My daughter has picked up an interest in Demon Slayer, however having watched a little I think it’s too violent/mature.
I’d love to foster her interest in these things, by trying out an alternative anime that hits similar notes while being more age apropriate.
Any recommendations?
Maybe oldschool Dragon Balls or Rurouni Kenshin? I wonder if Hunter x Hunter or One Piece might be better? I’ve only watched the former a bit and I think it has significantly less graphic violence at least. Alternatively maybe something completely silly like Samurai Pizza Cats.
In one Hunter x Hunter episode, a guy bites off another guy’s head, sucks out the skull, and spits it as a projectile at another character, for a quick two-fer kill. Real kid-friendly stuff.
Eh, Hunter×Hunter gets quite heavy. The Hunter Exam arc gives a slightly lighthearted impression compared to latter parts, even if it does not have a ton of explicit gore, it is violent.
The series is sorta violent even before Chimera Ants, where the evil-ness is kicked up to kitten-kicking, puppy-eating, “Sauron and Voldemort would hold a villain intervention because it’s too edgy”, gorey mess. Before that it was still relatively edgy shōnen but it seemed to take a slight turn there.
Ruroni Kenshin is a pretty dark historical war story when it gets going fully, I really don’t think a child should watch that. The beginning is intentionally deceptive for narrative reasons. The newer one is a lot more upfront with it.
Dragon Ball is extremely inappropriate, If I were in that position I would not want my daughter to watch that and mimick ANY of the behavior Bulma commits. Especially with Roshi. The super fanservicey stuff gets cut off around Z or slightly before, but OG will shock you if you haven’t read or watched it in a while.
For my pick, it’s hard to list anything super similar minus what was already mentioned. As a cool anime for female empowerment I’d pick Bocchi the Rock, anime about a girl overcoming social anxiety to fulfill her dream of becoming a rock star. All female cast pretty much, no fanservice, pure comedy, good story, and rockin music. There’s like one or two inappropriate jokes that’ll fly over a kid’s head, but most children shows in America had worse.
The Kenshin animated series skips most of the hyperviolent stuff and starts after the war. You could start with that show, and watch the OVA later when they are more mature.
Agreed on OG Dragonball. My son showed interest in DBZ, and I thought it might be good to go back and rewatch the series to get caught up. I started my own rewatch and was shocked at how sexualized it all was, especially given the ages of the characters. And it’s not even like side-plot fan service you can skip. Bulma, a minor, is flashing people left and right to get what she wants, including obtaining Dragonballs.
“NO BALLS! NO BALLS!”
That was censored in some regions, so not everyone will know the reference.