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  1. #1
    Formerly BGTemp // TERA Fan
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    Looking for anime suggestions for my niece.

    Hey everyone,

    I have an 8 year old niece who loves cartoons. I got her into MLP a few seasons ago and I was going to get her into PPG for her birthday but her mom said she's already watched them. She mentioned my niece started watching Squid Girl and really liked it. (maybe on Netflix?) Anyway, I'd like to continue to encourage her love of cartoons but I have no idea what might be appropriate for a girl of 8 in anime world.

    I'd appreciate suggestions to start me off. A female lead would be best but not necessary.

  2. #2

    Soul Eater Not! just premiered recently. Haven't caught it myself, but it seems all female lead. You can segway into Soul Eater after that I suppose. I would recommend other anime but shit the majority of it would be gory or violent, at least for an 8 year old.

    I would have loved to have had FMA:Brotherhood when I was that young. Hell most of us in the 90's and early 2000's were watching DBZ, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun around that age.

    Samurai Champloo has a Female co-lead as well, always recommend that one.

    Isn't there a Nerdgasm going on right now about Sailor Moon get re-released? That's like 1000 episodes worth of anime with all female leads lol.

  3. #3
    Sandworm Swallows
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    Plenty of Magical Girl anime to start with if she is into more girly stuff. Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura (English version of this is kind of butchered though) were maybe the more popular ones here? Lots of more obscure ones though as well.

    Basically all of the Hayao Miyazaki movies are fantastic movies as well. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/hayao_miyazaki/ Probably avoid Princess Mononoke though, I think it was a bit more violent. I guess it depends on the person though, I know I watched tons of stuff I shouldn't have when I was younger.

    Not sure if 8 year olds are in to the more romance stuff, but TONS of stuff in that genre lol.

  4. #4
    The Fucking Voice of Actually
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    Ika Musume was licensed and dubbed, so yeah, netflix was likely what she saw.
    Dub only is tricky, I don't really know what is and isn't available, so you'd have to check that case by case yourself.
    And ultimately, age appropriate is really up to the kid and the parents, not everyone is the same on just when exactly is right.

    But yeah, as Waraji said there's Sailor Moon. Consider Card Captor Sakura as well. Though the re-releases of both are eventually going to have some subject matter a conservative parent would freak over.
    Nanoha maybe?
    Also there's the Pretty Cure franchise which might be okay for a magical girl series? I dunno how cliched it can be, I never watched it, and I only really know that somehow it got stuck with a pretty metal soundrack.
    Edit: Oh, and Princess Tutu. It looks like a girly show, but it's camouflage for something much smarter.

    Stepping away from sterotypical girly shows and just to shows that have female leads/casts, hmm.
    Azumanga Daioh is pretty safe and probably has a close enough humor to Ika Musume. Similarly, Nichijou. Kamichu might also be a good bet.
    Dennou Coil is good and smart, and it was meant for kids, but it never got any US interest, there is only the fansub.
    Slayers? Though I remember the dub and maybe sub adding in a few off color jokes to up the age level ("Shabranigdo" "Shabadildo?"), and it does bring up periods a few episodes in, so yeah, maybe save that for a few years, on second thought.
    The same goes for Soul Eater, that shit gets a bit dark for a pre-teen, the mid-series is all about fending off insanity. And Soul Eater Not! is terrible, if you were going to try that, just throw K-on at the girl instead.
    Girls und Panzer might actually work.

    Avatar & Korra are smart choices for the western side of things.

  5. #5
    Sandworm Swallows
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    Oh man, can't believe I forgot to suggest Avatar and Korra. Was only thinking Japan stuff. Strongly recommend those as well, both are fantastic.

  6. #6
    Formerly BGTemp // TERA Fan
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    Thanks guys, I know she's seen most of Miyazaki's stuff (Mononoke aside). I thought about Avatar too, but I watched that myself when I was an adult so I was trying to gauge whether or not 8 would be good or like 10-12 ish. I totally forgot about Magical Princess stuff like Sailor Moon etc.. I need to keep its PG-ish as her parents don't want any overt violence or sexual stuff (iirc I thought sailor moon got pretty weird in late seasons that were never originally released over here /shrug). Card Captor Sakura might be a solid choice, I don't think she's "hardcore" enough yet to care about dubbing vs subtitles. (I'll be getting her a few DVDs so she'll have the choice).

    My god, I haven't heard of Slayers in years! I forgot about that series. haha. I'll check out what you guys suggested.

  7. #7
    Brokage
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    Any of the magical girl/precure series are probably a safe bet. I'd imagine those idol animes are good too, I haven't watched either of those suggestions as well... they're suitable for young girls lol.

    Other then that, Ika Musume (squid girl) is a fantastic suggestion for kids. Usagi Drop too, albeit I dunno if it's dubbed or not. Hidemari Sketch is pretty simple and light hearted, has a mostly female cast and is dubbed too (a couple of the seasons anyway) and could be another good option.

