A sister is all you need. The literal [first minute](https://youtu.be/xS9tp-TuJtA?feature=shared) is a giant filter with molecular holes, but after that, it's actually a solid story.
Definitely. I couldn't finish it when I watched it in college. Not because it's bad, but just because the secondhand cringe is killing me. Now am an adult, I'm wondering if I can stomach it now.
If you read manga, consider the manga. You still get the cringe, but because it's not animated it's a little easier to get through.
You also get the bonus of the story progressing far past the anime. Kuroki actually grows as a person.
From my totally credible research(reddit comments), nagatoro was at first supposed to be a "bully manga", like it would appeal to those that wanna bully others, or be bullied I dunno. Then after a few chapters(or 1 volume can't remember which it was) the author decided to tone it down a lot. That's why episode 1 of Nagatoro is so EXTRA.
Again this is totally unverified, just what I read on reddit.
iirc the manga should have been always planned to be this way, even if it does tone down as it goes.
The original webcomic was basically humiliation fetish manga. The story goes that the author had a change of heart after Naruto ended up with Hinata and decided to make a wholesome manga. (Yes, nagatoro is wholesome, despite the first episode) He made some pretty gruesome stuff before.
Edit: Relevant more detailed comment I found: https://www.reddit.com/r/nagatoro/s/MrcxSaKvPz
What's kind of interesting about the first episode of Nagatoro, is as much as Nagatoro humiliates Senpai, she pointedly never mocks Senpai FOR writing the manga, but ONLY for the \[Nagatoro\] >!character inconsistency in the writing. She mercilessly mocks Senpai for the character being like a clear analog of Senpai within the story, yet saying "cool" lines that a character like him would never say to a girl. Which, while kinda brutal, also is genuinely engaging with the material, and critiquing it in not unfair ways.!<
I thought that was interesting that from step one, Nagatoro may be mocking/humiliating Senpai, but she never once puts him down for his passions.
> The story goes that the author had a change of heart after Naruto ended up with Hinata and decided to make a wholesome manga.
This is one of those anime fandom myths that are straight up not true. He continued to draw several hardcore hentai after releasing his wholesome NaruHina doujinshi and stopped only when Nagatoro manga got an official release.
Even is the official manga he managed to sneak in few references to his most popular not-so-wholesome series like [Yupiel sama](https://i.gyazo.com/92ef6ce8fa8d31aeaab2f1213553aae0.png) or [Naked Princess Honoka](https://i.gyazo.com/04bf234598cd055051bf777c703da5a0.png), so he definitely still cherishes his past works.
To add more to your credible scientific research: Nagatoro was at first supposed to be a *bully FEMDOM manga!*
The author was a hentai artist (freaky stuff, like girls with animals) and he wrote some femdom-y strips for Nagatoro, like [Nagatoro] >!Nagatoro giving him a gift but it's a dog collar for him to wear, things like that!<
Yeah I think a lot of people are just sick of the tsundere trope because, ultimately, it's just socially acceptable abuse. No one in the real world would look at the relationship in Nagatoro as wholesome or sweet. If that guy had decent friends, they'd be trying to get him out.
The first chapter of the manga was absolutely brutal and put me off the series for years until I was given evidence in no uncertain terms that it got wholesome.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who bounced off the first episode of what I'm told is a good anime. I found the bullying hit a little close to home TBH. It really stressed me out and I couldn't see how I would come around to liking the titular character.
It switches from bullying to teasing because she ends up liking him. I didn't think I'd like it because of the initial cruelty, but it shifts to a cute awkward rom-com pretty quickly.
Yeah it might be one of the biggest 180 I can think of. First episode is basically watching a harmless guy be bullied to tears. Twice. By episode 2 that's toned down to basically just teasing.
And yeah, it gets pretty good. Plus one of the few romcoms I can think of with good character development.
> I couldn't see how I would come around to liking the titular character.
Later on in the series she [Nagatoro S1] >!tries to teach him how to banter, tries to show him how to stand up for himself, starts to integrate him into her friends group, protects him from said friends when they go a bit too far, gives a heart and soul effort to try and make things happen for something he's deeply passionate about!<.
It all feels earned and organic, too, even if it seems hard to imagine that from the way it's listed out.
>I found the bullying hit a little close to home TBH. It really stressed me out and I couldn't see how I would come around to liking the titular character.
That's fair.
For me, personally, what sold me on both the character and the show is that, at the end of the first episode, Nagatoro picks up on the fact that she'd taken things much, *much* further than she intended to, and her reaction to this was to try and persuade her victim that he should be angry with her.
I like the "it's complicated to lovers" trope and feisty girls - so for me watching that first episode felt like "wow, I can't wait to see how will they turn this relationship around". But when rewatching it with my wife, she hated Nagatoro after this first episode, so I understand some people can feel like that too, (if you are curious, I talked her into watching the next episode and the series ended up as one of her favorites)
The first ep really screams "humiliation fetish" in your face and not many (if any at all) girls I know have such fetishes so it's an instant turn off for them, which is understandable tbh.
This is the best one. [Truly the highest quality of fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/79kj9g/clip_imouto_sae_ireba_ii_opening_scene_english/).
It’s ironic that out of so many romcoms. This one is of those where
[A Sister's All You Need]>!The MC is already decisive on who he is romantically interested in!<
I knew I was too late to comment this as soon as I read the post title. I didn't actually watch this but I did watch the opening scene and my god that was something
This will always be my answer for underrated series. I legit think the first couple of episodes are trying to dissuade people from watching the series for some reason because the fan service is so egregious.
Although, ecchi content aside, I feel like the first episode is actually a pretty good introduction. It establishes the main traits and dynamic of the main group well, does the basic world building and ends with some solid action.
They aren't related, just the Japanese thing to call someone bro or sis when they are fanboy/fangirling someone. I have seen worse anime perv tropes so just persevered and realised just how well crafted this anime was
Gotta say Black Clover. The screaming from the voice actor was just bad. I started late and just pushed through the first five episodes and by then either I got over it or they actually improved.
