I like anime. I know, crazy, right? 

Well, here’s a list of popular animes that I did not like/dropped because I found them boring:

• Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
• HunterXHunter
• Steins Gate
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Konosuba
• Dragon Ball
• Naruto
• Haikyuu
• Fate/Zero
• Bocchi the Rock
• Mushoku Tensei
• SpyXFamily

Does this make me a “fake anime fan”? Does it mean I have “bad taste”? I don’t think so.

I understand why people are quick to group all anime under an overarching umbrella. Typically, if someone is an anime fan, they don’t just like one particular anime. They enjoy the overall anime aesthetic, the dramatic voice acting, or the classic tropes. There’s a reason why people say “That’s so anime” and not “That’s so TV”. To some, anime can feel more like a self-contained genre than a larger medium. However, it is important to remember that plenty of variety exists within the realm of anime. Scroll through the top shows on myanimelist and you’ll find shounens, comedies, mysteries, horrors, slice-of-lifes, romances, dramas, sports animes, episodic anime, and many more. This should be fairly obvious, but not all anime is the same. 

With this in mind, can you guess the least helpful type of anime recommendation? 

“You should watch this anime because it is good”.

 My brother, you have given me literally zero information. Why is the show good? What do you like about it? Not all shows are good for the same reasons, and what makes a show good to one person could be detrimental to another’s experience. I love Attack on Titan’s darker themes, but know people that wouldn’t be able to handle the gore and violence. I love Kaguya Sama’s self-aware, cringey humor, but if that’s not someone’s thing then they’d likely despise the show.  I love Cyberpunk Edgerunner’s short length and sudden ending, but I could easily see someone wishing for more. Sure, there’s merit in shows that are universally praised, but even those have naysayers. As much as I think Attack on Titan is a masterpiece, I don’t think the “AOT is mid” meme is a complete joke. People like different things, and that’s okay.

It’s also important to remember that not all anime fans are created equal. A person who’s watched an anime or two is not comparable to a person who has a Kirito backpack and cosplays at anime conventions. To an experienced anime fan, I would never go, “Hey, have you heard of this sick show called Demon Slayer???” On the other hand, if my friend has never watched an anime before, I’m not going to start them off with something insane like Jojo’s or Baki. Although this might seem trivial, I believe it has larger implications for anime as a whole. Anime isn’t nearly as popular in the West as it is in other parts of the world, but maybe that would be different if there were “gateway anime” other than Deathnote, Attack On Titan, and Sword Art Online. 

Obviously, whether a person ends up liking a show or not is completely outside of a recommender’s hands. However, it would be awesome if the community could learn to give tailored, specific recommendations to more effectively share the shows that we love.