Even amongst the Japanese, there are those who especially love anime. Not only is anime fun to watch, but it can help you study Japanese. By watching anime that matches your Japanese language level, your listening skills can improve. In this article, we introduce 15 anime that are recommended for studying Japanese.
Header Image Credit: Unsplash／Dex Ezekiel
Table of Contents
- Let’s Incorporate Anime into Japanese Studies
- Recommended Anime Genres for Studying Japanese
- 15 Recommendations for Learning Japanese Anime
- Takeaway
Let’s Incorporate Anime into Japanese Studies
An efficient way to study Japanese is to regularly watch anime. Japanese is said to be a difficult language for foreigners to learn with many becoming frustrated midway through, some people also give up. The best way to keep up your motivation is to make studying fun. Just by watching anime, you can naturally improve your Japanese listening skills, learn new vocabulary, and even full sentence common anime phrases.
TIPS
- Instead of watching English dubs with Japanese subtitles, Japanese audio with English subtitles is more efficient.
- To raise the difficulty, try Japanese audio with Japanese subtitles, and eventually Japanese audio with no subtitles.
- Watching the same anime, whether series or movie, repeatedly makes it easier to pick up vocabulary and phrases.
Writer's Pick
Recommended Anime Genres for Studying Japanese
Recommended anime genres for studying Japanese are “For Kids” and “Slice of Life”.
Anime for Kids
Anime targeting children is perfect for beginner Japanese learners. Easy words are used and story development is quite simple which makes understanding easy. The thought of watching anime for kids may be off-putting to some people but try to keep an open mind and don’t underestimate the animation quality. Depending on the anime, it may even have a large adult fanbase. Works that include educational elements are also useful for learning basic Japanese manners and rules.
Slice of Life Anime
For those who want to learn common Japanese phrases heard and used everyday in Japan, including at work or school, we recommend slice of life works. Slice of life is a genre depicting ordinary everyday life. It’s a popular genre even in Japan because it’s lighthearted and relaxing. Some people find slice of life anime boring due to its slow pace, but there’s plenty of slice of life mixed with other genre animes to watch like romcom, comedy, coming-of-age.
15 Recommendations for Learning Japanese Anime
Here are our recommendations for anime to study Japanese. There are plenty of genres from fantasy to action, if there’s something that interests you do check it out.
Let’s start with anime that are more suitable for beginner learners.
1. Pokemon
Image Credit: ©2022 Pokémon. ©1995-2022 Nintendo/Creatures Inc. /GAME FREAK inc.
Pokemon is a huge media franchise by Nintendo spanning video games, trading card games, and of course anime. Pokemon follows protagonist Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) on his journey to become the greatest Pokemon master in the world. Meant for children, Pokemon is simple to understand even for beginner Japanese learners because you can understand the story development even without fully understanding the Japanese.
For those who’ve already watched the English dubbed version, it is still fun to watch as you pick up on the differences between the Japanese and English versions - Pokemon names and sounds are different. For example, Bulbasaur is Fushigidane (フシギダネ) and Charmander is Hitokage (ヒトカゲ ) in Japan.
2. Kiki’s Delivery Service
Image Credit: © 2005-2022 STUDIO GHIBLI Inc.
Kiki’s Delivery Service is an anime movie produced by Studio Ghibli and released in 1989. The story follows young witch Kiki, accompanied by her cat companion Jiji, finding her place in the world. Compared to other anime including movies, Kiki’s Delivery Service has considerably less dialogue, instead focusing on the character’s expressions, using music to set the mood, and beautiful landscapes to tell the tale. This makes it a great anime to watch on repeat and easy to digest for beginners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by dialogue heavy shows.
3. ShiroKuma Cafe
Image Credit: ©ヒガアロハ／しろくまカフェ製作委員会2012
Shirokuma Cafe is a slice of life anime about a cafe run by bears whose customers include both animals and also humans. This work is another example of anthropomorphic themes. A mysterious world where animals and humans cohabitate, Shirokuma Cafe is a cute and fun watch. The dialogue speed is overall quite slow which makes it suitable for listening training.
4. Doraemon
Image Credit: ©藤子プロ・小学館 ©藤子プロ・小学館・テレビ朝日・シンエイ・ADK
Doraemon is the world’s beloved blue cat robot from the future. With futuristic gadgets like the Take-copter and “Anywhere” door, Doraemon helps Nobita from his four dimensional pocket stomach. Since the main characters are all elementary school students, difficult Japanese does not appear often.
5. Chibi Maruko-chan
Image Credit: © S.P / N.A
Chibi Maruko-chan follows the daily life of Sakura Momoko, nicknamed Maruko-chan, and her family. The anime focuses on everyday interactions of elementary school student Maruko-chan with her family and friends which makes for easy Japanese learning - simple words/phrases and everyday family conversations.
6. Kemono Friends
Image Credit: © けものフレンズプロジェクト
Kemono Friends is another anthropomorphic anime where animals are humanized into girls. Kemono (獣) means beast or animal in Japanese. You can learn the names of different types of animals in Japanese. Moreover, the slow dialogue makes it easy to listen and understand. Plus, the characters are really cute.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Do you remember Grape-kun?
