Good Anime for Moms?

[Marlowe]

Alright, I want to get my mom into anime. She's a decent woman who can tolerate violence (even to extreme levels, sometimes), and loves mystery, suspense, action, drama, romance, fantasy, and thriller. Sometimes she likes slice of life (hey, she watched How I Met Your Mother and loved it!). She's watched Avatar: TLAB and loved it (not an anime, but similiar). But I have grown up since then and I have watched other, more mature anime series, like K-Project, Attack on Titan, and more.

I have recently gotten into Unlimited Blade Works and Fate/Zero, and surprisingly, I have found out that Fate/Zero is on Netflix... and in English! I know that my family doesn't have the patience to read subtitles and look at the screen at the same time (mostly due to poor eyesight), and I wasn't sure if she would be able to stand the rapid Japanese-speaking characters.

I know my mom would like the story and plot of the show. I am trying to get her to start watching today, but I am somewhat worried. While there's no sexual activity or extreme gore and violence, there are many times where the anime gets dark/sad/extreme on other subjects. I know several things happen that are REALLY sad. I'm just worried that she wouldn't be able to handle specific parts (I'm telling you now, she's a teacher and LOVES little kids... to those who know what happens, you could guess what I think she wouldn't like). I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that she likes it... that way, I can get her into other anime as well!

What anime do you think are good for moms? Dads? Grandparents?

 

[Jorick]

Monster. It's got almost none of the typical anime elements (highly sexualized characters, crazy over the top violence, etc) that make people shy away from sharing it with friends and family. It has an English dub that's pretty damn good as well. I don't think it's on Netflix though, so acquiring it might be a problem.

 

[LunaValentine]

Ouran High School Host Club. Made my mom watch an episode, she ADORED it. She was like "That's not it is it? That's not all there is right?" After watching the first episode. Happy, cheerful, funny, romance. It's fun.

 

[Marlowe]

Ohh, I'll probably show her those two after Fate/Zero. What do you guys think of Clannad for her?

 

[Hellis]

Fate/Zero? With the child murdering and shit? Really? xD

On that subject, my family adores Ghibli stuff.

 

[Isho13]

I agree, make her watch Monster. It's very interesting without falling in the many undesirable stereotypes anime has. Also I made my mother watch Death Note and she loved it. She's a huge L and Ryuk fan. xD

 

[Arcadia]

Terror in Resonance. It's one season, but it is utter perfection in a short package, made full of romance, terrorism, intrigue, mystery and just about everything you could want in an anime!

 

[Marlowe]

There's only two child murder scenes if I recall correctly. She's watched sad/messed up stuff like that before. XD

Ghibli stuff is boring for my mom. I tried to get her to watch Spirited Away and she fell asleep through it.

Death Note? Idk if she'd like THAT dark of an anime. XD

 

[Isho13]

Death Note isn't dark by my standards o.o A person wants to make the better place by killing every bad person. That isn't an uncommon plot, and the protagonist doesn't even kill people with his own hands, he does it with a notebook, without even seeing the person... in... person e.e

And I just remembered my mother really liked the slow pace, light hearted and filled with historical references humour of hetalia. I don't know if your mother will like it because of the slow pace, but since the chapters are only 5 mins long...

 

[Marlowe]

There's a lot of death in it, even though the bad guys are the ones doing the dying. Not very sure she's gonna like it. :c

I actually tried to show my mom Hetalia, but she needs a plot to go off of. Since Hetalia doesn't have a plot and it's just full of silliness, she grew disinterested pretty easily.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Death Note is a lot more about it's Intelligence and the mind game between Light and L than anything else.

Fate Zero 'should' be fine depending on how cool your Mom will actually be with Caster.
I mean I love kids myself (Hell I'm currently in Early Childhood Education at college) and I loved Fate Zero.
In fact I'd be right annoyed if they did something like censor the Caster scenes out of some paranoia of being 'insensitive'.
So yea, it's not impossible for someone who really likes kids to still enjoy that anime.
Though I should note I also though find most of my classmates to be the kinds of people who hide themselves in bubbles (They spew crap like Super heros are bad for children >.<) so maybe I'm just an exception to the rule.
So with that in mind you'd probably be best off asking your Mom about how comfortable she is with certain things first. But frame the questions like you're asking in general and not for a specific anime in order to avoid spoilers.

Clannad is also a good one, and should appeal especially well to anyone who likes slice of life stuff.
A lot of people decide to drop it because it's not 'fast paced' enough for them, but for those who who don't need exploding heads to be entertained the anime has a ton to offer.

 

[Kestrel]

This is a no-brainer, guys;

Ghibli

EDIT: Note to self; read thread before post.

 

[Marlowe]

I told my mom that the anime is for adults like me and my brother (who is fourteen) and it's full of violence. I saw that Caster is creepy as hell and seems to share his Master's "hobby". That's why I said that the anime is full of violence and action and things of the sort, and she said she'll think about watching it.

As I said before, she's watched things like the Hunger Games, the Mentalist, and a bunch of thriller things of the sort, so that's why I guess she'd like Fate/Zero.

I'll probably show her Clannad when she finishes Fate/Zero.

 

[AetherDream]

I think there are a good many thoughtful anime that you can show your mom. Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex and the first two Ghost in the Shell movies are incredibly intelligent and have a lot to say for themselves. Sure they are great for mystery and action, but the strengths of the series are based in the questions about self, the individual, identity and technological progress.

Ergo Proxy is also a very good anime, well animated, a fine mix of action and philosophy and genuinely entertaining.

I'm going to go over my collection and see what all else your mother might enjoy.

 

[Marlowe]

I heard Ghost in the Shell has some nudity... My mom doesn't appreciate that kind of stuff. :/

 

[AetherDream]

There might be some, I can't quite recall as it wasn't a focal point or sexualized. If there is any nudity, it's usually confined to cyborgs in brief instances. So long as your mother is ok with nudity within the confines of dissociation of self, I'm sure she'll be fine. If she's against nudity in all shapes or forms, then I guess it's not for her. When I think about a lot of anime, including Fate/zero or fate stay night, there is some fetishism of certain characters in more than one scenario. But you know your mom better than I do.

 

[Minerva]

Yeah, Fate/Zero should be good. My mom watched it, and she writes stuff like Caster. Plus, we are a very history oriented Family, and she loved the Historical elements.

Also, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. and Fate/Prisma Ilya Kalied Liner.

 

[Marlowe]

I mean, like, she has nothing against verbal things of the sort. It's just visual.

My mom loves history and fantasy, so I told her there's historical elements. But I tell her that there's dark themes too. She doesn't seem to mind it.

 

[Minerva]

I mean, like, she has nothing against verbal things of the sort. It's just visual.

My mom loves history and fantasy, so I told her there's historical elements. But I tell her that there's dark themes too. She doesn't seem to mind it.

My mom is a horror Writer, so...

 

[The Ghost Note]

Full Metal Alchemist is pretty good if you can withstand some of the violence and dark themes. Very little fanservice other than the male characters being buff. Though, I recommend FMA: Brotherhood over the other anime.