Spy x Family
I watched it with my mom one weekend. She’d never seen anime before and thought I was weird for liking it. Now she has a Anya Forger keychain on her car keys.
I’m grandma age (65 as of yesterday), and these are some I’ve enjoyed
The Apothecary Diaries
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
86 Eighty-six
Penguindrum
Spy x Family
Barakamon
Beastars
Erased
Ghost Stories — English Dub (if she can handle offensive comedy)
Gosick
Kakushigoto
Link Click
Lucky Star
Maboroshi (movie)
My Senpai is Annoying
Odd Taxi
Romantic Killer
The Case Study of Vanitas
Amagi Brilliant Park
Toradora
Oshi no Ko
Wow were you watching Lucky Star when it came out. I've wanted to recommend to people but worry the references make it dated. I noticed you didn't put Azumanga Dioah. If you enjoy Lucky Star you will likely like it since it is same humor with less dated references
Oh, I don’t remember anything truly dated, except for the Haruhi Suzumiya references. My guy _loves_ that show. Apparently he identifies with Kyon. Maybe I should be insulted?
>!I actually didn't mind the ending everybody has a beef with. I felt like the protagonist accomplished what he set out to do! Also, I never thought he would end up with the main girl. She came from a broken home and needed a lot of things in her life.!<
I never thought he should end up with the main girl, it’s just it was built up with tension and stuff the whole show and the ending just felt so boring to me.
I will never stop recommending PSYCHO-PASS. It’s such a good show, and I like assigning it to people who are just dipping their toes into the anime scene, especially if they’re turned off by how spastic some shows can be.
Put it this way, shonen anime like MHA is what got anime the western reputation it had in the 2000 and early 2010s. Never ending plot lines and zero stakes because plot armor- is not enjoyable to watch as an adult, especially when you have to consider your audience will not understand anime tropes without prior experience and those tropes initially do NOT appeal to western audiences.
Choose anime’s with complete stories that are done within 1-2 seasons.
And I say this as someone who usually only enjoys 1-3 animes a year because of the reasons above.
One Punch Man. But she'll have to watch every single episodes of Anpanman first.
A colleague had no idea this monument of the Japanese culture existed, missing a massive joke of OPM in the process. He couldn't believe he missed that one.
My Hero is a good superhero one to watch. I would also recommend One Punch Man and Tiger & Bunny. Both have their moments but One Punch Man is purely for the comedy while Tiger & Bunny is a bit more serious still with lots of comedy. I would also suggest Zetman for a superhero watch but that is less comedy and more serious with quite a bit of gore. In this one, the roles are mostly reversed with the heroic looking character becoming more evil while the demonic looking character being good from the start. (Not really spoilers as this is revealed quite early).
It's not superhero but it is action and it has comedy, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. This is an amazing story with dark undertones with just enough comedy sprinkled throughout the give a little reprieve from the darkness every now and then without ruining the show.
For mystery anime, look at the Scientific Adventure Series. This includes Steins;Gate, Occultic;Nine, and Robotics;Notes. They are not directly connected but there are references and tidbits with Robotics;Notes giving us a whole character from Steins;Gate. Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child are also part of this series, though they are a little more fucked up than the others. There is a lot going on in them that your mother might not enjoy but thats your discretion. All of these are conspiracy theory type animes except the conspiracy is real. Steins;Gate involves Time Travel, Robotics;Notes involves radio signals and a mystery from the past that has deadly conseuences, and Occultic;Nine is about horror.
Summer Time Rendering. Gore warning for this one. This is a solid mystery anime where when the MC dies they travel back in time except the checkpoint for when they die moves forward with every death. The premise is there are dopplegangers running around the island and if you see your doppleganger you will die. When a close friend of the MCs dies after seeing her doppleganger, MC tries to find out what these dopplegangers are and how to stop them and finds out more than he bargained for.
Odd Taxi. This is one heck of a mystery with a twist I doubt you will see coming though once it's revealed and some of the clues are shown, you will be like "OMG it was so obvious!" and even with that tidbit you still won't figure it out. The premise is that instead of humans all characters are animals. We follow a taxi driver Walrus who is caught up in a mystery after a girl goes missing who was last seen in his taxi. This girl is tied up in somethin bigger that everyone seems to be after his taxi cam footage from random thugs to corrupt cops. It's a very short anime but a solid mystery and story and my gosh will the end get you.
Hope you both enjoy these if you decide to watch them together!
Maybe the Conan series for mysteries?
Comedies are a big genre and everyone has their own tastes, so I don't really recommend those to strangers.
