OMG I FEEL SO SO SO BAD orz orz orz orz orz

I was talking with my aunt and uncle the other day. And I found out that, since my sister and I are so into anime, they had gone to check out JUST WHAT IS THIS ANIME STUFF ALL ABOUT? 8D These nice, innocent little older folks (who enjoy happy things like musicals and old movies filled with songs and dancing) did a google search on "top 10 anime movies" and rented and watched all the ones listed in the "Anime Top 10" lists.

Which sounds awesome, right?

I just went to check, and GUESS WHAT KIND OF ANIME IS LISTED IN ALL THE TOP 10 LISTS????!!!!

Pretty much every list includes THESE in the top ten:

1. Grave of Fireflies
(Arguably the single most depressing anime EVER MADE. About people dropping off like flies due to the atomic bomb dropping.)

2. Akira
(Gratuitous violence much? 8D )

3. Ghost in the Shell
(Very dark and depressing ;_; )

4. Ninja Scroll
(OMFG this has, like, an NC-17 rating. Erupting fountains of blood and raep? ENOUGH SAID.)

5. Final Fantasy: Spirits Within
(Is this even anime, really? But yeah...depressing again.)

Not to mention things like "Blood: The Last Vampire", "Perfect Blue", and "Vampire Hunter D".

orz orz orz orz orz

NOT THAT I'M SAYING THESE ANIME SUCK OR ANYTHING!!!! But good LORD they're definitely not what I'd show to the previous generation to introduce them to anime! The people who write these top ten lists never seem to think about how people who are searching for their lists are probably ones who know nothing about anime and want an introduction to it. The people who already know and enjoy anime (and would appreciate "classics" such as these) already have their own favorites and won't normally actively search out other people's lists.

Oh gawds, at least there was "Spirited Away". They liked that one. ;_;

They were really nice about it and only mentioned a little about some of the movies being kind of...cough...weird. But still, I can't imagine them watching some of these. TAT What have I done?!!

This reminds me of that one episode I watched of "Beauty and the Geek", where some geek brought Excel Saga to introduce anime to the others. (LULZ with its parodies of X-rated anime themes like tentacle raep, and the totally random humor lost on those not-in-the-know). NO, THESE ARE NOT GOOD INTRODUCTIONS TO ANIME!!

For our Dad, we showed him Hikaru No Go as a first anime to watch. Then he read some Case Closed manga. And it worked! Now he's also an avid anime fan, especially liking Naruto ^^!

How about you guys? What movies and series would you recommend showing to the previous generation as a gentle introduction to anime? I'd like to give them some other recommendations to try to soften the blow. orz