Shows in recent years you've probably forgot

[Joyce_Steele]

It doesn't take several decades to forget some good shows. Some just take 2-3 years for notable titles to be erased from everyone's minds just because lacked of memorable characters, cute animal sidekicks, cute "little girls", buxom ladies, overly-fabulous bishes, etc. It just sad to see people forgetting some shows just it didn't appeal them, even it may have good features which most anime fans need to know. Perhaps this thread also a good opportunity for anyone else to check out these titles and compared them to more recent ones. Just saying though.

1. You're Under Arrest Full Throttle (Autumn 2007)
This third season of YUA just went over everyone's radar since there aren't any exposure to YUA series at all. Two previous seasons already licensed before someone else can upload them to the internet and sub them. It just shame this slice-of-life show with police flavor and adult-only casts just went away while Space Brothers got all the glittering praises from critics and viewers alike for almost exactly the same premises. Even more sad this is the last show where Kousuke Fujishima worked directly and cursed to work behind the scenes on countless of other shows with his name barely mentioned in the credits, if he ever credited at all.

2. Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (Autumn 2007)
Another show from the same season as YUA also forgotten as well. Unlike YUA this one is much easier to see why it was forgotten: Just another shitty and annoying harem show. While they mostly right with that but it just sad to know this show's awful truth: This is the first and most likely the only non-hentai show which authored by Takanae Kyourin, one of my favorite female hentai artist. let me repeat that: Female hentai artist. Other than that this show is doomed from the start. Being animated by the same studio as Girls' Bravo(another shitty fanservice-laden harem crap) already served as a huge red flag to the audiences both Western and Japanese ones. Even in Autumn 2007 Japan it was barely mentioned since viewers are psyched to see KyoAni's Clannad and Sunrise's Gundam 00 and both still watched to these days. This one only collecting dust in otaku's stash somewhere...

3. Blue Drop: Tenshitachi no Gikyoku (Autumn 2007)
Another Autumn 2007 show! That's no surprise this one is obviously much, much better than Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun in general. Just like Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun it too forgotten as well most likely lack of appeal. Well, it's about space alien lesbians who wants to enslave mankind especially male ones for reasons only revealed in its LNs, which none of the English-speaking people have any idea about. Being a yuri show without "yuri-ness" and fanservice and nudity only helped most people to forget it faster than they can say "screw this and let me see Clannad and/or Gundam 00 instead".

4. Taishou Yakyuu Musume (Summer 2009)
It just made me sad why one of my all-time favorite shows didn't appear in most people's list. Maybe it was licensed even before it was shown in Japan or its theme, a (well-written and well-directed) feminist propaganda that cleverly disguised as "K-On! with baseball". I don't see why this one has to fail other than that. Maybe its cast aren't cute or sexy enough, just like most other seinen shows in its category. Since nobody got its message "right" then people back worshiping "feminist" protesters that don't bother to wear anything from waist above(except some hats) to this day.

5. Yosuga no Sora (Autumn 2010)
The one I saved for the last. It's quite easy to see why people are forgetting this one. Why? It is the very first late night show to have actual sexual intercourse scene between two of the closely-related individuals. No need to explain that further but I think most people missed the true "message" this show has to offer: Its ending. While nobody including myself can figure it out but to me it has to be the most beautiful depiction of death, departure and suffering without including blood and gore but instead its a very heart-warming one. probaly the greatest finale I ever saw in any anime or any works of fictions. It also have production values, acting talents, animations, soundtracks ahead of its time. Even some 2011 and 2012 shows still can't match its quality let alone writings and directing. Perhaps it didn't come with KyoAni, Sunrise, PA Works, and even Shaft's label which didn't guarantee people to see it. Even if they do they quickly disgusted with its themes and sex scenes without actually see to the last episode. Yes, people still hates this show to this day and I'm not surprised some people replied to this thread just to express their disgust to this show alone but please re-watch it from start to finish before you can argue with me again. I hate to speak as a fangirl of this show but I just sad this one is destined to be forgotten by anime-loving communities.