  8. #8
    Sandworm Swallows
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    Well, the problem with Cardcaptor Sakura isn't a sub vs. dub issue, it is more the show itself was completely changed and is entirely out of order for.....whatever reason.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...akura_episodes

    Check out the episode numbers. =x Not sure if that is how it appears on DVD/BD though, but it looks like it is being rereleased in August of this year which would maybe fix that if it wasn't already.

  9. #9

    Yeah, I'm pretty much seeing dubs as the only option for a kid that age. She may be able to read some, but at the speed some dialogue could get thrown around, I just can't see subs being good for someone who isn't even learning the native language, either. That said, it may be easier and/or wiser to just google up kids programming from 4+ years ago per network, like Nickelodeon, Fox, WB/CW, Disney, etc.. You could maybe get lucky checking stuff from Funimation or other NA-based anime dub studios, but I'd say there's a good chance if a kid show got dubbed, it wound up on a network somewhere.

    Dunno, she might even take to Naruto since it doesn't really scream boys only.

  10. #10
    The Fucking Voice of Actually
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    Quote Originally Posted by arus2001 View Post
    Yeah, I'm pretty much seeing dubs as the only option for a kid that age. She may be able to read some, but at the speed some dialogue could get thrown around, I just can't see subs being good for someone who isn't even learning the native language, either.
    I disagree. The main issue is if someone will take to subs, since so many people are anti-reading.
    But the only truly challenging sustained fast subs are Excel Saga and Bakemonogatari. Everything else is a better pace, and it's actually pretty good development for increasing your reading speed.
    And even if you don't understand Japanese and have no intent in learning it, the original audio track can still give emotional cues and weight from tone, spoken language is more than just words. That's something most english VAs are really fucking bad at.

  11. #11

    I'll disagree, but hating dubs seems to be the norm here.

  12. #12
    Brokage
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    I won't say I hate dubs, but I will say that finding a quality dub that at least matches the JP voice-overs is very very rare.

  13. #13
    Cerberus
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    Slayers is really where she needs to start.

  14. #14
    Sandworm Swallows
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    8? Gosh, I wouldn't do Nanoha. The female antagonist is brutally tormented by her mother for most of the series.
    Avatar definitely, Korra is more a teenager thing. Gargoyles would be good. Try the old version of My Little Pony if you can get your hands on it too, she might like that (I did when I was a kid..)

    As for anime, check out Bottle Fairy if you can. I can't think of anything too objectionable in most episodes of Fairy Tail unless you got a problem with mild violence and/or Lucy's boobs... Hikaru no Go and Yakitate! Japan are also fantastic shows that a kid might quite enjoy. Angelic Layer, Battle Athletes Victory, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Kaleido Star and Aria: The Animation are sure bets as well (all have female protagonists).

    The thing is, Japan has different values for "what we can show children". They're more okay with nudity and sexual innuendo and less okay with actual violence, whereas the West tends to over-PC everything so much that there's none of any of that in kids' shows (except the AWESOME ones, that is).

    I really don't know how accessible any of the dubs are for those. Some of them don't have dubs, even. So that might be a problem.

    Tbh though since she's still at an age where she can pick up language like a sponge, letting her watch a bunch of anime in Japanese might be a boon (not sure how much one can learn just from a TV show, though).

  15. #15
    The Fucking Voice of Actually
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    Quote Originally Posted by Silenka View Post
    Tbh though since she's still at an age where she can pick up language like a sponge, letting her watch a bunch of anime in Japanese might be a boon (not sure how much one can learn just from a TV show, though).
    8 might be too late, I started watching subbed stuff from Blockbuster when I was about 9/10 and it didn't really help, maybe just set me up for better pronunciation a bit.
    Though I wasn't able to actually take any classes until high school, and even then, that was only an option because Los Angeles.

  16. #16
    Sandworm Swallows
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    Ah, I can definitely say it helps with pronunciation. Even when I was 12 ~ 13 watching Japanese shows for the first time I picked it up better than I would have later on. Sad to hear it didn't help with anything else for you though. I can't really say whether it helped me much beyond pronunciation, but I was even older than 8, so it's a pretty moot point.

  17. #17
    Formerly BGTemp // TERA Fan
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    Thanks for the continued suggestions. I read some of Yakitate! Japan and omg that series was hilarious!!

    For the record, I used to watch a lot of anime myself, but as time has progressed I've tapered off and just read a few manga titles these days. Hence, I am familiar with anime as a medium and all that pertains to it but not up to date on new/popular titles and the like.

    Edit: Ha ha, I wonder if i can get Hamtaro dvds for her!

  18. #18
    Yoshi P
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    Pretty Cure, Miyazaki movies, Cromartie High School.

    Can't think of anything else that an other anime I know off off the top of my head that 8 year would be able to follow.

  19. #19
    Black Belt
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    K-on.
    Teen Titans(A lot of Anime influences)
    Teen Titans Go.
    My Life as a Teenage Robot.
    Gravity Falls+Shorts
    Phineas and Ferb.
    Steven universe(A lot of Anime influences).
    Mickey Mouse Shorts(less than 4 minutes episodes but fantastic).

  20. #20
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    omg def. yakitate japan, might be too young to understand some of the puns/jokes, but it's still hilarious and very kids friendly nonetheless.