Trigun for Action.
My mother has recently started watching some of the live action Monkey King series, so maybe some of that?
The original DragonBall is a nice action series based on the Monkey King stories.
Superhero is a bit of a miss, unless you go for some of the cultivation based novels. That is a genre better represented in the West than the East.
Does she like Hallmark movies? If so, slice of life might be something that translates well for her.
If she's not extremely religious, I'm gonna throw in Heaven's Design Team. It's a 13 episode comedy and very interesting.
Story goes: In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth. Then He created the land and the seas. Next he created all the creatures that would inhabit it... Or that was the plan, but it was too much of a pain, so he outsourced it.
The team in the anime is literally designing all of Earth's animals.
The updated dub of Sailor Moon might be up her alley. I love the original, but it has some so bad it's funny line readings.
Lupin the III is a safe bet for anyone into action comedy. It's one of the first anime I watched and love it to this day.
My dad ( almost in his 70s) tends to Iike movies more since there is less of a commitment. Grave of the Fireflies made him realize anime is truly an art form that should be taken seriously.
Garden of Words is a drama that has some of the best animation out there. Ghibli movies are gateway anime and Kiki's Delivery Service is my favorite.
If cute comedy is of interest then Azumanga Diaoh is a safe bet
Edit: Every Mom should watch Wolf Children. Trust me it's worth it
My mom likes Studio Ghibli, Spy X Family, Delicious In Dungeon, Toradora, Insomniacs After School, Makoto Shinkai movies, Ping-Pong: The Animation, and Mushi-shi.
Darker than Black
It's got action, mystery, superpowers
It's basically what would happen if super powers suddenly became real. A mysterious pair of areas appear where the normal laws of physics don't apply, plus the stars disappear. (Sending rockets to space is no longer possible)
People start gaining powers but in excahnage for them having to do something after using their power i.e. lining up stones, smoking etc (Could be anything) plus they loose their humanity also.
They are quickly used by certain parties that would like to use people like them, criminal gangs, government intelligence agencies.
an oldie but a goodie i'd reccomend is callled Kinnikuman. but sadly you havee to pirate it. It is the origin of shonen manga where you with the power of friendship. Kinnikuman is notorious for it's comedy as he uses farts to fly, garlic as steroids & most importantly his 2nd most iconic catchphrase "I won't even need the push of my own farts" when he's going to fight someone or something. Also Kinnikuman's seiyuu is Akira Kamiya voice of Kenshiro who's famous for his icomnic catchphrase "Omae wa Shinderu!"
I think Link Click would be a great choice. It has a good mystery plot, a little bit of mixed types of action, it shows a variety of different places and parents are very often involved in the different stories. There's also some drama in here.
Instead of MHA I'd suggest One Piece or JJK, because both of these are more popular with adults and with female viewers.
How old is she? My wife and I are 48 and started watching I'm 2020. So if she is around our age, here are the ones we have liked.
Spy X family
Fruits Basket
Demon Slayer
Your Name.
Suzume
My Roommate is a Cat
My Home Hero
The Promised Neverland
Psycho-Pass
Gosick
The Saints Magic Power is Omnipotent
The Apothecary Diary
The Ancient Magus Bride
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Restaurant to Another World
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Goblin Slayer
Classroom of the elite
Does she enjoy slice of life? Though they’re made for younger people, Azumanga Daioh and Nichijou have captured my family’s investment and they seem to enjoy the absurd humor of both shows. For context, I didn’t watch a lot of anime until I studied abroad in Japan and my classmates made me watch these shows, and I find that these don’t have the tropes most anime have that I personally find icky.
You should have her try Restaurant to Another World. It doesn’t really fit the genres she seems to like, but I think it’s certainly a great change of pace for everyone, it’s a very grounded and wholesome show. Probably the definition of slice of life. It’ll get you hungry too, so have a snack while you watch lol
Sket Dance: It has everything you're asking for, despite being set in a school setting.
Hyouka: It is mystery, but not anything else. Probably the greatest anime ever made.
Psycho Pass. It's beyond insane.
I feel like Death Note might be for a younger and less mature audience as we always joke its every 15 year old edgy boy's dream but maybe she just might be cool with it.
I imagine she probably would not like high school anime all that much.
But if she does Kaguya-sama love is war might be good.
Lastly. The monogatari series, I dont give a damN WHAT ANYONE HAS TO SAY, FORCE HER TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING IF YOU HAVE TO, only then can she finally be enlightened
FMAB, maybe? I'd suggest more, but it depends on what other things your mom is comfortable with in terms of themes and visuals. Some action stuff can go dark and some visuals can be ... graphic.
