Hi all, I’d like to find some anime for my 9 year old daughter. So far, she’s watched: Little Witch Academia & Kaleido Star.
She doesn’t really like anything too dark or violent. Thanks!
Edit:
Thanks for all the responses, some great suggestions!
You know, I was half expecting people to troll and suggest something like “Made in Abyss”.
then i suggest elfenlied and euphoria if you want a troll here. Tthe second is weird porn, i only seen a warning but i still remember the name after years. So dont look it up when your are not into shit (right pronaunciation)
Non Non Biyori, Mitsuboshi Colors, and K-on are pretty light-hearted, slice of life, comedies that would all be good
Does she have any specific interests? I guess if nothing in general, she might enjoy something like Spirited Away or Spy x Family?
I’d suggest “How to Keep a Mummy” from a few years back. Super cute and wholesome.
Ancient magus bride was a cute fairy tale type anime
Have you shown her any of the studio ghibli movies?
Right, yes, I forgot to mention, we watched My Neighbor Totoro & Kiki’s Delivery Service. I should probably try to show her some other ones. Good call!
I don’t want to get hurt so I’ll max out my defense AKA Bofuri
With the exception of Grave of the Fireflies, anything Studio Ghibli. Also, “Welcome to the Space Show” is a fun “Summer Movie”.
Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon were made with kids in mind, I think. Definitely seems like a lot of people grew up watching them.
Keep your hands off Eizouken is one of my recent favourites, and I think would be really enjoyable as a kid. Lots of imagination scenes and a really sweet story about friends.
Nichijou should also be inoffensive, just kid shenanigans. They don’t always make sense, but the tone is very chill. Also Azumanga Daiou, similar vibes I think.
Paripi Koumei is a recent show about a girl trying to launch her singing career with the help of a reincarnated chinese general, I don’t think it has any scary scenes but a lot of it does take place in a club, and depicts alcohol. But the story and characters are heart-warming and I enjoyed it a lot.
I’ve also heard very good things about Carole and Tuesday, which came out around the same time and also centres around music. But I’d recommend looking into the themes more, I don’t know how serious it gets.
Hinamatsuri - I think this might be the funniest show I’ve ever watched. It cracked me up even on a rewatch. It does center on a Yakuza member, so there are some jokes that might appear scary, though being a comedy of course everything works out pretty quickly. It depends on her tolerance for those themes.
One I don’t see recommended often is Gatchaman Crowds. I just looked up the rating and it is 13+, but I loved that show, and remember recommending it to my younger brother around your daughter’s age.
I haven’t met a 9-year-old in a while, so sorry if my recommendations skew a little older! Definitely the first three should be good for her, the others might need to wait a year or two depending on her tolerance and what you’re okay showing her. But if she watched Little Witch Academia, none of these shows get darker than that, for sure.
TV Shows
- Sailor Moon Crystal
- Spy x Family - there is some light spoiler 1 in the beginning
- Pokemon
- Dr. Stone - Profanity/Partial Nudity non-gratuitous spoiler 2 (my 9 yr old loves this show)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- The Legend of Korra - LGBTQ Themes spoiler 3
1
murdering
2
“ass,” “hell,” “d–k,” “s–t”/ backsides, cleavage, revealing outfits, characters imagine each other in sexualized poses (but without sexual activity)
3
Korra is bi-sexual
Movies
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Ponyo
- Spirited Away - illicit substances and blood spoiler 1
- Kiki’s Delivery Service - smoking
1
There are references to smoking and the drinking of sake. In one scene, a dragon trying to protect the main character is attacked and returns injured and bleeding from the mouth
Azumanga Daioh is where it’s at!
I think I would recommend Yume-iro Pâtissière
Kiki’s delievery service
Maybe something chill and comfy like Yuru Camp ?
I dunno man Iyashikei might bore kids to sleep.
Spy x Family
Cardcaptor Sakura
Bocchi the Rock
Nichijou
Spirited Away
Toradora
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken
Dragon Pilot
Komi Can’t Communicate
Violet Evergarden
Your Name
As much as I am a fan of Spy x Family and Violet Evergarden, they are more for more mature audiences as they have quite the adult themes. Violet Evergarden is set in a war world and although the story is not set in the war itself, the flashbacks (especially THAT scene during the attack on the fortress) are nonetheless too violent.
Spy x Family might seem like a wholesome family anime but it has underlying political and war themes. Bond’s arc as well as Yor’s assassination techniques in Ep 2 is something that I would not really recommend to a nine year-old kid. There’s car explosions and use of dogs for warfare
Spy X Family has some pretty dark storylines, hell episode one is one those very cases. I think it could be good for older kids and teens, but stuff like Bond’s introductory arc is really heavy. I cannot imagine a kid reacting positively to the Handler’s speech about her experience with war.
I’d veto Spy x Family and Violet Evergarden; the violence they have is quite brutal, and the themes I think are fairly adult.