By the way I'm not surprise most people still watching and enjoying something like School Days and High School of the Dead despite already showing their ages. The first one have annoyingly popular meme that refused to die and the later's genre already have countless of fans in United States alone and that's why both are so damn popular to these days even they didn't deserved it.

[Triple_R]

Well, I can say I remember Blue Drop and Yosuga no Sora. Though in fairness my memory of them is a bit vague. I don't think I've seen the other three shows on your list.

I enjoyed Blue Drop, but I think it was probably a bit too subtle or understated for its own good. And for an one cour show, it felt a bit meandering and slow paced. The sci-fi and girls school SoL elements could have been blended better, I think. Each element was good enough on its own, but I don't know if they meshed well. It almost felt like watching two entirely different anime shows in one show.


Yosuga no Sora was in fact a commercial success, IIRC. But I think its influence on the wider anime industry, and us anime fans, is a bit low due to unfortunate timing. The Key/KyoAni trio (Air, Clannad, Kanon) was still fresh in people's memories back in 2010, and while Yosuga no Sora wasn't bad, it did at times feel like a pale imitation of the Key works.

Now, probably the biggest difference in Yosuga no Sora was, as you wrote, its depiction of actual sex scenes. But I think that here as well YnS was a victim of unfortunate timing. I recall 2009 and 2010 being pretty fanservice heavy - you yourself mentioned Highschool of the Dead, which aired the Summer before YnS aired, IIRC. I think that YnS airing around the tail end of a fanservice heavy period in anime meant that its sexual content didn't seem as bold or as daring as it might otherwise have seemed.

Finally, I think that YnS' particular format approach - omnibus w/ use of branches - might have hindered how memorable it was. Little Busters!, Koichoco, and Mashiroiro Symphony all went with unified after YnS and Amagami SS went with omnibus, so YnS/Amagami weren't exactly trend-setters with the omnibus approach, so that also probably hurts YnS' memorability.

Still, YnS was an interesting show, and it could be considered something of an unsung hero/hidden gem of an anime.


As for your comment on School Days - Whether one loves School Days as much as Dr. Casey does, or dislikes it as much as you do, I think its indisputable that School Day's ending is highly memorable. Few anime shows dare to have a truly "bad end", or at least an end that looks bad on the face of it. And whether intentional or not, I think School Days is also memorable since it can easily come across as an effective deconstruction of the harem genre.

[MisaoFan]

I can name a couple of examples right now.

To me, people are really tuning out Sengoku Collection just because of the Sengoku theme and the involvement of genderbended lords as cute girls which may offend many. At that time, a lot of historical stories set in said period are shown, though not nearly as prevalent compared to the rest (especially the strong presence of harem fantasy stories). Besides, I don't know why it gets forgotten, but setting that Sengoku problem thingy aside, it looks like those who give the show a chance aren't impressed by the first few episodes while things gets a lot better later. We need more shows like SC really, mostly because of the unusual formula but also its peculiar portrayal of some plot points.

Magica Wars (my favorite show of last year, with my avatar being based on that one too), the show that follows SC's path by throwing cute girls personified in a overly Japanese theme (Japanese prefectures and magical girls this time), also got forgotten recently. Perhaps Gainax has lost its own artistic abilities but even before 2011, they also made some equally as forgettable shows with very ordinary stories yet still retains the studio's charm nonetheless (Shikabane Hime, Hanamaru Kindergarten to name a few). Even with the rise of short anime series for many people to enjoy, it still got disregarded, but as long it'll get a full-length series in the future, I really hope people can get into the franchise quickly hopefully.

As a big fan of underrated shows really, there's plenty of others to mention it, the notable ones being Dragon Crisis!, the recent Shonen Hollywood (sequel incoming this season), Leviathan -The Last Defense- and Z/X Ignition, although the problem is much more concerning for me in the first two. Dragon Crisis! comes around the same time as Madoka Magica and Infinite Stratos, but a lot of people hate it for some reason. Sure it's generic with typical action harem clichés and the protagonist isn't anything special, but in my own eyes, it didn't deserve such heavy criticism anyway (compared to other similar shows), the only remarkable thing it had is for a recent show made by Studio Deen, the animation is great mainly because of Masashi Ishihama.

