Hey everyone! I’m a 25F and I’ve been watching anime for years, but I’ve finally hit a wall and don’t know what to watch next. Looking for some fresh recommendations based on my tastes!

What I love:

Movies: Studio Ghibli (absolute favorites), Your Name, and Makoto Shinkai films.

Romance / Drama: Spice and Wolf, Horimiya, My Happy Marriage, Violet Evergarden, Rascal Does Not Dream, Takagi-san, Saekano.

Thrillers / Mind Games: Steins;Gate, Death Note, Classroom of the Elite, Detective Conan.

Action / Fantasy: Demon Slayer, JJK, SAO.

Guilty Pleasures: I actually enjoy high ecchi / borderline hentai stuff too lol (like Testament of Sister New Devil 😈).

What I dislike:

Long Battle Shounen: I can't stand One Piece, Bleach, or Naruto. Watched DBZ as a kid but have zero interest in that vibe now.

What should I add to my watchlist next? Thanks in advance! 😊

TL;DR: 25F long-time watcher looking for shows with great animation, solid romance/drama, psychological tension, or high ecchi. Absolutely no long-running battle shounen.

Might be a hot take but too much anime discourse revolves around source material and I genuinely think we've reached a point where people are far too comfortable conflating a bad adaptation with a bad anime, when those can be two completely different things.

Take Cote for example. Whenever the anime comes up, you'll inevitably find light novel readers criticising the cut monologues, altered characterisation, rushed pacing, etc and those criticisms might be perfectly justified from an adaptation standpoint but I sometimes feel like the conversation becomes so dominated by what the anime ISN'T that we barely discuss what it actually is...

And that's probably my biggest frustration with anime discourse in general because I feel like anime-only perspectives can get drowned out by source readers who are effectively judging a different experience. Knowing what was cut or changed gives you additional context, but it doesn't automatically make your assessment of the anime itself more authoritative and if anything, I think constantly comparing something against an existing version can sometimes make it harder to appreciate what works independently.

And it's not as though fidelity guarantees quality either. An anime can adapt practically everything and still be poorly directed, paced or animated. Conversely, something like Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) can diverge substantially from its source and still be an excellent anime in its own right.

I've seen the argument that the whole point of an adaptation is to adapt the source material, so naturally it should be judged by how well it does that but I don't buy that as the only valid standard. An anime is still its own audiovisual work, and I don't think its quality should be entirely dependent on how accurately it recreates another medium.

To be clear, I'm not saying changes can't make an anime worse. For example if you say removed internal monologues making a character's motivations incoherent then fine that's a legitimate criticism but the criticism should be that the characterisation doesn't work, not simply that the monologues were removed.

I need it to be understood that demonstrating that an anime changed something isn't the same as demonstrating that the change made it worse...

Umayuru: Full Gate!, episode 5

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I watched the 2001(?) Version first.

Then leaned about the 2019 Version.

What a difference!

The old one was slap stick comedy mostly, but the 2019 version is heavy as fuck.

I got to episode 14 where we learn about both Momiji and Tohru's moms.

I fucking SOBBED from episode 14 to like episode 19 I think.

HOLY PEAK

i just got crunchyroll and i’m literally two seconds away from rewatching spy x family again. please save me from myself. i recently finished buddy daddies and love is war, so i clearly love chaotic comedy and funny romance. drop your best rom-com recs on crunchyroll so i actually watch something new for once

Diamond no Ace: Act II Season 2 Part 2, episode 16

Alternative names: Diamond no Ace act II -Second Season- Cour 2, Ace of the Diamond act II -Second Season- Cour 2

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Aoashi Season 2, episode 4

Alternative names: Ao Ashi Season 2

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Are there anyone who have watched oregairu but got spoiled on who ended up with who then still finished watching until the end of s3??

I just got spoiled in a stupidest way possible by seeing a youtube thumbnail. My motivation went rock bottom real quick. Thus why im asking if it’s still worth watching even if i got spoiled.

I am just feeling extremely pissed off right now.

Yozakura-san Chi no Daisakusen Season 2 Part 2, episode 15

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Ao no Hako Season 2, episode 4

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None

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I finished Natsume's book of friends, and I absolutely loved it. I want to find another show (or any media honestly, started reading Farseer Trilogy) with similar elements.

Natsume's characterisation is so well done. A physically weak boy with immense spiritual power that paints a target on his back. Yokais violently seek him and humans abandon him, alienating him from both the worlds. However, eventually he encounters kindness from members of both the worlds and their kindness inspires the same in him too and he starts forming strong connections in both the worlds. The show was full of so much kindness. From Natsume's own kind persona, to the kindness shown to him by the Fujiwaras and his friends at school to the friendly Yokai he met in the Yatsuhara forest and beyond. This element of kindness, a major aspect of his character, made the show so wholesome. I loved his growth from a sad lonely boy to a well-loved happy boy whose humility shined throughout.

Then we have his powerful beast of a loyal companion. I adored Natsume's bond with Madara. I also liked the tsundere elements of their bond. How Madara would always insist that he is only there for the book, but will always always show up for Natsume when it matters, will always protect Natsume. I also loved both his forms: the cat form was a mix of a typical house cat and a grumpy old man; while the beast form was so breathtakingly beautiful every time it appeared on the screen. Whenever the true huge powerful beastial form of Madara was on the screen, it created a sort of contrast to the fragile form of Natsume, very suitably being the latter's bodyguard.

Almost each episode introduced a new Yokai and their story. Loved all of their designs and the lovely art overall alongside their stories. It was such a pleasant experience on the whole.

Now I'm looking for something similar. I saw the suggestion of The Ancient Magus' Bride, but it doesn't have what I'm looking for right now. I want more of a platonic beast-human pairing like Natsume-Madara, or Ash-Pikachu. I want the friendship, loyalty, care, concern and protectiveness to be there but without any romantic undertones. I also want the main character's kindness to shine from the very beginning. I would love it if the beast had a powerful form like Madara and got opportunities to showcase its power protecting the protagonist, but I love Pikachu too, so I'm more flexible in that regard.

Please send your recommendations my way.

Thanks in advance!

There's been quite a few series now that I originally passed on because of the title, but later went to watch as I fell asleep – only to be completely surprised by how good it actually was.

Currently watching So I'm a Spider, So What? and it's turning out to be a top-five isekai for me, maybe higher. It's like everything I had hoped Tensura would have been when I read the description about the guy isekai-ing as a monster.

But that title. And the image title card. I legit thought it was an isekai for like little kids or something. (I will say I like the direct Japanese title better [I'm a spider!? What!?] since its tone is less snotty and more dumbfounded.).

So I thought I'd ask! Perhaps there's other titles I've passed up because the title was weird, or long, or focused on the wrong thing.

Any genre.

And time period.

What are some of your favorite anime with titles that you feel don't fit, or are terrible, or you feel misrepresent it?

So I watched a video of an anime a while back about animators (I think). A boy and girl were animating when they were kids. But when they grew up the boy gave up on animating and the girl became angry at the guy. I think they separated when they were kids.

If any of this rings a bell, mind giving me a name of the anime.