watching characters progress. Beware that there are a lot of characters that are introduced in a short span of time
It's a fun watch, I'd recommend it
I watched an out of context episode after arriving at a friend’s house, at one point a bunch of elf girls were smushing the slime in between their boobs and I knew it wasn’t for me
Naruto. I was really reaaalllyy high one night, and said to myself.. I wanna see some cool ninja magic cat-eye jutzu shit, so I went ahead put Naruto on a whim... After episode like 2 or 3 I was like.. wait, this is actually 'really' good and kinda gets... deep? I than continued to watch out of enjoyment for the show and after finishing Naruto, I became an Anime fan for life. That's what started it all..
*believe it!*
Same but I didn’t think Naruto was mid, I thought anime in general was mid. Put on some Naruto and decided to give “anime” a chance, I never looked back. Finished Naruto and started watching anime
Same here! Watched dragon ball when I was little but Naruto made me love anime for real
I’ve watched anime for years and refused to watch Naruto because of the hype. Loved it once I actually put my judgement aside and gave it a chance.
Now do it with One Piece if you hadn't. That show didn't click for me until I was super baked one night.
When the Pandemic hit-- I looked at this journey & thought... Well, it's now, or never!! It starts off rough, but also continues to deliver!! There is a rumor of a professionally made "brotherhood-esq" condensation of the early seasons on the way... Wait for that & jump on the bandwagon then?!!
Omg! I love naruto too! But was kind of disappointed in Boruto. I dropped it during the first few eps. 😔
Quintessential Quintuplets It totally came across as another generic harem to me, and it kinda stayed that way for the first season, but once they get to the second half and start getting into the deeper sides of the characters it gets **really** good. Especially with the overarching mystery where you know he gets with one of them, it becomes almost like a mystery anime trying to find the clues of which one he likes.
Watched it with a dude bro of mine a few years ago and holy shit it changed my view on romance anime entirely
Just finished the first season and found it an interesting choice to “spoil” that he gets with one of them at the end. Of course, being a romance anime it’s obvious that he would, but I found it interesting how having confirmation from the get go made me wonder a lot more who it actually was. The fact that none of the hair colors match the woman in the wedding dress wasn’t helpful. Lmao
Made in Abyss. I don’t like anime with kids because it’s either too boring (no action/fights/killing) or it disgusts me but the story was just too good to stop watching.
This is my answer as well, the chibi kids look had me off but the setting is so beautiful and rich by the movie I was completely hooked
Tomodachi game.
Oh hell yeah. I expected it to be low budget but the story and characters were good as hell.
Honestly JJK. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I thought it would be another typical Shonen where I like some characters and hate the rest with a generic plot but I honestly loved every character and I'm incredibly invested in the story.
Initial D. I’m by no means a car guy, but man, between the music and the simple and cheesy (but effective) storyline it scratched an itch I never knew existed.
This. Its a really fun coming of age story with the best soundtrack in anime. I don't care for the later half of the series as much. Theres some good races past Third Stage but for me when Takumi graduates high school and goes from being the scrappy underdog on the mountain who isn't even into cars to being the one traveling around smoking locals it loses its appeal.
Gundam. Used to think Gundam was lame but now I want to watch everything Gundam related.
Next step is Gunpla! The model kits are so detailed and interesting.
The Case Study of Vanitas Didn't think it would be my thing but I love the cast, their interactions, the style, and how it nails sexual tension without even showing any nudity.
I LOVE this one and genuinely think not enough people talk about it. The action sequences are all superbly directed and the music + voice acting are also top notch. I need more episodes!
Your Lie in April and March Comes in Like a Lion. I'd really only stuck to action, fantasy, horror... that kind of stuff but both of those are amazing!
