Forum - View topicIntroducing others to anime.
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5187 |
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The below question is inspired by this thread by anime racket. I tried to find a similar thread but was unable to do so; if I did, in fact overlook such a thread, then I humbly apologize.
This is a multi-part question. Of those people that you know...
My reason for posing these questions this way is that I believe that since anime is diverse, that introducing the genre is best done on a case-by-case basis. What do you think? |
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Mr Sinister
 Posts: 157 Location: NY |
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1. Converted: Brother, Bro's gf, Best friend from home, and 7 people at college.
2. Naruto(Sub) for my best friend like 7 years ago. FMP: Fumoffu(Dub) for bro. Death Note(Dub) for bro's gf and 3 college friends. Soul Eater(Sub) for another 2, Black Lagoon(Dub) for 1, and Kino's Journey(Dub) for the final college friend. 3. -Best Friend: He liked DBZ and I would always show him AMVs when he came over, so when I got into Naruto, I showed him some Naruto AMVs, and he got really into it. -Bro: He stumbled in to me watching Fumoffu and ended up staying for a marathon of it. -Death Note was used whenever people would see me watching anime and question why I liked it. Threw that at them, never failed to hook after the 2nd episode. It's a pretty universally intriguing concept, regardless of your moral standing. -2 of my roommates saw me watching Soul Eater AMVs and thought they looked really cool, so I threw the show at them. -Black Lagoon was used on a friend who said he didn't like how anime was too Japanese and all about power ups. -Kino's Journey was another situation where I had it on in the common room and one of my roommates got hooked. I think the specific episode was Land of Prophecies. I think most of these shows are pretty easy to get into since they have some cool concepts or artwork. It helped that alot of this was at college where kids were willing to try new things. 4. All of them were received pretty well, especially Death Note. A girl's cousin was visiting when I was watching it and a week later she ended up buying the whole series. I'd like to add that my biggest accomplishment was getting 6 of these people to watch ALL of One Piece. They are now ahead of me as I wait to marathon arcs. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7361 |
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I don't think there's really any right way or formula to go about it, it can only be a case by case basis if you ask me. Yes, for a lot of us, Toonami or early [adult swim] (who showed the same shows or similar shows) did the trick, but since anime doesn't air on TV the way it used to, we can't just point to it and say "go watch that on TV if you're curious" anymore either. And unlike parts of Europe and Latin America where Saint Seiya is still uber popular to this day, America doesn't really have anything like that since we jumped on the bandwagon so stupid late, makes it a tad more difficult for us. But I can think of some things that might help make the process easier 1) Try a movie. Movies aren't overwhelming and they can be an easy hook. I'd say to not try a longer series because those can look overwhelming (unless the person demands a super long series, in which case they probably like soap operas and only Legend of the Galactic Heroes can do the trick) 2) Try whatever genres they already like in other forms of entertainment. If they like Doctor Who, show them scifi. If they like House, show them the Black Jack manga. If they like Jersey Shore, show them Eiken. Definitely up to the recommender's discretion, but similar genre seems to be a staple of these sorts of lists so I guess it's a no brainer. 3) Keep manga in mind. Some people might simply respond better to books, others to TV, so have a basic list of manga handy too. I find most people can bleed over from one to the other (but still might prefer one format over the other, if it's not your normal chosen format, I guess all I can say is "deal with it"). I actually bleed over from anime to RPGs, so for gamers, don't forget JRPGs. 4) Tell them where to get it. For starters, tell them the library, because then they can try lots of manga for free. A lot of libraries have DVDs too, if those are free, there's often lots to try there. And Hulu, Netflix, and Youtube have free legit anime all over them. 5) If anime looks too Japanese for them, try some stuff like Avatar: The Last Airbender, it's animesque enough in nature to be easy to gradually go from Avatar to anime while American enough to not seem totally foreign. For comics, I would recommend some indy series, I personally really like Bone, and his newer, more scifi shorter work RASL, but black and white indy comics should be a good introduction that way. There's also just plain foreign movies that aren't Japanese, stuff like Pan's Labyrinth, Netflix has a whole foreign section. 6) Keep in mind that some people will look at subs and go "I don't want no damn subs! I'm supposed to be watching, not readin'!" I really don't now how to get over that block, but don't expect them to even try anything subtitled for well over a year, and when they do, expect it to be something short (a movie length at the most) 7) Don't force it on them. Let them know you're there for a reference, but seeming too crazed about it won't help. Maybe try testing the waters to gauge interest, mention an anime movie that you know is on Netflix and/or hulu to a co-worker and why it's awesome, if they're curious, they might go watch it all on their own (or come back and ask you the title of the movie again if they forgot). Or mention a movie similar to one they just mentioned liking if possible. Once you've converted one to the herd though, go fangirl squee all over the place (just clean up afterwards, seriously) That's all I can really come up with. I think at best, it's only possible to come up with guidelines or ideas. I don't think I've ever successfully converted anyone to anime, but I've never really had the chance to either. |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2269 |