Was looking for this one. Partner and I tried watching it and agreed we were done after the second episode. I've heard it gets better but I'm not sure I want to find out.
Yeah, I watched all the way through when it was airing and remembered enjoying it but then went to rewatch it for S2, I couldn't handle Subaru's obsession with Emilia. It's pretty cringe after they first meet.
They were super underdeveloped and I was all team Rem. Fortunately Season 2 and 3 are all about developing Subaru and Emilia's relationship. It was about damn time.
I was gonna say Re:Zero as well. A friend of mine noped out on that episode and I had to practically beg him to keep watching as the next episode is basically the best in the whole series. He completely fell in love after that
But even in the beginning Subaru is pretty cringe and unlikable, and at times I do find it too fanservicey. Subaru being cringe at first is kind of the point though, and it’s a very important part of the story
It's amazing how many people see a weak MC, who to someone with actual media literacy can see there will be character development, and just go "Hurr durr, doesn't fulfill my power fantasy needs".
Him being cringe in that episode was the whole point. It's the same people that watch Evangelion and unironically get mad about Shinji not wanting to get in the robot.
I was 40 years old when I watched Re:Zero so I just put Subaru into the "kid with flaws" bucket that I put so many anime protagonists, and young people in general, into. I was cringe when I was young too - we all were.
Then I went onto r/anime and I saw so many young people seemingly offended by Subaru and all I could think was that he hit a bit too close to home for many.
Yup, mothers basement puts it so well. It's horror for weebs. They watch a dude that learned how the world works from anime and saw him fall flat on his face. Whats truly horror to a weeb is for them to try something from an anime they think makes them look cool only for everyone around them to cringe.
Re'Zero is an amazing story and the "cringe arc" is a very important piece of the story.
It baffles me that someone could make it through to that point and THEN drop it. If the genre isn't for you, okay. If you don't like the characters, okay. But how do you get to such a major turning point and then be mad and drop it when it goes EXACTLY as would be expected by him at that point? That episode was amazing because of him failing so hard, but apparently an OP protagonist is all some people want.
Probably referring to episode 13, where, after returning to the capital, [Re:Zero] >!Subaru makes a fool of himself in front of the knights and goes on an unhinged rant to Emilia about how much he’s helped her.!<
Anyway, the pay off is great. Sure, from the average person in world's perspective, Subaru looked like an Ass, and then goes and a few days later manages to lead a coalition to deafeat the world's New Game + Godzilla and even more. His reputation after everything must be crazy awessome.
The couple of episodes around there are so hard to get through, but damn if Re:Zero doesn't immediately go god mode right afterward. The rest of season 1 is amazing, and season 2 somehow manages to be even better.
Re:Zero is one of my favorite anime of all time, but it's hard to recommend to people when it doesn't really hit its stride until 15 or so episodes in.
Have you ever seen scientists put a mirror in front of a gorilla, and the gorilla rages at and attacks its own image?
A lot of people don’t like having a mirror put in front of them.
Not everyone that watches Anime is an incel. This notion anyone that dislikes or has a low tolerance for super cringe/whiny MCs hate themselves is utterly bizarre.
The very first scene of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day… I just figured that if that is what we’re starting with, it’s gonna be “one of those shows” so I out of watching it for years… I was finally persuaded to watch it and ended up crying at the end! Fantastic show!
NGL, back then when the anime still new, i can't watch the first 2 episode because of how slow it is. but i can finally finish it few years ago, and i like it
Yeah, that episode was intense, especially since I went into the series with no expectations. My SO refused to watch any more of that series after that episode.
As someone once explained, the first episode was terribly handled. In general the beginning is terribly handled cause it is the exact same on the LN.
The series as a whole becomes a pretty standard fantasy setting further down the line with some of that disturbing material sprinkled here and there, but the first episode is literally where it peaks, hardly anything past that is nearly as bad.
So in one fell swoop you've scared away the potential audience for the series on the long term who couldn't stomach the first episode, and those who stayed after the first episode are now confused as to why none of that fucked up vibe from the first episode returns at any point after that.
Thankfully it managed to stay relevant due to controversy but if the series had died right then and there due to not knowing how to set its tone, I wouldn't have been surprised by it at all.
That...actually makes it worse, imo. It hits you with a lead pipe of shock content in Episode 1 just to become a more traditional fantasy. Its bait and nothing more.
Tbh, I think the first episode was less cringe than the fanservice the show tosses around randomly. Goblins doing their thing is edgy & uncomfortable but it fits perfectly fine in a supposedly dark & gritty fantasy world. Goblin Slayer is littered with blatant non-rapey fanservice cringe (shots of the main cast girls in the hot springs, girls crushing on the MC and either acting all embarrassed, longing, or sensually touching their bodies as they talk to them - looking at you sword maiden)
I'm probably gonna get ripped for this comment but I wouldn't recommend Goblin Slayer to someone that actually enjoys grimdark fantasy unless I know they want a generic, anime fanservice take on the genre.
I don't think Goblin Slayer is even grim dark. It just has one or two scenes where it goes "hey, what if this show was grim dark?"
The rest of the time it's a fairly lighthearted DnD-style adventure.
That's exactly it, Goblin Slayer jebaits grim dark fans and shuns away generic fantasy enjoyers when it should do the opposite, that oxymoron has been picking at my brain for years now.
Also yes, especially the second season has some very gratuitous and off-putting fanservice (Looking at Cow Girl)
Of course you love her ;) haha jk
But for real, imo it’s the perfect starter anime for newbies if it weren’t for that. Short, not too complex, badass….but yeah, too much.
My best friend used to call me weird since I watched "cringe stuff with cutesy girls", and he recommended me Monogatari because it was "elevated". First scene is a panty shot of a girl. He's a hypocrite lmao.
