Is that an order, or can I stick to eating chicken & mushrooms?

My memory is a little hazy on the details, but I think there was more to the original story (probably a light novel?) that never got adapted, which is why it kind of peters out at the end. It probably doesn’t get much attention the same way Mushi-shi doesn’t – it’s a slow-going show without a clear-cut plot, and that doesn’t appeal to a lot of the folks who watch anime (esp. here in the West).

If I’d ever finished Mushi-shi I’d have probably included that, too, but I’ve had the worst luck watching it just as sites get taken down or I lose internet for a few days and lose all momentum.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. It’s like the fact that you cannot create a category that includes all “fish” that doesn’t also include humans (or, if you want to exclude humans by way of things like body plan or living on land, then you have to include cetaceans and start excluding things like lungfish).

To use your example, most people would probably say there are actually pretty clear expectations of tone & pacing between “a Netflix show” vs. “an HBO show” vs. “a syndicated television show (from before streaming services)” despite them all being the same on the surface.

Calm down, dude ʕ థ౪థʔ

I can hear this gif.

I have a hard time conceptualizing PSG as an ecchi anime. Between the majority Tom & Jerry style animation and the much larger emphasis on toilet humor over leering at the girls, it just slides under my mental gate for it.

I have to distinguish “classic” big three because I’m more of an oldtaku and the young’ins these days consider the “big three” to be One Piece, Naruto, and BLEACH. I don’t necessarily mean “classic” here in terms of absolute quality but more “these were the three everyone at the time knew about” – which I know is also subject to region/culture when things like Knights of the Zodiac AKA Caballeros Del Zodiaco would have been THE anime of LatAm around the same time but virtually unknown in the U.S.

The way I see it, Hosoda’s films are a natural progression for anyone who likes Ghibli films, which I probably should have included in the post but it was already growing overly long. Low-key agree with you on Mirai and Belle but I’d say they’re still worth a watch. Also Summer Wars makes a lot more sense if you’re familiar with Digimon, as it’s just the Our War Game OVA extended out to a full movie.

Kinda fair wrt Perfect Blue, I’m used to its reputation preceding it. Generally all of Kon’s works are “kinda fucked up” tho; actual adult material (and not just gritty or overly-sexualized) that draws people to them.

I haven’t seen OPM yet, it’s been on my radar but I’ve been working on clearing things off my old personal list before adding more to it.

CITY I’ve only recently heard of but I keep seeing it brought up in relation to Nichijou so I’ll need to check it out eventually.

Oh, no, I’m aware that DBZ jumped the shark from the word “go”, and also vaguely aware of the original Dragon Ball being a retelling of Journey to the West. Truthfully, I expect I will actually enjoy Dragon Ball more than DBZ because while I hold a lot of nostalgia for DBZ, in rewatching it I realized how much it’s very much like a modern mythology story, where you already know the outcome (Goku wins) so there’s not the same kind of narrative weight we’re used to (not to mention some absolute bullshit maneuvers from time to time), but a lot of the fun is just getting to see the big, unbelievable battles and how they keep getting bigger and unbelievable-er. Dragon Ball being just an adventure story is probably going to be closer to my tastes nowadays.

Okay, I see where the confusion lies: fanservice is what that T&A in most anime is called. Ecchi is when that’s the main focus of the show. Again, it’s like how in a PG-13 movie they’re allowed a certain level of “suggestive themes” like an implied sex scene, but if they’re too blatant/obvious/frequent they’ve got to go up to an R rating.

So, like,

• Yoruichi in BLEACH: fanservice
• a zombie anime where every girl’s chest is as big as their heads and the shirts cling impossibly close to their skin and bullets travel between their individually flapping breasts (Highschool of the Dead): ecchi
• naked wolf girl with no visible tits in an otherwise grounded story about Medieval commerce (Spice & Wolf): fanservice
• an entire anime based around gaining superpowers by drinking breast milk straight from the tap (Qwaser of Stigmata): Ecchi
• beach or onsen episodes: fanservice
• harem anime where the girls are constantly in states of undress: ecchi

The anime community (especially in the West) has had a bad reputation about making the fanservice front-and-center (for various reasons I won’t get into here) but I think one should make a clear separation between what you see at fan meetups and what the actual content of the anime is.