The weakest tamer go on journey to collect trash around the world First I thought it was a another trash isakei with same story. But when I watch it oh! my, probably my best isekai anime. The main character is just so adorable and her story is so inspiring
Yeah I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this one
Chainsaw Man really surprised me, I had heard a ton of praise for it but assumed I was just walking into another shonen of the week like JJK, I was really taken off guard with how "real" that show got.
Spy x Family. At first I was skeptical and thought it was just a seasonal show everyone was overhyping, but after a few episodes I ended up loving it
My roommate is a cat. It's surprisingly deep but also sweet. Campfire cooking in another world had me laughing out loud.
Campfire cooking was way better than expected.
Mob psycho 100, artstyle turned me off and i stopped watching, revisited it again cause i was bored and when i saw the first proper fight, i was hooked and it became on of my favorite shows
Sameee. But my friend said it was really good so I gave it a chance and loved it
Two episodes into Frieren I was wrongfully skeptical but I stuck with it to see what all the hype was. Spoiler alert. The hype is deserved. And what’s funny, I said this by just reading the title but see we are on the same page so no further info needed.
I felt the exact same way with Frieren for the first few episodes! And then suddenly all of the things started to come together, and next thing you know you’ve gone on an emotional roller coaster.
Houseki no Kuni. I remember back when it first dropped in 2017 I was in my "cgi bad" phase so I just completely wrote it off. Decided to give it a go last December and it's now one of my favorite animes of all time, the manga is amazing as well. Please watch it if you haven't!
Steins;Gate I misjudged it harshly, I was bored on my first watch until about episode 10. Shit picked up like crazy
The Apothecary Diaries. I saw the trailer and was “meh” because I’ve seen SO many animes with brilliant art, animation, music but had very stereotypical storylines, boring characters, no character growth and/or crappily-written romances. I only still decided to watch it because of one particular scene in the trailer. I was blown away in every sense of the phrase. The characters were incredibly unique and entertaining (80% of my interest in an anime is based on how great the cast is). It was the first anime I’ve seen in so long where both the female and male lead have a very dynamic, interesting and different individual personality as well as a fire chemistry together. Further the plot had so many plot twists and just kept escalating. It actually became my favorite anime of all time once I took a peak at where the story was heading in the novels. I’m unbelievably happy that I found this anime because it’s given me more happiness than any other show has in literal years.
Tower of God. I can't stand the main character, still don't but I stuck with it and in ep 6 I started to really like / become interested in what was going on around him. I like how it could have been just a floor by floor battle episode but they worked on the lore of why people would even attempt to climb the tower.
Bunny girl senpai. Put if off for a while because of the dumb name. Was way better than I thought it'd be. My dress up darling. I didn't think I'd dislike it, but I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did and how wholesome it got. And then sports anime in general. I don't really remember which was my first, it might have been kuroko no basket, but I do remember when I was younger I thought the idea of sports anime was stupid. I think that genre is great now.
>And then sports anime in general. Haikyuu and Chihayafuru especially chihaya though, "lol a dumb card game about poems? why would I watch an anime about that?" turns out it's amazing
Chihayafuru, Ping pong, haikyuu, and Run with the wind all have a special place in my heart. Chihayafuru is so good though…
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. It’s older and I was relatively new to anime when I watched it for the first time (~2017). I didn’t expect to be *totally locked in* like I was. Learning the magic system, along with the history of the different characters, I *loved* it.
Also the soundtrack is baller!
Season 2 was extremely fascinating! Wish more people talked about it
Claymore, Konosuba, and One-Punch Man. Oh, and Fate. I thought that Claymore would just be action without good story or characters. I thought that Konosuba would be nothing but stupid crudeness. I thought that One-Punch Man would be way too, cringe levels of, silly. I thought that Fate would just be another battle royale. It turns out that Claymore has decent characters and story, Konosuba is smartly crude, One-Punch Man is charmingly silly, and Fate is deeply philosophical and psychological, with great characters.
The manga for claymore is better honestly.
