CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

So my two younger siblings(ages 11 and 12) are wanting to watch an anime and they won't leave me alone about it . I need a pg rated anime that will hold them off for a while but is not ridiculously long. They are refusing Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z(I have no interest in those either) but an anime along those lines. They've watched animes like Angelic Layer, a couple H. Miazaki films(Cat Returned, Whisper of the Heart, Howls Moving Castle, Nausicaa and the Valley of Wind, and Castle in the Sky), Mega Man(at least part of it and not in chronological order ), and D.N. Angel(but I would prefer an anime that doesn't have cussing even if it is minor). Please .

They may (or may not) enjoy Beast Player Erin or Usagi Drop. Check out the content reviews, first, as both titles have some thematic content some might find objectionable, but in my opinion, they're appropriate for younger audiences.
You might also check the Anime Recommendations thread, as a similar question was answered there recently (like within the last five pages, I think).

Ponyo, totoro, and the borrower arietty are all really good movies. I second Erin and Usagi drop.

They've seen those three films and I'm looking for a show. We are watching Komono No Souja Erin(long story why we don't just watch it now. please don't ask). I will look into Usagi Drop but I'll still welcome recommendations. thank you!

there is Sherlock Hound. It's pretty cute.

You're not giving much info as to what kind of genre they're interested in. I mean, I could say Snow Fairy Sugar, which is an adorable series, but if they're not into cutesy girl stuff then they're probably not going to care for it.

okay, well thank you for the options! We've decided to start watching Usagi Drop.

I've been interested in Usagi Drop myself, but haven't taken the time yet. If they finish that one pretty quick, you could try Princess TuTu (it's been awhile... it may have the d-word during a brief, intense scene). Full Moon o Sagashite is good for younger audiences, I would think, but it can get pretty emotional. There's a show called Monster Rancher if they prefer something like that - it's clean and adventurous, and less girly.

I watched Usagi Drop, its a good anime; its cute, funny, and only 11 episodes long. I've actually been thinking about re-watching it, with my little sister this time.

faithb4sight wrote:I've been interested in Usagi Drop myself, but haven't taken the time yet. If they finish that one pretty quick, you could try Princess TuTu (it's been awhile... it may have the d-word during a brief, intense scene). Full Moon o Sagashite is good for younger audiences, I would think, but it can get pretty emotional. There's a show called Monster Rancher if they prefer something like that - it's clean and adventurous, and less girly.

If you chose this you should read the review on it as there is some violence and some joke about homosexuality once (there is no homosexuality, some people just thought there was).
Other than that its pretty cute!

@DecooPunk

In which anime?

faithb4sight wrote:@DecooPunk

In which anime?

Oh wow. I forgot to human. Princess tutu. I am sorry for the confusion.

@DecooPunk

No worries I didn't remember that part of the anime, but I agree it can get a little violent (like Sailor Moon violence).

Hey Sailor Moon can get pretty violent at times. I mean practically the entire main cast got killed off in the end of the first story arc.

@Nate

Waah! Really?! :'(
I watched the series ages ago and it always seemed pretty mild. I don't think I've seen every episode, though...

If you mean the DiC English versions, those were edited (in some cases substantially) for the American market. Those are the ones my sister remembers also, so she found the Japanese originals surprising.

The Pioneer dubbing of Sailor Moon S left in a decent amount of violence I think, then again it was pretty difficult to edit around that given that S was the darkest season of the show by a longshot (except for maybe the very end of Stars).

Kaitou Saint Tail is very kid-friendly, though it's also very shoujo (much drama about oh-no-does-he-like-me), so it might not be that interesting, depending on your tastes. But it has one of the most positive perspectives on Christianity that I've seen in any anime - the main character goes to a Catholic school and prays with her friend (who is a nun-in-training, if I remember correctly) before doing her magical transformation each episode. Premise: A middle-school girl is secretly a famous thief, who steals things Robin Hood-style, to help others. A detective's son is trying to track her down.

Rurouni Kenshin might be worth looking into - it's very shonen like Pokemon and DBZ, full of action and all that. I can't remember about language, but I think the violence is about the right level for your siblings' ages. There are some intense moments, and the first arc has to do with the opium trade, but I think it should work. Premise: A wandering samurai gets caught up in various schemes in the Meiji era, being forced to fight despite his resolve to never kill again.

