What Genre Do You Gravitate Towards?

With every new season of anime, there’s usually something everyone looks forward to. Maybe the continuation of a series, a new series that has been hyped by social media, or a series that has been adapted from the source material you’ve been following. But still, we as consumers have “taste buds” that need to be satisfied.

We all have different preferences, choosing a new series to start usually begins with Title/Cover Art and then you read the synopsis which leads you to the genre. Usually from just those few things you can make the decision of whether or not to start it and the episode test obvious comes later, whether it needs it or not. I find that some people commit to the show, rather than dropping when it gets to a point of unenjoyment (That’s a word I made up). The way I see it, it has a lot to do with the experience I’ve had with that genre of show before. There could be a turning point that you expect to come soon, there could be an unexpected development, a new factor/character to shake things up etc. I know I’ve been guilty of both sides of spectrum, sticking with it, and hoping for the best, and dropping it because the bad elements were too glaring *Vomits*Hanebado*Cough* I just want to talk a little bit about what genres are at the top of my list when looking for new shows to watch and why I look for them.

For obvious reasons, the shounen genre is what brought me into the world of anime. Like most kids born in the 90s, the likes of Naruto, Bleach and One Piece is what really popped off for us but what also played a huge role was Toonami and Adult Swim airing dubbed anime. Toonami had a 3-4 hour block as soon you got home from school and then eventually we got a late night line up of shows on Adult Swim. And staying up late just made you feel kinda shitty the next day but you’d be a loser if you didn’t watch the recent episode of whatever was airing. The list of anime just goes on and varies over the years but it really brought anime into the light for Americans specifically. Being at a young age, having this sort of entertainment available so easily was amazing and the influence it had was even more tremendous. Shows like FMA, DBZ, and YYH especially for me will always be in my memory. If you think about what a shounen anime is, it’s about the journey and there are unique routes throughout.

Now I want to talk about the undying passion I have for sports anime. The very first sports anime I’ve ever watched was Eyeshield 21, a friend recommended it to me and looking back at it, there was a few things that I might’ve critiqued but I was younger then and just enjoyed it nonetheless. From there I discovered Prince of Tennis, Hajime no Ippo, Diamond no Ace, etc until I found the best sports anime in the likes of Haikyuu!! A series I started on a whim, just because I thought to myself, “It’s a sports anime, I mean it’s volleyball but it might be good”. I’ve never been more profitable from picking off genre alone. I also want to give a special shout out to Initial D, which is listed as a sports anime and I’ve never thought about it until now that it kinda is one. And at this point I’d like to say that sports anime generally are shounen anime as well but they just hit differently. Maybe it’s because I enjoy that type of brotherly bond built through adversity, it’s just my type of shit.

The next genre on my radar are romantic comedies. I feel like my interest for this genre became more prominent the more I grew up from my teenage self. As someone who had a “strange” string of relationships in the past, the genre really gave me hope and more than anything insight. A few of the earlier series I watched was Love Hina, Toradora, Lovely Complex, and School Rumble. Logically speaking, gaining insight from a form of entertainment shouldn’t directly translate to your real life situation. Often times romcoms are designed/written to set up the “main couple” to have many opportunities to interact/grow with each other. In reality, how many of us really have the confidence or mindset to interact with the person we like at a young age? As I grew older, I noticed there was a certain formula for their personalities. But I also learned a valuable thing and that is to open your fucking eyes and use your brain! The genre itself, I believe, resonates with most of the population. You want to see the romance but you also want to see that the romance can sometimes be bigger than you thought. And the comedic side is really just to show how awkward any one of us can be because love will always make you do stupid shit and that’s a fact.

Alright so that was pretty much my top three genres that I look for. Some B-tier genres that don’t really hold as much value but I still kinda look at:

• Slice of Life – A little slice is all I need sometimes to unwind and take the load off, maybe after some RL or 2D drama.
• Mystery/Thriller – I actually love this genre in TV shows, specifically a series like BBC’s Sherlock. There have been a few really good anime in this genre like Erased for one.
• Fantasy – This one kinda explains itself, a little magic here and there, maybe some super powers, anything that isn’t real life I guess.
• Drama – This is almost a little guilty pleasure of mine. I don’t really aim to watch something dramatic but sometimes it falls into one of the main genre I look at.

I may have been ranting a lot about everything but sharing my thoughts was my main goal for this piece! Hopefully, some of you enjoyed it so please leave a like if you did and share it, that would mean a lot. Also I’d like to know what genres do you steer towards? Anything you steer away from? Do we have any similar interests? Leave a comment below and thanks for reading!