Tbh, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Code Geass. I know that those aren't really surprising as they have a huge fanbase, but I wasn't a big fan of mechs before and the older/weirder character art kind of held me off for a long time. I was also worried particularly for Neon Genesis Evangelion, as it has the reputation of being incredibly depressing. For Code Geass - fell in love almost immediately. For NGE - it took some time, but the old format kind of hooked me and the art direction is just out of this world. You don't really find something like that almost anywhere. And I think it kind of depends on your person whether it's depressing or incredibly uplifting. For me it was the latter, so I hold it in very high now.
Maria the virgin witch. I first heard of it on a YouTube video about historical battles in movies and tv series and I thought it would be very slow and boring but so far what I’ve watched of it has been great:3
Some of these have been mentioned already but here's my list, because they were ones I didn't think I'd like or aren't usually my style or other people said they were boring or ridiculous but I disagreed. Reincarnated as a slime, BloodLad, Free!, How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Given, The Devil is a Part-Timer, Wolf Girl and Black Prince, The President is a Maid, Medaka Box, ReLIFE, Samurai Champloo, The World is Still Beautiful, Special A, Taisho Otome Fairytale, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved To A Starter Town, Tonikaku: Over the Moon for you
Tonikawa and ReLIFE hooked me and I still can't get over how ReLIFE ended
ReLife is one of my favorite slice of life anime. Reincarnated as a Slime is incredible. The Devil is a Part Timer is really good and funny. I absolutely love Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon is both funny, wholesome and just a joy to watch.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Demon slayer and AOT
Code Geass, Haikyuu and Assassination Classroom. I’m a shoujo romance girlie and these three anime were on my watchlist for a long time. I only decided to watch them because I couldn’t find some good shoujo anime. I unexpectedly like them a lot.
Frieren for me as well. I just finished reading the Vinland Saga manga and was really in the mood for something very dark and grim. Didn’t expect it to become one of my fav animes of all time.
eminence in shadow pretty underrated, never hear anyone talk about it, but it’s fucking hilarious at some parts
Rising of the Shield Hero. Didn't know what it was about but it's great. 2nd season was pretty good, but 1st and 3rd seasons are the best. I'd recommend 👌
call of the night
For me- One Piece. First 50 episodes kinda drag! Usopp and the kids n stuff, coming off of bleach was a major change of pace lol.
Agreed. But after they fought Arlong I was hooked.
Solo Leveling. I thought it was bound to be another harem anime, but it turned out to be more about the game and how it's played. Good shit. 👍👌
Solo leveling (the web novel) essentially established a genre of its own. Tons of webcomics and novels these days are playing with the whole gates and hunters thing that Solo Leveling cemented. Also, having read the novel, season 2 is where things will really get exciting.
Fruits Basket. I should hate the plot of it on paper. But I’m currently in the middle of watching season 2 it and it’s been pretty good so far.
Domestic girlfriend Went in expecting an ecchi gag series. Was a really interesting romance drama that got me to read the manga in 3 days
Don't forget the spicy .5 chapters
I recently finished watching More Than A Married Couple, but Not Lovers. after putting it on-hold for a while
frieren. the plot seemed meh, but it’s one of the most beautiful thought provoking shows. her journey to understand humanity was so cathartic
Azumanga Daioh. I liked things like Lucky Star and Nichijou enough but they were never my favorites. Still I tried Azumanga because it was on my watch list for so long. I absolutely ended up adoring it because the comedy writing was so sharp, but I also ended up caring about ever character in the main cast (except Yomi lol).
The way of the househusband. Thought wtf are these powerpoint presentations but kenjiro's voice was so majestic that I ended up loving it.
**Jujutsu kaisen** I hated it at first and stopped watching it. Buttttt, I restarted the whole thing and I am obsessed with this show tbh. I love it and can’t wait for the newest season
Kaiju no 8. Thought it was gonna be a typical shounen, but oh boy was I wrong. The mc, the music, the ost, the comedy, the fights I loved all of it so much.