Tsubasa Chronicle would probably also work pretty well. It has very sweet character interactions, fun action of all sorts, and an intriguing plotline. I don't remember any language, and there's not much blood until the OVAs, which get a bit more intense. The only downside is that they never finished the anime, so you might be left hanging if you don't want to finish off the story with the manga. Premise: When the princess loses her memories, her best friend has to team up with a band of unlikely heroes to travel across dimensions to gather up her scattered memories.

D.Gray-man is another good shonen series with great characters, fun action, and not much language that I can remember. It might be a bit iffy because it's based around a Church fighting Akuma (demons), and the main villain can be rather blasphemous. The main problem, once again, is that they never finished the anime - and Hoshino-san hasn't even finished the manga either. Premise: A young Exorcist joins the Black Order in their fight against the Akuma, bringing with him a mysterious destiny that could spell the end of the world.

Haibane Renmei is one that would probably work, but I'm not sure. It's an absolutely beautiful story about friendship and finding your purpose, but it can be quite sad and intense at times (there are main character deaths). There are one or two instances of the d-word in the dub only (incidentally, the sub and dub are both excellent and sound almost exactly the same), and there is one scene with quite a lot of blood - the main character sprouts wings and screams in pain. For the most part, though, Haibane Renmei is a very slow, soft kind of story that just feels very soothing and beautiful. Premise: A girl wakes up without any memory of who she is or where she was before, and she learns that she is a creature called a Haibane, with a halo and wings (not supposed to be an angel, despite what it might seem). The anime follows her attempts to fit into her new home and discover what she's supposed to do.

I know you're looking for series, but in case you want some good kid-friendly movies:
Any Studio Ghibli movie other than Princess Mononoke or Grave of the Fireflies
One Stormy Night (A wolf and a goat befriend each other despite the prejudices inherent to their species.)
Scamper the Penguin (Two young penguins get separated from their families and embark on a dangerous adventure to get back home.)

I rather enjoyed Saint Tail, and yes, her friend was a nun-in-training. Very little to find offensive about that show, and a good choice for all ages.

When I was that age, I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm not sure how long it is, but it's awesome, not exactly a standard anime though.

Fair warning: The Kyoto arc of Rurouni Kenshin is quite gory; I was going through the edit lists from when Cartoon Network aired the series and they had to edit a lot, including SPOILER: Highlight text to read: a man killing his entire family (we don't see it, but we hear the screams and other noises). There's also a few instances of the d-word and h-word in the dub/sub.

marro1 wrote:When I was that age, I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm not sure how long it is, but it's awesome, not exactly a standard anime though.

While the definition of anime varies, Avatar is universally considered not an anime as it was produced completely in the United States.

You're not alone in confusing it for anime though, many people do. G1 Transformers is another show that is not anime but confused for one constantly. I guess giant robots and Asian-influenced stuff are just inevitably linked to Japan in most people's minds.

Nate wrote:You're not alone in confusing it for anime though, many people do. G1 Transformers is another show that is not anime but confused for one constantly. I guess giant robots and Asian-influenced stuff are just inevitably linked to Japan in most people's minds.

I can't speak for G1 but A:TLA has an amazing art style and such great character development (not to mention over-arching plot lines) that it is understandably confused for a great anime series. I believe the creators cited Miyazaki-san as influences for their work.

p.s. A:TLA is a spectacular show.

The fact that it has an amazing art style should be proof that it isn't anime though. :V

(Imagine I linked GOOD NARUTO YOU LOOK KIND OF COOL and other really terrible anime pictures here)

Now, this one might be stretching it, but try finding the dubbed version of G Gundam that was on Toonami. As far as I can remember, there's no language, and the violence stays pretty mild, but the plot is still suitably dramatic, even if what's going on is pretty absurd. Then again, there's some influence from Dragon Ball Z (a bit of chatter about powering up and getting the next super mode, etc.) but everything else will probably disguise that so they won't turn up their nose right away.

Nate wrote:The fact that it has an amazing art style should be proof that it isn't anime though. :V

(Imagine I linked GOOD NARUTO YOU LOOK KIND OF COOL and other really terrible anime pictures here)

Haha I agree it's definitely not an anime but it is worth a watch (just my opinion , though)