I used to watch anime but haven’t watched anything new in a while now. Have a 6 year old kid and thought it would be a good excuse to start watching some together with her. We just completed little witch academy and we have seen the ghibli movies. I’m seeking more series and movies that would be appropriate for kids and also not to boring for an adult to watch.
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OP has more than enough recommendations at this point and some of these discussion threads are wandering way off topic and getting nasty, so I will be locking this post.
To OP, feel free to make a new post when your kid is 7 if you need more recommendations! 😜
Hi. Chiming in as a parent myself, with some suggestions that I would have let my kids watch at that age:
- Mitsuboshi Colors - Good, clean fun childhood adventures of 3 young girls.
- Strawberry Marshmallow - Same as above, but heavier on the comedy side.
- Cells at Work! - Educational about how the body works, though there is some fighting and battle shounen tropes.
- Flying Witch - magical slice of life that instills a sense of wonder.
- Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! - 3 creative high-schoolers are fighting to keep their animation club. This is the one to watch if your kid has even the slightest interest in art.
- Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle - a heartwarming comedy that humanizes monsters as super friendly. Might be a good watch if she’s afraid of monsters. Even a good watch if she’s not.
I personally rate each one of them very highly, but I’m not sure whether they have dubbed versions or how good they are.
Lastly, there is Dr. Stone. I have never seen it due to my aversion to battle shounen, but I’ve read that it is very educational about how stuff works. As I said, I haven’t seen it, so I’m not sure how light or dark it is, but it might be worth looking into. I’m also trying to remember how kid-friendly Silver Spoon was. All I remember is that I learned a lot about farming. That’s why I’ll list it for the educational aspect, but everything else about the show is wiped from my memory. I don’t think there was anything in it that would disturb a kid, but I’m also not sure how entertaining it would be for one.
Berserk
What’s with this threat that it brings all the trolls out of the woodwork?
6 year old is too young for most anine, i would stick to Doraemon or similar, very light and innocent anime. Be ware of age ratings.
Came here to give my 2 cents, but it seems all the anime I had in mind have already been recomended. Y’all have good taste.
Except… Why has nobody mentioned Pretty Cure!? It should be the obvious choice!
Except… Why has nobody mentioned Pretty Cure!? It should be the obvious choice!
Good question! I briefly considered it, but I haven’t seen it so I have no idea whether an adult would enjoy it too. Would you say it appeals to both age groups? It’s honestly tough since the span between “6-year old child” and “6-year old child’s parent” is so wide!
I watch it regularly and I love it. Heartcatch, Star Twinkle, Hirogaru Sky, Tropical Rouge and Mahotsukai are the best seasons.
Children anime are often the eternal ones, get some pretty cute and case closed for stories, Shin-chan for comedy.
Shin-Chan
Apothecary Diaries
Frieren
One Piece Live-Action
The Way of The Househusband
Dr. Stone
Delicious In Dungeon
Canon Busters
Sakamoto Days
NIMONA!!!
Kpop Demon Hunters
Spy X Family
Bright
Romantic Killer
Violet Evergarden
Kakuryo - Bed & Breakfast for Spirits
Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin
'Tis Time For Torture, Princess
Kyousougiga
Fairy Tail
Solo Camping for Two
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale
Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf
Usagi Drop
Secrets of the Silent Witch
With You and the Rain
The Devil is a Part-Timer
Buddy Daddies
The Eccentric Family
Zenshu
Dragon Goes House Hunting
Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time
The Too Perfect Saint
BarakamanThe greatest difficulty lies in making yourself available to answer questions appropriately(by your parental judgement) and screening episodes in-advance so you can be prepared both for questions, and to raise/answer questions you believe shouldn’t be glossed.
It’s a 6-year-old kid for God’s sake.
Apothecary Diaries -> solving murders is the main theme. Plus prostitution, harems, blackmail, slavery, etc…
Frieren -> slow burn for adults that understand the concept of missed time and looking back. Not to speak about all the atocities done by the demons
The Way of The Househusband -> haven’t seen it but a Yakuza themed show …
Delicious In Dungeon -> sister dies gruesomely and gets turned from a bloody flesh mob into a monster that hunts her own brother and friends.
Sakamoto Days -> I think this one was assassin themed? Not sure.
Romantic Killer -> another assassin-themed show IIRC
Violet Evergarden -> lots and lots of very dark themes, including the war orphan origin of MC.
'Tis Time For Torture, Princess -> nothing wrong with this one, but I don’t know how entertaining it would be without knowing what it parodies (torture)
Solo Camping for Two -> adult drama/romance? Why not suggest Yuru Camp instead?
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale -> okay now I know that you are trolling.
Usagi Drop -> aimed at adults. Utterly boring for kids.
Secrets of the Silent Witch -> sure OPs daughter will enjoy MC losing her father due to being burned alive and all the assassination attempts.
With You and the Rain -> another show aimed at adults. The only thing that a 6-year-old would find interesting is that the “dog” is cute.
