When you try to show anime to your friends and family...

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

I'm sure we all have tried at some point. Some of us were successful. Some of us weren't. So I thought, why not have a thread where everyone can post their own stories from when they tried showing other people anime? So have you? Were you successful (in other words, did the person you showed anime to like it)? Did they give a funny reaction? Do you have any tips for other people who want to show their friends and family anime? Let us have fun!

[scribbledreamer]

I've gotten my mom to watch Clannad (and the After Story) and Special A. She thought they were okay - except for some parts in Clannad mainly SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Fuko (who annoyed her), the dorm mother's backstory with her cat (which she thought was dumb), and basically the whole conclusion/illusionary world. I think she liked S.A. better. I'm trying to get her to watch Isshuukan Friends with my sister and me, but she said something to the extent of "Oh, please. No more anime." (On a side note, my sister loves Isshuukan Friends. Success!)

Also, my dad and I went to a used bookstore the other day. He looked at my stack of manga and said "I still don't really see why you like that stuff."

[black & white angel]

I've tried to get my mom and dad to watch Grave of the Fireflies, and Jin-Roh the Wolf Brigade. My dad refused to watch them and my mom didn't enjoy either of them ... =_=

[twistedfairytale45]

Well... My life long friend, Red(that's not actually her name btw) has known that I have been addicted to anime for the longest time. Once she even tried to do an animish hairstyle for me once without knowing she was copying Misa from Death Note.
One day when she was at my house she spotted my older sisters Fruits Basket Manga Colection and started reading it. I didn't really pay any heed to it considering the fact she would read just about anything. About a week or two later she came up to me and announced she had started watching the anime for Fruits Basket. I panicked(because I had told her multiple times to watch D.N. Angel first and I knew that the anime for Fruits Basket was horrible compared to the manga). She laughed it off and I kinda forgot all about it.
I few days later she sent me an email ranting about Dark and I gave a scream of triumph. Then came Pandora Hearts... followed by Angel Beats and Death Note. I was overjoyed and then completely overwhelmed. My sister had told me I wasn't old enough for Death Note so I knew I would have to give Red a proper scolding and warning... but by then she had already finished the darn show and was begging me to watch it with her.

So this is what it all comes down to. I introduce a friend to anime and she ends up falling in love with it more than I do(To prove it she watched Soul Eater in 3 DAYS. That show has OVER 50 EPISODES).

[Davidizer13]

I got my brother into an episode of Big O one time. It ended up being the one where he realizes he's a tomato...or something. Big O was a strange show. Point is, it didn't have any of the awesome weighty mecha fights, but it had all of the strange psychological gobbedlygook they tried to throw in towards the end.

I did get my sister in on Sym-Bionic Titan, though, and we all watched Avatar: TLA together. Other than that, not happening.

[Panda4christ:3]

I remember showing one of my friend's anime when we were, geez, really young. But other than that I've never really had the urge to show anybody anime XD. Though my parents have probably caught a few glances of Totoro or Howl's Moving Castle.
Also, My dad quite enjoys the FMA:B OST (but, that really doesn't count).

[drill]

I was actually the one that was introduced to anime by my brother when he first showed me SAO. Surprisingly, by now I have actually watched about 10x the anime my brother has. I could never see mom or dad watching anime though, so I never bothered to try.

[Kilvakar]

I got my mom to watch a couple of episodes of Fairy Tail, she said they were interesting, but I could tell it wasn't really her thing. I was first introduced to anime by my younger brothers, who got me to watch Bleach. Been hooked ever since

[ClosetOtaku]

I have friends (in their 40s) who watch the 'in' television shows -- 'Dexter', 'Lost', 'Game of Thrones', and so on -- they were unimpressed with Cowboy Bebop and Spirited Away, so I haven't bothered trying to get them to watch anything else. Interestingly, I've listened to the fallout from some of those shows (particularly 'Lost' and 'Battlestar Galactica') and heard how disappointed my friends were in the endings, and how the finale ruined the whole series -- typical of some anime endings -- and so I'm not sure I've missed that much. I think it is the medium: if it is animated, it can't be as good as live action, or so the conventional wisdom goes. My brother is likewise unimpressed, although his kids love Totoro.

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

Wow. Those are all really interesting stories! And I seriously didn't think this thread would get so many replies!