I have never heard of Saiki at all. I’m also reasonably certain that I’ve only ever heard of Gintama by name, never seen a scrap of it in all my time. I’m also a certified hater of AoT, so there’s that.

As much as I do like Yu Yu Hakusho, I don’t think I’d call it particularly rewatchable. I will agree that FMA/FMA:B deserves it’s spot on the list, tho.

I do not think I like this list, but I don’t think I’ve cared for top X lists since I was a tween some two decades ago.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on Dragon Ball, though. I’ve been meaning to watch it for real and have been putting it off since I got gifted the entirety of DBZ and revisited my childhood.

Yeah, and as a matter of fact I think most ecchi anime don’t even show nipples (tho panty shots are often frequent). The furthest most ecchi anime will ever go is showing nipples, but generally you’re going to see things that are purposefully towing the line (barely-there swimsuits, groping, shirts/towels/hair just conveniently hanging down to cover important bits, references to sex toys and/or BDSM, et cetera.). The point of an ecchi is to be sexually arousing first, rather than just having a naked dark-skinned cat girl in an otherwise fairly serious action show about soul people with sentient swords. Most ecchi anime tends to be comedy as a result.

Series, probably to your tastes:

Not sure how you managed to watch only two of the classic big three but you absolutely need to go back and watch the original Trigun if you liked both Cowboy Bebop and Eva. (my rec: dubbed)

Similarly, you’d probably dig both Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy. Both are made by the same guy behind Cowboy Bebop and can kind of be seen as a thematic trilogy of sorts. Do be warned that Space Dandy is a little bit heavier on both the fanservice and nonsensical comedy, tho. (my rec for both: dubbed)

You’d probably enjoy Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit based on your other series. It’s a very down-to-earth tale of a prince saved from a prophecy by a swordsmistress, and it’s a bit of a slow burn but it’s well worth it. (my rec: dubbed)

Kino’s Journey is another one you might like. Similar to Cowboy Bebop it’s so episodic it’s practically slice-of-life but with a throughline of this character and their talking motorcycle going on an adventure through this dark and whimsical world. It’s kind of hard to properly explain without going into the entire plot. (my rec: dubbed)

I’ve never seen Food Wars, but I’ll cautiously recommend Interspecies Reviewers as a raunchy comedy with some actual thought put behind the world. Like, you can absolutely go in just thinking your in for brainless sexy monster girls but you’ll be presented with a world more fully-fleshed out than a vast majority of fantasy anime. (only 1 episode was ever dubbed b/c Funimation are COWARDS)

If I’m reading between the lines correctly and you’re a bit of an older fan who’s had to endure their share of unrewarding jobs, check out Aggretsuko. It’s kinda like if Hello Kitty and The Office had a baby. Aggretsuko is my spirit animal. (my rec: subbed).

Series, my personal faves:

Den-no Coil (I think there’s been multiple romanizations of this title). It’s a supernatural mystery/thriller with a very-near-future cyberpunk coat of paint, aesthetically it’s kind of like a cyber-Mushi-shi, but it shares a lot of the same themes of connection as NGE (my rec: subbed)

Gurren Lagann probably a Gainax classic, full-blown machismo cranked up not just to 11 but to 20, but somehow the plot ramps up in an appreciable way so that when they throw entire galaxies as shurikens by the end it’s not just complete bullshit. (my rec: dubbed)

Interviews with Monster Girls AKA Demi-chan wa Katatirai On the opposite end of the spectrum from Interspecies Reviewers, come for the idea of fun escapades with monster girls in the modern day and instead get some of the kindest, most poignant messages about people with disabilities, neurodivergence, special needs, and PTSD. (my rec: dubbed)

Nichijou Probably THE most well-known gag anime out there, it has an impeccable sense of comedic timing and some of the most well-animated gag shots in anime history. (my rec: subbed)

Movies

You need to go check out Mamoru Hosoda’s films:

• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
• Summer Wars
• Wolf Children
• The Boy and the Beast
• Mirai
• Belle

All of them have great dubs.