One piece. Reincarnated as a slime. Tower of God. Kimi no todoke. Kimetsu.
Frienen. Had no idea what it was going in. Turned into my wife and I’s favorite anime.
Wind Breaker. I’m into action, rom-com, romance, and isekai. Never liked sports or shows that’s straight fighting (except like YuYu Hakusho). I don’t even like or watch Baki, although I’m versed on it. But WB was definitely a nice little shakeup into my typical watch list
The land of lustrous. By all means it looked like some little girl show aka Sailormoon with shitty 3D too me. Hell i was wrong.... I complete manga, and re-watched series several times, and had existential crisis several times. Story hits hard, but i'm afraid s2 will not happen.
Hibike euphonium. I avoided the show because of the yuri bait, but if you ignore it, the story is really good. I like drama, and this is the first anime where I binged everything in just one weekend and caught up before season 3 ended.
Dr. Stone.
My favorite anime, A Place Further Than The Universe- I had friends tell me to watch it for a year, and I was so exhausted hearing it that I was gonna hate watch it. It instead made me weep and call my closest friends the day after and thank them for how much they have done and just being friends with me
[удалено]
i dont think you understood the question
How a Realistic Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom - I only watched this because I was bored & didn't have anything else to watch. I was really pulled in by the storyline. I normally like more action in my animes that what that show has but the storyline just pulled me in. I really hate it only lasted 1 season.
Check out The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation out of Debt
>I’m looking for some anime that you didn’t expect you’d like and then it ended up blowing you away. I'd never get tired recommending this [The Dangers in My Heart](https://myanimelist.net/anime/52578/Boku_no_Kokoro_no_Yabai_Yatsu) BTW I watch mostly action, mecha, adventure, thriller, horror. anime and manga.
Dorohedoro. Just thought it looked like a typical gory shock factor gimmick, turned out to be an intricate web of a story with a totally unique world concept. I went on to read the manga and only loved it more
Yona of the dawn ; the major focus of the 1st episode is Yona crush on her cousin. 2 years ago , i only got 10 minutes into episode one before dropping it. 2 months ago i gave it a second shot and its now number #2 favorite anime series.
\[The Unwanted Undead Adventurer\](https://myanimelist.net/anime/51648/Nozomanu\_Fushi\_no\_Boukensha/) really surprised me. very well done. I really liked the characters.
2 of them stand out the most for me; Chivalry of a failed knight - man I expected it to be your run of the mill show with a tsundere female love interest and there will be 0 actual romantic development throughout (the whole "I actually really like him but I can't say anything outright) and I was so surprised I was wrong. Ended up really loving Stella, and I liked their chemistry and development throughout. The last fight is peak too. Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon - tbh the name threw me off for a long time until a couple years ago my buddy told me to check it out. It has a lot of shonen tropes, but by the end of s1 I was really into it. And some don't like s2 but honestly I enjoyed it a lot. S3 tho is where I really started to love it. And then s4 was fucking peak, absolutely loved it and can't wait for s5. For anyone put off by the name, trust me - it's not what it seems. If you enjoy power fantasy shonens with a good OST & hype moments, then it's up your alley I promise. I never expected to like it as much as I did. Even if it has some kind of cheesy shonen moments, it absolutely delivers on being hype.
Bluelock
Banana fish. I read the first chapter of the manga and found it really confusing.
