A deceptive question this week. It looked so easy and harmless and then I started thinking about it and my mind went round and round in circles like a mouse on one of those little wheel things. Eventually I sorted out an answer, kind of. So here we go and remember to share your answer in the comments.
I’d love to answer a question from you so fill in the survey below or DM on twitter.
What are your top three genres in anime and manga?
From Dez
When I first read this question I thought I finally got an easy one. One where I knew the answer straight away without hesitation. Of course it would be fantasy, horror and sci-fi. That’s what I’ve always loved in films and television and then into anime. However, then I started thinking about anime I have really, really loved like March Comes in Like a Lion or even Natsume Yuujinchou which is kind of fantasy but is more of a character drama than anything else, and what about Snow White With The Red Hair which is definitely a romance.
So I was a little bit torn and confused while I mulled this over. The conclusion I came to however was that the three genres that are the staple of my book and DVD collections, are genres that I am likely to low key enjoy even when they aren’t particularly well done. Okay, I’d prefer it if they were decent, but even average or cheesy works for entertainment and so a lot of my mid-range likes and comfort shows fall into these categories.
That includes anime like Shiki, Higurashi, and High School of the Dead for horror. Supernatural titles like Natsume, The Morose Mononokean, Black Butler as well as isekai anime (there really are very few pure fantasy anime out there so I kind of appreciate it when we get a high fantasy anime that isn’t isekai) make up a huge chunk of my loved and mid-range anime. Then there’s the sci-fi’s with Steins;Gate, Psycho Pass, and even Evangelion (kind of).
I know for a fact that if an anime carries any one of these labels at the start of an anime season I’ll at least try an episode and it won’t need to be all that brilliant for me to watch it. As long as I don’t actively hate it, I’ll pick it up each week. Odd though, how few anime that I would actually declare to be really well told and well made stories fall into these categories considering how many of them I watch and enjoy.
Affiliate Link – Game![MECHO WARS: DESERT ASHES [LIMITED EDITION]](https://i0.wp.com/s.pacn.ws/640/xb/mecho-wars-desert-ashes-limited-edition-599647.1.jpg?w=250&ssl=1 "Inquiring Minds Want to Know #23 8")
Manga is a bit of a different story, mostly because I haven’t read a lot and more because I know that I don’t like action scenes in manga. Natsume’s Book of Friends works for me because there’s very little action and a lot of quiet and contemplative moments in the story that allow you to enjoy the art as well as the characters. Rather than just a splashy line fest over pages that becomes a convoluted mess (you can tell I have never read very far into any action manga ever).
The only other manga I’ve read at length to date (though I’ve started a few now) is Vampire Knight because a friend of mine was obsessed with it and bought the lot and lent them to me. I quite enjoyed the school/romance parts of it and even the fights weren’t that messy to read so I had fun with it.
Though, I do read some BL manga online so I guess the three genres of manga I’ve got any familiarity with are supernatural, BL and romance.
So what are your top 3 genres? Of course if you want to ask me a question please DM me on Twitter or complete the survey below.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
My favorite thing about AniList is all the stats it gives you, so I’m going to answer this in three ways: how I instinctively want to answer, top three by number watched, and top three by mean score.
How I Instinctively want to answer: If I had to pick, I would probably have to say Drama, Fantasy and Slice of Life. Drama and Slice of Life (along with Romance) really seem to go hand in hand for the type of anime I watch. I really like shows that are driven by personalities and people rather than, say, large events and action sequences. Don’t get me wrong, action is fun and huge set pieces and awesome battles can be absolutely amazing, but the series that tend to suck me in and keep me glued are usually because of the amazing characters.
Top Three by Number Watched: According to AniList, my top three by number of anime watched in a given genre are Comedy (92), Drama (88) and Slice of Life (78). So I guess I guessed two out of three? I honestly didn’t expect comedy to be so high, but again, lots of anime with two or all three of those as genres.
Top Three by Score: And my top three by mean score are Music (89.62%), Slice of Life (85.41%) and Thriller (84.14%). Honestly, this is kind of unexpected. I guess of all the music anime I’ve watched I tend to score it really high, but Thriller is unexpected. I think the only genre that I’ve watched less than Thriller is Mecha. Maybe I should try out more Thriller?