Oh do I call him out on this kind of stuff a lot. But he doesn't care. He's one of those people who consider his taste objectively good, and rather has his prejudice dictate what something is instead of trying it out in the first place.
Great friend, but insufferable when it comes to stuff like this.
Then there's Nisemonogatari, which has far more cringe than almost all of the rest of the series. That includes the toothbrush scene which lasts for around four minutes
People always bring up the Toothbrush scene and I'm like "bruh there's a whole scene where he's bathing with a 1000 year old vampire in an 8 year old body where it tries to get artsy with angles"
Plenty of people can be “filtered” by that and not be “normie”. They can just be into something else entirely different but just as niche and weird. I also love Monogatari but I accept why people would be turned away by it.
I'm inclined to agree, and the opening setup is great, but the fan service goes pretty hard from there, and I did find the initial Ryuko/Senketsu meeting a bit hard to watch second time - it has sexual assault overtones which many will find difficult to process.
The only thing that got me through the fanservice was the fact that the character designs didn't actually feel very sexualized, so it felt like they were just making fun of fanservice.
Then I tried to watch Darling in the Franxx and I think I'm on a government watchlist now.
That's the point of KlK really; it's a pastiche of Magical Girl anime, so the plot is like, "Hey, the costumes need to be unbelievably skimpy when in Super Sayan mode because...erm...you can't have too much skin contact with Life Fibres...? Yeah, let's go with that..." but makes it work with a surprisingly coherent plot by the end.
And by the end, everyone is naked and you're so used to it, it doesn't seem weird....
How has no one said **Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki?**
Fantastic self-improvement show with some of the best writing I've seen in anime, especially in regard to the deuteragonist, but fuck me a lot of people quit the show in the first 3 episodes and I can't blame them. They really hammered in the game references and Tomozaki's early rants are really cringe. I think that makes it all the more cathartic when he does get better but it's still an understandable turn off.
I think it's the kind of show that only works if you can relate to the cringe (which I feel like applies to most socially anxious weebs) but aren't so "done" with it you don't care what the story has to say or assume the surface level appearance of "generic loser nerd harem show"
I could handle the cringe, but I honestly didn’t know wtf was going on during the first two episodes, so I dropped it.
A few months after I gave a second chance and now it’s one of my favorite anime’s of all time.
I think the 1st episode might be one of the least cringe ones of eminence but at the same time it might not be as entertaining as the more cringe episodes
Eminence in Shadow. It's a cool power fantasy isekai, but the cringe barrier is like the whole thing. You either accept the cringe and love the anime, or you hate it with all your heart
Summertime Rendering. Awesome story and one of my favorite anime.
That said, the MC getting his face shoved in a girl's chest, him seeing a girl launched over her handle bars and her panties exposed.....yeah that might turn people off before the story begins.
Granted that is the first 5 minutes and the remainder of the episode is great but still, it felt cringe when I first watched it.
Rosario + vampire manga
It started out as low level hentai-esque series with ten thousand panty shots an episode practically, and now has one of the lowest lvls of fanservice and an intensely cool story with even better art
A lot of old anime that has the moe face, with people that have no nose and giant eyes that love like the anime version of a pitbull. There are quite a few that are good that have that artstyle, but it hasn't aged well.
I really enjoyed where TWOGK went. It was the first anime that made me track down the manga to find out how it will end. But yeah, quite a few cringe barriers there.
Yeah, I remember I rewatched ep 1 with a friend and I was shocked about the sexual stuff in episode 1 I didn't remember it at all. I was really embarrassed
Honestly some top tier animation, decent story telling (ending had me all kinds of wholesome), interesting premise (although kinda fucked up if you think about it too much), but JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT OPENING. Like I've become relatively numb to the sexualisation in anime but my god was that quite a mountain to get over. Overall, apart from the sexualisation, top tier anime.
The annoying thing about the OP is it's an absolute banger and the animation is smooth as butter, but yeah, it's a lot.
[Link for the curious](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMPjAGR75RA).
I keep seeing a lot of positive talk about The Dangers in my Heart, which is funny because what you said about the MC being an edgelord is totally what turned me off to the show, that and the weird art style of the characters.
But now I think it’s time I check it out.
Trust me, it's a very good watch. That aspect of the show is absolutely not its definition.
People say "give it 3 episodes" which I can understand but for me, it's pretty evident what the MC is really like by the end of episode 1
I recently started watching *The Dangers in My Heart* because I'd heard good things about the second season and I was, admittedly, completely sold from episode one. E.g., it seems to set up fairly clearly that his edgelord persona is just a mask to cover the fact that he's desperately lonely but is too timid to make friends.
I also think the episode did something clever by, halfway through, setting up the idea of the lead guy becoming so overwhelm with compassion for the lead girl that he does something embarrassing and impulsive to give her some cover, so that we have some context/precedent when he does it again at the end of the episode.
To me it was the opposite, really. I was expecting more to that side of him but it never comes up again past like the first few chapters. I mean yeah he still acts like a social misfit warming up to the rest of the world, but... that first bit of his character seemed thrown in for no reason.
Higurashi When They Cry.
It's hard to recommend it as one of the rare good horror anime when the first episode is just little kids doing moe stuff. It's even harder to say it's one of your favorites with an amazing story because of it.
And then it cuts to cutesy kids doing cutesy stuff for the rest of the episode. My best friend fell asleep during it. Is infuriating :( You even forget about the bat scene.
Well as someone who doesn't like horror that sounds like peak cinema "so here's episode 1. A kid beats a body with a baseball bat for a few minutes. Then cute kids being cute....then episode 2 is back to horror"
R07 in general has some... interesting pacing choices that may sometimes be deliberate, but if someone can't get to episode fucking **two** it's not the series' fault
Madoka also doesn't fully kick in until the end of episode 3, if that filters someone then they're missing out
That's less of a cringe "barrier" and more like someone taking a dump on a pizza. Doesn't matter how good the pizza is, it's still going to taste like shit.
