Anime Recommendations for my Little Brother and I

I'll preface this by saying that I never really got into anime all that much. Sure, I watched DBZ almost religiously as a kid, as I was into a Naruto, One Piece and Bleach for a little while, but that was more or less the extent of my involvement with the genre.

A few months ago, I was looking for something to watch and a friend of mine recommended that I check out Darker Than Black. I watched a couple episodes online and thought it was pretty cool, so I bought the first season and started watching it at nights. Well, pretty soon, my 11 year old brother got curious about it and started watching with me... and as the season progressed, we both got really into it.

Now, due to the large age gap between us, my brother and I had never really bonded over anything before, just because we were never really into any of the same stuff. So it was incredibly refreshing and a bit exciting to have a show we were both invested in.

Fast forward a little bit, and now, my brother and I have just finished the second season of DTB, as well as the 4 OVA's, and we're genuinely closer because of it. It's something we can talk about and actually carry on a pleasant conversation, which simply doesn't happen with us very often.

Problem is, now that we're through with Darker Than Black, I sort of want to continue hanging out with him in this way. Basically, I'm looking for more anime that we can mutually enjoy and bond over.

He'll be 12 in a couple of months, and he's pretty mature for his age... I don't mind violence and language all that much (let's be honest, the language isn't going to worse than anything he's hearing in Middle School) but I'd prefer to keep nudity and heavy sexual content to a minimum with him, so please keep that in mind when giving recommendations.

Like I said, I've never looked into anime all that much, never really outside of what was playing on Toonami. So I'm pretty much at a loss as far as what's out there. I'm just looking for something that we can both enjoy.

• Attack on Titan (action/horror)
• Hellsing Ultimate (supernatural horror)
• Full Metal Panic (mecha)
• Cowboy Bebop (space western)
• Black Lagoon (action)
• Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (comedy)
• Yu Yu Hakusho (shonen)
• Nodame Cantible (romance)
• Spirited Away (movie)

those are some off the top of my head. I tried to give you a diverse selection...if you give me a genre you guys particular like i can list a whole lot more...i've watched more anime that i can count

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I mean...duh...it's about two brothers

I was just gonna say this.

Also, Soul Eater is fun.

Um.... You already said Bleach, The problem is I haven't had a chance to actually see any of the animes that I'm in to yet, but maybe you could find a maturity rating online, maybe check out Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann MOVIES, The show does show nudity at the end. Evangelion hints at nudity rather frequently as far as I can tell, maybe even shows it sometimes. So I would stay away from that one. Gurren Lagann has Yoko walking around in a Bikini all the time. And Nia is wearing nothing but a jacket at the end but I don't think the movies show anything, the animes do though.

Detective Conan is my brother and I's favortite anime. It's very dark, yet humorous. The cases are well thought out, the overall plot I find is pretty unique and it will keep you wanting more if you're as into mysteries as we are. It draws a lot from Sherlock Homes. It has like 20+ seasons, and like 10 movies I believe. Highly highly recommend it.

It's great you are watching anime with your brother i advise you stay away from anime's where the little or big brother dies within the first episode their are quite a few of them and could result in a rather awkward situation .

@fallschirmjager: Awesome list, thanks.

As far as a specific genre goes... I'm don't really have a whole lot specific in mind. I would definitely lean towards more action-heavy series, I suppose, if that helps. And from what I've gathered with his tastes, you can't go wrong with humor, either. I know that personally, my tastes are pretty eclectic, I'm up for anything as long as it's done well. With my brother, he seems to really like fantasy, as far as I can tell, and post-apocalypse type stories appeal to him a lot.

@the_stegman:

A friend of mine recommended Soul Eater (the same one who recommended DTB), I might look into that.

Fullmetal Alchemist keeps coming up. I just read up on it a little bit, and the premise sounds interesting.

Well that sounds really interesting. I'm a lot more interested in the whole mystery genre than he is, but even if it doesn't hold his attention I might stick with it X)

@imagineman16: All right, here are some more - if you find your like a particular genre after watching some just let me know. some of these i mentioned above, but yeah. My biggest recommendation would be Full Metal Panic - it has 3 seasons and has action, comedy, romance, mecha...etc. Its all around amazing.

Action -

• Ruroni Kenshin (about a Samurai after the meiji revolution)
• Attack on Titan (very bloody action about people who fight Titans who've taken over the world, also post-apocalypse. absolute beautiful animation)
• Claymore (about girls who fight demons, pretty good anime)
• Hellsing (vampires, werewolves, zombies etc. lots of great fighting)
• Black Lagoon (mentioned above lol, but its amazing. really fun anime about a group of modern day smugglers/pirates)

Fantasy -

• Sword Art: Online (anime about a guy who gets stuck in a MMORPG. Also try Log Horizon that is ongoing as its very similar, maybe even better)
• Princess Monoke (anime movie, Hayao Mizaki film. fantastic movie that has nature vs man themes told in a wonderful adventure)
• Spirited Away (as mentioned above, another must-see anime movie by Mizaki)
• Fate/stay night and Fate/zero (anime about wizards who summon classic heroes from fiction to fight each other)
• Vision of Escaflowne (a girl gets transported to another dimension and goes on an adventure with people she meets. also has mecha)

Post Apocalypse -

• Neon Genesis Evangelion (one of the best anime of all time, may have like 1 episode with light nudity though (just tits iirc). Also has mech/action)
• Casshern Sins (about a cyborg assassin. also action heavy)
• Akira (argubly the most important anime ever made as it revolutionized the genre. lots of action too)
• Blue Gender (horror/mecha/action...overall a great anime that is very underrated)
• Gargantia on a Verdurous Planet (mecha pilot crash lands on a Earth, a planet he thought long abandoned by humanity. its pretty new and short but cool.)

That's really sweet of you.

I have to start watching attack on titan.

The story is solid, but really whats more important is the animation job. Its absolute phenomenal. From the actual animation, to the voice work to the musical score.

One of the best I've seen since 1997's Ghost in the Shell (still my all time best animation)

I've been slacking on anime lately. Got to catch up.

@patrat18: i use to watch a lot more (like 24 episode anime in 1 day >_>...) but i still watch probably half a dozen series a year.

Right now i'm watching Naruto, and Onepiece.

@patrat18: yuck x 2

Lol. I've finished a handfull of anime before like Full metal, Hellsing, and Blue exorcist.

@imagineman16: Blue Exorcist, Yuyu Hakusho, Toriko, Full Metal Alchemist, Soul Eater are some.

Why do I always have to be the first or only person to mention Code Geass?

• Code Geass - It's about Lelouch, a prince who wants to find out how his mother died, and bring down his father's kingdom (Sci-Fi, fantasy)
• Fullmetal Alchemist / Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - About Edward and his brother, Alphonse. They need to restore their bodies after they were damaged / lost during an accident involving alchemy (Sci-Fi, fantasy)
• Hellsing: Ultimate - It's about Alucard, a vampire who is sworn to the service of Integra Hellsing, the leader of the Hellsing Organization, which hunts down supernatural threats of England (Fantasy, horror).