I started watching anime in May of 2021. The first anime I watched was called Maid Sama. It’s in the romance genre. A lot of my friends are into anime and I feel like some of my friendships have gotten stronger because of it.  My friends and I have bonded over anime many times. Personally, I think liking anime has helped me a lot with my friendships 

Why Is it Difficult to Begin (Why is it easy to be overwhelmed?

I know that anime can also ruin a friendship. The reason why I think that is because I have seen friends argue and fight over characters and I know that sounds crazy but it is very true. It’s crazy to me how people can fight over people who are not even real. Like people actually get mad over them and if the character dies they will have funerals for them. I think that they are getting too attached to a fictional character. I think personally that it is difficult to start watching anime and the reason why I think that is because fandoms don’t always like to expect people.  

The Benefits of Anime 

For example, 7th grade student Gianna (Gonzalez) said, “The trend was all over my ‘for you’ page on TikTok.” 

Anime through covid has gotten so much more popular than it used to.  There are different communities in anime. Most of them are considered fandoms. Some examples of fandoms are the My Hero fandom, Demon Slayer fandom and the Tokyo Revengers fandom. 

Although a lot of people don’t like to start anime because they think that the fandoms are weird. 

The benefits for anime are that you can make friends or find a mutual bondage over it. There are so many genres in anime so it is so easy to find someone to bond over it with.  I have made a few of my friendships stronger by watching anime. Even some of my family members watch anime and with them we have found something to bond over and have somewhat of the same interest. 

Help Beginners Decide Where to Start:

To be honest there is really no place that is set in stone to start your journey into anime. The best decision you can make on your own is to go with a genre you like and go from there.

If you like action you should watch Attack on Titan.  Why I picked this as a good action anime suggestion is because this is my favorite anime. The story line and the emotions that this anime has is incredible. This anime always keeps you on your toes, and you can tell they put all of their effort into the fight scenes. The animations are crazy good and always capture the emotion. 

If you like romance you should watch Kimi ni todoke:from me to you.  I picked this as a romance anime suggestion because, once again, this is one of my favorites. This anime takes place in a school. It doesn’t just focus on the romance aspect of it. It also focuses on  Sawako Kuronuma (the main character) and how her journey from being the most feared girl in school to making a lot of new friends. 

If you like sports then you should watch Haikyuu.  I wouldn’t say this is one of my favorite sports animes, but I would say that this was the anime that made me find my love for it. This anime is mainly about the volleyball teams (Karasuno high school volleyball team ) journey from not being the best volleyball team in the area to them progressively getting better and better. I think that is one of the main reasons why it is so interesting, because you feel as if you are moving up with them to be become a better team in general. 

7th grader, Cain Berger, said that his first show was Naruto. The reason why it was his first anime is because his brother thought he would like it. Even though this was his first anime, this was the anime that made him want to watch more. It set the standard on how good anime should be.

But if I were to give you a suggestion, I would suggest Demon Slayer, because it is an all around good anime. The show has one of the best animations I have ever seen. 

All of the scenes I feel as if they capture the emotion and the brother and sister love.  Also, I feel it captures the watchers attention by all the colors and sounds that are in the show.  

So give anime a shot there is, literally, no reason not to. There are so many genres to pick between. From action to romance and even to sports. You can make friends or even strengthen a friendship. So why not give it a try? It won’t hurt to have a new change in pace. Who knows, anime might change your life.