Everyone is always talking about what shows will help get non-fans into anime. With all the variety that has come out in the past decade, though, there are dozens and dozens of shows that are perfect for new fans. What you really need to worry about is showing a friend the stranger side of the medium.
It's no secret that anime can get a bit weird, especially for those who have never watched it before. For fans trying to find a new show to watch with a non-anime obsessed friend, there are a few shows that you may want to avoid showing them.
10 Himouto! Umaru-chan (2015)
Umaru-chan is infamous throughout the community for being one of those shows that only relates to its fans. The show centers around a girl named Umaru who acts perfect when out of the house but the moment she comes home, she changes into what appears to be the rudest gremlin known to man.
Umaru throws fits over not getting the latest issues of Shonen Jump, rolls around in a hamster cape, and spends a lot of time playing video games. A lot of the humor of the show relies on the fact that the viewer is already a fan of anime, manga, and games. That, and they'd need an incredibly high tolerance for someone as annoying as Umaru.
9 Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler (2019)
Kakegurui is a beloved show that mixes up the highschool anime formula by injecting high stakes gambling into it. The anime follows Yumeko, a girl who is uncomfortably obsessed with gambling, as she plays in high stakes game's that would only be possible in anime.
Yumeko and the rest of the cast are great characters, but the show once again is developed for a specific group of anime fans in mind. For those who have never seen an anime before, they may be put off by Yumeko's nigh-sexual obsession with gambling and the twisted games.
8 Makura No Danshi (2015)
Makura No Danshi is an anime that fits in perfectly with otome games and their fans. The anime doesn't really have an overarching story, and simply revolves around a male character talking to fans as they fall asleep in short episodes that only go on for a few minutes at a time. Over the course of 12 episodes, 12 anime men (dubbed "Pillow Boys") talk their audience to sleep.
While this is exactly the type of show the otome fanbase loves, a newcomer may just get creeped out. The idea of animated men talking to someone in a sensually hushed voice is enough to make non-fans feel a bit strange.
7 Love & Lies (2017)
Love and Lies is an interesting drama that takes viewers to a world where love is decided by the government. The anime follows two highschool sweethearts who disregard the government's orders and their government-appointed fiancés to have a secret relationship together.
For newer fans who are just getting into anime, a more nuanced and subtle series like Say I Love You may be a better pick. This is even more true since Love and Lies is one of those romance anime that heavily relies on viewers reading the manga afterwards to get a fulfilling ending, plus an explanation for certain things.
6 Oreimo (2010)
Oreimo heavily divides the anime fanbase because of its strange and often uncomfortable premise. The anime centers around Kirino, a girl who is a secret otaku, who gets her older brother involved with her love for visual novels and dating sims.
The anime tends to try and show Kirino and her brother Kyosuke as being in a romantic relationship, even putting them in a fakeout marriage at the very end. This is not the type of show that newcomers should start off with, and one even anime veterans aren't too excited about.
5 Monster Musume (2015)
Monster Musume is in the harem genre, which generally isn't new fan-friendly anyways. The show revolves around Kimihito, who gets invoked in an exchange program where monster girls come to live with him to form better relationships with humans. The only problem is that every monster girl that moves in, and there's a ton that do, wants to be his girlfriend.
The anime also tends to push boundaries for the sake of it, with the girls always setting up increasingly risque situations while the show keeps on cracking raunchy jokes that make even older fans uncomfortable.
4 No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular! (2013)
Commonly just called Watamote, this anime once again revolves around an otaku. This time, it stars a girl named Tomoko who is painfully awkward and wants to become popular in her class but has no idea how to act like a normal girl.
Many of the jokes in the show once again rely on the fact that the viewer is already a fan of anime as a medium. Many newcomers would most likely get lost in the jokes and various shout-outs the show uses to try and be funny, as Watamote is one of those shows that confuses actual jokes for references.
3 Kiss Him, Not Me (2016)
Kiss Him, Not Me is another romance show that is perfect for anime fans that know what they are getting into. The show starts when the main girl, Kai, loses a ton of weight after she goes into isolation following the death of one her favorite anime characters. When she comes back to school looking incredibly different, she quickly becomes the center of attention for four boys and one girl.
The catch is that Kai is a fujoshi, a girl that loves to ship boys with one another. Kai spends most of the show dreaming up the boys getting together instead of trying to date them herself, which can be a bit weird to newcomers and those who aren't fujoshis themselves.
2 Nanbaka - The Numbers (2016-2017)
Nanbaka is a show about inmates in a prison. Instead of just trying to escape like normal, though, these prisoners are extremely flashy and are the pinnacle of anime and/or fanservice shenanigans, as they just goof off in the prison.
The four central prisoners are all accomplished criminals who take on escaping the prison by using skills that can only be found in anime - at least when they feel like it. For example, one of the criminals is even a hardcore otaku who can't be affected by drugs. The show can feel quite foreign to those who aren't used to the genre or anime in general.
1 School Days (2007)
No matter how many memes (sarcastically) recommend this show to newcomers, it should be skipped. School Days is based on an adult visual novel of the same name where players can date multiple girls, which is par for the course for this kind of game. The biggest problem is that School Days went ahead and animated the worst route.
The main character, Makoto, essentially hooks up with as many girls as he can, all the while cheating on his actual girlfriend. From here, things take a violent turn as the anime adapts the most sadistic parts of its source material's worst possible ending. This led to a finale so graphic and disturbing that it had to be blocked out on Japanese national television by a picture of a nice boat. Long story short, newcomers should steer clear of School Days at all costs.