Anime for a 10-year-old

[Sylleria]

Recently, my 10-year-old younger sister got interested in anime after watching K-ON over my shoulder. (Don't worry, I didn't let her see the fanservicey bits >_>) So far I've shown her My Neighbor Totoro, which she liked, and we're currently going through all the episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura.

I'm not really sure what to show her after that, so it'd be great if anyone could offer suggestions. She's a fairly well-adjusted 10-year-old, so I'm not worried so much about it being easy to understand, more that she 'gets' it. By that I mean not too many otaku jokes (e.g. Lucky Star), Japanese culture references (AzuDai), or slice-of-life shows with long periods of nothing happening (Aria, as much as I love it). Not too much romance either, unless it's the cutesy kind.

Anyway, thank you and I look forward to your suggestions!

~Syl

[Deathkillz]

K-ON had service? *cough*
Girls being girls (especially of her age) like cutesy things.

I suggest Shugo Chara and hmm...Tokyo Mew mew. Both are magical girl themes similar to Cardcaptor.

[Coruja]

Strawberry Marshmallow
Kemono no Sou-ja Erin
Hidamari Sketch
Kaleido Star
Ultra Maniac
Ashita no Nadja
Mirmo Zibang!
Onegai My Melody
Little Snow Fairy Sugar
Kamichu!
Before Green Gables

I love most of those old-school animes I've watched when I was a lot younger (Pollyanna, Candy Candy, etc) as they have got good morals and are very cute; unfortunately I think they're all pretty hard to find nowadays).
Anyway, I've watched all those I recommended, and they have no fanservice or anything a 10-year old girl might find disturbing.

[Guardian Enzo]

Gakuen Alice! It's perfect.

[Shadow Kira01]

Here are some good recommendations:

Aria the Animation
Aria the Natural
Aria the Origination

The thing is that most animes aren't suitable for children...

[Kaze]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

The thing is that most animes aren't suitable for children...

Pokemon
Doraemon

ect..

You just have to know the right shows

[Sackett]

Hmmm....

This is hard... especially if you rule out something like Aria.

I take it you're looking for more action/plot?

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is the only one I can think of.

Unfortunately I know next to nothing about anime aimed at young girls.

Maybe Ah! My Goddess? I know it's pretty much exclusively romance, but it stays on a very sweet level- Urd might be a bit much, but if you can get past her innuendo it might be interesting enough to a young girl. And she might identify with Skuld.

Shakugan no Shana might be good if it weren't for some pretty extensive fanservice early on- not to mention the incest twins *shudder*

Read or Die might be too confusing- or maybe it won't matter at all to a ten year old. Does have a character death though.

I was entranced by Starblazers at age 8- and the English dub does a pretty good job of eliminating all fanservice and bowdlerizing it for younger children- I mean it was aimed at kids in the Saturday morning cartoon timeslot back in the late 70's. However, the animation is quite dated (think Speed Racer style)- and it's a war epic, so it's more of a guy show- although there is plenty of character development and things that I can see women liking- I'm not sure if a ten year girl would be able to see past the guns and fighting. You know your sister better than the rest of us.

Umm.... Full Metal Panic and Soul Eater have problems similar to Shana (though not as bad)

Frankly, most anime seems to be aimed at teenagers. Kimagure Orange Road is pretty clean, and simple enough to understand- but again it's a romance and your sister might be 2 to 3 years too young for it to interest her.

I suppose you could try a sports anime like Eyeshield, though most 10 year old girls aren't interested in learning about football.

Full Metal Alchemist is pretty intense (and violent) for a ten year old. It has a lot of depth though- so I wouldn't mind watching it with a precocious ten year old- but I'd expect to have a lot of serious talks after each episode about subjects like death, and sin, and atonement. Probably not what you have in mind.

Chrono Crusade might be good- except that uh...

Spoiler for character death:

the heroine dies in the end.

Maybe Inuyasha? It has a good english dub. I haven't seen much of it though so I'm not sure how much fanservice there is. It's also more of an adventure story- but a Tomboy might like it.

Hey-

What about Cross Game? Yeah... if she liked K-On, then maybe Cross Game would be a good choice. There is a character death, but if she's seen something like Up it shouldn't be too much to handle. It's slower paced, and doesn't have the exotic adventures with fighting that most anime does.