Grape-kun (1996-2017) was a penguin who “fell in love” with a cardboard cutout of Hululu, the penguin character from Kemono Friends.
7. Sazae-san
Image Credit: PR Times / （C）長谷川町子美術館
Another daily life anime based on the interactions between main character Sazae Fuguta and those around him. Sazae-san is the longest running anime in the world as recognized by Guinness World Records. First aired in 1969, broadcast of the anime is still ongoing. With over 2,000 episodes further split into thousands of short segements, there's a lot of content to cover which means plenty of learning material. Conversations and words you learn are very applicable to everyday usage.
8. My Neighbour Totoro
Image Credit: © 2005-2022 STUDIO GHIBLI Inc.
An animated film produced by Studio Ghibli, My Neighbour Totoro depicts interactions between a mysterious creature “Totoro” and sisters Satsuki and Mei who have just moved to the countryside. Since young children are the focus of the story, conversations are simple.
9. Your Name
Image Credit: ©2016「君の名は。」製作委員会
Your Name, or Kimi no Na wa in Japanese, is an animated film by animation director Shinkai Makoto (新海 誠). Released in 2016, Kimi no Na wa is a sci-fi fantasy anime in which high school boy Tachibana Taki who lives in Tokyo and high school girl Miyamizu Mitsuha who lives in rural Japan find themselves switching bodies.
Although the plot is quite unusual, dialogue between characters are quite easy to understand and many expressions can be used in daily conversation making it useful for studying Japanese.
10. Teasing Master Takagi-san
Teasing Master Takagi-san is a sweet romantic comedy slice of life anime following junior high school students Nishikata and Takagi. You can learn how natural conversations between friends should sound by watching this anime. Each episode is divided into separate short stories and specific situations which makes it easy to learn.
From hereon, recommended anime are more suitable for intermediate to advanced Japanese learners. Beginner to intermediate learners should watch with Japanese audio with English subtitles for better comprehension.
12. Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is a romance fantasy drama slice of life anime about high school girl, Honda Tohru. Suddenly orphaned after the tragic death of her mother, she finds a temporary home with the mysterious Souma family who have magical ties, or even a curse, to the Chinese Zodiac animals.
In our opinion, Fruits Basket is an anime suitable for all levels of Japanese learners. The cast of characters include children, junior high students, high school students, and even adults which means you can learn suitable Japanese speech for all ages. It also gives a look into Japanese family customs and culture. Tohru, for reasons, always speaks in Keigo which is great for intermediate to advanced learners to pick up business Japanese.
12. Daily Lives of Highschool Boys
Danshi Kokosei no Nichijou (男子高校生の日常) follows the high school lives of 3 best friends Hidenori, Yoshitake and Tadakuni.
A high school comedy slice of life anime, this anime is great for beginner to intermediate level Japanese learners to pick up everyday phrases used in Japan, especially between close friends. The anime is also great for repeat watches thanks to the trio’s hilarious antics.
If the voice of Hidenori sounds familiar, that’s because he’s voiced by Sugita Tomokazu (杉田 智和) who voiced protagonist Sakata Gintoki from Gintama.
13. Demon Slayer
Image Credit: ©吾峠呼世晴／集英社・アニプレックス・ufotable
Demon Slayer, or Kimetsu no Yaiba, is recommended for more advanced learners of Japanese - around JLPT N2 or N1. Demon Slayer follows Kamado Tanjirou whose family was slaughtered by demons except his sister Nezuko who was turned into a demon. In order to change his sister back into human, Tanjirou decides to become a demon slayer.
The plot for demon slayer is quite simple but what makes the anime difficult for beginner Japanese learners is the setting which is during the Taisho era which means occasional old Japanese is used. Advanced vocabulary is also used in many instances.
14. Gintama
Image Credit: ©空知英秋／集英社・テレビ東京・電通・BNP・アニプレックス
Gintama is a wacky sci-fi comedy and parody anime following protagonist Sakata Gintoki who is a samurai cum freelancing odd jobs worker. Together with regular teenager Shimura Shinpachi and alien girl Kagura, the trio try their best not to live in poverty and occasionally just happen to save alien infested Edo.
Since parodies of other anime (mainly Jump) are part of Gintama’s charm, knowing other anime series and classic anime cliches/tropes would make your experience more enjoyable. With a large cast of characters, there are many speaking styles in Gintama.
15. Servant x Service
Image Credit: ©高津カリノ／スクウェアエニックス・サーバント×サービス製作委員会
Servant x Service is a slice of life anime following a group of newbie civil servants working at a ward office. It is recommended for advanced Japanese learners as the anime’s setting is at a workplace which means Keigo, Japanese honorific speech.
Also, since the main setting is a ward office, many difficult words related to the ward office are used - name of forms, departments, etc.
Takeaway
Enjoying your studies is the key to learning Japanese. For anime-lovers, we definitely recommend adding anime to your study schedule. Adjust the “difficulty” to your own level, eventually you’ll be able to watch a whole episode or anime series without subtitles! That'll be quite an achievement!
