Last week, when I mentioned Crunchyroll's streaming of Voices of a Distant Star, it made me think about which animes would be the best ones to show to anime newbies. I came up with two criteria:
1. The anime would have to make anyone who says "Oh, anime - that Japanese cartoon stuff?" - never be able to say that again;
and
2. The anime would have to invoke deep emotion, as the greatest filmed entertainment does (i.e., the best live-action movies and TV).
Until now, I probably would have considered myself still a relative newbie to anime and not able to fairly judge. But if the records of my anime watching that I keep on MyAnimeList are accurate, I have now watched a total of 145 anime series and feature films. So I think I finally have enough standing to do "best of" type lists. ;)
So in that respect, I thought about "gateway" animes, the animes you'd show someone to convince them that anime can be both great art and great entertainment, and I came up with one OVA, two series, one short OVA series and two feature films.
Voices of a Distant Star, pictured above, was Makoto Shinkai's first work. He wrote, directed, produced and did the animation in this solo tour de force OVA.
The premise: In 2047, Mikako and Noboru are junior high school students. Mikako, the girl, is chosen for a space expedition to fight mankind's alien enemies, while Noboru, the boy, goes on to enter high school. As the years pass, the two send messages to each other but due to Mikako's journey into deep space, the time it takes for her messages to reach Noboru begins to increase, to the point where it takes years.
It's a "gateway" anime for newbies because: At only 25 minutes long, this anime presents beautiful imagery, a compelling and believable love story and a fantastic science-fiction concept: that of time passing at different rates for the girl and boy. I like that it's the girl who goes to space - and the boy who stays behind on Earth. ;) And it evokes a surprising amount of emotion for such a short anime, and different emotions too - sadness, joy, contemplation, but most of all - a deep feeling of longing. It's simply stunning.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the anime adaptation of the completed manga series by Hiromu Arakawa, is one of the most thrilling anime series you will ever see.
The premise: In Amestris, a fictional European country in the early 20th century, two young brothers experiment with forbidden alchemy in an attempt to bring their mother back from the dead. The experiment goes horribly wrong and the older brother, Edward Elric, loses an arm and a leg and his younger brother Alphonse loses his entire body to "The Gate," a mysterious doorway leading to the "other side." The two seek to restore their bodies by finding a special "philosopher's stone," and become caught up in political and metaphysical mysteries hidden in Amestris' unexpectedly dark past.
It's a gateway anime because: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has everything: shonen adventure, beings with fantastical powers, compelling characters and a story that draws you in from the start and never lets you go. Despite the story going in seemingly many directions, by the end it all comes together. The climax is perfectly played out and the ending is completely satisfying on an emotional level. The story is too complex to discuss briefly and sound like you're making any sense ;) - but trust me, no one could watch this series and not be moved and deeply impressed.
Death Note is a brilliantly-told suspense tale, a cat-and-mouse story with a supernatural twist.
The premise: Light Yagami, a high school student, finds a notebook dropped by a shinigami that contains the power of life and death. By writing a person's name in this notebook while picturing their face, that person will die.
It's a gateway anime because: Death Note is a dark, cold story, one with an evil protagonist and a good antagonist (L, the detective) and moments of real horror. But it's enormously compelling due to the build-up of suspense, the what-will-happen-next that kept me watching episode after episode, unable to stop. At 37 episodes, the anime series is just the right length for the story it tells. The presentation is cool and contemporary, making it a good gateway anime for teens and young adults.
The movie Paprika is the most visually compelling and easily accessible of the late Satoshi Kon's works.
The premise: A research device called the "DC Mini" allows users to view people's dreams. Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a psychologist, uses the device to help patients by adopting a dream persona, a girl named "Paprika," who enters their dreams to assist them. One of her patients, a detective, has a recurring dream about a murder that he cannot solve. Before the device can be made available to the public, three prototypes are stolen...
It's a gateway anime because: It's a complex story telling the interwoven stories of both Dr. Chiba and the detective, with stylish imagery that makes it a visual feast. A perfect blend of fantasy, mystery, humor and unexpectedly at the end - a little romance - Paprika is a great way to introduce adults who aren't familiar with anime stories for adults to - well, anime stories for adults. ;)
I rented Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal) from Netflix a few years ago, not knowing anything about it except that I'd never seen any of the Rurouni Kenshin anime episodes before and I was in the mood for a samurai anime. What I saw was an anime I can never forget.
The premise: (This is the prequel to the Rurouni Kenshin anime series.) Ten years before the start of the series, when Kenshin is still known as the Hitokiri Battosai assassin, he kills a bodyguard named Akira Kiyosato. On the run, Kenshin meets Tomoe Yukishiro, unaware that she was Kiyosato's fiancee. A spy is suspected to be in their clan, the Choshu, and arrangements are made to hide Kenshin and Tomoe away in a remote village...
It's a gateway anime because: You can watch Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal without knowing a single thing about the Rurouni Kenshin storyline; it stands alone as a classic Japanese romance-tragedy. Unlike the manga and the anime series, which contain a lot of humor and are somewhat light in tone, Trust and Betrayal is deeply serious and transcendently beautiful. The four OVA episodes comprise, in essence, a two-hour movie. The maturity of the story and the presentation would appeal to any adult-age audience.
Finally, Sword of the Stranger, my favorite anime movie of recent years.
The premise: Kotaro, a young boy, is fleeing from the Ming Chinese, who are seeking him for an unknown reason. Along the way he meets "Nanashi," or "No-Name," a mysterious taciturn samurai who, despite his mild manner, possesses deadly skills. Nanashi reluctantly becomes Kotaro's bodyguard as the mystery of why Kotaro is a target is gradually revealed.
It's a gateway anime because: Breathtaking action sequences, an intriguing story and great performances make Sword of the Stranger an impressive and satisfying anime feature film. Nanashi is played by Japanese live-action actor Tomoya Nagase, who had never done voice acting (as opposed to live action acting) before, and he's wonderful. The child actor Yuuri Chinen also stands out as Kotaro. But it's the amazing action scenes that bring the film alive, including one moment toward the end that threatened to stop my heart (really). Any fan of action movies and good storytelling would appreciate this anime movie.
What would be some of your gateway animes?
