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Protagonists of 3 family-friendly anime - Hinata, Natsu, Ash
Protagonists of 3 family-friendly anime - Hinata, Natsu, Ash (Image via Gameshorizon)

Top 10 anime series to watch with your family

Stuart RayBy 8 Mins Read Anime

Of all the anime shows we watch, some are more memorable than others. While some make it to the Top 10 lists of every weaboos, others are often discarded in the memory dump. However, there are some anime that have remained timeless in our minds simply because of the nostalgia factor. These are often shows we sit and watch with our whole family, especially when we were very young.

Do you remember the Saturday morning cartoons, where we enjoyed the beginning of a school-free weekend and watched Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z, without perhaps knowing they were called anime? The very introduction of these programmes was what popularised the art form. Every year that goes by, more and more people across the world are discovering anime.

Pokemon and 9 other anime series you can enjoy watching with your family

1. Cardcaptor Sakura

A family-friendly anime is the legendary Cardcaptor Sakura, which revived the magical girl subgenre of anime in general. It has a plot that periodically causes you to pause and reflect. Its cast includes LGBTQ+ people, which is another positive.

Cardcaptor Sakura features a forbidden love relationship between a pupil and their instructor. Later in the anime, Sakura, the main character, shows excellent character growth. Even children can appreciate the lighthearted shoujo Cardcaptor Sakura.

2. Sailor Moon

Everyone, regardless of age, enjoys Sailor Moon. The timeless anime is the ideal synthesis of comedy and romance. Despite the fact that the anime is about magical female superheroes, we witness the protagonists winning battles through dialog rather than physical combat. The characters are incredibly kind and generous. Our 14-year-old protagonist, Usagi Tsukino, has a profoundly transformative meeting with the talking cat Luna. Thanks to Luna, Usagi changes into Sailor Moon, the leader of the Sailor Soldiers. Usagi must then find the other moon princesses in addition to combating the Dark Kingdom’s wicked powers.

Luna’s encounter changed Usagi’s  life forever. The latter must thus locate the other moon princesses not only to save the world but also to find her friends. This is a theme we all can resonate with. Sailor Moon, one of the all-time most popular anime series, is renowned for its comedy, action, and instances in which the heroes employ communication and empathy to triumph. Even if the show is nearly twenty years old, and we agree that some of the jokes or plots may seem dated in today’s society, it doesn’t really matter.

3. Pokemon

It was Pokémon that really propelled anime to the very screens of contemporary American popular culture as it managed to surpass even Marvel and DC comics as the largest media franchise in the entire world. As Ash Ketchum battles and prepares to become a true Pokemon Master, the show follows his life.

Ash learns new fighting techniques, meets Legendary Pokemon like Mewtwo, and has a few laughs with the aid of some pals and a terrific group of Pokemon that are recognizable to various degrees, although Pikachu takes the cake as the mascot. Family won’t run out of new Pokemon stories for a very long time because there are over 1000 episodes and several films available.

4. My Hero Academia

Anime enthusiasts enjoy watching My Hero Academia. Perhaps a little too vicious are some of the combat sequences in My Hero Academia, but we’ve all seen marvellous instances from Dragon Ball Z with our parents, so those combat sequences are nothing new. There are also priceless teachings about tolerance, friendship, and safeguarding others. My Hero Academia is largely influenced by American superhero comics.

The characters are amazing and possess incredible superpowers, but the story also goes way deeper. Izuku Midoriya, who serves as the protagonist of our story, strives to emulate All Might, history’s greatest hero. But he did discover that he was without eccentricities. His mission to become the hardest hero in the world, however, begins because of a fortunate encounter.

5. Komi San can’t communicate

Early on, it’s crucial to instill in children the value of empathy. Helping kids realize that mental illness never should be avoided or stigmatised is equally vital. Komi San Can’t Communicate manages to do this exceptionally well despite its flaws. Despite not being suitable for children under the teenage years, anime contains some very significant lessons.

The anime’s narrative follows Shouko Komi, a socially awkward high school student, as she attempts to meet her goal of 100 friends. The only things standing in her way are her communication impairment and significant social anxiety. Tadano, on the other hand, strikes up a close friendship with Komi and takes the effort to write to her.