There aren’t really all that many thriller anime (or at least anime that I’ve found to be thrillers). Same with horror. There are the titles everyone knows and that’s about it. Then again, I really get excited when I do come across a new one in either genre.
I’d have to agree with the stats on my list and go comedy, action and fantasy overall. I like those 3 best in fiction so it makes sense that those likes would be present in my anime/manga as well.
Notably, I have a much higher tolerance for romance in manga, although a few romances can be found in my favourite + highly rated anime as well – my top 2 rated anime at the moment are historical tragic romances. Also, I’m such an opportunistic person when it comes to purchases that my collection doesn’t 100% reflect my tastes in anime.
Sometimes access is more important than whether something is your favourite or not. I have a number of okay anime on DVD because of sales and availability.
My top three, for both manga and anime, would have to be Fantasy Adventure, Science Fantasy and Detective stories, though its as you said there’s plenty of shows I adore that don’t fall under those genres. I’ve been rethinking my top 10 favourite anime list recently and not even half of what I’m considering falls under those three genres.
I’m going to keep avoiding making a list of my favourite anime because it changes from day to day depending on what I’m in the mood for. There are certainly anime I consider great that I’ll watch over and over, but I still couldn’t decide which ones my favourites were from that group.
It’s a great excuse to rewatch a load of shows I love, though the main reason I’m doing it is because I made one back in the early days of my blog and it desperately needs an update, however much I keep changing my mind about what’s actually going to go on it.
Slice-of-life is definitely my favorite anime genre. I get a little confused by all the different terms once I move beyond it, but I’m pretty sure I like fantasy/adventure (think GATE) and comedy (e.g., Wooser’s Hand-to-Mouth Life). It’s also interesting that a genre I dislike–harem–has given me so many enjoyable series (for instance, If Her Flag Breaks). And then, moving beyond genre, I truly appreciate shorts as a form. . .
It is interesting how I’ll say I don’t like slice of life but there are so many anime I’ve enjoyed that are slice of life. Same with harem anime. As much as I would say I don’t like that genre, there are plenty that I would list as anime I really enjoyed.
I’ve recently started enjoying short anime a lot more and there’s been a few in the last two years I’ve really liked. I should probably watch more of them.
I think mine would be romance, fantasy, and drama. I love a good comedy as well, but a good drama will keep me hanging on for longer.
Do you have a favourite drama anime?
Favorite drama anime… hmm, I remember NANA blowing me away even though I had read the manga. Characters really came alive, but I have a hard time going back to it since the manga is unfinished.
1. Magic (Shoujo and those magical card batteling games and such)
2, Fantasy (Mostly Isekai)
3. The “Buddy” shows (might not be a genre but not sure where to classify Pokémon, Digimon, Medabots, Wixoss amd the likes) Might be action..but it’s not about the action for me. It’s how two (or more ) different species chars, work together to a same goal. Mostly themed around gaining trust and friendship together
Nice choices and those genres would give you quite a range of titles to watch.
Haha, funny story: I had the same reaction when I saw that question! Oh, that’s easy…and I named exactly the three same genres😂😂 But then reading further I began thinking back on the animes that I really enjoyed, and some titles came up such as Orange, Yuri on Ice, Violet Evergarden and of course Your Lie in April😊 (and I promise I’m going to get back to March Comes in very soon as well😊). So…yeah, not an easy question after all, though still I have to say there are also a lot of animes in those three genres that I liked a lot too 😊
When it comes to Manga though I don’t really have a clue. The only Manga series I have finished to date is Monster (a review for that will be up in two weeks time) and that one was awesome. Other than that I have read too few manga to really say what I like 😊
The problem with trying to say what genre you like comes when you realise the huge range of quality stories within each genre. Whether I like a genre or not, a good story or great characters will still get my attention. I think the only reason I have preferred genres is because I know I’ll watch or read more or less anything in that genre even when it isn’t particularly good and in the case of horror I kind of prefer it when it is bad.
Haha…yeah the bad horror will always be my favorite as well (King’s game I have particularly fond memories of 😂😂). But that is definitely true though. Great characters and a good storyline are the things I look for the most in whatever I watch or read. And we certainly have all seen quite a number of those luckily! 😊