Also Satoshi Kon’s works:

• Perfect Blue
• Millennium Actress
• Tokyo Godfathers
• Paprika

I don’t think any of them have dubs

Also watch Redline because it’s fucking gorgeous (dub is good). Also The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl because it’s gorgeously animated* in another way (subbed unless you can keep up with the breakneck pace of the dub).

If you like Ghibli in general then check out both Miss Hokusai and In This Corner of the World. I think two different studios did the both of them but they’re both high-quality in terms of both animation and story.

It can be both

This is probably going to sound like the most milquetoast take but my favorite has probably got to go to Interspecies Reviewers. I went in expecting the stupidest raunchy antics and instead got some of the best worldbuilding I’ve ever seen for a fantasy anime. It also directly led to me checking out one of my favorite anime (for entirely different reasons), Interviews with Monster Girls AKA Demi-chan Kataritai.

Some honorable mentions, tho:

• Golden Boy, for a fun, raunchy comedy with a character who doesn’t turn into a total creep
• The Qwaser of Stigmata AKA Seikon No Qwaser for being unapologetically batshit insane throughout while still maintaining an air of being like a sex-filled FMA

Ecchi comes from the romanization of how the Japanese pronounce H, which is used to denote more-or-less explicitly sexual tones and themes – I cannot say with certainty the cultural context of the word in Japan but generally I think it would be equivalent to an MPAA R-rating (where most anime would fall under PG-13 equivalent ratings), as actual hentai/porn is considered a step or three above ecchi.

As a side-note, I think you mean isekai, not izakie. Isekai is also a direct romanization of the Japanese word meaning “another world”, so if you ever come across pedantic arguments over what “counts” as isekai, it’s because of that.

I guess I thought of it as people needing to actively be anime fans specifically, rather than just occassionally watching some anime and having fun with it. I suppose it’s similar to movies in that sense, where there’s quite a difference between a cinephile and someone who likes to put on Netflix to unwind.

Yeah, I think that’s a good way to phrase it. There is also a generational element, as I mentioned with the Gen Z statistic (probably more pronounced with anime because it is animation and a lot of the anglosphere still treats animation as “for kids”).

Also I want to apologize for probably coming across too brusquely before. I jumped to respond and then rushed to actually complete the response before I had to go to work. My bad.

I especially don’t know where anime (or, I guess more specfically, J-Pop) stacks up on the music/radio stage. AFAIK foreign-language songs just don’t crack the American music scene, but I’m no audiophile and I haven’t listened to the radio for close to two decades so ╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭

In terms of blockbuster: how about Demon Slayer’s Mugen Train movie being the highest grossing movie of 2020 worldwide? Infinity Castle was also the seventh-highest grossing movie of 2025 (and was the highest-grossing international film in the U.S.). That’s beyond Disney making Ghibli a household name.

Yes, my views are going to be U.S-centric, I’ll admit that, and I’m sure what counts as “everyday conversations” is going to vary by region – however for me “mainstream” means things like the above, that anime movies like Chainsaw Man and One Piece see theatrical releases outside of Japan and get placed on lists of highest-grossing movies worldwide. Pokémon is also partly anime and it is literally THE most profitable IP in the world. Big companies like Sony and Disney have anime as part of their regular catalogue. It’s not some niche little thing that only scrappy companies like Tokyopop will touch anymore. Goku is in the Macy’s Day Parade (which is a major national event in the U.S., I am completely unaware how well-known it is outside the country).