The Devil is a Part-Timer -> is it really funny to someone who hasn’t worked a day in their lives? Plus, again, the theme of dying parents in FMC.
Anything worth watching is going to have some dark themes, and don’t ask me why I haven’t recomended shows I’ve never watched.
There’s nothing on my list my youngest daughter hasn’t been able to watch if/when she wanted, as I was watching them. She loved The Devil is a Part-timer her first few years of grade-school. Same for Buddy-daddies, Usagi Drop, With You and the Rain. Have your kids never met a homeschooler, stay-at-home parent or adult who never moved out of their parents house?
I’ll admit I haven’t been able to get her watching Solo Camping for Two, largely because I’m waiting for it to be dubbed so we can watch it with my her mom, and we camp a lot, so there’s not-so-much novelty for her there.
Apothecary Diaries has murders? Well, I guess that would be its single biggest difference versus Disney’s Aladdin, what with Aladdin’s Brothel scene and … oh wait, no, Gazeem dies in the openning scene.
Frieren? Sure, every death is shocking, corpses too. The alternative is comfort with things, just because you don’t see that they’ve happened.
The Way of The Househusband has Yakuza characters doing every-day things. The fact they can’t even dress normally and don’t know how to act non-threatening is part of the humor. Meanwhile, the MC bakes cookies and takes the lunch he made to his wife at her job.
Sakomoto Days? The protagonists don’t kill, and the protag-faction grows by way of people they’ve spared realizing that killing is always optional, never mandatory(honestly, one of the more fantastical elements, considering the extreme situations portrayed).
Romantic Killer? What, your google-fu abandon you? No one dies or kills for a living in this one.
Lots of lazy counter-arguments and shows you-haven’t-even-watched in your comment, nevermind fully half of what you poo-poo’ed is on the, granted, hillariously-bad Bored Panda list linked by another commenter here.
Just about the only thing you’ve pointed out that isn’t covered by the Ghibli movies OP’s child has already watched is death, although one wonders if they watched the whole of Howl’s Moving Castle or any of Grave of The Fireflies.
Pretending grade-schoolers and Stay At Home Moms should never have to see or hear about death or naked people(my list could be over twice as long, but I read the room and chose my battle) has done such wonders for society. If OP were trying to raise one of the 53% of White Women who voted for Trump, they could hardly go wrong with your voluminous advice.
Interesting thread and thanks for the suggestions. My daughter is pretty “adult” for being 6 years old. That being said violence, sexism and too dark themes is of course a no go. When we watched spirited away a year ago I was a bit hesitant it being to scary, but she enjoyed it and had some good insights. But I’ll have to do some vetting to find some good gems out there
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You’re welcome. I’m amazed how-much backlash my list got with that last paragraph, what with being called a troll right out of the gate, but how dare I suggest you ultimately make your own judgement calls as a parent, right?
Vetting and limited, almost-entirely supervised, screen-time in general are the way to go. Most of the rest of what I’ve seen from others here would look like gibberish versus books, ie “that one has too many big, made-up words!” Not that anime doesn’t have so-much else in-common with manga or comics, but if you’re present for anime, there’s always the fast-forward button or just " … let’s take a break, then watch another show".
If you want a laugh at my expense, sample Kamferer in-private. Yes, I have a line, and episode one(or two?) of that show was my single-biggest failure at pre-screening. Accidentally stumbled-upon something I wasn’t even comfortable re-visitting on my own time with that one, nevermind how shocked my daughter was to hear me say “hey, listen, I know you were laughing you’re ass-off for the last 30 minutes straight, but none of that stuff on-screen was cool for you to see/hear at your age. Now I’ve got to explain this to your mother. Don’t try to watch this show again, with or without us, and don’t suggest it to your friends or teachers.”
(I learned the hard way that day, at 10 years old, she no longer has a line where she openly-expresses discomfort with animation. Also, school has apparently exposed her to casual cruelty on a great many topics in ways I was not prepared to learn of. I pity her classmates that were blind-sided by topics which they still only know-of from schoolyard bullying, or thinking they are missing-out instead of just being normal 4th-graders)
If OP is trying to raise one of the 53% of White Women who voted for Trump, they can’t go wrong with your voluminous advice.
Okay, I’ll bite ;) Please go on and elaborate.
The last two paragraphs you pulled that out of spelled out plenty. I’m not here to de-rail the whole post or call people names.
Y’know, your rebuttals for each anime do make sense. However, the ad hominem at the end is uncalled for IMO.
Versus accusing me of trolling? I didn’t even look to see if they gave any actual advice to OP; I was honestly somewhere between not caring and hoping to be wrong.
Oh wait, do you think I called them a SAHM, a Trump voter, white, a woman(OP’s daugher/“her” is the only gender I’ve noted in this whole Post/Thread), or even a USian? Like, between you and me, who here is confused here, and about what? Are you thinking I was questioning OP’s motives, this far down a thread they aren’t participating in?
Other than the “voluminous advice” thing and shows they flat-out stated they hadn’t watched, I’m not seeing anything a reasonable person would remotely expect has a real chance of applying to OP, @NineSwords@ani.social, or even be insulting to those they applied to, in my last few paragraphs.