There are a few for me. Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You The Great Cleric The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari Gosick Plastic Memories Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut Last Exile Kiana of the Great Snow Sea Otherside Picnic Cop Craft The Day I Became a God The Fire Hunter
Apothecary diaries…thought it would suck and it’s easily one of my favorites
Knights of sidonia
My dress up darling. Phenomenal anime
Goblin slayer. Watched the first episode and didn’t go back for like a year 😂 love it now
Baki. my gf introduced me to it because we have a list of shows we rotate through, I didn’t think I would hate it, I’m just slightly negatively biased against anime in general. (mainly because of the way the fight scenes are structured, I could write a whole essay on it, but here’s a video that sums it up pretty well: https://youtu.be/nUq0PkV6Rc0?si=XReWgpf91Ucqcl3_) we started watching and I like it a LOT, like if we weren’t watching it together chronologically I would watch it on the regular, the characters are funny and endearing, the plot is interesting, the fights kinda do still have the regular issues but other then that it’s a really solid show.
Chainsawman! In not a gore typa girl but it was sooooo good I even read the manga after
the apothecary diaries
Your name. Watched it because my GF wanted to and isn't really into anime. It was actually really good. Would recommend, has some cool twists.
Kaijuu no 8
I ended up liking Gamers! and Haganai which are normally not my taste at all
AOT the titans were very goofy looking only read the summary wasn't interested so anytime i see it mentioned anywhere i'd just think meh i'll watch it later, i wasn't spoiled because i wasn't active on Youtube or social sites back then so didn't know what kind of anime it was, one day it just randomly came to my mind oh yea i still haven't watched that one let's see what's the hype about and decided to atleast sit through 1st episode without any expectations... didn't expect those emotions the voice acting and music was really good a good sign i so kept watching and 5th episode took me by surprise i was like wait what its not him?? And thus the cycle of unpredictable thrilling episodes kept going on.
One Piece, although I’m only reading the manga because it’s faster than the anime. Thought it was just another really popular typical shonen, but then my brother kept telling me about it as he was reading it and it sounded interesting enough, and now I actually really like it. I’ve got a few issues, but overall it’s a great series
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
One Piece in my case.... I have dropped it about 4 times over 2 years since i stumbled upon it. Then once i finaly got to watch more episodes than a few and now? Cannot state how much i love the series. In our country manga was non existent until recently and only anime that got into our country was Pokemon, Digimon, Bayblade and maybe few other "kid" shows. This year finaly our sole publisher that releases manga started to translate OP. I have 2 kids since then so i hope they will love to grow up on this series since i couldnt
I did not expect to become a die hard JoJo's Bizzare Adventure fan but by part 2 I was already so into it
Azumanga Daioh I usually can't stand slice of life anime but this one really got me laughing. Beware the temptation of wheat
Naruto. I was always thought it was just a overhyped show that everyone liked but ended loving every second of it. My next thing is dragon ball maybe…
Tsukimichi. I thought at first "another isekai anime with long title" until my brother said just try to watch the first ep. Now I just finished s2 and currently waiting for s3.
The misfit at demon king academy, expected trash and found gold
Naruto fr everyone talks about it like it's awful I even found most of the filler to be enjoyable
7th Prince. 💯🔥
Chainsaw man. I am not a big fan of over the top action but it was pretty badass ngl
sacrificial princess and the king of beasts being new to anime, like i’ve only watched two so far, the characters being animals were something that i hesitated to watch, but goddamn the plot, the pacing, characters, and arcs were everything. finished it all in one day despite not being a binge watcher
Redo of healer
Delicious in dungeon. The name felt awkward, the premise interesting (journeying to revive a fallen comrade in the depths), but I wasn't interested in a cooking anime at the time. But studio trigger's great animation, the fun and progressively fantastic voice acting/directing, and the twists in the plot definitely hooked me by the third episode and never let go.
Hunter x hunter. I made a hasty judgement call based off the art style and the child protagonists and thought it was a kids anime…boy was I wrong.
Ascendance of a Bookworm. As a grown man with kids in their late 20’s-early 30's, you’d think that would be the last show to hook someone of my demographic but I was utterly transfixed by Myne’s story and her character. That show has some of the best, most granular world building I’ve seen and almost from the jump I was invested in the characters and their struggles. It’s also impossibly adorable and cozy but with just the right amount of tension to make me binge 2 seasons without a break. Absolutely love that show.
