It’s time to KNOW YOUR GENRES!
Just like any other film or television show, anime are broken up into genres. The genres include your classic drama, comedy, horror, etc. But there are also genres such as slice of life, shounen, shoujo, and fan service. Knowing these genres are key to finding the perfect anime for you!
Let’s begin with the slice of life genre! This genre is basically what it sounds like. Slice of Life can be any anime that includes a coming of age concept, relationships between friends/lovers as well as family. The key to the perfect slice of life anime includes seasonality within the series. Many sports anime can be categorized within the slice of life genre.
Shoujo and shounen anime are geared toward a specific audience type. Shoujo anime is typically made for young female viewers while a shounen series is made for a young male audience. A popular shounen anime would be Dragonball Z while Sailor Moon could be categorized as a shoujo anime series (one of my favorites). Many people don’t care for these two genres due to the fact that many people watch their anime of choice regardless of the shoujo or shounen genre.
Now anime that appear within the fan service genre are made specifically to please the audience. This may include intense violence, racy clothing or two characters who are strongly shipped together becoming intimate. Fan service is also found in shounen manga.