I did get my mom to watch all of Avatar: TLA and she ended up liking it. And then I got her to watch Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight: Guilty a few months later. At the first ep she was like -_-...second ep -_-...but by the third she was more like /'.' \ lol. I also got her to watch Fullmetal Alchemist (which at first she didn't like cause she thought it was weird) but she ended up loving it and Brotherhood. I showed her Fruits Basket immediately afterward and I wasn't quite sure if she really liked it or not but when it got to end she was glued to the screen and even asked if there was more! I managed to show her most of Ouran which she thought was cute. In the end, she's mentioned more recently about how she wouldn't mind rewatching A:TLA, Vampire Knight, or Fullmetal but every time I try to show her something else that I know she would like she bucks me on it. But of course, when it comes to shows and movies, my mom isn't really open to anything new. I'm determined to get my dad to watch at least one anime but I feel like that'll be a daunting feat. He's said before that the biggest turn off for him with anime are the goofy cartoony facial expression and talking 90 miles an hour during the comedic parts. Both of my parents think I'm nuts for loving 'Japanese cartoons'. XD

I think that the best way to introduce someone to anime is to first choose a show from a genre your friend or family member likes a lot (Like romance, sci-fi, fantasy, etc...) and to choose one that has little to none of anime 'goofiness'.

[Thunderscream872]

lol, I was actually thinking of making a topic similar to this, but it looks like you beat me to it. Actually my topic was a little different so I might still make it at some point

Anyways, I have quite a few instances where I've tried to get friends/family into anime.

I got my brother into anime with Death Note. Back when I was watching it (it was my first anime that wasn't Transformers) I would tell him allot about what was going on in the story and what not. He never really seemed interested. Then one day he told me that he started watching it and got totally addicted to it. I was really surprised, and glad of course. He actually started watching FMA while he was watching Death Note and got me into that.

I got a guy I used to work with to watch FMA. He got like five episodes in and I think he dropped it The weird thing is I think he's watching Pokémon now, and really likes it. Idk, whatever floats your boat I guess, lol.

I’m trying to get my sister into it, but she really isn’t into all the distorted humor (I think that’s what you call it) and fanservice. She also doesn’t like how “still” anime looks. The one day when I was watching Darker Than Black, she actually watched some of it and enjoyed it. I’ve shown her clips of numerous other anime, but mainly just to show her the art style. I showed her some clips from Btooom! and she seemed to be interested in that one too. She’ll come around eventually.

I’d like to get my parents to at least give anime a shot, but they don’t even know that that’s 75% of what I watch. They probably don’t even know what it is. The thing is, they don’t watch many recent TV shows cause of all the language, sexual content, violence, etc., and they watch the same shows over and over again…I’d kinda like to get them to at least give a few animes a shot (cause frankly its annoying hearing about how “there’s nothing on TV”), but they probably wouldn’t be able to take it seriously, especially not my dad.

Most of my friends know that I'm into anime, but they rarely asked about it, so I don't really bring it up. Most of them wouldn’t be interested anyway; most people I know just can’t take “cartoons” seriously.

[Mullet Death]

I watch anime to get AWAY from people, not interact with them!

I watched the dub of Wolf Children with my Grandma. She thought it was all right as far as I can recall. Haven't felt much urge to "show" people (other than my best friend who introduced me to One Piece) any of my anime for the most part yet.

[skreyola]

I'm determined to get my dad to watch at least one anime but I feel like that'll be a daunting feat. He's said before that the biggest turn off for him with anime are the goofy cartoony facial expression and talking 90 miles an hour during the comedic parts. Both of my parents think I'm nuts for loving 'Japanese cartoons'. XD

I think there's a (slim) chance that he might enjoy something like House of Five Leaves, Bunny Drop, or Darker Than Black.

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

lol, I was actually thinking of making a topic similar to this, but it looks like you beat me to it. Actually my topic was a little different so I might still make it at some point

Oops. Sorry. Be sure to make yours too!

Most of them wouldn’t be interested anyway; most people I know just can’t take “cartoons” seriously.

Yeah, I can relate to that.

I'm determined to get my dad to watch at least one anime but I feel like that'll be a daunting feat. He's said before that the biggest turn off for him with anime are the goofy cartoony facial expression and talking 90 miles an hour during the comedic parts. Both of my parents think I'm nuts for loving 'Japanese cartoons'. XD

I think there's a (slim) chance that he might enjoy something like House of Five Leaves, Bunny Drop, or Darker Than Black.

I have seen some clips of Darker Than Black and I'm considering watching it real soon myself and it does kind of look like something he'd like. I'm not sure about Bunny Drop and I'm unfamiliar with House of Five Leaves...-runs off to go look it up- Thank you for the recommendations!

[TheAlbinoMoose]

My brothers and sister made my mom watch Clannad (and the Afterstory) and later, Sword Art Online. She doesn't like it. xD
I want to make my dad watch Attack on Titan or Trigun, but he's pretty stubborn when it comes to watching "aneemay"

[nillapoet]

My wife just shakes her head and calls me a nerd when I try to get her to watch anime.

[Nate]

I was actually the one that was introduced to anime by my brother when he first showed me SAO.

