Anime sucks.

Seriously, hear me out. There I was, minding my own business, trying to play a video game, and these colors and sounds started popping up on my boyfriend's TV screen and “oh shit….I died.” Let’s try this again...focusing on my game...and dead. Anime had completely SUCKED me in. 

I paused my game and started watching what he was watching. It was Trigun. I immediately fell for the lovable goofball Vash the Stampede. I watched the first series, which seemed much more light-hearted than Trigun Stampede, which came out in 2023. But holy shit Stampede is beautiful and brutal. Both have very different animation styles, but Stampede was fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. There was no way I could play games and watch at the same time. The opening credits song is also an absolute banger. 

Okay okay. I don’t hate anime. Like, I REALLY don’t. I thought I would because I had only seen a few episodes of Dragon Ball Z here and there, and seriously, what is up with a whole episode of the poop face? I realize they are powering up for something…but an entire episode? But I found myself even sucked into this ridiculous show. I cannot begin to describe how much I hate Majin Buu and Cell. But I digress. 

Getting into anime is a massive undertaking because there is SO MUCH content. It can be incredibly overwhelming. With my limited time as a gamer and generally busy person, I have to pick and choose what I allow to steal my concentration. Other than Trigun and Trigun Stampede, I’ve compiled a short list below of some anime that gave me no choice but to watch them. These are pretty easy to consume for an anime newbie like me. Hopefully, you enjoy them too and find something you take to as well. 

Some people don’t consider Avatar: The Last Airbender to be anime. Yes, technically, it is an American cartoon heavily inspired by anime, but it has many of the same tropes. Appa is my spirit animal, and it’s so hard not to have hope with Aang as the Avatar and Sokka and his silly antics. I watched this show from start to finish, and I love returning to it occasionally when I need comfort. Uncle Iroh’s wisdom and the growth of each character make it so hard not to love every single character except Azula. She’s seriously a terrible person. I can’t wait for the live-action series coming to Netflix in 2024. 

Next up was Demon Slayer. This one has a MASSIVE following. If you have been to any convention or comic book store in the past two years, you will see Demon Slayer everywhere. There is a good reason for this. The story is fantastic, and the animation is amazing. I laughed, and I cried, and let’s be honest, Inosuke is insane, and I love him for it. The first two seasons are amazing, and that’s as far as I have gotten. We started the third season, but I didn’t feel as invested with different characters other than Inosuke and Zenitsu. I just love them too much. Maybe I will get back to it in my limited time, haha. 

Recently, I got pulled into one of my favorites so far. I know nothing about the original story or the game, and I had not seen the earlier series, but if you haven’t seen Castlevania: Nocturne, you should. Richter Belmont is cocky and sarcastic, and the vampires are terrifying and beautiful at the same time. I hate that it ended in a cliffhanger because WTF, Netflix. I need more Richter and sexy vampires in my life. I love how this series has taken some terrible people from history and put an even nastier spin on them. Elizabeth Bathory, anyone? 

So, I had to start watching the original Castlevania series on Netflix, which takes place before Nocturne. I love Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, and it gives a lot more backstory to the Belmonts and Dracula. How can you not love the Belmonts? They are grumpy and cocky, yet still adorable. I still can’t believe both Castlevania series are an adaptation of a video game series that started in 1986.

A few others that I have seen off and on that I want to mention are Dragon Prince (Netflix), Star Wars Visions (Disney Plus), and Godzilla Singular Point (Netflix). These are absolutely beautiful and worth the watch. 

This is not to say that everything I have started watching has sucked me out of my gaming reverie, but these were a good start. Some anime can have hundreds of episodes (I’m looking at you, One Piece), so if you are busy like me, you have to choose wisely. I know Chainsaw Man is popular, but it didn’t hook me. And Jujutsu Kaisen (another popular one) just made me depressed. Very likely, I just caught the wrong episode, but oh well. I can see the appeal, but I have enough to do haha. Attack on Titan is another that I just couldn’t get into. I know it’s crazy…just not for me. You can catch most of these on Crunchyroll, except Castlevania and Avatar, which you can find on Netflix.  

If you need some great recommendations to get you sucked into anime, keep an eye on Tom Richards over on Couch Soup. He is a big fan of some of the anime that didn’t get their hooks into me, so if you want to know why he loves them, check out his articles. He is our resident anime expert and can give some amazing recommendations.

What are some of your favorite anime to watch? I’m all ears! Give me some of your recommendations in the comments below!