Are you bored of scrolling through your video provider and want something underground or interesting to watch? Then this list is perfect for you! Most of these are anime except for the last one, so if that’s your thing and you want to learn more, you want something new to watch, or if you just want to dip your toes in the genre without being spoiled too much then this list is perfect for you!
Starting off the list is the movie “A Look Back,” which is a really sweet movie about a mangaka (a person who makes manga) named Ayumu Fujino who one day has to share the newspaper she does the manga in with someone else who doesn’t make manga, just pretty backgrounds, and it becomes a hit. At the time, she is in elementary school and acts as any elementary kid would– throwing a fit and focusing hard on being the better artist.
That’s until it affects her social life and she can’t compete with the other artist, so she gives up. Some time goes by, and she has to give the other artist her 6th grade diploma and meet her for the first time. That’s just a brief description of the movie. It’s a pretty short movie, only 57 minute’s but it’s really sweet and I can see anyone liking it!
The art style fits the tone of the movie and is close to the manga it originated from. I can see someone who never touched anime before really getting into this, and I totally recommend this as a first for someone who’s never touched the genre.
“Mob Psycho 100” is an anime about a middle schooler named Mob Kageyama who has really strong physychic powers that he hides and how he and his master, named Reigen Arataka, take on spirits and moral dilemmas. The characters of the show bounce off each other really well. Each new character they introduce has some charm that really fits and adds to the show as a whole. The plot is great and can be really funny and entertaining at times, while going over serious stuff. Its animation is genuinely gorgeous and the art style fits each of the characters so well.
It knows exactly when to be serious and when not to be, which makes every episode (in my opinion) great, making you want more and more after each episode which is really hard for most shows to do!
“Neon Genesis Evangelion” is a plot heavy, but entertaining anime about a 14-year-old high schooler named Shinji Ikari fighting creatures in big robots.
Evangelion can be heavy at times with big themes like suicide, sexual assault, mental health struggles and trauma, child abuse and parental neglect, religious symbolism, and gore at times so if these topics are sensitive to you I would advise that you don’t watch this anime. Evangelion is really good, especially if you watch the movies that go along with it. By the time you finish the anime and start the movies, you already have a connection to the characters, so it hits you even harder than if you were just introduced to these characters. Not to mention how as the movies progress, you can see the quality of the art and animation get better.
By the last movie, every single scene in it can be paused and look like a piece of artwork, it’s beautiful. However, something that kind of sucks about the show and movies is the fanservice, even though most of the characters are minors. The plot can be really confusing if you are trying to comprehend everything, though you can always make a rough guess.
I recommend watching a YouTube video essay after finishing the shows and movies if you think you are the type of person to gain a full understanding of media after watching an explanation.
Lastly on the list is a film called “All About Lily Chou-Chou”. This movie does contain some triggers like self-harm, sexual assault, abuse, and suicide so if you are sensitive about these topics, I strongly recommend you don’t watch this. It follows several Japanese students and how solo musician Lily Chou-Chou influences their lives. This film is filmed in a really unique way, it has a lot of jump cuts and makes the watcher fill the gaps in the story, while still making it understandable to the viewer.
This film was an eye-opening experience: its story is really touching and personal and it is executed perfectly.
The film uses Lily Chou-Chou’s album Kokyū throughout the whole film, and I recommend listening to the full album after finishing the movie.
Overall, this list definitely has something you haven’t watched, and I’d say all of these can have a lasting effect on you if you immerse yourself in each TV show and movie. My hope is that after reading this, you have something you can do if you’re bored. If anything, just try watching one of them on an off day or during spring or summer break and see where it leads you! You might end up enjoying it and you might want to make your own list one day.