I’m sure you can argue that there are a lot of anime that no one outside those really entrenched in the greater anime fandom have heard of, but to discount anime as a whole being some niche form of media only known to those in the hobby is, IMO, misguided at best.

Oh, and something else to back up my claims: a 2025 global research report by Dentsu found around 30% of “global consumers” (which I’m reading as those with disposable income, probably 16 and up) watch anime at least once a week, and another 2023 report for the U.S. specifically found that 1 in 3 adults 18-54 watched “viral anime titles” with that number going up to 44% for Gen Z aged 18-24 at the time.

The common joke is that gooners looking for a doujin to fap to end up being emotionally broken – which personally I didn’t get but to each their own – but because it’s so grounded in reality it can set some people off, especially if they’ve had past trauma.

You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

In all seriousness Metamorphosis (AKA 177013) should probably come with some content warnings. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you’re being completely genuine.

( ≧▽≦) Oh sweet baby Dionysus

Calling bullshit that anime only became “mainstream” by the time of AoT’s final season. That was literally only 2020, anime had been mainstream for years at that point (I’d argue close to two decades). Also I remember watching those Bleach episodes as they premiered, the 3am claim is hyperbole, Toonami may have been part of the Adult Swim block by then but there was plenty of anime airing at primetime (as she herself mentioned earlier in the vid). I’m definitely being pedantic but these youngin’s actin’ like they had it so bad while vastly overselling the experience irks me.

Also I find it a little weird how she mentioned “anime stigma” like a dozen times and never once brought up the way a lot of parents used to associate late-night anime with hentai? That may be because of youtube, tho.

Obliviousness aside, I’m glad to see the general vibe here is not Lawful Stupid. Whatever team is working on this is clearly putting a lot of work in in addition to the AI and I’m very much looking forward to it, but of course because AI is even mentioned it has to be embroiled in the latest culture war. Le sigh.

Oh, damn, my mistake. You’re definitely a rarity in the anime fandom, then. I only know of Twinkle Nora Rock Me!, Chargeman Ken, and other similarly notorious anime from the 70s and 80s because of this one youtuber Kenny Lauderdale who covers old anime like that. It may have been from him that I even learned of YKK.

I would never be able to get into collecting LaserDiscs for various reasons but I tip my hat to you for being able to and helping with preservation, however small.

Kenny Lauderdale fan spotted ☆(^o^)乂(^.^)☆

Personally, my favorite parts of it have always been the themes of connecting with people and the hedgehog’s dilemma, rather than all the action-y bits or the heavy-handed religious symbolism. Between it, Eureka Seven, and The Big O, and comparing them to the likes of Code Geass and whichever-actual-Gundam-series-I-watched, I learned I don’t really care for mecha being mecha, but I enjoy when mecha are metaphor.

Yeah I still remember like a dozen years ago watching a Digibro video that was trying to proclaim “your tastes should always be changing!” and I was literally within 2-3 years of their age at the time and was like, “how fucking young are you that you think this is a revolutionary thing to say?”

Like, my love for FMA has only grown over the years as I’ve matured and am better able to appreciate its themes, and meanwhile I can no longer stand even a single minute of Hetalia. Similarly, I grew up on all the long-running shounen battle anime like DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, etc., but I couldn’t bring myself to like Fire Force because I’m not 15 years old anymore (though I will admit HeroAca is a guilty pleasure of mine).

There’s dozens of us! Dozens!

My condolences. Haibane Renmei is one of my favorites.

I think on the one hand it is fair to say NGE is one of the greats from its time and arguably one of the most influential anime ever made (to the point where it’s now part of Japan’s cultural identity – you can hear Cruel Angel’s Thesis just causally as waiting room music for instance).

On the other hand, even as a fan myself I recognize how many brain-dead evangelical (heh) supporters try to tout it as the end-all-and-be-all of anime when it’s really just an unorthodox entry into a very specific type of genre.