How to Choose What Anime to Watch First, and in What Order

Why order is a problem at all

Anime rarely ends with a single TV series. While the source material keeps going, new seasons arrive years apart, and films, side stories and prequels slot in between. Seasons often change only their subtitle rather than saying 'Season 2', so newcomers struggle to tell which entry comes first. At the start, the order you watch in shapes your first impression as much as the title you pick. Get it wrong and you land mid-story with no setup, or learn a later twist before you have seen the build-up.

Filter your first show by length

Look at length before reputation. A long-running series with hundreds of episodes can wear you out before it wins you over, and quitting halfway makes it easy to conclude that anime simply is not for you. A show that wraps up within one broadcast season can be finished over a weekend, which gives you the experience of seeing something through. Once you have a few of those behind you, longer series feel far less daunting.

• A single film: around two hours, the lightest way to sample
• A one-cour series: 12 to 13 episodes of about twenty minutes, done in a day or two
• Two cours or more: over 24 episodes, better once you know the genre
• An ongoing long runner: leave it for last, since you will be waiting on new seasons

Start from what you already like

Working down a list of classics fails more often than starting from the genre of films and dramas you already enjoy. You already know that genre's conventions, so the story stays easy to follow even if the art style or direction feels unfamiliar. Mapping it out like this narrows the field quickly. Once something clicks, the natural next step is to look up its director or writer and follow their other work.

• If you like crime and thrillers: mystery and battle-of-wits anime
• If you enjoy romance dramas: school, romance and slice-of-life shows
• If you like action films: battle and shonen series
• If you watch sport: sports anime, which are built so you can follow without knowing the rules

Release order versus chronological order

When a franchise has several entries, the order they came out and the order events happen in the story can differ. The classic case is a prequel made after the main series became a hit. On a first watch, release order is the default. The creators reveal information assuming you watch in that sequence, so going chronologically can hand you facts that were meant to land later. Chronological order is best saved for a rewatch, as a way to read the story's flow afresh.

When the same source was adapted twice

Popular source material is sometimes adapted again from the beginning years later. Typically the first version aired before the source had finished and branched off into its own ending, and a later version was made to follow the original faithfully. The two are separate works rather than one continuing story, so you only need to pick one. Choose the later version if you want the source's path, or the earlier one if you want the direction and atmosphere of its time. The titles are often nearly identical, so check the year it aired as well.

Handling films, recaps and side stories

Films released between TV seasons vary a great deal. A film that continues the main story cannot be skipped without losing track of the next season, while a recap film that re-edits the TV episodes can be left out if you have already seen the series. The promotional description usually tells you, since recap releases tend to say they are compilations or re-edits.

• Story-continuing films: bridge two seasons and must be watched in order
• Recap films: re-edited TV material, optional if you watched the series
• Side stories and extras: run apart from the main plot, best after the main story
• Prequels: often made assuming you have seen at least part of the main series

A checklist for confirming the order

Spending a few minutes on the points below before starting a new series avoids most mix-ups. Use sources that list only titles and release dates, such as an official site or broadcast listing. Watch-order guides with summaries attached often spell out key developments for the sake of clarity.

• The exact title and air year of the first season
• Whether films between seasons continue the main story
• Whether recaps, side stories or remakes are mixed in
• Whether the source is finished, and how far the anime has covered it
• Whether every season is available on the service you use

Common mistakes

The order problems newcomers run into tend to come from the same places, and most can be prevented with a little checking up front. One more point: do not judge the whole medium by a first pick that did not land. Anime spans a very wide range of genres, so one show not working usually means that genre or that style of direction was not for you.

• Playing the newest season because it topped the search results
• Watching a recap film as if it were new and skipping the TV series
• Treating two adaptations as one continuous story and watching both from the start
• Reading the ending on a forum while looking up the watch order