The Best Anime To Watch If You're An Anime Newbie

"Anime" is a small word for what is a vast, complex world of media. Genre, visual style, and demographic targets vary wildly from production to production: Both "Ping Pong the Animation," which explores adolescence through the nail-biting world of table tennis, and "Thermae Romae," which follows a time-traveling architect as he uses modern Japanese technology to build the greatest bathhouses Ancient Rome has ever seen, fall under the same anime umbrella, yet couldn't be more different. This immense diversity means that being an anime fan is never boring. Unfortunately, it also means that becoming an anime fan is an increasingly intimidating challenge. 

Should an anime neophyte start with series set in the real world, or ones that embrace the field's most out-there instincts? Is it better to jump in through movies or series? Which older productions are suitable for a complete newbie, and which are better enjoyed once one has the lay of the land? 

All of these questions are worth asking, yet all are capable of overwhelming a curious newcomer. Luckily, we've considered them for you, and assembled this guide for all prospective fans in need of guidance. These are the best anime movies and series to watch if you're an anime newbie.

Michiko Malandro kicks "Michiko to Hatchin" off by breaking out of prison. She promptly proceeds to spirit Hatchin, a serious-minded young girl, out of her abusive foster home. As Michiko explains to the bewildered kid, they're setting out to find Hiroshi, Hatchin's dad and Michiko's former lover, who allegedly died in a bus accident 10 years prior. With the police hot on their trail, this won't be easy, but Michiko has a knack for getting them out of scrapes ... most of the time.

As an ersatz mother-daughter story set in a thinly-fictionalized version of Brazil, "Michiko to Hatchin" certainly stands out in the world of anime. But this series isn't simply notable for the nature of its content — it's also one of the best anime productions of the past few decades. "Michiko to Hatchin" fires on every single cylinder, from its lush soundtrack to its multidimensional writing. 

It's also a particularly great option for anime newcomers: Our leading ladies are immediately intriguing to even the least-initiated neophyte, their world is (basically) our own, and their story hangs upon a relatively simple structure. Essentially, Michiko and Hatchin go places ... and then they get there. Yet within that curt description lies a lavish journey of childhood disillusionment, criminal dealings, and tentative rebirth. You'll never regret getting on the back of Michiko's sweet turquoise bike, though you might find yourself in tears by the time this journey reaches its end.

As a mind-bendingly metaphysical exploration of the digital age, "Serial Experiments Lain" is definitely not the best anime for every newbie to check out. If you're the kind of person who loves Philip K. Dick, has ever favorably described something as "existentialist," and likes the idea of an anime that references Proust, however, this is the series for you. 

Lain Iwakura is an apparently normal teenage girl. Her world is a slightly accelerated version of our own, in which the internet has become the Wired, a completely virtual reality. But the line between artificiality and truth is becoming increasingly blurred: Dead classmates send Lain email, and she begins to encounter strange doppelgangers of herself with very different personalities. Soon, she's pondering the prospect of abandoning physical reality altogether in favor of life in the Wired.

While there's no shortage of anime exploring ideas of this nature, "Serial Experiments Lain" is entirely devoted to them. A fan could spend years untangling its references to deicide, Schumann resonances, and Cordwainer Smith. Yet "Serial Experiments Lain" is also a fairly brief series, at only 13 episodes. This scant runtime makes it a far less intimidating time investment to a newcomer, as well as a tighter series overall. Science fiction fans looking to expand their love of the genre beyond prose fiction, movies, and video games are sure to love getting lost in Lain's cybernetic wonderland.

As you might have guessed from the title, "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt" is an adults-only affair. In fact, it was inspired by raunchy animated shows like "Drawn Together," among other Western productions. While this makes it a totally inappropriate watch for anyone under 18, it also makes it especially well suited to Western anime newbies, who will find it to be familiar ground ... even if the experience of watching characters who wouldn't look out of place on "The Powerpuff Girls" swear, cheat, and steal is somewhat jarring.

Panty and Stocking are angels who've been booted from Heaven for their lustfulness and gluttony, respectively. To get back through the pearly gates, they need to tackle Daten City's ghost problem with their magical lingerie: Panty's underwear transforms into a pistol, while Stocking's hosiery becomes katanas. Along the way, they battle uptight demon sisters, pull off a "Transformers" parody, and get turned into zombies. "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt" throws pretty much everything at the wall to see what sticks, careening from one visual style, gross-out premise, and goofy pun to another. The results are hysterical, and offer the anime newbie a solid sampler of aesthetics, tropes, and tone. Armed with knowledge of "Panty and Stocking," one can more easily make the jump to series like "Osomatsu-san" and "Kill la Kill." Plus, you'll never look at underwear the same way again.

In our Marvel-dominated era, even the least nerdy person is familiar with superheroes. "Tiger and Bunny" puts an anime twist on that genre, and in so doing, creates an entirely new kind of superhero story. 