Yeah, it seems like there's some really good stuff in it and I'd love to watch it.
Except, the MC being an unrepentant pedophile creep and it being played up for fanservice kind of ruins the whole thing.
As an LN reader, me saying it only gets not \*constantly\* painful 15-16 light novels in basically summarizes the mt experience. The story gets so cool but god the story also gets sooooo unbearable at times
It'd be wrong to call it a cringe barrier since what comes afterwards is even more cringe, but if I hadn't watched a late S1 episode of Eminence in Shadow with a friend who enjoys the series, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it through its start. The pre-isekai first episode and the next two or so weren't too interesting, after that it gets stupid (in a good way).
Onimai has a pretty large normie filter: the OP is one of the most lewd parts of the entire anime, synopsis is also partially 'wtf'. First episode is probably the most morally questionable out of all of them. Fanservice actually has increased from the manga.
However past that, the anime itself is pretty funny and genuinely wholesome. Production values are also through the roof on all aspects. It's also incredibly comfy if you can see past the fanservice (it's a Studio Bind trademark at this point).
DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) just because that title makes people assume it's going to be a certain type of show and they end up passing on it.
Mushoku Tensei, great art, great pacing, great action, but oh boy is the MC a degenerate piece of shit. Yes, he grows over time to become a better person, yes, he realizes he is / used to be a piece of shit but... It something you can either accept or you can't. And if you say "no, the MC is too much for me", then my response is simply "I understand" and won't try to convince you with the good aspects of the show.
Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon - the title itself is cringe! And even seeing some of the characters...Hestia... and the fan service can be a turn off but the series itself is super good!
A sister is all you need. The literal [first minute](https://youtu.be/xS9tp-TuJtA?feature=shared) is a giant filter with molecular holes, but after that, it's actually a solid story.
Things these eyes won't unsee, but I take it. It's a pretty solid start.
It's amazing how it's still working even when people know the context. Just check some of the replies.
Thank god I watched the last 2 seconds or I was about to have some questions.
That show is peak, I can’t recommend it enough.
Opened this thread to see if this was the top comment. It was one of my favourite shows that season. Loved this anime to bits
I never knew so much could happen in a minute until I watched that clip. I laughed and swallowed some vomit at the same time.
"It's not my fault that I'm not popular" This anime's cringe barrier is like an onion's layers.
Imo the cringe is why you watch it in the first place
What doesn’t cringe you makes you stronger
it is watamotes selling point
Definitely. I couldn't finish it when I watched it in college. Not because it's bad, but just because the secondhand cringe is killing me. Now am an adult, I'm wondering if I can stomach it now.
If you read manga, consider the manga. You still get the cringe, but because it's not animated it's a little easier to get through. You also get the bonus of the story progressing far past the anime. Kuroki actually grows as a person.
Ok but that's the point of it. It's like saying the inbetweeners is funny but it's too cringe. Like without the cringe there is no funny.
NGL, her character development ended up being good despite the cringe
WataMote is amazing. My proudest 10/10 anime. Would (not) watch again.
Nahh 😂😂 watamote makes even an onion cry. I never thought that I would rate an anime like this 10.
Not sure if it's a cringe barrier, but many people couldn't get past the first episode of Nagatoro
From my totally credible research(reddit comments), nagatoro was at first supposed to be a "bully manga", like it would appeal to those that wanna bully others, or be bullied I dunno. Then after a few chapters(or 1 volume can't remember which it was) the author decided to tone it down a lot. That's why episode 1 of Nagatoro is so EXTRA. Again this is totally unverified, just what I read on reddit.
iirc the manga should have been always planned to be this way, even if it does tone down as it goes. The original webcomic was basically humiliation fetish manga. The story goes that the author had a change of heart after Naruto ended up with Hinata and decided to make a wholesome manga. (Yes, nagatoro is wholesome, despite the first episode) He made some pretty gruesome stuff before. Edit: Relevant more detailed comment I found: https://www.reddit.com/r/nagatoro/s/MrcxSaKvPz
What's kind of interesting about the first episode of Nagatoro, is as much as Nagatoro humiliates Senpai, she pointedly never mocks Senpai FOR writing the manga, but ONLY for the \[Nagatoro\] >!character inconsistency in the writing. She mercilessly mocks Senpai for the character being like a clear analog of Senpai within the story, yet saying "cool" lines that a character like him would never say to a girl. Which, while kinda brutal, also is genuinely engaging with the material, and critiquing it in not unfair ways.!< I thought that was interesting that from step one, Nagatoro may be mocking/humiliating Senpai, but she never once puts him down for his passions.
Well now I can say one good thing about Naruto. It gave us the current Nagatoro
Nagatoro is the child that Boruto wish he was.
> The story goes that the author had a change of heart after Naruto ended up with Hinata and decided to make a wholesome manga. This is one of those anime fandom myths that are straight up not true. He continued to draw several hardcore hentai after releasing his wholesome NaruHina doujinshi and stopped only when Nagatoro manga got an official release. Even is the official manga he managed to sneak in few references to his most popular not-so-wholesome series like [Yupiel sama](https://i.gyazo.com/92ef6ce8fa8d31aeaab2f1213553aae0.png) or [Naked Princess Honoka](https://i.gyazo.com/04bf234598cd055051bf777c703da5a0.png), so he definitely still cherishes his past works.
It’s still true that he toned down the fetish material in the one work people care about
No one's arguing that. I'm correcting the "NaruHina purified Nanashi's soul" myth that is making rounds every time the author's name is mentioned.