Wasn’t even going the “if the shoe fits” route: I just laid out what I think is one of the many, many problematic outcomes of the popular outlook re: raising children and death and mature topics in general. It takes way too many adults a lifetime to learn how to handle such things responsibly and respectfully, if they ever do, when parents see their entire role as stearing them away from those topics until time robs them of the means to do so.
Mushi shi is pretty great.
Cardcaptor Sakura is wonderful, I also recommend Sailor Moon. I’ve seen recommendations for Nichijou and I agree with that one, it’s primarily comedy without a ton as far as plot goes.
Grave of the Fireflies. Get the tear jerkers out of the way early. Then any other Ghibli movie besides Princess Mononoke.
You’re correct. Show those little parasites that little girls aren’t exempt from slowly dying of malnutrition after losing their parents in a fire bombing. It’s important to inoculate kids early with a good dose of reality before they start to think that they’re allowed to enjoy their childhood.
Gotta admit, it took me a re-read. Too bad you’re almost-certainly being sarcastic.
almost-certainly being sarcastic
You think so?
I think Life will take-care of it before you or I can blink, so parents have a lot of explaining to do, but yeah, kids need to learn to function, even if only as a NEET, in the face of the shit-show, and, by adult-hood, hopefully, not hide their head in the dirt of intentional-ignorance or conveniently blaming certain others.
Holy shit. I only just now got it. You really were saying that my intentionally exaggerated post about inocculating kids with a dose of death and suffering should not have been sarcastic.
I have to admit, you pushed me to a point where I am not sure how to answer. That’s a new one for me, so I’m going to revel in that sensation for a while.
More like there’s layers to your sarcasm on that comment that I don’t see the necessity-of, particularly in the context of damn-near-the-safest-and-most-controllable-environment-possible, i.e. watching anime with one-or-both parents.
They already watched the Ghibli movies though? So your point is …?
Spy X Family might be good. A lighthearted tone, a solid family dynamic, spy action and a “six” year old girl trying to make friends at school. Do be warned about some gory scenes (it doesn’t focus on the details, at least) and some darker themes (it’s a spy story, so there’s war stuff going on). But it has a solid dub and good comedy.
I would recommend Heaven’s Design Team (a workplace comedy about adding animals to the garden of eden, complete with fun animal facts), but I don’t think it has an English dub.
spy family has some moments and expresssions certainly not suited for a 6 year old, its about two nation on the brink of war, there are terrorists who say they want to kill people, etc , its rating on netflix is 16+, certainly not recommended for a 6 year old.
I already mentioned the war themes, and I think actual violence is more notable than threats of violence. And we get both in episode one.
Despite that, I do think kids would enjoy it, and there’s nothing to warrant a 16+ rating over a PG rating. I think OP should watch the first ep, then decide whether to watch the rest with the kiddo.
I think Nichijou and K-on are pretty kid friendly.
I thought about Nichijou, but I’m not certain a 6-year-old would be able to understand some of the jokes.
Jokes in Disney movies go over children’s heads, as do entire plots, settings, character motivations. Same for the Wiggles, Fraggle-Rock, and most others that have stood the test of time.
I’m struggling to name a show that a six-year-old could entirely wrap their mind around, or doesn’t have problematic elements requiring explanation, and isn’t Caillou/Coco-melon -level garbage. Even Veggie Tales invokes stories that are horrendous behind the scenes.
True but there are lots of shows I loved at that age where some of the jokes went over my head.
Cardcaptor Sakura might be good. Note that there’s a really inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher but they removed that relationship when they made the English dub so I’m guessing that’s the version you’d want to go with here. I imagine you’d want something with a dub anyways for someone that age.
Wasn’t that relationship mostly nixed in the anime in general? I realize the manga heavily implied a relationship (well, implied a physical relationship, the emotional “relationship” was obvious pretty early on) but I thought they mostly just implied an awkward crush in the anime?
In the manga they straight-up got engaged. He gave her a ring and everything. In the anime the relationship was downplayed a bit, but it was still there. In the English dub of the anime they rewrote it so the relationship was non-existent and if she was blushing while talking to him it would be because she forgot her homework or something, rather than romantic reasons.
6 year old is a bit of a tough territory here for anime recommendations, stuff like Rumiko Takahashi works (Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha) almost seem like they’d be fine but they probably tackle slightly too mature subject matter and would be better in early teens age.
This is a bit of an old school recommendation, but you might enjoy checking out the original Astroboy, old Tatsunoko shows and stuff like that. The older anime tends to skew a little less “mature”. However, sensibilities of what is ok for kids in America vs Japan always makes this difficult. For example, Detective Conan is a great kids anime by Japanese standards, but talking about murders and kidnappings might be a little much by American standards. So YMMV.
Obviously Pokemon is a good suggestion here. The original Digimon Movies are also pretty good and are done by a great director (Mamoru Hosoda) so you might like to check it out.
