Shokugeki no Souma? You just happened to pick the one anime that has a director famous for Hentai 
. Haven’t really watched it, but seemed so over the top it was kind of amusing.
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If that’s true I must be really unlucky. Thanks for the heads up, maybe I’ll give anime another shot then.
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One thing I’m finding super useful is listening to a lot of Japanese bands. I find that, at least with the bands I listen to, their pronunciation is a bit slower and each syllabary is voiced more clearly than in everyday speaking. Also, there’s just some amazing chilled rock and indie bands that come from japan.
I’ll give you a list of some of my favourites atm:
- kinoko teikoku (きのこ帝国)
- toe
- Mass of fermenting dregs ((マス オブ ザ ファーメンティング ドレッグス) (weird name, but super chill rock ban with some good 90s vibes, apparently one of the bands they take inspiration from is smashing pumpkins)
- Elephant gym
- yeye (ゆらゆら）
- frederic (フレデリック)
- Necry talkie (ネクライトーキー)
- Stereopony (ステレオポニー)
There’s probs more I listen to, but they’re my current favorites. I usually just have a playlist on while I’m revising or something and it helps with my pronunciation somewhat.
As far as youtubers go, there’s:
- Japanese ammo with Misa (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBSyd8tXJoEJKIXfrwkPdbA). She mainly does lesson based videos, but her pronunciation is really clear and ive learnt a lot from her videos.
- Ask Japanese (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOMZWkPo7ao6yGaXc954U0w). I’m not a huge fan of her channel, she seems a bit over the top, but she does speak a lot of Japanese in her videos and goes out asking Japanese people questions. Cringe warning here though sometimes…
That’s pretty much all I’ve got if you don’t really like anime or j-dramas. I used to watch terrace house for a while but it got too boring. Anime wise, i normally stick to simple slice of life anime, hyouka is one of my favorites, its not at all sexualised, just about a school club that go around solving mysteries for people. If you enjoy crying, i recommend anonana and your lie in april, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, you may well cry…
Good luck, hopefully there’s something in this big block of text that you might be interested in.
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I’ll second the recommendation for Tokyo Stories Midnight Diner. The episodes are nice and self contained and the Japanese isn’t overly done.
Samurai Gourmet is also really good. The concept is a bit over the top, but there are quite a few slice of life scenes.
For something not based on food, Erased is really good although it is dramatic and the plot revolves around kidnapping, so it may not pass your filters. It’s also based on a Manga and there’s an anime of it, although I preferred the ending in the live action. Plus, the story is set in Hokkaido I believe so there’s an accent.
On Youtube I’ve been watching the Forsythe family. They’re from Hiroshima so there’s a bit of an accent, and the subs are mostly in Japanese but it’s nice to have on in the background: 【マミー挑戦】オーストラリアのマックで初のドライブスルー！日豪ハーフ７男１女の母親の英語は通じるのか!? - YouTube
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As someone else mentioned, japanese bands can be fun, but it’s sometimes hard to follow along what they’re saying if they start singing too fast XD
Also, what about those interview or pranking videos on youtube? I’ve been enjoying some of those popping up on my youtube recommendations, where the youtuber goes out to the streets of tokyo and just asks a bunch of ppl interesting questions. I think this kind of content is useful cos you’ll be seeing how real life japanese people speak to strangers in their day-to-day life, so its all very realistic if you know wat i mean :'DD
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Most of the bands i listed are chilled out indie stuff, you can follow along quite well with like all of them, one or two of the songs of theirs ive had to get the romaji lyrics up to understand bits, but for the most part ive been doing fine.
e.g song im listening to now: MONDO GROSSO / ラビリンス - YouTube
Not included in my list but its still a good song.
Midnight diner is really good and chilled out yeah, good show to watch if your part baked. It is sometimes a bit too slow though…
This is just a a little something for people who don’t know, and want to know (there is a wide variety of individuals here): abbreviations for Japan are either JP or JPN.
(note: I’m not starting anything and not trying to imply judgement, just providing information to the curious. I am hoping there are those who may find this info useful, that is all!)
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“Movie version” of Final Fantasy X in Japanese, with English subs
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I also recommend Japanese Style Originator. I know it’s on Netflix, but I’m sure it could be found else where too. Terrace House would be good for casual listening, but it sounds like the drama and romance might be outside of your interests.
Other than that, I would check out some of the free programs that NHK offers. I’ve seen a few on Manga creators, farmers, and trains around Japan, and depending where you access the programs from you can get subs.
Gyao! Will also sometimes host free movies (depending where you live/VPN) and this month’s is 風が強く吹いている about a running team that decides to run in the Hakone Ekiden Relay Marathon.
Hopefully these help!
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I didn’t read your post, what is this about?
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I think Japanese Hallmark movies or something.
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Barakamon and My Love Story!! are the cutest and sweetest anime shows ever. Also, +1 to Patema Inverted, that was a great film.
Yotsuba&! is a great manga title, can vouch for it having no fanservice since it’s aimed at children.
As for listening resources, I recommend Onomappu’s YouTube channel since he speaks in slow Japanese AND has JP/ENG subtitles which I personally find super helpful.
On the podcast side of things, Learn Japanese Pod is a bilingual podcast that teaches very good conversational Japanese. I was able to impress my brother with what I learned from them lol.
Hope this helps!
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I haven’t necessarily done this personally - however - a not so expensive way would be to get a Netflix account (if you don’t already have one). Nearly every show has both the Japanese voice over and subtitles to practice with. Then you can select whichever genre of program suits your taste. I have an apple TV. So, I’m also able to watch things like Ted talks with Japanese subtitles. Of course Ted talks are require much stronger levels of vocabulary. Back to netflix though, there are a super wide variety of shows to choose from - family friendly to you name it.
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It depends on what your level of Japanese is, but one that helped me when I was studying back in the states for immersion is to turn off the subtitles. I found myself focusing on trying to read quickly (I am a relatively slow reader) rather than actually trying to draw connections to what was on screen and what words are being used. Would say if you’re just starting off definitely use subs, but for me using them pulls me out of the immersion aspect. But that said, there’s a great show called Nigeru Haji da ga Yakunitatsu （逃げる恥だが役に立つ）(which also just started season 2 recently) that might help. I wouldn’t just write off all J-Dramas because of some negativity in some shows, as it’s a great tool when you find a good one.
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If you use Netflix: 1) Create a profile whose preferred audio language is Japanese; 2) Watch non-Japanese made titles that fit your personal tastes but dubbed in Japanese with English subs. Also, Netflix has some Japanese titles that are very upbeat, light and prude:
FINAL FANTASY XIV Dad of Light, Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman
, etc…
And it was clearly a passive-aggressive half-apology.
I can absolutely see why someone would react kind of miffed if someone posts some offensive and trite overgeneralizations (“all anime is over-sexualized”), refuses to engage in any discussion about those overgeneralizations and then starts throwing around accusations of arrogance.
As someone who enjoys anime, even though I am aware of all the problematic content that exists even in some of my favourite shows, such blanket statements and a refusal to engage with the medium on any other level than “oh no, this is too sexually charged for me” just really piss me off.
I fully agree with what DaisukeJigen says in his flagged post. Now go ahead, flag mine too, see if I care.
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I love Japanese Style Originator!
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If you like, have a look into Bilingual News with Mami and Michael.
Apart from that I can second Nihongo con Teppei 
In some of the more recent level 60 posts a fellow durtle also recommended Learn Japanese with Noriko. I started to listen to her podcasts and like them as well.
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Shokugeki no souma 
Try this one instead. It’s a nice slice of life, free of any panty shots.
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