never watched Anime, how to start?

[Anaralah]

Oh i dont know how it didnt came to my mind first but, if you are into medieval stuff, you should also try Spice and Wolf, it might bore you a bit if you are not into economics but Holo is probably best written female character i have ever seen (i might or might not be exxagerating :P), and constant banter between main chacters is one of the strongest points of the show besides it really capturing "European Medieval" setting (unlike Seirei no Moribito which has japanese like medieval setting), it almost has no action but it has romance.

One bad thing i can say about Spice and Wolf is, it ends with a cliffhanger after 2 seasons and it is close to %99 that there wont be any more seasons so you would have to read 13(?) volumes of light novels as anime only covers 4 volumes if you wanted a closure to the story.

Edit: forgot to mention, you also need to get past first 5 minuntes of the episode 1 as i heard some people went "eek! furry!" after seeing naked girl with wolf ears and tail and dropped the series.

[Gib Lover]

Which Anime is generally most critically acclaimed anime?

Neon Genesis Evangelion

[Mifuyne]

Avoid the big ones.

[Lillyth]

One Piece.

Do yourself the favour

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Neon Genesis Evangelion
*video*

Keep in mind that critically acclaimed doesn't mean good. Evangelion is on the list of anime I regret watching because of how annoyed I was that I had wasted my time watching it (Gurren Lagaan, Toradora, Fate/Stay Night[2006], and the second season of DtB are the others on that list).

[bestellen]

Are movies considered anime ?

If so, anything by Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Paprika) or watch Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

[Aeula]

Don't do it! Don't go to their side!

[Gib Lover]

Keep in mind that critically acclaimed doesn't mean good. Evangelion is on the list of anime I regret watching because of how annoyed I was that I had wasted my time watching it (Gurren Lagaan, Toradora, Fate/Stay Night[2006], and the second season of DtB are the others on that list).

Damn, how can one man have such terrible taste, but good taste at the same time?

[Zcion999]

I can also vouch for kill la kill. The drawing and animation is quite crappy most of the time, but the humor, action and story make up more than enough for it. Quite good ^^

I loved kill la kill because I hate anime.

It might sound stupid at first but this anime was made for people who don't like it in general. The whole show is basically a "How do we make fun of all anime tropes as much as possible" It is so good just because of that.

OT: Put on a fedora and grow a neckbeard. These are the first steps. Next you will want to choose a waifu.

[Faesroll]

If there's one anime I'd recommend everyone to watch it's Deathnote.

[Lupinemancer]

Fullmetal Alchemist (the original is better than brotherhood)

You have got to be kidding!
Brotherhood is way better then the first series, because Brotherhood is the Original story, following the Manga.
The first one is not, it's good, but nowhere near as good as Brotherhood.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Attack on Titan yo!

I watched Anime before that show, but it cemented my fandom in Anime and I've watched many shows since that one that I wouldn't have otherwise.

The very first anime I ever watched must have been Trigun.

[jeanericuser001]

Dragonball Z

There is no better way to start as its just the right blend of everything without being too adult or too kid friendly.

[Deleted]

id actually reccomend to go on netflix and check those series out, if there is something you might like.
full metal alchemist brotherhood for example is a GREAT way to start watching anime.

netflix has the upside that it has english dub most of the time.
before you stone me to death, i KNOW japanese with subs is the best way to watch anime, i only watch that way, but for a beginner its easier and more comfortable to start with stuff in the own language.

here are some reccomendations:

fma brotherhood - kind of "generic" shounen at the start but the best adventure anime out there
deth note - supernatural crime drama would fit, centered around a guy who kills bad guys with a notebook and the detective who tries to catch him
dragonball - if you want comedy+ fighting go with the original dragonball, if you want ridicioulus fights between basicly gods go with dragonball kai (kai is the better cut version of db Z which is the continuation of dragonball)
one-punch man, GREAT superhero show while mocking superhero stereotypes. some of the funniest stuff.

BUT while i really love one piece, dragonball and hunterXhunter, those are considered the big guns, they are really long (one piece is the longest of them with 700+ episodes). that can get very intimidating.

then there are some animes id defenately reccomend, but not neccerely for a beginner.
kill la kill for example. it has a really unique artstyle and makes fun of so many animeclishees. its a great show, but with no anime knowledge much of the humor gets lost and it seems just like softcore porn for idiots (exact words of a non animefan friend of mine that watched 2 episodes of it).

if you look for movies id reccomend akira (scifi), ghost in the shell (scifi) and everything from Hayao Miyazaki (mostly fantasy)

[Rezhial]

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

I have only seen a few animes but holy shit I could not stop watching this.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Gurren Lagaan.

[Morssoe]

Probably naruto, bleach, one piece, hunterxhunter, history's strongest disciple Kenichi, One-punch man, black butler. There are lot tho...

[Gib Lover]

If there's one anime I'd recommend everyone to watch it's Deathnote.

If they stop at the end of season 1 and make up their own ending, sure.

Kenshin is probably a good jumping off point, or FMA:B as others have suggested even though it's entry level as fuck. I guess that's the point though.

[Anaralah]

i cant understand people recommending 500+ episode mainstream animes with buttloads of filler episodes...(ignoring the fact that they are mostly mediocre or below imo)

[Morssoe]

i cant understand people recommending 500+ episode mainstream animes with buttloads of filler episodes...(ignoring the fact that they are mostly mediocre or below imo)

It is okey if you don't understand.

[Gib Lover]

i cant understand people recommending 500+ episode mainstream animes with buttloads of filler episodes...(ignoring the fact that they are mostly mediocre or below imo)

Because if you come to a place that's not an anime forum and ask for anime advice, you are going to get people recommending the big mainstream ones. There are some good short recs here, but you have to expect people will suggest Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, etc.