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classicalzawa pretty much nailed it with what he posted. These are generally my main 3 guidelines:
1. I prefer to use movies in general because they are a smaller investment of time for people. One sitting and their done. Once we get 2 or 3 movies under our belts we might move on to a short show if they are displaying enthusiasm. 2. I try to show them something I think they would like taking into consideration their interests, not something that only I like. 3. Don't push. Your closest friend or relative may never like the medium. You might just have to accept that. Example: Someone tried to introduce my best friend to anime using Death Note, because they loved it. My friend did not have a positive reaction to it. Knowing that he was a scifi fan in particular of William Gibson and Cyberpunk I was able to use Ghost in the Shell movie to rehabilitate him. From there it was Jin Roh and after that he was open to trying some shows like GITS:SAC and Cowboy Bebop which he really liked. |
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Mesonoxian Eve
Posts: 1858 |
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In all my years of watching anime, never once have I tried to "introduce" others to anime. For the most part, I remain closeted as best I can, because I don't want more people in this niche market that are going to do nothing but criticize it from the character designs to a specific studio being hired to animate a visual novel, or worse, accuse those who watch a series because they're really pedophiles.
But I will offer some wonderful advice: walk up to someone and say the word "anime" and watch their face. If they contort, you're wasting your time. If they look puzzled, take the next step and offer them a viewing of Strike Witches. If they can't handle this, the loss is for the best. If they can, regardless if they liked the show or not, then welcome them as a new anime fan. |
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Mesonoxian Eve, I'm afraid it's too late, I'm already here.
I've never tried to introduce anyone into anime as genre, becouse I don't bellieve in being fan of genre at all- too vast trem. Not counting my siblings, becouse they grew up in house where comics and cartoons are nothing special. If I reccomend anything I reccomend particular title and doesn't mess with this whole hide and seek game with showing anime in the best light possible (becouse it always lead to disappointment), but I was always pleased when someone asked me for advice. Since airing Sprited Away after Vienna New Year's Concert seems to be a ner tradition there were no year that I wasn't asked if I know something more like this. My Ghibli collection could write a book about houses it was watched in. (Is it morally OK to lend DVDs to thg friends?). Historical mangas are popular (OK, here I'm guilty of gioving them and never mentioning Chiho Saitō ) among people from history club. The two most amazing cases are a friend of my who I promised to inform about all Noveau Art inspired anime I find and second who immobilised in bed watched whole Inuyasha at once. |
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Polycell
 Posts: 4623 |
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Jen526
 Posts: 124 |
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I've never felt an urge to try to introduce someone to anime who wasn't already sort of interested in it, but I do take credit for at least one "convert".
 A friend at work was talking one day about having seen "Voices of a Distant Star" the night before. He was clearly intrigued and wanting to know more about this stuff. We got to talking about his tastes, and it came around to "dark" and "brutal" as one sort of fiction he enjoys.
I gave him "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Now and Then, Here and There", and he was blown away. That was six years ago, and he continues to be my main anime-buddy today.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24559 |
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I haven't really attempted to introduce others to anime yet. Mainly because I'm (about to be) 47 and not too many of my peers are eager to be thrust into the wonderful world of anime, I don't think. Lame losers. However, I have one introduction to report:
Of those people that you know... Whom have you introduced (successfully or otherwise) to an anime title? - my stepdad and Mom What was/were the title(s)? - Ghost in the Shell (the movie) What were your reasons for showing the title(s)? - My stepdad likes sf and I thought he'd be interested. How was/were the title(s) received? - as expected my stepdad liked it. I'm sure there's lots of other stuff I could show him he'd like (i.e. the rest of the GitS franchise, Ergo Proxy, Black Lagoon, etc). My mom went along with the viewing but I didn't detect much of an anime conversion potential there. She thinks The Simpsons is disgusting, so... If I ever decide to try and introduce other people to anime, my strategy would be the same: identify what genre(s) they like and then try to match a title that fits into that genre. |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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I showed a few friends a few anime titles. Not as a part "I'll convert you into an anime enthousiast" but more as a part of "I'd like to show you an interesting film' business.