Yeah... I'd go with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Cross Game

[Telmah]

I'd suggest Princess Tutu. It's shojo just like Cardcaptor Sakura. It starts out fairly so so, but half way through the first season, suddenly it starts to get really good and by the second season its fairly amazing. I'd never have chosen it myself because of the name, however a friend pushed it on me and boy I am glad she did.

Pita Ten comes to mind as well. Very cutesy character designs and pretty funny. The basic plot involves a devilish angel and an angelic devil causing havoc in a young boy's life.

Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas is fairly enjoyable through and through. I can't think of anything all that objectionable--main character...she's a bit of a tomboy though.

Pretty much pick any Ghibli film, Spirited Away is probably my top choice if you haven't seen them.

Tsubasa Chronicles is another pretty good choice--it is a Clamp work that features Sakura and Syaoran again, though Syaoran is the main character more. Avoid the OVAs like the plague, but the two seasons that Bee Trained produced aren't too bad. Especially the first season is pretty tame.

While I am on Clamp, I highly suggest Angelic Layer. The main character is somewhat of an introvert, but it's a great show. Basically, it's about fighting "dolls".

[Mistypearl]

I have to echo some of the other commentor's choices,

Princess Tutu, Gakuen Alice, Howl's Moving Castle, Wedding Peach, Mermaid Melody *freaking long title* Pichi whatever, Toyko Mew Mew, Shugo Chara would be great (somehow I feel like I just insulted myself because I love Shugo Chara. Huh.). It all depends on how mature she is, but titles like these should be good. I have to warn you that Gakuen Alice has some "I stole your skirt, or accidental pantsu parts, along with the eat biting scene early on in Shugo Chara, but other than that it's good.

[-KarumA-]

There are quite some listed that I would surely not suggest for a 10 year old D:
FMA, FMP surely not. why? FMA has some gorey scenes in it in case people have forgotten and the plot would be way too deep let alone not for a 10 year old's age at some points, human sacrifice etc. I wouldn't want my 10 year old seeing that. I wouldn't recommend FMP because it is, when the action is running, too intense

like many I would recommend the ghibli movies, heck dig up some sailor moon, I loved that show when I was around that age, Galaxy Angel, Ashita no Nadja,Samurai Pizza Cats, Saiyuki (more for boys), Chi's Sweet Home, Cyborg 009

the now airing Umi Monogatari prehaps too, its a magical girl kind of series (I watched the trailers and they scream Sailor Moon lol). Same with Element Hunters, its rated a kids show

Kekkaishi might also fit the bill and I am certain Magic Knight Rayearth is a must as well as Angelic Layer

[Guardian Enzo]

In thinking about it, I think a 10 year-old girl could appreciate the considerable surface-level charms of Petopeto-san, even if not the even more considerable subtle ones. And as long as we're in that season, Kamichu is another one I think would be a great fit.

[Sylleria]

Much thanks for all the suggestions ^^ I'll definitely try Kamichu! and some of the others, especially the mahou shoujo ones.

[SeijiSensei]

I posted a long reply in the anime for 12-15 year-old thread nearby this one that includes many shows I'd suggest here as well. I'll reiterate the point I made there -- unless you're showing her something that's clearly targeted toward younger or family viewers like Miyazaki's Spirted Away, Dennou Coil (see below), or Chi's Sweet Home, pre-screening is a must. I'd include a parent in the pre-screening as well.

The show that I most want to recommend, but that poses difficult problems because of its dramatic content, is Kemono no Souja Erin. You and a parent should watch this at least through episode thirteen before deciding if your sister can handle the events it portrays. If you want more details, and don't mind being spoiled, read the Erin thread.

Seconds for Angelic Layer (it was next on my list), which for US-Canadian viewers is currently free to watch at Crunchyroll. I'd also recommend the two seasons of Chi's Sweet Home. The first season is fansubbed; the second season is being shown on Crunchyroll. The currently-airing Higepiyo, about a bearded chick (), is a bit more edgy than Chi, but probably still in the ballpark of acceptability.