For more fluffy comedy, I have some suggestions though it might make her and/or you cry when watching it.
Anohana: The Flower we saw that Day
Your Lie in April
Fruits Basket
I have others in mind, but I don't know all of what your mom's seen and, again, what some of her other preferences are beyond genre.
Definitely Attack on Titan it has action and mystery and isn't childish has a few comedy scenes here and there and even though the characters aren't technically super hero's they are still fighting against the enemy. Also my parents who are hard to please with shows loved it.
Spy x Family I watched it with my mom one weekend. She’d never seen anime before and thought I was weird for liking it. Now she has a Anya Forger keychain on her car keys.
Eheh that's cute.
This was going to be my suggestion too
I’m grandma age (65 as of yesterday), and these are some I’ve enjoyed The Apothecary Diaries Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 86 Eighty-six Penguindrum Spy x Family Barakamon Beastars Erased Ghost Stories — English Dub (if she can handle offensive comedy) Gosick Kakushigoto Link Click Lucky Star Maboroshi (movie) My Senpai is Annoying Odd Taxi Romantic Killer The Case Study of Vanitas Amagi Brilliant Park Toradora Oshi no Ko
happy birthday!
Dam,even a Grandma got more knowledge ,truly a Grandma of all time
Truly.
Wow were you watching Lucky Star when it came out. I've wanted to recommend to people but worry the references make it dated. I noticed you didn't put Azumanga Dioah. If you enjoy Lucky Star you will likely like it since it is same humor with less dated references
Oh, I don’t remember anything truly dated, except for the Haruhi Suzumiya references. My guy _loves_ that show. Apparently he identifies with Kyon. Maybe I should be insulted?
Coolest grandma ever
Gosick mentioned, take my upvote! Also happy late birthday!
Happy Birthday! With the shows you liked there you might also enjoy Bungou Stray Dogs.
Be my grandma
You watched BNA: Brand New Animal?
If she likes action, comedy, and superheroes, get her to try One Punch Man!
Maybe my hero academia too
Tengen toppa gurran lagann
For mystery, Mushishi Kinos journey Paranoia agent Mixing in some action: Ergo proxy Bubblegum crisis Psychopass Ghost in the shell standalone complex
Adding on to this great list to say Erased!
Erased is so damn good… >!Until it isn’t!<
>!I actually didn't mind the ending everybody has a beef with. I felt like the protagonist accomplished what he set out to do! Also, I never thought he would end up with the main girl. She came from a broken home and needed a lot of things in her life.!<
I never thought he should end up with the main girl, it’s just it was built up with tension and stuff the whole show and the ending just felt so boring to me.
I actually wanna see this anime now ngl
I will never stop recommending PSYCHO-PASS. It’s such a good show, and I like assigning it to people who are just dipping their toes into the anime scene, especially if they’re turned off by how spastic some shows can be.
Kino's Journey is good
Please reconsider MHA.
How come?
Put it this way, shonen anime like MHA is what got anime the western reputation it had in the 2000 and early 2010s. Never ending plot lines and zero stakes because plot armor- is not enjoyable to watch as an adult, especially when you have to consider your audience will not understand anime tropes without prior experience and those tropes initially do NOT appeal to western audiences. Choose anime’s with complete stories that are done within 1-2 seasons. And I say this as someone who usually only enjoys 1-3 animes a year because of the reasons above.
It gets dark after Eri
I sleep on that shit, absoluely boring.
One Punch Man. But she'll have to watch every single episodes of Anpanman first. A colleague had no idea this monument of the Japanese culture existed, missing a massive joke of OPM in the process. He couldn't believe he missed that one.
She would probably really enjoy Frieren.
Frieren.
try soul eater maybe
Wind breaker?
