More anime from more genres, here is another set of recommendations for first time anime watchers that wish to get into the medium. I find the following to be great places to start with a variety of genres, animation and art styles and length of series.

Romance: Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden is a slow-burn series for romance fans. The story follows the titular Violet Evergarden, a young woman in a post-war environment. She previously served as a soldier in an army, as she was a war orphan that got taken in by an army Major, whom she grew to love. That is, until the tragedy of war struck, with a battle leaving many dead and her Major missing in action, and leaving Violet with her hands blown off by a bomb. Now trying to live a simple life in the post war city, she uses prosthetic mechanic hands to serve as an Auto Memory Doll, or simply, she works a job where she travels around the country and writes letters to people’s loved ones for those who cannot do it themselves. 

It’s a job that seems unnecessary, but her clients have many reasons why they request her services, old age, injuries, health, lack of time, inability to write, or the most common reason, not knowing how to formulate their thoughts and emotions into words. Somehow Violet, a war orphan and soldier who was scarred and traumatized in the past, and is someone who appears quite emotionless and blank a majority of the time, is great at interpreting the emotions and thoughts of others and putting them on a page.

With each client she helps, the client and Violet grow emotionally. The client is satisfied that their feelings are finally realized, and Violet, slowly with every client, regains the feelings that were buried by her life’s many tragedies. This is a personal and emotional story with a gradual development for its protagonist, as she finds love again along with her emotions. Accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack, voice cast and a beautiful art and animation style, this anime is a truly wonderful experience. The anime itself is composed of one 13 episode season, a bonus special episode and two movies, all of which are available on Netflix. 

Rom-Com: Kaguya-Sama, Love is War

A blend of both the love and war genres, fans of rom-coms will surely enjoy Kaguya-Sama, Love is War. It’s a series about Shinomiya Kaguya and Miyuki Shirogane, two high school students and the heads of the student council. Over time the two develop crushes on each other, but both are too reserved to admit it, so they enter in a subtle contest to get the other to be the first to confess, sparing them the embarrassment. 

This war is not the only thing going on in this series, it is also full of classic high school antics, some of which are especially troublesome for the heads of the student council. But luckily they are aided by fellow students Chika Fujiwara, an especially eccentric girl, who oftentimes tries to push the shy couple into romantic situations herself. Also on the council is Ishihami Yu, a reserved introvert who seemingly couldn’t care less about the council’s duties nor the budding romance, but ends up facing his own struggles. 

This series is funny, cute, and heartwarming at times, with a great voice cast that adds to the delivery of the comedy. Kaguya-Sama, Love is War has two 12-episode seasons available to watch on Funimation. 

Sports: Haikyu!

A unique niche among anime and manga alike is a wide array of sports-based series, and by far the easiest to get into would be Haikyu! This is a series about volleyball and the bonds between its players, including the series’ main characters Shoyo Hinata and Tobio Kageyama, friends and rivals at Karasuno High School. Both are trying to master their own position on the court and overcome their own struggles, like how Hinata is the shortest member of his team, leaving him lacking in areas like blocking and receiving. He makes up for it though with his incredible jumping ability and great speed. 

As they participate in various matches with rival schools, attend a nationwide tournament and strive to get better, Haikyu! Is a series about forging bonds with your teammates and defining your own individual worth on said team. Haikyu! Is an 85-episode series with four seasons in total, and more coming soon, available to watch on Crunchyroll. 

Fantasy: Fullmetal Alchemist 

Anime is not without its fantasies, one of the most popular of which is Fullmetal Alchemist. It’s a story set in a world where people study to use the power of alchemy in order to manipulate the elements around them. After a failed experiment to resurrect their long-dead mother, brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric face the consequences of meddling with alchemy head on, with Edward losing an arm and a leg and Alphonse losing his whole body, forcing Edward to use alchemy to confine his soul to an empty suit of armor. 

The two brothers set out into the world in order to study alchemy further so they may possibly restore their bodies and to understand why they could not bring their mother back. The world they enter into is not a peaceful one however: there is war brewing, territories undergoing insurrection and tyranny and plenty of mysteries regarding the history of the world and how alchemy has shaped it. 

Assisted by Colonel Roy Mustang, known as the flame alchemist for his ability to create flames with the snap of his fingers, and his Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, one of the strongest soldiers in the land, they together face down evil creatures known as Homunculi – imitation humans born from foul alchemy that seek to kill people and manipulate the world around them to their design. 

Fullmetal Alchemist is in a unique situation in regards to how it is handled as an adaptation of the manga. As the first series, simply titled Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), deviates from the manga towards the end, and whether that is for better or for worse is a contentious debate among fans. Another show, called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) follows the manga more closely, but is lacking as an adaptation in other areas comparatively. Fullmetal Alchemist has 51 episodes and one season and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has 64 episodes and one season. Both are available to watch on Crunchyroll, Funimation or Hulu.