A couple of other suggestions include Windy Tales and the licensed Tweeny Witches, which i described in the other thread. Windy Tales is a very overlooked show by Production I.G about middle school girls who discover how to manipulate the wind. Some very cute cats have the same ability in this show.

A more dramatic option might be Asatte no Houkou. One of the protagonists is your sister's age. I'd recommend prescreening this one as well however. The young girl has a few rather frightening experiences in the latter half of the show.

Finally, if your sister likes fantasy, and your parents are okay with the violence, she might enjoy Guin Saga. This is based on a famous series of light novels that date back to 1979 about a strange man with a leopard head who comes to the aid of a young prince and princess. Guin has a number of one-of-one battles in the early going, and some of them are pretty violent. When she's a bit older, it'll be time to watch Mononoke Hime, Junni Kokuki, Seirei no Moribito, and Noein. She'd probably find them a bit boring at this age.

Edit:I can't believe I forgot to recommend Dennou Coil. All the principal characters in this show are your sister's age, yet the story should appeal to you and maybe to your parents as well. This is an even better choice than Erin. That girl with the pigtails third from the right in my signature appears in Dennou Coil. Click on her picture to learn more about this wonderful show. (It's a Wikipedia link, though, so tread carefully to avoid spoilers.)

[qwertyuiopz]

Azumanga daioh


everyone posting has violence or hints of fanservice to it

[ddwkc]

Twin Spica and Uninhabited Planet Survive are great animes to kids. Twin Spica may be a little heavy on drama, but later it's get more and more involved with teamwork stuff and it's a great series to teach about dreams. UPS is like a kids version of Lost, but more focused on teamwork.

I second Ashita no Nadja, Wind Tales, Dennou Coil, Kaleido Star (but avoid the Extra Stage, it has some bad fan-service camera actions) and Gakuen Alice.

[Gomenasai]

Originally Posted by Sylleria

Recently, my 10-year-old younger sister got interested in anime after watching K-ON over my shoulder. (Don't worry, I didn't let her see the fanservicey bits >_>) So far I've shown her My Neighbor Totoro, which she liked, and we're currently going through all the episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura.

I'm not really sure what to show her after that, so it'd be great if anyone could offer suggestions. She's a fairly well-adjusted 10-year-old, so I'm not worried so much about it being easy to understand, more that she 'gets' it. By that I mean not too many otaku jokes (e.g. Lucky Star), Japanese culture references (AzuDai), or slice-of-life shows with long periods of nothing happening (Aria, as much as I love it). Not too much romance either, unless it's the cutesy kind.

Anyway, thank you and I look forward to your suggestions!

~Syl

10 was when I first started really getting into anime because toonami started up with shows like gundam wing, yuyu hakisho, ronin warriors ect. I wouldnt worry tooooooooooo much about the anime, best you should do is look for a site that has anime ratings telling you whether is is, G, PG, TV14, TV17/MA

FYI, most anime is PG, and TV14.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

There are quite some listed that I would surely not suggest for a 10 year old D:
FMA, FMP surely not. why? FMA has some gorey scenes in it in case people have forgotten and the plot would be way too deep let alone not for a 10 year old's age at some points, human sacrifice etc. I wouldn't want my 10 year old seeing that. I wouldn't recommend FMP because it is, when the action is running, too intense

Yes... I was writing in the sort of "musing out loud" style, listing different anime I like and then rejecting them as not what he wanted- You'll notice if you look carefully that I rejected FMA and FMP as no good for the 10 year old sister, and ultimately suggested:

Cross Game and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

[Miko Miko]

my sister is 11, she loved Pita Ten, Tokyo Mew Mew and Sailor Moon.

[Zu Ra]

Considering that it a 10 year old girl,

I would suggest Fruit Basket . Girls of all ages like that as it concerns coming of age, romance and comedy. Also the anime is devoid of fan service .

Another suggestion on similar lines would be Lovely Complex . It too deals with school life romance and mainly comedy

[Sugar_Prayer]

Yeah, Kamichu! is a must-see!!

And, as some other people have said, Shugo Chara is suitable, it has some suggestive themes, but not much, plus, she'd be the same age as Amu! It's always more fun to watch anime when your the same age as a character!


Oh! And To Heart! my 6 year-old brother watched it with me an liked it! ^^