6 Clean Anime I Watched as a Middle-Schooler

Mmmm, school's started. To be honest, I'm having a blast. Cross country's intense, but the team is fun so it's worth it. I know I promised to release more posts in August, but I got really busy. I'll talk more about it at the end of this post. I hope you guys are also enjoying yourselves in school. :)

I think this post is pretty self-explanatory. I watched all of these shows and movies in middle-school so they are definitely clean enough for middle schoolers to watch. Some of them are also clean for elementary, but you'll just have to look at them to see which is which. I use a system to rate the cleanness of a movie/show which I think is easy to understand. If you struggle to get it, I explain the system more in depth in my Blog Update 1.0.

This is one of the first anime shows I ever watched. Kimi Ni Todoke is a wholesome romance show and a classic in the shoujo genre. I was hooked from the start by the unique and dramatic concept for the main character. Although she's basically perfect--super kind and good at everything she does, she's totally misunderstood by her peers who all find her creepy. The romance is slow burn, but I was entertained by the main character's attempts to reach out to her classmates. I don't think there's any swearing or suggestive content in the show. I’d warn that her classmates can be kind of nasty and there are moments that are kind of creepy, but they’re mostly comedic to the audience since we know that the main character is actually a sweet person.

This is another show aimed at girls/women, but this one is unique because it has some thriller undertones. The best part of the show -in my humble opinion- is the main character, Ahiru. She's so optimistic and does her best even though it's clumsy, which I have always respected. Ahiru is essentially trying to woo the coolest, handsomest guy at her ballet school, but ends up going on crazy adventures to accomplish that. I rooted so hard for her, and the second season turns in a direction I was not expecting but the ending was still good. Fakir became one of my favorite characters and I was glad the 2nd season taught us more about not judging appearances.

The first season of Saiki K. was rated PG but my bro and I agreed it should probably be bumped up to lower PG-13. Saiki K. is fairly clean for an anime, but there were a few moments where I had to question if my brother should have watched that as a sixth grader. Saiki K is kind of weird, but it’s a comedy, and had both of us laughing hysterically. This was actually the first anime my bro watched, so the fact that he was willing to watch other anime with me after that goes to show that Saiki K. was pretty good. I asked my bro what he would say about it and he said, “It was a good show. It had an interesting concept for the plot.” Those of you who know my brother know that he can be savage, so that was a glowing review on his part.

This is a masterpiece of a movie. It should be a classic not just in the animated film category but in the category of film as a whole. It’s based on a book, but from what I’ve heard, Hayao Miyazaki took creative liberties to present the film as he envisioned it with his own messages.

The characters are quirky and complex, there are metaphors behind several aspects of the plot, and there are lots of positive messages and development. Also, the visuals and animation are gorgeous. Not to mention, the music. If any of you reading this are also Howl's Moving Castle fans, you might like my post on anime pictures you can use as phone wallpaper where I include some Howl stuff too.

As a middle-schooler, I really related to the main character and fell in love with her growth throughout the movie. I showed it to my family later, and they loved it too. I think this is especially a good movie for people who aren’t familiar with or don’t like anime because Howl's Moving Castle takes place in a Western setting (it’s easier to understand for people unfamiliar with Japanese culture and the English dub is top-tier).

A war is taking place in the movie, although it’s somewhat a secondary plot and not very graphic, so I would say this is fine for upper elementary (nine years old and up). There are main characters who are witches and wizards but my parents who are sensitive to demonic themes didn't find a problem with it, so it should be fine for those of you who don't like watching that kind of stuff. As a point of reference, my parents didn't like Fantastic Beasts, so Howl's Moving Castle is cleaner than that. It's definitely family-friendly so please watch it guys. ヽ(^o^ヽ)

Another Studio Ghibli classic. Music: gorgeous. Visuals: gorgeous. Theme: gorgeous. The last one was kind of an embellishment. The plot and themes are interesting, but less straightforward than Howl’s Moving Castle. What’s fun about Spirited Away is that it takes you on a winding journey and you’re just along for the ride.

I really liked how the main character modeled strength and morality. We see how she does her best in her situation and faces it even when she’s scared. This movie deals with Japanese mythology so it might not resonate as well with people who haven’t watched at least a little anime before this.

It’s also a little more freaky than Howl’s Moving Castle, though it’s just as cute. A lot of adults say they were traumatized by this movie as a child. As a middle-schooler, I found it suspenseful but it didn't give me nightmares. It's clean enough that I showed it to my brother when he was just out of sixth grade. There is no swearing or suggestive moments in Spirited Away. It is heavily based on Japanese mythology so my fellow Christians may elect not to watch it or show it to your kids/siblings. There are spiritual themes in it that make it a movie my parents wouldn't have let me watch until I was out of elementary.

This was actually the second anime I ever watched. The first one was some random show based on a computer game. Snow White with the Red Hair is a shoujo romance, but it’s got enough action that I was hooked on anime for good after it. Sadly, I never finished it. The backstory of the show is that the main character is asked to be the king’s concubine, but she doesn’t want to be and runs away to a different kingdom. The main plot of the show follows her starting her new life in an unfamiliar place (and a romance with a dude). It’s kind of a cozy story. I’m trying not to spoil too much.

So, when my mom heard the concept of the girl escaping from being a concubine she disallowed me from watching that show. I didn’t see the big deal, because the main character never actually becomes a concubine and the whole thing is not covered very graphically. I was allowed to read the Bible on my own once I was in upper elementary and that talks about concubines (and it’s way more graphic, too! >:( ). Anyway, I thought it was unfair, but honestly there were a few other moments where the girl was threatened because of her unique red hair so it probably was a bit mature for me. I watched the dub, so I can’t speak for the subtitled version, but there was also occasional swearing in it. I’d rate it now as being lower PG-13.

That's it for anime I've watched in middle school. I have some lists I've been compiling for other clean anime because we don't have enough anime content on here. I watched so much anime on our car trips this summer. (^^;)

Anyway, I'm actually busy with school because I've got cross country and college applications to do too. Y'all may know that I had convinced myself things wouldn't get busy during the school year, but I have been proved wrong. Sorry, guys. :') Cross country ends in October, so that's when I plan to work on some more posts. There's a lot in the works so be ready. ｡(🝦 ω 🝦)bﾟ