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (aka Wild Tiger) protects Stern Bild City with an ability to massively increase his strength for five minutes. Barnaby Brooks Jr., who has the same power, is out to discover who killed his parents. Together, they take on evil ... while covered in corporate logos. In this universe, superheroes are thoroughly commodified: Their suits advertise Amazon, Pepsi, and Namco, their exploits are televised on a show called "Hero TV," and at the end of the season, one of their number is crowned the King of Heroes.

This slightly cynical take only highlights the human drama at the center of the story. Kotetsu is an especially engrossing example: A single dad torn between working to support his daughter and actually being there for her, he struggles with the public's lackluster opinion of him, the still-painful loss of his wife, and his thorny partnership with Barnaby. His story isn't quite like any other superhero saga — the length of "Tiger and Bunny" affords him more development than a Marvel movie could, while the sleek visuals create eye-popping moments of heroism even the most highly-budgeted Arrowverse show couldn't approximate. Anime-curious cape-and-cowl fans aren't just in for a treat with "Tiger and Bunny" — they're in for a triumph.

The "Ghost in the Shell" franchise has made a major impact on global culture: The Wachowskis and James Cameron have both cited it as a major influence on their work (via The Guardian). While the 1995 film is many fans' starting point, the 2002 anime series "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" offers newbies an even more ideal introduction to Major Motoko Kusanagi's world, and cyberpunk anime in general.

Kusanagi is a member of Public Security Section 9, an elite group of soldiers, hackers, detectives, and scientists tasked with investigating high-level intelligence and security threats. Given the fact that Section 9 exists in a future where nearly everybody is a cyborg with a "cyberbrain" directly connected to the internet, they have a lot on their plate. "Stand Alone Complex" tackles the kind of high-minded concepts sci-fi dreams are made of: Identities are obscured by hacking into people's vision, robo-tanks debate the nature of sentience, and false ideologies are spread by cyberbrain virus. But beneath all this artificiality lurks an indisputably human wealth of emotion, rich with tragedy, perseverance, loneliness, and love. This makes the series a genuine classic of the genre, and a wonderful entry point for newbies — even at its most speculative, "Stand Alone Complex" remains tethered to its multifaceted characters. Plus, it has the Tachikomas, who are definitely the cutest combat vehicles you'll ever encounter.

Often, when people describe a work of fiction as "all ages," they really mean "for kids." Adults might get a kick out of it too, but not much more than that. "Little Witch Academia" is that rare production a kid and their parent can both thoroughly enjoy. Akko, our goofball heroine, is overjoyed to be attending Luna Nova Magical Academy, a school that turns eager young girls into powerful witches. Unlike many of her classmates, however, Akko struggles with even the simplest spells. Moreover, the world of witchcraft isn't all it appears to be: Interest in the old ways is waning, and even an institution as venerable as Luna Nova is feeling the crunch. Akko's journey into the heart of magic ends up being more difficult, enigmatic, and exhilarating than she ever could have imagined — and she's the kind of girl who has imagined a lot.

Classic fantasy tropes are thick on the ground here, from mystical artifacts to druid-y tree spirits. Don't think this is a simple retread, though — there's nothing old in "Little Witch Academia" that isn't eventually transformed into something entirely new. The series' careful balance of cheeky humor and warm-heartedness is a big part of pulling this off: One episode manages to poke gentle fun at "Twilight" fandom and tell an earnest story about authorship. Whether you're a kid like Akko or a senior like Luna Nova's headmistress, you'll discover all-new kinds of magic in "Little Witch Academia."

Studio Ghibli has produced so many incredible movies, picking one to start with can feel impossible. We submit that "Spirited Away" is the best choice for newcomers to anime. As evidenced by its massive box office returns, dozens of awards, and fathomless ocean of critical praise, it's a straight-up masterpiece. But it's also surprisingly simple: Chihiro, our 10-year-old heroine, becomes lost in a magical realm, learns she's braver than she realized, and returns to reality. This structure is immediately comprehensible to even the most tentative newbie, yet it sacrifices none of Ghibli's trademark complexity. Like "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" before it, "Spirited Away" uses this storytelling scaffold to build a towering monument to fantasy at its most rich.

Chihiro, who is deeply unhappy about her family's move, starts out as a moody kid curled up in the backseat. After she's trapped in the spirit world, however, she's forced to make brave choices. The first (and easiest) is snagging a job in the spirits' splendiferous bathhouse. From there on out, things get tougher as she encounters selfish, kind-hearted, desperate, and mischievous beings. No one is truly evil in "Spirited Away," and neither is anyone uncomplicatedly heroic. This grey area is Studio Ghibli's kingdom, and there is no better introduction to it than "Spirited Away." Add in sumptuous animation, impassioned performances in both Japanese and English, and a soaring score, and you have a film you'll never forget.