anime for a girl who doesn't like anime?

[mari]

I'm hoping to find some series to help me practice listening comprehension, but I'm not really into anime. Does anyone know of any series that might appeal to someone not so into the genre? Arigats!

[Jason]

My first question is what kind of non-anime shows do you like?

My 2nd question is if you don't like anime that much, why do you want to use it to help with listening comprehension?

[Belton]

I kinda agree with Jason - san. Maybe you'd try live action or JDrama. (kimi wa petto, densha otoko, )

But what's not to like in anime?

For a series try Azumanga Daioh. The original was 10 minute episodes based on a four panel comic strip. So it's a smaller chunk to cope with.
It's about a group of middle school girls. Very cute, bit quirky, no robots, violence or tentacles.

Voices of a Distant Star (hoshi no koe) is a magnificant film despite having robot like things

For longer stuff try Ghibli.
Tonari no Totoro (My neighbour totoro), Mimi wo sumaseba (Whisper of the heart), and one which you'll need a tissue to cry into Hotaru no Haku (grave of the fireflies)

For slightly less cute films try Tokyo Godfathers or Millenium Actress.

Feature films are a bit difficult for listening practice maybe.

I've written about anime / films here
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/listening/film.html

[Jason]

I haven't seen many Jdramas (ok, only 2), but I HIGHLY recommend both Densha Otoko and Hana Yori Dango.

For a series try Azumanga Daioh. The original was 10 minute episodes based on a four panel comic strip. So it's a smaller chunk to cope with.
It's about a group of middle school girls. Very cute, bit quirky, no robots, violence or tentacles.

I love AzuDai. It's one of my top 3 favorties anime/manga. But I have a couple of reservations about recommending it for listening comp. The first is that it's chock full of Japanese culture and some pop culture references. So a lot of it may be hard to understand without some explanation. The 2nd is Osaka. She speaks in kansai-ben (the dialect of the western Kansai area of Japan) which is a good bit different from standard Japanese in quite a few ways. You may have a really hard time understanding her. Also, there's a lot of very colloquial Japanese. Chiyo should be pretty easy to understand, though.

That being said, I still recommend watching it simply because of it's sheer awesomeness.

Oh, and a "bit" quirky? It's no Pani Poni Dash, but I think it's a bit more than just a "bit" quirky.

Tokyo Godfathers is awesome, too. I still find it hard to believe the same guy directed Paranoia Agent. o_O

[Belton]

But I have a couple of reservations about recommending it for listening comp.

My bad.
I can sing the tsukurimashou song
But when I think harder about this I wonder about any mainstream "for-Japanese-people" material. I need all sort of help to watch without English subtitles. (Japanese subtitles can help a bit however) At best I can probably get 30% of stuff, maybe. But I can pick out the sorts of things I do know.

So while almost everything I watch these days seems to be Japanese for listening comprehension at my true level this site is the best. hontouni. Or NHK's lessons or the CDs that go with courses like JFBP. And while maybe not as exicting as anime for study at a beginner/intermediate level they might be better.

Tokyo Godfathers is awesome, too. I still find it hard to believe the same guy directed Paranoia Agent. o_O

Isn't it? You can see the same drawn style and they are both the dark underbelly of modern Japan. I just couldn't believe what I was watching in Paranoia Agent when I figured out the suicide pact episode. And I'm fairly hard to shock I think. Unbelievable stuff. Not to everyones taste and pretty raw and shocking but I would recommend them even so.

[Jason]

What really got me in PA was the camera behind the bookcase. That made, and still makes, me physically ill...

[mari]

Thanks everybody! Sorry for not being very specific. I should have said that I'm generally a fan of the Ghibli stuff I've seen, I loved Tokyo Godfathers, and in terms of non-anime I've liked movies like The Most Terrible Time in My Life and the work of Masato Harada (Bounce Ko Gals, Kamikaze Taxi.) It's the "robots and tentacles" type stuff I'm not so into. I lived in rural Japan for a year when I was younger, so I can pick up at least some cultural references though obviously nothing too deep.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, and if anyone has any more I certainly appreciate them.

[Jason]

There's loads of really good anime out there without a single robot or tentacle. Here are some personal recommendations:

-Azumanga Daioh, as we've already mentioned. It's licensed by ADV and they've realeased the whole series on 6 DVDs. There's a special box set out with all 6.

-Mahoraba ~ Heartful Days ~. I simply can't recommend this one enough. And the manga's even better. It's not licensed, so you can get it here. I recommend Froth-Bite's sub.

-Air (fansubs. I recommend either Lunar or the Triad's). Just buy lots of tissues beforehand.

-Kanon (fansubs. Get Ishin's). Also stock up on tissues.

-Honey and Clover (fansubs. Get Solar's). A really wonderful series with some beautiful artwork and a really strange OP animation. The 2nd season has just started (here).

-Bottle Fairy. It's funnycute. Licensed and out on 2 DVDs.

-Kare Kano. Also out on DVD. The only thing is the company that was making it ran out of money near the end of the series and the season was never really finished. You can tell when all the flashback scenes start taking up like half the episode.

-Pita-Ten (fansubs. Get Hikari no Kiseki). More funnycute but with more substance than Bottle Fairy.

-Aishiteru ze Babay (fansubs. Lunar). This series actually made me want to have children at some point, that's how good it is.

-Ichigo Mashimaro. Released in the US as "Strawberry Marshmellow." The first DVD just came out not long ago. It's kinda like the elementary school version of Azumanga Daioh.

Well, that's a pretty good list, I think. If you want to see all my recommendations, go here:

http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=405

[mari]

Thanks! That's very helpful.

[Alan]

You'd probably like 'Fruits Basket' too. Lot's of useful Japanese culture in there and no tentacles or robots.

[tiroth]

Haibane Renmei (HIGHLY recommended)
Witch Hunter Robin
Last Exile

[fruitsbasket123]

FRUITS BASKET

[chucklesmagoo]

Hi, I think I'm in the same boat as you Mari in that I'm not into the hardcore Gundam/weird scene when it comes to Animie...but I found a great show that I watched to help my comprehension skills...and best of all it's free on Youtube.


It's called The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, it's hard to describe but it starts off like a school drama and takes a few twists that'll remind you of Donnie Darko. The only thing to watch out for is the first episode drags...so skip it...

Here's the link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OPTF2YWE84

Hope you like it!

-Charlie

[Jason]

Here's a better link: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/786.html . And no, you shouldn't skip the first episode just because it's not fast paced. Haruhi's (the show and the characters) a bit...out there. I enjoyed it though. But it's definitely not a normal school drama by any means.

[ali17]

I just got done watching that series thanks for the links it was pretty amusing