What’s your new anime genre idea?

rommelcedric said:
A difficult task to come up with something entirely NEW. Theoretically, every story that can be told has been told in some way, shape, or form at least when broken down into their most basic concepts.

But, merely to add to the conversation, how about documentary anime? Not like a fictional documentary or a mockumentary. But an actual documentary that documents actual events, people, places, etc with real interviews but presented solely as an animated feature. Yes? No? Maybe?

traed said:
Cute old people doing cute things - self explanatory

Neo Noir

Gothic Romance - I mean not just gothic setting with romance I mean actual gothic romance. It basically explores the twisted and dark side to love.

Magic Realism

Cosmic Horror

Sexual art film - not sure if it has a name but i am sure some people understand what I mean

Psychological psychology - as in exploring the human psyche

Drug outlaw - since drug use is so poorly represented in anime and the drug users and dealers are almosy always the bad guys. I think it would be interesting to see it portrayed on a more human level.

AnimeSuckABit said:
I wish some guy would come up with the new Death Note. I mean, an amazing concept with a great story and great characters.

boyoungsi said:
medical maybe and some black comedy stuff

VirtuShi said:


Cute old people seems like a common thing people want. Where can we get it made!!

Yep magic realism is also a good one.

I completely forgot about gothic romance, so sort of like including a tragedy aswell?

I mean horror I’m general isn’t really well represented in anime so I feel we need some more love for all of it.

True, personally I feel that black lagoon isn’t too bad of an example off drug outlaw as they traffic all sorts of things but in that show everyone does drugs so idk if that makes it better lol. I can’t think of a show with other focuses on that like you’re suggesting

traed said:
*

I am not super familiar with gothic romance so I just have a vague idea what it is like. Tragedy is common in it but I don't think it's a requirement. Only anime I saw that could be an encompasing example of Gothic romance is Diabolik Lovers which a lot of people hated because they had expectations it would be same as stuff they see all the time in anime but my lack of expectations allowed me to enjoy it for what it was.

Yes so little horror in general and of what there is most is just horror themes not much of a horror.


Been too long since I watched Black Lagoon to rember and didn't watch the continuation of it yet either.


I did some thinking outside the box more and came up with more


ASMR - if you don't know what it is just look up the Wiki page then videos on YouTube. This could actually be interesting. Instead of focusing on story only place more focus on experience. This most likely would be slice of life maybe in a library for example (gives an excise for characters to whisper) or ecchi (seductive whispers in the night maybe?) but other genres can be done with the right creativity like a drama of someone surviving alone in the woods or something. It would be made to be watched with headphones on how many people watch anime anyway. Some of it would be from second or first person POV so visuals can be utilized as well.

Mukbang - this would be surprising if this never was made at least once I know it's a Korean thing but I bet some Japanese are into it too. Would most likely be an ecchi. Not saying it should be done just it probably will.

VirtuShi said:


So you’d rather want people to focus on something completely unique and amazing?

VirtuShi said:


Yeah I suppose ASMR would be quite nice to a lot of people. I personally only like the whole subtle music style but it would be great either way.

AnimeDownUnder said:
Would also like to see an anime about parkour and rooftopping

marinara-sauce said:
I'm not bothered to read all the responses to see if other people have already said it but
I think dystopian fiction anime would be pretty damn cool.
There's already a whole lot of fantasy shows and a whole lot of dark ones too but the sort of apocalyptic feel of a dystopia isn't something I've seen a lot of. I suppose the Promised Neverland counts, and so does Girls Last Tour, but other than those two I can't really think of any others.

traed said:

I never managed to get a very noticable ASMR response i have some trouble understanding it too but they still can be relaxing since it's fairly calm.

Music style? Like ambient? Or are you talking about holophonic music?

Gyeferson said:
After seeing Monogatari and Seishun Buta Yarou series, I guess the "cute girls having an abnormal problem and the MC solving those problems and enticing the cute girls into his harem" could be a genre aswell.

VirtuShi said:


Holophonic sound is quite surreal and can be interesting but yes i was mainly talking about calm ambient music that may get louder or quieter etc. Something with a calm background and not much else going on. I reckon that could work

VirtuShi said:


Thats quite an interesting idea. How would you show progression in the story?

MurukoHiiragi said:
The genre im looking for is horror not the horror like killing but ghosts and jumpscares with good plot, whenever im looking for horror it's always hunting or killing

traed said:


Holophonic recording is something that should be tried in a music anime. Make it feel like you're surrounded by the characters and near them. Wont be too likely though since it's rare in music.