How did watching SAO not completely turn you off to anime?

[drill]

I was actually the one that was introduced to anime by my brother when he first showed me SAO.

How did watching SAO not completely turn you off to anime?

Probably because I really didn't have anything to compare it to. Also, because I started watching other anime before it even reached the second arc. Even now, I don't think SAO was bad, just average.

[the_wolfs_howl]

My brother and I discovered anime at the same time, though I've stuck with it and am still seeking out new shows while he's mostly lost interest by now. But if I ever stop watching shoujos, I could probably catch his interest again

I've successfully roped my sisters into anime; anime and Japanese stories in general have been around for most of their lives because of me and my brother, so it was really just a matter of waiting until they were old enough to handle the really cool ones.

My mom will also watch just about anything I watch with her, and usually enjoys it too. I find it hilarious that she actually fell asleep in the middle of the first episodes of FMA and Trigun In my opinion, those are two of the hardest shows to fall asleep to, because the first time I saw them, I was roaring with laughter and sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time.

My dad is a hopeless case; he's inevitably seen things over our shoulders over the years, but still doesn't get why we're all so enamored with "kid stuff." I think by now he's given up trying to understand and just accepts it about us. We've gotten him to sit through several Studio Ghibli movies, and Trigun: Badlands Rumble, but I don't think he really got any of it. He also makes fun of the Japanese language on a regular basis, which I find really annoying I'm sure English sounds weird to them too, Dad....

Most of my good friends were already anime fans when I met them; that's often been how we met. I pride myself, though, in introducing my roommate to several of my favorite shows. She had a sister and a roommate before me to get her started, but she asks my opinion first when she looks into new anime. I've also managed to make my best friend a die-hard FMA fan without her ever having seen a single episode of the anime or read a single chapter of the manga The key: lots and loooooooooooots of fanfiction. And even the one friend I have who refuses point-blank to watch anime because the usual art style annoys her has expressed interest while watching Monster AMVs over my shoulder, because the style is so realistic.

[GeassGirl222]

Yeah, I tried showing my mom Deathnote.... didn't work out too well. She said she didn't understand why the people didn't move right. I'm not exactly sure what she meant but oh well!

And none of my close friends are into anime so I attempted to show them some anime clips and they instantly hated it :'( The only person I can talk to anime about is my brother who introduced me to it. *sigh

[skreyola]

I'm determined to get my dad to watch at least one anime but I feel like that'll be a daunting feat. He's said before that the biggest turn off for him with anime are the goofy cartoony facial expression and talking 90 miles an hour during the comedic parts. Both of my parents think I'm nuts for loving 'Japanese cartoons'. XD

I think there's a (slim) chance that he might enjoy something like House of Five Leaves, Bunny Drop, or Darker Than Black.

I have seen some clips of Darker Than Black and I'm considering watching it real soon myself and it does kind of look like something he'd like. I'm not sure about Bunny Drop and I'm unfamiliar with House of Five Leaves...-runs off to go look it up- Thank you for the recommendations!

H5L might be fairly obscure. I haven't seen very many people talking about it, but I ran across it when I was looking at pretty much everything Hulu had trying to find something good to watch. It's fairly nihilistic, but it was engaging.
Bunny Drop is a slice of life about a man who takes in his niece(?) after his grandfather dies. It's rather heart-warming, but I think the art style is fairly realistic.
I hope you like at least one of them.

[Cat96]

Hm... I have several stories to tell, so be prepared for a long Cat rant. *shudders*

1. When I visited my grandparent's house, I watched Black Cat after my grandparents went to the back. I was currently watching episode 9, which is the episode that I believe has the cross dressing scene in it. Mawmaw, my grandmother, went in to check on me just as that cross dressing scene started. She went "OH MY GOODNESS!" and started laughing like crazy. Her reaction was hilarious. I might have shown her The Secret World of Arriety, but I don't remember for sure.

2. If A:TLA counts, then my mom was the one that got me to watch that.
I showed her an episode (a not so bad one) of Soul Eater, and still hated it. At least she tolerated it.
I also showed her the first two episodes of FMA (2003) and she liked it and could see why I liked it, but said it wasn't her thing.
She's still very supportive of my love for anime by buying me anime DVDs online and I pay her back.

3. I never directly meant to show my dad anime on purpose except for when The Secret World of Arriety was in theaters and I wanted to see it. He just happened to be in the room when I watched the first 2 episodes of FMA (2003) on Netflix. He thought it was weird. At least he doesn't give me grief about liking this show. He gives me enough grief for being a brony or pegasister (I'm female, but I like "brony" better). He's fine with me watching FMA, or at least he doesn't say anything if he isn't fine with it.

