Anime for Begginers

I was talking to one of my friends the other day and she asked me what anime she should start with if she was just getting into it. So, I decided to make a post of shows that you should check out if are just getting into anime. I'm going to try and have at least 1 choice for each genre, but some numbers may have 2 or three choices. Keep in mind that you have to really open yourself up to really learn how anime works. Also, it may be hard to adjust to, but if you have the choice, pick sub over dub. Hearing it in the original language while seeing the subtitles not only lets you learn a bit of Japanese, but it's also a completely different experience, save for a select few shows.

#1- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
I've mentioned ghost in the shell recently, but it was one of the first anime that I ever got into watching. It's about a special division of the government called Public Security Section Nine. They hunt down terrorists and they specialize in everything from hacking to good old fashioned detective work. I would recommend this show if you like war movies or shooter games. I know that I mentioned some detective work, but that isn't the highlight of this show. If you're looking for detective work, check out the next entry.

#2- Heaven's Memo Pad/Psycho Pass
This show is about a NEET detective named Alice. (If you don't know, NEET stands for: Not in Education, Employment, or Training.) Despite the fancy title, Alice is only around 12 years old. She is however, a super-genius hacker and she uses that to coordinate with a group of other kids who solve crimes./ Psycho Pass is about a group of detectives that use a special system to determine who is likely to commit crimes. The main character joins a detective unit that uses investigators who work alongside people who are called latent criminals (People who's readings are too high to be mixed in with normal citizens, but not high enough to be considered dangerous.) to catch people who's readings make them dangerous or have actually committed crimes.

#3- Lucky Star/Nichijou/Acchi Kocchi
Since these are all slice-of-life style comedies, i'm not going to summarize them individually, since comedy is comedy any way around. I will say that Lucky Star's comedy is mostly stuff that you see in life, while both Nichijou and Acchi Kocchi have a little bit of an over-the-top kind of comedy style. That being said, I would recommend all three of them to anybody who just wants to enjoy a laugh.

#4- Black Lagoon/Burst Angel/Madlax
All three of these shows are about gunslingers, so I thought it would be fitting to put them all together in one category. Unlike Ghost in the Shell, these shows are more about small showdowns rather than large scale battles. Most of the fights in these three shows are 1 on 1 (At least my favorite ones are), so the fights have very different feel from ghost in the shell. Black Lagoon and Burst angel are a bit straight forward, but Madlax has a killer plot twist at the end, so you should check that out. The animation for Madlax is pretty old school, I believe it was made in the 90's, so it might be hard to adjust to it, but also, if it's one of the first shows that you watch, then you might be able to appreciate it.

#5- Log Horizon/ Sword Art Online
These shows are the first shows that I would recommend for the people who like to play RPG/Fantasy games. Both shows are about living inside of a game, however, SAO is a bit heavier and sadder story-wise, while Log Horizon has better character development. I must say though, if you are going to watch Sword Art Online, you have to commit because the second story arc is filled with plot holes that you have to watch the movie to understand, however, you wont understand the movie unless you watch the full first season beforehand. Added to that, you have to watch everything else in order to understand the second season at all. Log horizon is relatively new, so if you watch it now, you should be ready to watch the second season when it comes out sometime between September 2014 and January 2015.
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I have watched every episode of all of these shows and I give them all my seal of approval. (Some more than others) I hope that you find a few shows that you like and are able to find some more shows. If you do find a show you like, find the show on anime-planet.com and you'll be able to find suggestions for similar shows. If you want to watch any of the shows on this list, they should all be on animeseason.com. You have to sit through an ad first, but the websites streams very well, even on my crappy internet connection. Added to that, after the first ad, you can enjoy your show with no interruptions. Thanks for reading and check back soon for some more stuff.
-K.G.
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Corrections:

• Black Lagoon and Burst Angel are not on anime season, but can be found on Youtube. 
• In order to find Heaven's memo pad, look for it's japanese name: Kamisama no memochou.
• Ghost in the shell is available in english dub on hulu for free (there are ad breaks) and is available in english sub on Animefreak.tv
• Psycho-pass is also available on animefreak.tv
• Lucky Star and Acchi Kocchi are also available to watch on youtube