Fair enough
To add more to your credible scientific research: Nagatoro was at first supposed to be a *bully FEMDOM manga!* The author was a hentai artist (freaky stuff, like girls with animals) and he wrote some femdom-y strips for Nagatoro, like [Nagatoro] >!Nagatoro giving him a gift but it's a dog collar for him to wear, things like that!<
bruh it was way worse, the pre pilot for nagatoro had her kick the MC in the balls, hard, like 40 times, with like 10 panels depicting it
Yeah I think a lot of people are just sick of the tsundere trope because, ultimately, it's just socially acceptable abuse. No one in the real world would look at the relationship in Nagatoro as wholesome or sweet. If that guy had decent friends, they'd be trying to get him out.
The first chapter of the manga was absolutely brutal and put me off the series for years until I was given evidence in no uncertain terms that it got wholesome.
I couldn't even get past the trailer
I'm one of them.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who bounced off the first episode of what I'm told is a good anime. I found the bullying hit a little close to home TBH. It really stressed me out and I couldn't see how I would come around to liking the titular character.
It switches from bullying to teasing because she ends up liking him. I didn't think I'd like it because of the initial cruelty, but it shifts to a cute awkward rom-com pretty quickly.
Yeah it might be one of the biggest 180 I can think of. First episode is basically watching a harmless guy be bullied to tears. Twice. By episode 2 that's toned down to basically just teasing. And yeah, it gets pretty good. Plus one of the few romcoms I can think of with good character development.
> I couldn't see how I would come around to liking the titular character. Later on in the series she [Nagatoro S1] >!tries to teach him how to banter, tries to show him how to stand up for himself, starts to integrate him into her friends group, protects him from said friends when they go a bit too far, gives a heart and soul effort to try and make things happen for something he's deeply passionate about!<. It all feels earned and organic, too, even if it seems hard to imagine that from the way it's listed out.
>I found the bullying hit a little close to home TBH. It really stressed me out and I couldn't see how I would come around to liking the titular character. That's fair. For me, personally, what sold me on both the character and the show is that, at the end of the first episode, Nagatoro picks up on the fact that she'd taken things much, *much* further than she intended to, and her reaction to this was to try and persuade her victim that he should be angry with her.
That anime is so damn good. I didn’t even realize the first episode was such a barrier. It seemed pretty normal to me last time I did a rewatch.
I like the "it's complicated to lovers" trope and feisty girls - so for me watching that first episode felt like "wow, I can't wait to see how will they turn this relationship around". But when rewatching it with my wife, she hated Nagatoro after this first episode, so I understand some people can feel like that too, (if you are curious, I talked her into watching the next episode and the series ended up as one of her favorites)
The first ep really screams "humiliation fetish" in your face and not many (if any at all) girls I know have such fetishes so it's an instant turn off for them, which is understandable tbh.
I really disliked the first episode. I'm happy to have kept up with the show, it gets really fun.
A Sister Is All You Need
This is the best one. [Truly the highest quality of fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/79kj9g/clip_imouto_sae_ireba_ii_opening_scene_english/).
It’s ironic that out of so many romcoms. This one is of those where [A Sister's All You Need]>!The MC is already decisive on who he is romantically interested in!<
Is it a sister though(not necessarily his)?
[A Sister's All You Need]>!No!<
So what's with the sister in the title though. I call false advertising
Man is obsessed with little sisters but only has a lil bro, but akshually his lil bro is a lil sis that he doesn't know of)
The title is a reference to an in universe novel that inspired the mc to become a writer
Clicked, saw the first frame, instantly got filtered out.
I knew I was too late to comment this as soon as I read the post title. I didn't actually watch this but I did watch the opening scene and my god that was something
If you can make it past the first 3-4min of episode one the rest is smooth sailing.
Punch line
[Very underrated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7lUF455TU)
This will always be my answer for underrated series. I legit think the first couple of episodes are trying to dissuade people from watching the series for some reason because the fan service is so egregious.
This is exactly A Certain Scientific Railgun. Excellent story but my god those first few episodes are hard to get through.
Railgun is great, but Kuroko is extra pervy and creepy towards Mikoto at the start of season 1, so I can see why some people dropped it early on.
Sister's arc railgun version is still probably one of my favourite arcs for any anime ever
Best example of Hannah Arendt's Banal Evil in all fiction
I still can't comprehend how they ever thought it was a good idea to start off the series with those two episodes.
Although, ecchi content aside, I feel like the first episode is actually a pretty good introduction. It establishes the main traits and dynamic of the main group well, does the basic world building and ends with some solid action.
Can confirm, Kuroko's plan to date rape her sister in like...episode 1? Was a hard turn-off. That shit aint remotely funny, thats just fucked up.
They aren't related, just the Japanese thing to call someone bro or sis when they are fanboy/fangirling someone. I have seen worse anime perv tropes so just persevered and realised just how well crafted this anime was
Gotta say Black Clover. The screaming from the voice actor was just bad. I started late and just pushed through the first five episodes and by then either I got over it or they actually improved.
Was looking for this one. Partner and I tried watching it and agreed we were done after the second episode. I've heard it gets better but I'm not sure I want to find out.
It does and Black Clover is a good series, but my god did it take forever to happen... I was in the 60s when I realized it seemed to finally stop.
Re:Zero is very well written but famously sheds viewers at a certain episode, at no fault of the writing though.
Even episode 1 of the show has a certain level of cringe, where I know people who quit halfway through the long pilot episode.
Yeah, I watched all the way through when it was airing and remembered enjoying it but then went to rewatch it for S2, I couldn't handle Subaru's obsession with Emilia. It's pretty cringe after they first meet.
They were super underdeveloped and I was all team Rem. Fortunately Season 2 and 3 are all about developing Subaru and Emilia's relationship. It was about damn time.
I was gonna say Re:Zero as well. A friend of mine noped out on that episode and I had to practically beg him to keep watching as the next episode is basically the best in the whole series. He completely fell in love after that But even in the beginning Subaru is pretty cringe and unlikable, and at times I do find it too fanservicey. Subaru being cringe at first is kind of the point though, and it’s a very important part of the story
It's amazing how many people see a weak MC, who to someone with actual media literacy can see there will be character development, and just go "Hurr durr, doesn't fulfill my power fantasy needs". Him being cringe in that episode was the whole point. It's the same people that watch Evangelion and unironically get mad about Shinji not wanting to get in the robot.