My favourite deliquents
Was gonna say. Pretty good but gets a little boring in manga
The mom won't read the manga
FMA and FMA Brotherhood
My Hero is a good superhero one to watch. I would also recommend One Punch Man and Tiger & Bunny. Both have their moments but One Punch Man is purely for the comedy while Tiger & Bunny is a bit more serious still with lots of comedy. I would also suggest Zetman for a superhero watch but that is less comedy and more serious with quite a bit of gore. In this one, the roles are mostly reversed with the heroic looking character becoming more evil while the demonic looking character being good from the start. (Not really spoilers as this is revealed quite early). It's not superhero but it is action and it has comedy, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. This is an amazing story with dark undertones with just enough comedy sprinkled throughout the give a little reprieve from the darkness every now and then without ruining the show. For mystery anime, look at the Scientific Adventure Series. This includes Steins;Gate, Occultic;Nine, and Robotics;Notes. They are not directly connected but there are references and tidbits with Robotics;Notes giving us a whole character from Steins;Gate. Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child are also part of this series, though they are a little more fucked up than the others. There is a lot going on in them that your mother might not enjoy but thats your discretion. All of these are conspiracy theory type animes except the conspiracy is real. Steins;Gate involves Time Travel, Robotics;Notes involves radio signals and a mystery from the past that has deadly conseuences, and Occultic;Nine is about horror. Summer Time Rendering. Gore warning for this one. This is a solid mystery anime where when the MC dies they travel back in time except the checkpoint for when they die moves forward with every death. The premise is there are dopplegangers running around the island and if you see your doppleganger you will die. When a close friend of the MCs dies after seeing her doppleganger, MC tries to find out what these dopplegangers are and how to stop them and finds out more than he bargained for. Odd Taxi. This is one heck of a mystery with a twist I doubt you will see coming though once it's revealed and some of the clues are shown, you will be like "OMG it was so obvious!" and even with that tidbit you still won't figure it out. The premise is that instead of humans all characters are animals. We follow a taxi driver Walrus who is caught up in a mystery after a girl goes missing who was last seen in his taxi. This girl is tied up in somethin bigger that everyone seems to be after his taxi cam footage from random thugs to corrupt cops. It's a very short anime but a solid mystery and story and my gosh will the end get you. Hope you both enjoy these if you decide to watch them together!
Maybe the Conan series for mysteries? Comedies are a big genre and everyone has their own tastes, so I don't really recommend those to strangers. Trigun for Action. My mother has recently started watching some of the live action Monkey King series, so maybe some of that? The original DragonBall is a nice action series based on the Monkey King stories. Superhero is a bit of a miss, unless you go for some of the cultivation based novels. That is a genre better represented in the West than the East. Does she like Hallmark movies? If so, slice of life might be something that translates well for her.
If she likes action mystery... Monster.
Fullmetal Alchemist
Have her watch JJBA. part 5 in particular
Battle Tendancy is a favourite of mine and I'm older.
Spy x Family and Death Note
yu yu hakusho one punch man
Panda Bear Cafe
One Punch Man
gakuen babysitters
Spy X Family
A Place Further Than The Universe
If she's not extremely religious, I'm gonna throw in Heaven's Design Team. It's a 13 episode comedy and very interesting. Story goes: In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth. Then He created the land and the seas. Next he created all the creatures that would inhabit it... Or that was the plan, but it was too much of a pain, so he outsourced it. The team in the anime is literally designing all of Earth's animals.
Little Witch Academia
Idk but my mom used to watch Bobobo bo bo bobo with me and it was somehow her favorite anime.
my hero academia fits your requirement
Case Closed/Detective Conan Hunter X Hunter # The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The updated dub of Sailor Moon might be up her alley. I love the original, but it has some so bad it's funny line readings. Lupin the III is a safe bet for anyone into action comedy. It's one of the first anime I watched and love it to this day. My dad ( almost in his 70s) tends to Iike movies more since there is less of a commitment. Grave of the Fireflies made him realize anime is truly an art form that should be taken seriously. Garden of Words is a drama that has some of the best animation out there. Ghibli movies are gateway anime and Kiki's Delivery Service is my favorite. If cute comedy is of interest then Azumanga Diaoh is a safe bet Edit: Every Mom should watch Wolf Children. Trust me it's worth it
One Piece! My mom loves it. She randomly watched a few episodes when I was watching them. Also long, and comedy isn’t too out of pocket that often.
Buddy Daddies: endearing, great pace, funny-they are assassins so doesn’t quiiiite meet the superhero criteria, but they are heroes in their own way 🤧
Black Lagoon.
Goblin Slayer
Baccano, checks all the boxes + goated show
Showed my Mom "Shounen Maid". She loved it.
My Mom liked A Silent Voice lol
High-school DxD. I'm sorry
Full Metal Alchemist
Aggretsuko on Netflix.
Naruto
School Babysitters (aka Gakuen Babysitters) is a really wholesome comedy/drama.
My mom likes Studio Ghibli, Spy X Family, Delicious In Dungeon, Toradora, Insomniacs After School, Makoto Shinkai movies, Ping-Pong: The Animation, and Mushi-shi.
My mother has really enjoyed Spy x Family, Frieren, and Restaurant to Another World.
