I’ve been keeping my eye out for anime I can watch with my early teen daughter, and the intersection between good anime and anime that doesn’t require ample amounts of jiggle physics is fairly small.
The real issue is finding an anime that doesn’t oversexualize anyone and still has lead female characters. If you’re looking for early teen I think the US actually makes better shows:
Gravity Falls
Amphibia
Star vs Forces of evil
Infinity Train
Young Justice
There’s more I could recommend, but for a teenager daughter those all probably have better plot, character development, and female leads than most of what I can think of for anime (although being a guy there are probably a number of anime I’m just not aware of).
Oh yeah, but I guess I was giving it a pass cause it goes both ways. Both the women and men have ridiculous designs.
Also, even though they definitely feel sexual, the actual dialogue doesn’t focus on it too much (at least from what I can recall). It helps that the main character is really only interested in science.
Edit: It also has the issue that pretty much every major character is a guy.
Pretty sure in Japan it’s a trope that mangaka would do Hentai dude projects under a different name. I would judge an anime/manga on its content, and not by something unrelated.
Komi-san is a great show whenever one particular character is not onscreen, but the parts where that character is onscreen mean I don’t think it can go on this list.
I just wanna point out that while cowboy bebop is incredible, Fae Valentine’s outfit is skimpy to the point that she’s wandering around with her shorts unbuttoned in basically every scene where she’s not in a disguise (and she’s only staying in that top through the power of double-sided tape). By modern standards it’s really not great towards the women characters (except possibly ed).
Damn, you beat me to it. Mushi Shi is an unfinished masterpiece and severely underrated. I had some I wanted to add to this list, but honestly some have blood and such which I don’t know exactly what you’d want for an early teens daughter. I would have recommended Delicious in Dungeon, but there are some dismemberment scenes and it sort of downplays death, as you can and can’t die in the dungeon. Lemme try to see what I can dig up from my history though.
Kimi ni Todoke - It is romance, but its so fluffy and goes lightly into what bullying can do to people as well as showing that people are not always who they seem on the outside. Touches on judging others, but remains extremely lighthearted.
Saiki K - One of the few anime that has made me legitimately laugh. It’s nonsensical and good for most ages. I’m usually a romance buff, but this one drew me in when I curiously watched the first episode.
Spice and Wolf - I watched the original and started the remake. I think either should be fine. Great adventure story with a bit of romance.
Ballroom Youkoso - So this will fall a bit into the unhealthy relationships. I can’t remember if there was any nudity, but it does stem from the viewpoint of a hormonal teenage boy. However, the art of the dancing is absolutely stunning. Just beware the necks. Iirc, there are crazy long necks in this one, lol.
Yuri on Ice - Similar to Ballroom Youkoso, but has a bit of an unhealthy relationship as a side story, iirc. I haven’t seen it all, just a bit of it and can’t remember much. I really enjoyed the skating scenes, which are very similar to the dancing scenes in Ballroom. It is a boys’ love, but that’s not the main point of the anime.
Spy x Family - Haven’t seen it all, but what I have seen is great and seems good for younger generations.
Arakawa Under the Bridge - Okay, this may be a bit much at times, but damn if its not hilarious and mysterious. There is some non-showy nudity, I think, but its more like bathing and such, nothing extreme.
Dr. Stone - This should be all around a good pick for multiple ages. Apocalyptic scenario with reinventing the wheel as the theme.
Cells at Work! - Another one I’ve seen little of, but it was pretty good and teaches a fair bit about the internal human anatomy.
Silver Spoon - Anime based around farming. It’s a happy little anime with a bit of serious undertones for the background of the characters. Made by the creator of Full Metal Alchemist. I would also recommend FMA, but there may be some parts of that anime that could be a bit scary for younger teens.
Komi Can’t Communicate - Another good romance base. It starts around misunderstandings and the fear of speaking in public, but devolves later into just a regular slapstick romcom. However, that’s mostly in the manga where it goes far beyond the anime.
My Hero Academia - I did get into this for a bit, but it sorta fell off my radar for no particular reason.
Frieren: Journey’s End - Have not watched all of this, but the first 3 episodes were amazing and the story is endearing as well as very emotional. A great adventure with a touch of tragedy, but it seems well recommended for all ages.
I have many more, but I have watched a disgusting amount of anime and can’t remember everything. I’ve been watching anime and reading manga since 2006, lol. Please, anyone correct me on any of these. My memory is hazy, especially when it comes to older anime I watched a long time ago.
There’s a number of shoujo anime that would fit your list, but it doesn’t make it overseas because the majority of the foreign fan base doesn’t like it. There’s also a bunch of BL anime and manga that is popular in Japan, but not outside for the same reason.
