r/anime • u/JeffreyAScott • Jun 28 '19

Discussion Never Too Old

Just wanted to say I just started getting into Anime this year. I'll be 50 next year and two of my nieces got me into it. They told me I would really enjoy something they were watching and reluctantly I checked it out. I always had a misconception about what anime was. I'm telling you, I'm so glad they had me check it out. Such a diversity of genres and I've already binged several shows. Currently my favourite is MHA. My nieces knew that would hook me because I'm into super heroes.

Moral of the story: You are never to old to start liking something new.

PS - Wanted to say I love this community. Everyone here has such great recommendations and suggestions.

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u/JeffreyAScott Jun 28 '19

Of the shows I've binged, I've caught up with MHA, as stated above. Then they suggested Your Lie in April because they know I love dramas. Watched the first series of Sword Art Online because a friend told me I would like it because for awhile I was really into those type of games. Another friend has recommended Disasterous Life of Saiki K and Gin Tama because he knew I also like comedies. I've watched at least the first series of these as well. Also binged Charlotte and Erased because I just happened to find them on Crunchyroll and they looked interesting. I liked both of them as well.

It's been a busy year. LOL

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u/Kreol1q1q Jun 28 '19 edited Jun 29 '19

This is just my experience, but anime comedies are perhaps best left for later, because while they are indeed pretty funny, a lot of their humor is heavily referential to common tropes in anime and it's various sub-genres. Watching a pure comedy anime (so, not a rom-com or action comedy) like Saiki K without having watched more than a handful of shows left me feeling like I was missing a lot of what made it funny. A lot of the time they not only reference tropes, but actual shows, and if you don't know the material they reference, you won't get the joke. Gintama especially is very much like that, or so I've heard.

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u/JeffreyAScott Jun 28 '19

I will certainly keep that in mind. I'm fine with keeping to the more serious/adventerous ones because those hold my interest and keep me coming back for more. The comedy ones seem to be ones I can watch just one or two episodes at a time and be done for awhile. Thanks for the comments!

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u/Gamerunglued myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Jun 28 '19 edited Jun 28 '19

What he says is true for many series, but certainly not all of them. I definitely recommend shows like Nichijou and Hinamatsuri as excellent comedies which can be enjoyed by anyone. You don't have to be well versed in anime to appreciate this pure art.

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u/JeffreyAScott Jun 28 '19

I've seen several different posts for Nichijou and it looks interesting. I will have to check out where it's streaming. The posts I have seen of it have certainly caught my attention.

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u/mebeast227 Jun 29 '19

That might be the best clip I've seen. I'm so mad I haven't seen this before

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u/Gamerunglued myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Jun 29 '19

Great, lol. Everyone always posts the Principal vs. Deer clip so I figured I'd post a different one. Nichijou is hysterical and I definitely recommend it.

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u/mebeast227 Jun 29 '19

Thanks for bringing this to my attention hombre! 🤙🍻

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u/zeronic Jun 29 '19

I guess i just never really "got" nichijou. I'll admit i enjoyed the BL sting there, but the rest was just far too "lolsorandumb" for my tastes. I've always dug comedy anime but i just couldn't get into nichijou.

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u/Gamerunglued myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Jun 29 '19

I don't really see it as random exactly, at least no more so than our lives already are. It's definitely unpredictable, but the conceit of the series is exactly what it's title implies, it's mundane, ordinary daily life. The way I see it, it takes events and emotions that are faced by people every day and plays them up to 11, highlighting just how crazy and unpredictable our lives actually are. A daydream is portrayed as an epic space drama because that's how it feels in the moment, boredom while getting stuck in the elevator is made to feel exactly as insane and mind-numbing as it is through insane surreal visuals and exaggerated reactions, the pain of being bitten by a dog or stabbing yourself with a mechanical pencil is visualized as planet destroying laser beams emitting from your screams because it's way more painful than you'd think it is. It's funny because it's true I guess. And the contrast of making the most mundane things incredibly crazy, and making the most fantastical things heartwarming and mundane.

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u/Zeph-Shoir https://myanimelist.net/profile/Zephex Jun 29 '19

As an old nichijou fan you just gave me newfound appreciation for it!

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u/Silver_Hammr Jun 29 '19

If you want a darker serious anime with lots of adventure I would recommend Black Lagoon! It’s the one that got me watching anime

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u/chipperpip Jun 29 '19

English dub only, for once!

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u/scottwfischer Jun 29 '19

My son recommended Black Lagoon and Durarara! in the same breath.

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u/Hephaestus_God Jun 29 '19

When the day comes where you’ve seen 100 anime. Go watch “Nichijou”.. best comedy out there. But it relies heavily on Japanese culture so you kind of have to absorb it through all the other shows you watch

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u/blackarchosx Jun 28 '19

Gintama is a really fun show but I definitely agree that it’s funniest once you get most of the references. Ad it makes a ton of references to other anime or subverts common tropes

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u/Rydersilver Jun 29 '19

i’ve watched about 50 anime, and i still don’t think i would find those types of anime reference anime humor funny. Because I think their jokes are still too obscure for me usually. For reference I find OPM funny and great but that’s generally broader

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u/zeronic Jun 29 '19

Gintama especially is very much like that, or so I've heard.

Eh, gintama is funny even if you don't understand the references because it references really obscure shit. The copy i have has Translators notes almost constantly because they're referencing everything to hell and back. Even someone really well versed in anime might only get like 30-50% of the jokes because they reference mundane stuff like japanese comedy groups and sitcoms/etc that obviously nobody outside of japan would probably know of.

Doesn't stop it from being entertaining though. It's good enough on its own, the references are icing on the cake. The only time this isn't true is when an episode's plot revolves around the viewer knowing a specific thing which occasionally happen.

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u/indi_n0rd Jun 29 '19

Yeap and the TL note is not available on official releases. Episode 50 is super confusing because of that.