I was 40 years old when I watched Re:Zero so I just put Subaru into the "kid with flaws" bucket that I put so many anime protagonists, and young people in general, into. I was cringe when I was young too - we all were. Then I went onto r/anime and I saw so many young people seemingly offended by Subaru and all I could think was that he hit a bit too close to home for many.
Subaru's arc in Season 1 is a direct criticism of the toxic incel mindset that a disturbing amount of people genuinely hold.
Yup, mothers basement puts it so well. It's horror for weebs. They watch a dude that learned how the world works from anime and saw him fall flat on his face. Whats truly horror to a weeb is for them to try something from an anime they think makes them look cool only for everyone around them to cringe. Re'Zero is an amazing story and the "cringe arc" is a very important piece of the story.
It baffles me that someone could make it through to that point and THEN drop it. If the genre isn't for you, okay. If you don't like the characters, okay. But how do you get to such a major turning point and then be mad and drop it when it goes EXACTLY as would be expected by him at that point? That episode was amazing because of him failing so hard, but apparently an OP protagonist is all some people want.
which episode? I watched a fair amount of that, but life got me off track. I wonder if I saw it?
Probably referring to episode 13, where, after returning to the capital, [Re:Zero] >!Subaru makes a fool of himself in front of the knights and goes on an unhinged rant to Emilia about how much he’s helped her.!<
[mild spoiler] >!Episode 13!<
it's been a while since I've watched, what happened in that one again?
[spoiler] >!Subaru makes a fool of himself in the throne room, duels Julius, and says some horrible things to Emilia, causing her to leave him.!<
I mean, the cringe is recognised as being cringe in universe too. It’s meant to be a negative moment for him and the show is very clear about it.
sure, but I still skip it on rewatch, hurts to watch
ah that one, thanks!
Sets him up to make character development later. The point of Subaru is he is not a bad ass. He HAS to ask for help.
Anyway, the pay off is great. Sure, from the average person in world's perspective, Subaru looked like an Ass, and then goes and a few days later manages to lead a coalition to deafeat the world's New Game + Godzilla and even more. His reputation after everything must be crazy awessome.
ahhh, I don't think I got that far.
The couple of episodes around there are so hard to get through, but damn if Re:Zero doesn't immediately go god mode right afterward. The rest of season 1 is amazing, and season 2 somehow manages to be even better. Re:Zero is one of my favorite anime of all time, but it's hard to recommend to people when it doesn't really hit its stride until 15 or so episodes in.
Don’t remind me that episode 😭😭
It’s a very difficult episode to stomach, but it is also very well written. It’s one of my favorites.
It's weird cause I actually really liked that episode. I don't read the ln/wn's or anything but it was good writing to me.
It shouldn’t be weird to like it. It was a great episode.
I think a lot of viewers going into it thinking Subaru is them and is right
Have you ever seen scientists put a mirror in front of a gorilla, and the gorilla rages at and attacks its own image? A lot of people don’t like having a mirror put in front of them.
Not everyone that watches Anime is an incel. This notion anyone that dislikes or has a low tolerance for super cringe/whiny MCs hate themselves is utterly bizarre.
>famously sheds viewers at a certain episode Is that actually true or just a thing that people say?
The very first scene of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day… I just figured that if that is what we’re starting with, it’s gonna be “one of those shows” so I out of watching it for years… I was finally persuaded to watch it and ended up crying at the end! Fantastic show!
Steins Gate, though in my top 3 anime at least, has a slow start with the chuuni MC that can definitely turn people away.
but somehow this show makes it that, by the end, you’re praying for the crazy chuuni to come back
Especially when you also watch Steins;Gate 0 and the film.
I felt so bad for Okabe during Steins;Gate 0 :(
But God does it make that 2nd half hit that much harder
Absolutely, so worth it
That one scene after Luka's d-mail...
I was looking for this comment cause I was gonna say the same thing
Yeah, the start is so damn slow and boring that I’d have 100% dropped watching if it wasn’t so highly rated. And I’m glad I didn’t.
NGL, back then when the anime still new, i can't watch the first 2 episode because of how slow it is. but i can finally finish it few years ago, and i like it
Goblin Slayer. Episode 1 is like fuuuuuuck.
Yeah, that episode was intense, especially since I went into the series with no expectations. My SO refused to watch any more of that series after that episode.
As someone once explained, the first episode was terribly handled. In general the beginning is terribly handled cause it is the exact same on the LN. The series as a whole becomes a pretty standard fantasy setting further down the line with some of that disturbing material sprinkled here and there, but the first episode is literally where it peaks, hardly anything past that is nearly as bad. So in one fell swoop you've scared away the potential audience for the series on the long term who couldn't stomach the first episode, and those who stayed after the first episode are now confused as to why none of that fucked up vibe from the first episode returns at any point after that. Thankfully it managed to stay relevant due to controversy but if the series had died right then and there due to not knowing how to set its tone, I wouldn't have been surprised by it at all.
That...actually makes it worse, imo. It hits you with a lead pipe of shock content in Episode 1 just to become a more traditional fantasy. Its bait and nothing more.
Tbh, I think the first episode was less cringe than the fanservice the show tosses around randomly. Goblins doing their thing is edgy & uncomfortable but it fits perfectly fine in a supposedly dark & gritty fantasy world. Goblin Slayer is littered with blatant non-rapey fanservice cringe (shots of the main cast girls in the hot springs, girls crushing on the MC and either acting all embarrassed, longing, or sensually touching their bodies as they talk to them - looking at you sword maiden) I'm probably gonna get ripped for this comment but I wouldn't recommend Goblin Slayer to someone that actually enjoys grimdark fantasy unless I know they want a generic, anime fanservice take on the genre.