6. Captain Tsubasa

11-year-old football player Tsubasa Ozora has always aspired to be the finest in the world and finally win the World Cup. He discovers a vibrant football community in Nankatsu when he visits with his mother and joins in right away. With his mother’s support, Tsubasa trains as much as he can while continuously striving for improvement. She also has hope for her son’s future as a well-known football player.

Even your family will like Captain Tsubasa and his relationship with his parents, ensuring this inspirational hero made it to our list. Tsubasa encounters both rivals and new friends while working towards his goal, both on and beyond the soccer pitch. Several anime programmes and motion pictures have been based on the Captain Tsubasa manga series by Yichi Takahashi. If you have someone in school, struggling to meet their expectations of themselves, Tsubasa’s journey is sure to spark a flame of self-confidence that will help them go ahead.

7. Little Witch Academia

Atsuko “Akko” Kagari enrols in Luna Nova Magical Academy with the intent to become a witch after being inspired by a witch by the name of Shiny Chariot, but she quickly discovers that her studies are much more difficult than she had anticipated due to her non-magical upbringing. Before discovering the Shiny Rod, a potent magic artefact left behind by Chariot, Akko suffers in her classes.

While there are some parts of touch Little Witch Academia that might be a touch spooky for children under seven, nothing is so strong that they would perhaps end up with nightmares or the like. The programme itself has a terrific message for everyone about the value of having self-confidence and working extremely hard to achieve your goals.

8. Fairy Tail

The fanservice might make it seem this anime is not suitable for most viewers, but beyond that, Fairy Tail is a masterpiece that showcases the perfect fictional family on screen that everyone of you can understand and relate to. The strength of friendship is one of the most prevalent themes in shonen anime. Fairy Tail, however, does this cliché better than any other anime. The anime’s storyline follows Lucy Heartfilia as she joins the Fairy Tail guild and goes on her journey.

She is given a simple entrance, thanks to Natsu. Due to some light innuendo, this anime is best intended for children ages 12 and up. Despite this, the lessons it teaches are still significant. The anime frequently shows the protagonists putting forth a lot of effort to develop their abilities and accomplish their missions. All of this ultimately results from the strength of friendship. The younger girls of the family can find great role models in characters like Erza and Mirajane, while the younger boys might see their idols in Natsu, Grey, Gajeel and all the other amazingly written characters who emerge to be paradigms of strength without the cons of masculinity in a modern world.

9. Natsume’s Book of Friends

Takashi Natsume can see ghosts from a very young age and is the main character of Natsume’s Book of Friends. He learns that the identities of the spirits his grandmother imprisoned against their freeing will after she went away are listed in the “Book of Friends” she left behind. He wants to find every youkai whose name his grandmother Reiko once took and then maintained in the Book of Friends.

Takashi gives him the Book of Friends in exchange for Madara’s protection from the powerful cat spirit is after the protagonist death. One of the absolutely family-oriented, best few anime for families to watch together is Natsume’s Book of Friends since practically every episode has a lesson.

10. Haikyu!!

Middle schooler Hinata Shouyou is inspired to play volleyball after seeing the grand spectacle of the National Volleyball Championships on television to become one of the greatest players in history. Hinata is only hindered by two things: the lack of a volleyball team at his school and his young age. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to let those kinds of realistic things stop him from realizing his dream. Hinata assembles a group of outcasts who aren’t particularly good at volleyball, but they also have a lot of heart. When it comes to watching different kinds of anime with the family, sports anime are typically a good choice because they don’t contain any fanservice, serious issues, or violent content.

Additionally, Haikyu!! is among the top anime in its genre. Season 1 showcases the start of Hinata’s quest towards becoming the subsequent “Little Giant,” which is his goal, and his rivalry with fellow teammate Kageyama, which stands as an obstacle to his goal. One benefit of Haikyu!! is that even though you are unfamiliar with the rules, they are explained as simply as possible. Moreover, the anime doesn’t make its viewers feel stupid for not understanding the fundamentals.

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Stuart loves anime, writing, and writing about anime. Someday, he hopes to illustrate his own manga from his novel!