Shonen Hollywood, aired last summer, is heavily foreshadowed by a lot of popular shows. Letting the popular male idol theme made prevalent aside, the execution of the story was rather strange and atypical that only a select few (like me) can get into.

[lmw]

YnS is the opposite of a "forgotten" show precisely because of its themes and sex scenes. Also, the omnibus format, while not unique, is still fairly rare. People tend to be pretty vocal when it comes to that show from what I've seen.

About Sengoku Collection: I'm not sure if it's a show people forgot about rather than just not many people having watched it in the first place. I agree though that people should check it out.
On a similar note, Uta Koi is another underrated episodic show from the same year.

[Flower]

I actually remember all the series in the OP except "You're Under Arrest Full Throttle (Autumn 2007)".

Probably of the series listed the one I liked the best is "Taishou Yakyuu Musume (Summer 2009)".

[cleo]

Originally Posted by Joyce_Steele

2. Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (Autumn 2007)
While they mostly right with that but it just sad to know this show's awful truth: This is the first and most likely the only non-hentai show which authored by Takanae Kyourin, one of my favorite female hentai artist. let me repeat that: Female hentai artist.

Interesting, I had no idea while I watched the show. Ninomiya-kun is one of the few harem series I actually liked. Being female, I don't care about harem series, the fan-service and the same old jokes. I'm not saying Ninomiya-kun was a great series, but the humor and characters clicked for me.

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

As for your comment on School Days - Whether one loves School Days as much as Dr. Casey does, or dislikes it as much as you do

Indeed, huge School Days fan here - I think it's a genuinely good story from start to end. I think the first 10 episodes are pretty down-to-earth, and 11-12 are believable to me in a "disturbing story that makes national headlines," rare-but-not-nonexistent sort of way. I can only hope that one day the human race will recognize the series as the masterpiece that it is.

I'm not familiar with 1, 2, or 4 - I didn't start watching anime on a seasonal basis until Autumn 2010, so most series from the late 2000s are foreign to me. Yosuga no Sora was certainly a nice show, though. Fantastic opening and ending themes (well, the more solemn ending theme used for the main show, anyway - didn't care for the omake ending theme as much), great character in Sora, really liked the very melancholic and ambient atmosphere.

[Akito Kinomoto]

I'm supposed to remember shows I've forgotten?

Taisho Baseball Girls is pretty cool, but it did have the unfortunate problem of trying to shake off K-On! along with Saki.

What else...between the trio of Sky Girls, Strike Witches, and Vividred Operation, I remember the third one the most. Some of it is due to recency, but also because a certain character reminds me of one of my favorites. It also helps that, on her own merits, she has a distinct character motivation while the Girls and Witches I can barely recall.

I almost forgot about Sasameki Koto, and probably for good reason; the manga isn't anywhere near as serious (at least not until later).

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

Indeed, huge School Days fan here - I think it's a genuinely good story from start to end. I think the first 10 episodes are pretty down-to-earth, and 11-12 are believable to me in a "disturbing story that makes national headlines," rare-but-not-nonexistent sort of way.

I agree with that, though I actually think it helps to know what the ending is going to be before you watch the show. That way, I approached it with the perspective of "how did such a seemingly innocent and
normal-for-anime beginning manage to end up there?", and a lot of little things start to stand out more and help to create a good full picture. School Days' story is more tightly-woven and well-told than it usually gets credit for, imo.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Akuma Kinomoto

I'm supposed to remember shows I've forgotten?

Yeah I think there's some kind of strange logic behind the purpose of this thread.

It's actually something on the line of "Shows in recent years that I believe you have forgotten"

But reading the shows listed here so far for the most part I can't really say that I have forgotten them, it's more like I've never watched them to begin with.

[Sheba]

I cant remember a single series from 2008.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I enjoyed Blue Drop, but I think it was probably a bit too subtle or understated for its own good. And for an one cour show, it felt a bit meandering and slow paced. The sci-fi and girls school SoL elements could have been blended better, I think. Each element was good enough on its own, but I don't know if they meshed well. It almost felt like watching two entirely different anime shows in one show.