For example, take a look at “Aishiteruze Baby”
To be honest, everyone in the brothel (except for one character that’s not seen often) seems to be vibing and happy with their professions. Some even openly say they like their jobs, so it’s not all doom and gloom. Maomao herself seems indifferent to the possibility of her joining the brothel as a working girl. The child abuse is not shown explicitly, but it is talked about pretty often and it’s pretty blunt about what happened and the reprocussions of it. So nothing graphic, just some busty women here and there.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen some of these, so you should probably look into them before watching with your kid, but hopefully it’s a good starting point
Vivy: Fluorite Eyes Song
Hyouka (skip the ova)
Belle
Trigun
ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept. (may be a bit boring for a teenager)
Mushishi (also may be boring for a teenager)
Nichijou
Bocchi the Rock
Weathering With You
Haibane Renmei (very heavy emotional themes, bit of violence in the first episode, some references to self harm)
Surprisingly most of the anime with " villainess" in the title are both good and more wholesome focused. Many have relationship aspects but they don’t rely on fanservice. snow white with the red hair is also good in that respect
I’ve been keeping my eye out for anime I can watch with my early teen daughter, and the intersection between good anime and anime that doesn’t require ample amounts of jiggle physics is fairly small.
The list is pretty much:
Studio ghibli counts?
Of course!
Yeah, it’s definitely hard. A couple I can think of:
The real issue is finding an anime that doesn’t oversexualize anyone and still has lead female characters. If you’re looking for early teen I think the US actually makes better shows:
There’s more I could recommend, but for a teenager daughter those all probably have better plot, character development, and female leads than most of what I can think of for anime (although being a guy there are probably a number of anime I’m just not aware of).
Dr Stone also has some questionable aesthetics
Oh yeah, but I guess I was giving it a pass cause it goes both ways. Both the women and men have ridiculous designs.
Also, even though they definitely feel sexual, the actual dialogue doesn’t focus on it too much (at least from what I can recall). It helps that the main character is really only interested in science.
Edit: It also has the issue that pretty much every major character is a guy.
Yeah, is always annoying when you’ve got the trope of
Like gender is a class and not half the population.
It’s because the artist historically did NSFW content
Doesn’t that count for a lot of artists?
Pretty sure in Japan it’s a trope that mangaka would do Hentai dude projects under a different name. I would judge an anime/manga on its content, and not by something unrelated.
… Oh
Komi-san is a great show whenever one particular character is not onscreen, but the parts where that character is onscreen mean I don’t think it can go on this list.
Oh no, what did I block from my memory?
Yamai Ren. The character whose entire gimmick is that her horrible behavior is played off with “it’s funny because she’s a lesbian.”
I just wanna point out that while cowboy bebop is incredible, Fae Valentine’s outfit is skimpy to the point that she’s wandering around with her shorts unbuttoned in basically every scene where she’s not in a disguise (and she’s only staying in that top through the power of double-sided tape). By modern standards it’s really not great towards the women characters (except possibly ed).
Mushi Shi is good.
Old but goodie
Damn, you beat me to it. Mushi Shi is an unfinished masterpiece and severely underrated. I had some I wanted to add to this list, but honestly some have blood and such which I don’t know exactly what you’d want for an early teens daughter. I would have recommended Delicious in Dungeon, but there are some dismemberment scenes and it sort of downplays death, as you can and can’t die in the dungeon. Lemme try to see what I can dig up from my history though.
I have many more, but I have watched a disgusting amount of anime and can’t remember everything. I’ve been watching anime and reading manga since 2006, lol. Please, anyone correct me on any of these. My memory is hazy, especially when it comes to older anime I watched a long time ago.
If you’re specifically looking for shows to watch with your daughter, I would highly recommend Little Witch Academia for that demographic.
People are sleeping on Little Witch Academia. If I had seen it as an early teen girl, I would’ve been obsessed.
There’s a number of shoujo anime that would fit your list, but it doesn’t make it overseas because the majority of the foreign fan base doesn’t like it. There’s also a bunch of BL anime and manga that is popular in Japan, but not outside for the same reason. For example, take a look at “Aishiteruze Baby”
Apothecary diaries
There are concubines, brothels, and child sexual abuse in that one. Not the most racy depictions, but still 🤷🏿♀️
This exists in Star Wars too. What are the depictions like?
To be honest, everyone in the brothel (except for one character that’s not seen often) seems to be vibing and happy with their professions. Some even openly say they like their jobs, so it’s not all doom and gloom. Maomao herself seems indifferent to the possibility of her joining the brothel as a working girl. The child abuse is not shown explicitly, but it is talked about pretty often and it’s pretty blunt about what happened and the reprocussions of it. So nothing graphic, just some busty women here and there.
Well there was the whole “frog” incident.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen some of these, so you should probably look into them before watching with your kid, but hopefully it’s a good starting point
Vivy: Fluorite Eyes Song
Hyouka (skip the ova)
Belle
Trigun
ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept. (may be a bit boring for a teenager)
Mushishi (also may be boring for a teenager)
Nichijou
Bocchi the Rock
Weathering With You
Haibane Renmei (very heavy emotional themes, bit of violence in the first episode, some references to self harm)
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto
Moribito
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The entirety of Studio Ghibli’s work
Highly recommend sweetness and lightning. It’s my chicken soup.
Surprisingly most of the anime with " villainess" in the title are both good and more wholesome focused. Many have relationship aspects but they don’t rely on fanservice. snow white with the red hair is also good in that respect
I recommend Flying Witch. I enjoyed it a lot when I was still watching anime.