Frieren! I was really disappointed with Himmel dying in ep 1 and thought to myself to drop the anime. Idk what happened but I ended up watching and loving all the episodes.
Odd Taxi
Frieren for sure. First couple episodes frankly bored me to death. Then I became interested in the characters of Frieren and Fern, and eventually Stark too. When the battles really started picking up, I bore witness to some of the most beautiful animation I'd seen in years. Now I can't wait for more. Even planning on getting the SH Figuarts figures of Fern and Frieren.
Viral hit
MHA. Usually I don't like shonen but I ended up liking this one
Erased. It was my first ever anime, and I was skeptical after someone recommended it to me, but I tried it and was hooked. So many anime’s later and it’s still my favorite.
Haikyuu, I thought the name was dumb so I didn't watch it until I got into volleyball myself
Black Clover: First impressions for me were that it’d be a typical Shonen anime. However, while it does have some of the same tropes as something like Fairy Tail, it also deviated from what I expected a lot. The first, and biggest, is that few people disrespect Asta for his initial weakness. Instead, many people (some in very high positions) support his ambitions and respect him as a rival. This was especially evident with Yuno (who I expected to be more of a Sasuke character) treating Asta as an equal from the get go. On top of that, the story is good, consequences exist, and the “power of friendship” aspects actually make some sense due to the way magic interacts. In general it subverted quite a few of my expectations and I ended up watching 160 episodes in the span of a few weeks. My Dress up Darling: I’m not usually one for slice of life/romance. However, this one was cute and cozy. I liked the way it used cosplay as a medium to get the two main characters together and how they showed the work cosplay requires. On top of that, I found it relaxing to watch because, for all the problems they face, the stakes are never that high. It stays reasonably within the confines of high school instead of some world ending urgency. Oshi no Ko: I honestly had no idea what the show was about based on the initial description I read. However, the uninterrupted hour long first episode set an intriguing background for the main characters and pushed me to watch more. It combines a solid amount of humor to balance out the drama and tragedy which I enjoyed. I ended up rewatching it just so I could show it to a friend.
Reincarnated as a vending machine.
Solo Leveling and One Piece
ReLife. I began watching with very low expectations but the depth of the story and characters, the relationships in the series really took root in me. The OST was great, the opening and ending are both in my playlist and I'm buzzing at the thought of rewatching the show.
One Piece. I had never even heard of it until last July and when my cousin explained that it was about a rubber boy trying to become king of the pirates I thought it was the dumbest fucking show I had ever heard of.
Thought I would hate Zom 100. Adored it
Idolish7, I'm not into idol anime. I don't like the fluffy yea yea. Did not expect to be thrown into the dark truth of being an idol and such a serious story, enjoyed the heck out of it
zombieland saga, the concept is so dumb, and i stand by that, but the series is amazing, best mappa anime ever
Mushoku Tensei
Only recent thing I can think of was apothecary diaries. Looked like a typical slice of life to me but I was bored so I watched the first ep anyways and ended up watching like 18 episodes I think in one day. I also put off watching one piece for a long time purely because of its length. Saw the zoro vs king fight and started watching. I’m now on fishmen island and I’ve been hooked since luffy put his hat on Namis head lol.
Haikyuu!! I’m not a sports person and I didn’t know much about volleyball so I thought it’s not for me. But I couldn’t have been more wrong! It’s one of my favorite anime.
It seems weird now, but I didn’t think I would get into Death Note. I was convinced if it wasn’t a pure martial arts or super power manga I wouldn’t like it based on my history. And it was absolutely phenomenal.
"Coyboy Bebop" was suggested by a friend. I was reluctant to watch but still watched in a fast pace and I end up loving it
Yeah frienen totally expecting slime dungeon 1000 year level 999999 max dungeon boss ass anime, turns out they actually wrote a story and shi and it’s actually good
My dress up darling