As for your comment on School Days - Whether one loves School Days as much as Dr. Casey does, or dislikes it as much as you do, I think its indisputable that School Day's ending is highly memorable. Few anime shows dare to have a truly "bad end", or at least an end that looks bad on the face of it. And whether intentional or not, I think School Days is also memorable since it can easily come across as an effective deconstruction of the harem genre.

@Blue drop: The switch between slice of life and sci-fi was very sudden, if I remember. Also, as per not knowing the Arume (the female aliens) motivations, after watching the anime, I read the manga- it was a lot more fucked up, what with the bizarre post-invasion Arume-ruled Earth society.

While the anime might have been more memorable if it included some of this stuff, might be a bit too much of a downer ending. Perhaps a sort of alternate universe ending featuring Hagino falling in love with Mari and deciding to keep aided the human resistance.

Apart from the fucked up manga, the one thing I remembered from Blue drop was not the yuri, but the fact that, were it not for their weird superweapon thing, the Arume would have been "Easily Defeated Aliens"- In the last episode, a group of F-15s engaged a squadron of Arume fighters. The F-15s were outnumbered about five to one, and they STILL managed to shoot down half of the Arume fighters before they were destroyed.

@School Days: Me, I thought School Days was OK, not great, not horrible, but OK and the ending was, at the same time both shocking, and oddly satisfying given how much of an asshole Makoto was to the girls. On the other hand, it was one of the best examples of "Idiot-Driven Plot" not just in anime, but in any sort of work of fiction... and Idiot-Driven Plots can get exacerbating very easily.

Originally Posted by Akuma Kinomoto

What else...between the trio of Sky Girls, Strike Witches, and Vividred Operation, I remember the third one the most. Some of it is due to recency, but also because a certain character reminds me of one of my favorites. It also helps that, on her own merits, she has a distinct character motivation while the Girls and Witches I can barely recall.

I suspect the character in question in Rei "I'm not Homura, honest" Kuroki. Yes, she was my favorite too... in fact the only reason I bothered with Vividred, to be honest.

That said, I suspect you and I are both a minority in the order of which "flying pseudo magical girls" series we remember the most- Strike Witches was by far the most popular.

[Benigmatica]

Oh, I remember both Yosuga no Sora and Taisho Yakyuu Musume. Both titles are enjoyable to watch, but the latter is pretty much overlooked by the likes of Saki and K-On! at that time.

On the other hand, I remember watching Aoi Hana back in Summer 2009. Unfortunately, it was forgotten as well in my opinion!

[Soliloquy]

I think it was in 2010 Soredemo Machi Wa Mawatteiru aired. It was probably the last of the Shaft staples that had no specific audiences to be appreciated by. Thus it quickly faded to obscurity by the more popular Shaft series such as Madoka Magika and Bakemonogatari. If I think about it, there wasn't many factors that I personally liked about the anime yet it was a lovely little anime that knew what it was and quietly finished in 12 episodes even though the manga source is still going strong.

Taisho Yakyuu Musume was a great series with a grounded approach I appreciated. I feel it was another not very ambitious anime that portrayed the very familiar theme its competitors were also doing. I'm not sure what production studio it was animated in, it would have more following if it was done by bigger company like Production IG or Madhouse.

[MisaoFan]

Originally Posted by Akuma Kinomoto

What else...between the trio of Sky Girls, Strike Witches, and Vividred Operation, I remember the third one the most. Some of it is due to recency, but also because a certain character reminds me of one of my favorites. It also helps that, on her own merits, she has a distinct character motivation while the Girls and Witches I can barely recall.

You beat me to it. The thing I mainly recall about the show is Takamura's common use of backside. The characters look like inferior versions of Madoka Magica's cast and I think the premise kinda felt like wasted potential in my part.

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

Taisho Yakyuu Musume was a great series with a grounded approach I appreciated. I feel it was another not very ambitious anime that portrayed the very familiar theme its competitors were also doing. I'm not sure what production studio it was animated in, it would have more following if it was done by bigger company like Production IG or Madhouse.

For your information, the show was made by J.C Staff.