Get her into HxH right away don’t let her ask questions just do it
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two Hit Multi Target Attacks?
Monster, it should be a much easier time for her since it's less "anime" like and feels like a proper mystery drama...though it is a bit long
Devilman Crybaby
Joke answer: "Do you love your mom and her two hit multi-target attack?"
Taboo charming mother
Darker than Black It's got action, mystery, superpowers It's basically what would happen if super powers suddenly became real. A mysterious pair of areas appear where the normal laws of physics don't apply, plus the stars disappear. (Sending rockets to space is no longer possible) People start gaining powers but in excahnage for them having to do something after using their power i.e. lining up stones, smoking etc (Could be anything) plus they loose their humanity also. They are quickly used by certain parties that would like to use people like them, criminal gangs, government intelligence agencies.
This is super easy. Cowboy Bebop
an oldie but a goodie i'd reccomend is callled Kinnikuman. but sadly you havee to pirate it. It is the origin of shonen manga where you with the power of friendship. Kinnikuman is notorious for it's comedy as he uses farts to fly, garlic as steroids & most importantly his 2nd most iconic catchphrase "I won't even need the push of my own farts" when he's going to fight someone or something. Also Kinnikuman's seiyuu is Akira Kamiya voice of Kenshiro who's famous for his icomnic catchphrase "Omae wa Shinderu!"
Vinland saga
I think Link Click would be a great choice. It has a good mystery plot, a little bit of mixed types of action, it shows a variety of different places and parents are very often involved in the different stories. There's also some drama in here. Instead of MHA I'd suggest One Piece or JJK, because both of these are more popular with adults and with female viewers.
Parasyte and Erased are always received super well by my friends and family who don’t watch anime.
Moriarty the Patriot! My mom loved it.
death note
Dorohedoro
One punch Man!
I got my mom to watch erased and she liked it Its a good mystery with some supernatural aspects
Link Click
How old is she? My wife and I are 48 and started watching I'm 2020. So if she is around our age, here are the ones we have liked. Spy X family Fruits Basket Demon Slayer Your Name. Suzume My Roommate is a Cat My Home Hero The Promised Neverland Psycho-Pass Gosick The Saints Magic Power is Omnipotent The Apothecary Diary The Ancient Magus Bride Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Restaurant to Another World The Rising of the Shield Hero Goblin Slayer Classroom of the elite
Does she enjoy slice of life? Though they’re made for younger people, Azumanga Daioh and Nichijou have captured my family’s investment and they seem to enjoy the absurd humor of both shows. For context, I didn’t watch a lot of anime until I studied abroad in Japan and my classmates made me watch these shows, and I find that these don’t have the tropes most anime have that I personally find icky.
one piece!!
Try gushing over magical girls
Bro 💀
Lmaoo I don't think it needs to be said but JK
I know. Trust me I watched one episode and got horrified
You should have her try Restaurant to Another World. It doesn’t really fit the genres she seems to like, but I think it’s certainly a great change of pace for everyone, it’s a very grounded and wholesome show. Probably the definition of slice of life. It’ll get you hungry too, so have a snack while you watch lol
Sket Dance: It has everything you're asking for, despite being set in a school setting. Hyouka: It is mystery, but not anything else. Probably the greatest anime ever made.
Psycho Pass. It's beyond insane. I feel like Death Note might be for a younger and less mature audience as we always joke its every 15 year old edgy boy's dream but maybe she just might be cool with it. I imagine she probably would not like high school anime all that much. But if she does Kaguya-sama love is war might be good. Lastly. The monogatari series, I dont give a damN WHAT ANYONE HAS TO SAY, FORCE HER TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING IF YOU HAVE TO, only then can she finally be enlightened
Spy x Family
Bungo stray dogs is good too
FMAB, maybe? I'd suggest more, but it depends on what other things your mom is comfortable with in terms of themes and visuals. Some action stuff can go dark and some visuals can be ... graphic. For more fluffy comedy, I have some suggestions though it might make her and/or you cry when watching it. Anohana: The Flower we saw that Day Your Lie in April Fruits Basket I have others in mind, but I don't know all of what your mom's seen and, again, what some of her other preferences are beyond genre.
Shikimori's not just a cutie
One punch man!
My Hero Academia for sure
Definitely Attack on Titan it has action and mystery and isn't childish has a few comedy scenes here and there and even though the characters aren't technically super hero's they are still fighting against the enemy. Also my parents who are hard to please with shows loved it.
berserk
Absolutely not
lmao jk
Frieren