1) Friend A loved Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, but more because she loves all things vampires. 2) Friend B could not watch anything animated, he found all the emotions fake and could not get into it (We saw Grave of the Fireflies and Mononoke-hime together). Friend C showed lukewarm enthusiasm towards FMA, but nothing ever happened after that. 3) My sister half-enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, but on a whole she lost interest halfway through. 4) My biggest success so far was my ex, he actually loved everything I showed him. There were a few others, but they enjoyed particular titles because of the themes rather than the animation itself, and I did not think I should be pushing hard since they did not show a lot of interest in other stuff. Quite luckily for a long time I was surrounded by people who really enjoyed anime, so I really did not feel very lonely or felt the need to convert new people. |
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naninanino
 Posts: 680 |
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1) A few friends.
2) Basic stuff: Naruto, Berserk, Death Note, Hajime no Ippo, Code Geass etc. 3) I prefer showing easy to get into anime, over trying to prove that anime is this or that (unless someone asks otherwise). 4) All good. Death Note and Hajime no Ippo in particular seem to be sure fire titles. In general, I don't introduce people to anime. I only do it if someone asks, or maybe if someone is staying over for longer than a cup of coffee and we need to kill some time (a big maybe there). |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Whom have you introduced (successfully or otherwise) to an anime title?
My partner. What was/were the title(s)? Death Note. What were your reasons for showing the title(s)? I am largely a shojo fan, but I wanted to show him something that had an interesting story, was finished and I thought he'd like. He had watched the original Fullmetal Alchemist in the past and liked it, but wasn't so keen on Brotherhood. How was/were the title(s) received? Very well. It was my first time watching the show as well (I'd only ever read the manga a long time ago) and we both really enjoyed it. We've since watched Guilty Crown, Un-go, Chihayafuru and a few booby shows (High School of the Dead, Ikki Tousen and Sekirei mainly) together since 
I'd choose different things to start different people on though. I used to lend all sorts of people the Fushigi Yuugi manga a few years ago. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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My only successful Attempt at a conversion:
1. My friend from work 2. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 3. I asked him what he liked in live action stuff and he was a science fiction and police/crime drama fan. That was one of my favorites and immediately came to mind. 4. He really liked it and we ended up watching a volume of the show whenever we hung out. Unsuccessful: 1. My parents 2. They'll watch the occasional film with me but won't get into anything else. 3. We went to see several anime films released theatrically in Minneapolis that I wanted to see. 4. I can tell they're watching it with me because they want to humor me and not because they actually enjoyed the films/series so I stopped trying. Anyhow yeah, case by case, going by what genres they're already interested in is the best in my opinion. |
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darkhappy1
 Posts: 495 Location: PA |
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1. I can't really say I introduced anime to anyone, since the friends that I show anime to already have some knowledge of anime beforehand. Still, some of them hadn't had much exposure to anime other than what was shown on Toonami. One of my friends enjoyed Toonami while it still aired but never really went any further into anime until I showed him...
2. BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad 3. He loves rock (especially from the 70s, I believe). 4. He thought it was incredible. After I showed him the first episode, I let him borrow the DVDs (two at a time) so that he could watch the show during the weekend or any free time. He even remembered how much he liked Yu Yu Hakusho when he was a kid and marathoned it. (Lucky Childhood Trigger!) He was really open to more anime after that, so one weekend I showed him the first few episodes of some shows, and then during the week a bunch of trailers to other series I thought he might like. Now he's a fan of Baccano! and Darker Than Black. |
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V1046-R
Posts: 172 |
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I don't try, and usually don't talk about anime when the subject of entertainment comes up with people I know. This is due to me being an adult fan dealing with preconceived notions from peers that "cartoons" are for kids, and there must be something wrong with me for enjoying them. Funny that these folks will discuss the latest reality show without being embarrased for watching what I consider the most worthless form of entertainment on TV.
But it is what it is. I have noticed the eyes glazing over, and signs someone is looking for an exit if I try to discuss anime. So I don't bother anymore. |
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