Angua wrote:I like anime, but subtitles can be pretty hard. Often the subtitles end up the same colour as the background, and/or too small, and you can't really have it on in the background while you do something else.
One of the reasons why I recommend Cowboy Bebop to non-anime watchers is because its one of the few anime where the English dub is strictly superior to the subtitles. You
want to watch that one in English.
There are more and more good quality dubs as well. I'd say that a lot of the great anime: Gurren Lagaan, Madoka, Fate/Zero, and Death Note have good enough dubs. So feel free to watch in English if that suits your fancy.
Zohar wrote:I was actually going to suggest Quantum Leap as well. Too bad about anime, but I understand for some people it's inaccessible.
I'm of the opinion that there's
some anime out there that people will like. Anime is extremely wide in scope, from Spirited Away (Adventure), The Girl who leaped through Time (Drama / Romance), Princess Jellyfish (Girl coming of age story), Paprika (Experimental Dream Art), Ghost in a Shell (Sci Fi), The Slayers (High Fantasy Adventure), One Punch Man (Comic-book Superhero), Flying Witch (Pleasant Slice-of-Life), When They Cry (Murder Mystery), Death Note (Crime Drama)... there is basically something for everybody here.
I will say that "Anime Sci Fi" isn't the same as "American Sci Fi" (except for "Time of Eve"). So its not like you can pick something you like the American-version of and you'll like the Japanese version. Anime is definitely its own thing. But there's just
so much out there that I'm sure Everybody will like
something.
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I have two groups I watch anime with. One hates subtitles, the other hates dubs. So I often watch the both versions of anime. The quality of dubs really has gone up in the last 10 years.
The main cultural barriers to anime are:
* Lip Sync -- American cartoons pay very close attention to lip sync. Even in Japanese, the anime audience basically doesn't care. So you basically only get three mouth positions. Hell, the Japanese dub doesn't always match those mouth positions. So you gotta get used to low-quality sync (compared to American cartoons, like South Park, which
only have decent lip sync and everything else about the art is shitty).
* Body Language -- Taunting people by showing the red of your eye. Crossing your hands in an "X" formation for no, etc. etc.
* Anime language -- More and more anime are making self-referential jokes like Deadpool. And this has become a language of its own: Tsundere, "Baka-baka-baka", etc. etc. Some of these are body language, like how nosebleeds are the reaction to a cute / hot girl (or guy).
You're basically never going to find an anime with good Lip Sync (dubbed or subtitled), but finding anime with less "anime language" tends to be better for beginners IMO. Spirited Away and Cowboy Bebop are examples. Although last week, I got a non-anime watcher to enjoy Kill-la-kill. So sometimes, some people just prefer jumping into the middle of things.
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What I can agree to, is that due to the "anime culture", there's a lot of things to get used to with anime. So if the cultural barrier is never crossed, it is hard to fully enjoy an anime. From legitimate deficiencies (like the lip-sync thing) to just cultural differences, there is definitely a barrier. But once the barrier is crossed, there's probably something for everybody.
First Strike +1/+1 and Indestructible.