4. My dad's girlfriend is a lot more tolerant and open to anime. She watched an episode of Soul Eater and thought it was funny. I showed her an episode of FMA, and liked it. She later watched more of it because she's often in the room when I watch it on Netflix. I love her reaction. She jokes around by saying that it seems like all anime has characters with bad tempers (Ed with his short rants, Winry with her wrench, Maka with her Maka-chops, Kagome with all of those "sits", etc.).
She always tells me that its okay to enjoy anime, even if it is slightly weird, because the messages are really good and anime in general teaches those "typical" lessons in a cool way.
I also watched a little bit of Fairy Tail (subbed) on Netflix. She was in the room. She remembered reading Natsu's line abour being a cow near the end of the Celestial King episode when I rewatched it, Yeah, that line was funny.

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

H5L might be fairly obscure. I haven't seen very many people talking about it, but I ran across it when I was looking at pretty much everything Hulu had trying to find something good to watch. It's fairly nihilistic, but it was engaging.
Bunny Drop is a slice of life about a man who takes in his niece(?) after his grandfather dies. It's rather heart-warming, but I think the art style is fairly realistic.
I hope you like at least one of them.

Thank you and I've got a strong feeling that I'll like them all!^-^

[ClaecElric4God]

Well, my sister was the one who introduced me to anime, but I'm pretty sure FMA was the only one she'd watched. At the time it wasn't even the genre, it was just "that one show we watched". I then got my other sister (Cheetah) to watch it with me, and at first she seemed weirded out (to be fair, so was I when I watched it), but then she got sucked into it. I'll never forget her reaction to Mustang turning white when Hawkeye called him useless. I had to pause it and bust out laughing while she sat there with this shocked expression saying "Wait, what just happened to him?" After that we watched anime after anime, at first only ones where Vic Mignogna voiced a main character. When I watched Kaze no Stigma with her and she found out Mignogna only has like three lines in the whole show she was like "Why are we watching this?" But we pretty much got into anime together, so other than introducing her to FMA, I wouldn't say I'm the one who introduced her to anime. Funny thing, the sister who introduced me to it hardly ever watches it now, and when I try to get her to watch something with me she gets bored and goes off to watch Sherlock or something.
I tried to watch Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle with my parents once, because it seemed like one of the milder ones they wouldn't be weirded out by. They never said a word the whole time, Dad fell asleep a couple times, and Mom had a really blank, unreadable look on her face. We watched like 3 episodes, and I never brought it up again. I'm pretty sure there's nothing else I could watch with them that they'd like/tolerate.
It's actually pretty weird how, with a few exceptions, the older generation doesn't "get" anime. I mean...what is there to get? I think I've just watched it so much now that I've forgotten how different the art style and humor is from cartoons. I do recall when me and Cheetah watched Tsubasa she asked me why all the characters were anemic. But yeah, I feel bad that the different age groups can't seem to relate.

[Ryosuke]

I tried with my parents but... they refuse to try.... but I have had some success... mostly its with people who like stuff like DBZ who think that 1) there is nothing like it or better than it or 2) that there is no way to view the stuff, english or otherwise...

Outside of that there are a few instances where I was able to introduce... generally those already into cartoons but wanting a deeper/cooler story XD

[Nate]

Adventure Time has a deeper story than most anime.

[Ryosuke]

Nate- it sometimes does... I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way XD

[Lynna]

I got my younger brother into anime by getting him to watch Shugo Chara with me. He only did it intending to mock it, but ended up liking it, and now I sometimes like to remind him that his first anime was a magic girl anime. It's really great that he still watches anime, though, because we get eachother into whatever we're watching and then can talk about it.

I got one of my friends to watch fma: b and Clannad+AS, but she still claims anime isn't her thing. Two of my other friends got into anime, one partially because of my influence, the other by a happy accident. Unfortunately, they're both into long-running shounen like Fairy Tale and One Piece, which I don't really want to watch.

I got my mom to watch Haibane Renmei years ago. I tried to get her to watch other things, but the always said that she didn't really have enough time, so we just watched single episodes here and there. Recently we watched the forst episode of Death Note, which i had never even watched before. I knew it wouldn't be her thing and it wasn't, but she does still have an open mind to anime, she just can't get past the 2D Wall.

[Kotoni-Sukina]

I got my younger sisters to watch an episode of Angel Beats with me once, and 5 minutes into it they were like "this is so dumb" and walked away...probably not the best anime-introductory show to choose haha

[nln_rose]

it's funny because my dad showed me my first anime (speed racer), but when i told him i was getting into it he was concerned. my family and i have fairly high expectations of a show. for example my family hates any kind of nudity or cussing in tv... thats a lot of anime. that's not even going into the spiritual side of things. so i've never really shared. i've only met others who enjoy and go back and forth between them.