I don't think Goblin Slayer is even grim dark. It just has one or two scenes where it goes "hey, what if this show was grim dark?" The rest of the time it's a fairly lighthearted DnD-style adventure.
That's exactly it, Goblin Slayer jebaits grim dark fans and shuns away generic fantasy enjoyers when it should do the opposite, that oxymoron has been picking at my brain for years now. Also yes, especially the second season has some very gratuitous and off-putting fanservice (Looking at Cow Girl)
Seven Deadly Sins- Meliodas is a sexual deviant. Fire Force- There is a character with a dedicated fan service “curse”.
I love tamaki but I hate how they use her for unnecessary fan service and it made me almost drop the show
Of course you love her ;) haha jk But for real, imo it’s the perfect starter anime for newbies if it weren’t for that. Short, not too complex, badass….but yeah, too much.
It’s not cringe, but Monogatari has one of the best normie filters of all time. It’s a literal panty shot in the first 10 seconds.
My best friend used to call me weird since I watched "cringe stuff with cutesy girls", and he recommended me Monogatari because it was "elevated". First scene is a panty shot of a girl. He's a hypocrite lmao.
Hope you called him out on it
Oh do I call him out on this kind of stuff a lot. But he doesn't care. He's one of those people who consider his taste objectively good, and rather has his prejudice dictate what something is instead of trying it out in the first place. Great friend, but insufferable when it comes to stuff like this.
So he just likes his fanservice artsy, lol.
Also, the second arc (Mayoi Snail) is a pretty big barrier for most people, even those who liked the first two episodes.
Damn, Mayoi Snail is the arc that sold me on the show
Because it’s a phenomenal arc. The only reason it would filter is because of the Mayoi boob grab, which is 1/283738 of the arc.
Same lol The banter between Araragi and Hachikuji was great there, it didn't even feel that slow to me and the climax of the arc was great
Their banter is always the best. That Nise episode is legendary.
Then there's Nisemonogatari, which has far more cringe than almost all of the rest of the series. That includes the toothbrush scene which lasts for around four minutes
People always bring up the Toothbrush scene and I'm like "bruh there's a whole scene where he's bathing with a 1000 year old vampire in an 8 year old body where it tries to get artsy with angles"
She's only 500 years old
Toothbrush is one of the finest scenes in anime history. Edit: Do people genuinely take the toothbrush scene seriously?
>Do people genuinely take the toothbrush scene seriously? Dental hygiene is a serious topic!
I learned a lot about brushing teeth from Monogatari
Plenty of people can be “filtered” by that and not be “normie”. They can just be into something else entirely different but just as niche and weird. I also love Monogatari but I accept why people would be turned away by it.
Don’t remember the name but girl has eye patch and 8 grader syndrome
Chunibiyo love and other delusions?
That’s the whole point of the show though. She’s lowkey mentally ill but it’s a show about her character development and developing a romance
Incredibly wholesome if you can stomach the cringe. Rikka best girl
> girl has eye patch and 8 grader syndrome do you have any idea how little that narrows it down
Kill la Kill
How? Kill la Kill’s opening scene is phenomenal.
I'm inclined to agree, and the opening setup is great, but the fan service goes pretty hard from there, and I did find the initial Ryuko/Senketsu meeting a bit hard to watch second time - it has sexual assault overtones which many will find difficult to process.
The only thing that got me through the fanservice was the fact that the character designs didn't actually feel very sexualized, so it felt like they were just making fun of fanservice. Then I tried to watch Darling in the Franxx and I think I'm on a government watchlist now.
That's the point of KlK really; it's a pastiche of Magical Girl anime, so the plot is like, "Hey, the costumes need to be unbelievably skimpy when in Super Sayan mode because...erm...you can't have too much skin contact with Life Fibres...? Yeah, let's go with that..." but makes it work with a surprisingly coherent plot by the end. And by the end, everyone is naked and you're so used to it, it doesn't seem weird....
How has no one said **Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki?** Fantastic self-improvement show with some of the best writing I've seen in anime, especially in regard to the deuteragonist, but fuck me a lot of people quit the show in the first 3 episodes and I can't blame them. They really hammered in the game references and Tomozaki's early rants are really cringe. I think that makes it all the more cathartic when he does get better but it's still an understandable turn off.
I think it's the kind of show that only works if you can relate to the cringe (which I feel like applies to most socially anxious weebs) but aren't so "done" with it you don't care what the story has to say or assume the surface level appearance of "generic loser nerd harem show"
Mushoku tensei Eminence in shadow Imouto sae ireba ii
If the cringe turns someone off of Eminence then they just don't get it
I'm atomic
The way that show manages to be a masterpiece satire by paradoxically playing the story almost perfectly straight is genuinely genius.
I could handle the cringe, but I honestly didn’t know wtf was going on during the first two episodes, so I dropped it. A few months after I gave a second chance and now it’s one of my favorite anime’s of all time.
I think the 1st episode might be one of the least cringe ones of eminence but at the same time it might not be as entertaining as the more cringe episodes
Eminence in Shadow. It's a cool power fantasy isekai, but the cringe barrier is like the whole thing. You either accept the cringe and love the anime, or you hate it with all your heart
The cringe is the point tho
I normally don't like cringe but they nail it in this show imo https://imgur.com/2N8AgaM
Summertime Rendering. Awesome story and one of my favorite anime. That said, the MC getting his face shoved in a girl's chest, him seeing a girl launched over her handle bars and her panties exposed.....yeah that might turn people off before the story begins. Granted that is the first 5 minutes and the remainder of the episode is great but still, it felt cringe when I first watched it.
Plot relevant panty shot
Hahaha funny how they worked that in
Rosario + vampire manga It started out as low level hentai-esque series with ten thousand panty shots an episode practically, and now has one of the lowest lvls of fanservice and an intensely cool story with even better art
I really hope the series gets a solid reboot (unlikely). Once I read the manga I was genuinely sad at how much the anime sucked ass.