For ambient stuff you basically described Mushishi. The music is calm and fairly minimalistic in it and the art style backdrop is atmospheric.

VirtuShi said:


As a big fan of both of them series, I'd love to see more from that type.
Where else do you think they could expand on?

Lustboi said:
I've got this amazing idea for a brand new genre that hasn't been beaten to death before.

A normal boy wakes up in a fantasy world.

What'd you think?

ysphyr said:
So I’ve been seeing some threads about sports that are yet to be explored in anime. And I thought - what if we had an anime not about a particular sport but about all of them? It would be a cross-sports extravaganza!
The plot will be something like this: The fiendish entity summons the best athletes right from Tokyo Olympics 2020. Now as a team they have to compete in the sport yet unknown to mankind. Will they be able to adapt their skills and tactics to master the brand new gameplay? Will they manage to leave their selfish ambitions behind and work as a team? The Destiny of Men is on stake in these... Cyclon Wars.

Hahaha I had so much fun making this up! Imagine how hard it’ll be to create a story like this, you’ll have to be a total sports nerd to blend all the sports together. Ganbare! Whoever wants to make it

Alukahh said:
Well what about an anime where the MC lose or die and then we follow an other MC ? Never saw that, for example the MC is a man but he gets killed, then his killer become the MC but later he gets killed too so his killer become the MC but he gets killed and etc lol just a bad idea i guess but that could be fun if it's well done and surprising because we'll never know what will happens to the MC and every ennemy would be a potential MC. Haha I have to stop smoking

Star-Storm said:
If there's an Apocalypse tag on MAL, I'd be down for it. Although I think most of it falls under Sci Fi or Fantasy.

EpicSaxGuy said:
This is a detailed concept, a plot rather than a genre but I really want to share it and know what you guys think about it. This might be bit long text, let me warn you.

This anime has an episodic storytelling. Even further, characters and places will be totally different, every episode has its own story and completely independent from each other. Only thing that never changes is our main character, he's an omnipresent being and has a massive lifespan.

The setting of the world would be like slice of life. Nothing super natural, just mundane lifes of normal people. But every episode focuses on a specific concepts in our daily lifes like friendship, family bonds, love, youth, innocence, meaning of hardwork, regret, guilt, depression, existential crisis, anything you can imagine. For instance, one episode is all about highschool kids, the concept of friendship and youth is told through these characters and what happens to them. On the other hand, another episode is about an ex-criminal who just got out of prison after all those years and he has the chance to undo his mistakes. Regret and shame can be explained with his character but at the same time redemption because he gets a second chance. Or another story would a about an old man who just reminisces his whole life. The concept of time can be analyzed with this man. Possibilities are endless!

Kinda sounds generic at first but what would make this anime unique is our main character, he's the key. As I said, he's an omnipresent being, so he can be anywhere he wants. What he does is observing these people's lives and tells us their story. He is our narrator but we get to hear and see these characters interact each other without our narrator as well, for instance in possible flashbacks. The narrator is going to physically exist in the world in human form and walk among people. He even also gets the chance to interact with our characters. He can help them but he's not like a god that can solve every problem with just snapping his finger. He generally just talks to them. He can even shapeshift and approach to those people with totally different appearance, but again as a human.

The narrator is wise, has the experience of ages but still he thinks he has a lot to learn. Because of his experience, he's also good at communicating with all sorts of people. He can understand and communicate with kids, teens, old people etc. That's why he also has a good sense of humor which is very important to make this show watchable.

Here's another catch, the narrator can break the fourth wall. He can speak to the audience frequently. He even looks at the camera time to time. Imagine like in House of Cards. He can make witty and subtle jokes in a friendly fashion. So, everybody loves 4th wall breaks, I think this is one of the crucial aspects of this character. It can make the whole show more appealing.

The show is intended make you both sad and happy, just like in real life. But at the end, it has a friendly and light-hearted manner with its humor, stories and characters. Everytime you finish an episode, you end up having a bittersweet smile on your face. That is the ultimate goal of the show. It's really similiar with the feeling of nostalgia, you love to remember those times but at the same time it kinda hurts you. Basically, this show will make you think about yourself and your surroundings by questioning those concepts in life as I mentioned earlier.


I know this plot kinda sounds like a boomer stuff, not flashy and usual over the top anime thing but I'd love to see it in an animated medium, especially as an anime. Feel free to share what you think about it.