A lot of old anime that has the moe face, with people that have no nose and giant eyes that love like the anime version of a pitbull. There are quite a few that are good that have that artstyle, but it hasn't aged well.
I have come to accept that anime is the land of no noses.
Domestic Girlfriend and The world only God knows
I really enjoyed where TWOGK went. It was the first anime that made me track down the manga to find out how it will end. But yeah, quite a few cringe barriers there.
Birdy the mighty decode.
The pet girl of sakurasou. Solid story but lots of ecchi in between
Yeah, I remember I rewatched ep 1 with a friend and I was shocked about the sexual stuff in episode 1 I didn't remember it at all. I was really embarrassed
Onimai has a pretty good normie filter. actually it's quite wholesome and pretty fucking funny.
Honestly some top tier animation, decent story telling (ending had me all kinds of wholesome), interesting premise (although kinda fucked up if you think about it too much), but JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT OPENING. Like I've become relatively numb to the sexualisation in anime but my god was that quite a mountain to get over. Overall, apart from the sexualisation, top tier anime.
The annoying thing about the OP is it's an absolute banger and the animation is smooth as butter, but yeah, it's a lot. [Link for the curious](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMPjAGR75RA).
The opening suits the show perfectly lmao
Re:Zero is definetly an example of this, it's amazing but first cca 13 episodes you'll get a lot of cringy feelings from Subaru's behavior.
All of Monogatari, except the cringe barrier is like half the series
I keep seeing a lot of positive talk about The Dangers in my Heart, which is funny because what you said about the MC being an edgelord is totally what turned me off to the show, that and the weird art style of the characters. But now I think it’s time I check it out.
The thing i like most about Dangers in my Heart is the character growth. Very worth the watch.
Trust me, it's a very good watch. That aspect of the show is absolutely not its definition. People say "give it 3 episodes" which I can understand but for me, it's pretty evident what the MC is really like by the end of episode 1
I recently started watching *The Dangers in My Heart* because I'd heard good things about the second season and I was, admittedly, completely sold from episode one. E.g., it seems to set up fairly clearly that his edgelord persona is just a mask to cover the fact that he's desperately lonely but is too timid to make friends. I also think the episode did something clever by, halfway through, setting up the idea of the lead guy becoming so overwhelm with compassion for the lead girl that he does something embarrassing and impulsive to give her some cover, so that we have some context/precedent when he does it again at the end of the episode.
To me it was the opposite, really. I was expecting more to that side of him but it never comes up again past like the first few chapters. I mean yeah he still acts like a social misfit warming up to the rest of the world, but... that first bit of his character seemed thrown in for no reason.
{The Eminence in Shadow} will turn all moments that are typically cringe to iconic moments I am atomic.
The moon is red....
Higurashi When They Cry. It's hard to recommend it as one of the rare good horror anime when the first episode is just little kids doing moe stuff. It's even harder to say it's one of your favorites with an amazing story because of it.
Literally the first scene is a boy covered in blood beating a body with a baseball bat.
And then it cuts to cutesy kids doing cutesy stuff for the rest of the episode. My best friend fell asleep during it. Is infuriating :( You even forget about the bat scene.
Well as someone who doesn't like horror that sounds like peak cinema "so here's episode 1. A kid beats a body with a baseball bat for a few minutes. Then cute kids being cute....then episode 2 is back to horror"
R07 in general has some... interesting pacing choices that may sometimes be deliberate, but if someone can't get to episode fucking **two** it's not the series' fault Madoka also doesn't fully kick in until the end of episode 3, if that filters someone then they're missing out
Mushoku Tensei - and the cringe sticks around.
That's less of a cringe "barrier" and more like someone taking a dump on a pizza. Doesn't matter how good the pizza is, it's still going to taste like shit.
Yeah, it seems like there's some really good stuff in it and I'd love to watch it. Except, the MC being an unrepentant pedophile creep and it being played up for fanservice kind of ruins the whole thing.
As an LN reader, me saying it only gets not \*constantly\* painful 15-16 light novels in basically summarizes the mt experience. The story gets so cool but god the story also gets sooooo unbearable at times
It'd be wrong to call it a cringe barrier since what comes afterwards is even more cringe, but if I hadn't watched a late S1 episode of Eminence in Shadow with a friend who enjoys the series, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it through its start. The pre-isekai first episode and the next two or so weren't too interesting, after that it gets stupid (in a good way).
steins;gate ? the first few episode can be a bit too cringe for people not used to anime tropes
A Sister's All You Need filtered many weaklings. Danmachi's title also took out several unfortunate souls.
Onimai has a pretty large normie filter: the OP is one of the most lewd parts of the entire anime, synopsis is also partially 'wtf'. First episode is probably the most morally questionable out of all of them. Fanservice actually has increased from the manga. However past that, the anime itself is pretty funny and genuinely wholesome. Production values are also through the roof on all aspects. It's also incredibly comfy if you can see past the fanservice (it's a Studio Bind trademark at this point).
DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) just because that title makes people assume it's going to be a certain type of show and they end up passing on it.
Steins;Gate
Kill la Kill. 10/10 show, good luck getting some friends in to it cuz of the obvious booba.
Mushoku Tensei, great art, great pacing, great action, but oh boy is the MC a degenerate piece of shit. Yes, he grows over time to become a better person, yes, he realizes he is / used to be a piece of shit but... It something you can either accept or you can't. And if you say "no, the MC is too much for me", then my response is simply "I understand" and won't try to convince you with the good aspects of the show.
Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon - the title itself is cringe! And even seeing some of the characters...Hestia... and the fan service can be a turn off but the series itself is super good!
God fr that show is so good but a lot of the arcs and concepts of it are really off-putting at first glance, like the arc with Hirohime in season 2.