It's absolutely nothing like you thought it'd be!

[Dragnfly@Gamefaqs]

We've all been there, I bet. That one series where we look at the cover and get really interrested, be totally oblivious to the obvious signs and then take it home only to find that, for better or for worse it's absolutely nothing like we thought it'd be.

My examples are these:
Aria: The manga localized by ADV. Tho this still likely would've also caught me on the anime if I hadn't gotten the manga first.

Spoiler for Just to hide the image:

What is here: Akari sailing her gondola down a river on the outskirts of Neo-Venezia. Route 9, apparently. The text at the top says "A.D. 2301 The voyage from Neo-Venezia
What I saw: Well, first of all I didn't even notice the gondola or the text at the top. I thought the river was a just an oddly-coloured road. Due to her clothing I also didn't notice she was holding a paddle and instead I thought it was a staff. Althought the windmill is prodominant I for some reason focused on that building in the back with the tall tower. And thus I thought it was a book about a young girl attending a magic academy. OF course it's absolutely nothing of the sort.

I've done this before with anime but I can't remember which ones specifically. I'll update the post when I have more time to think of/write such instances.

Does this happen to anyone else?

[jedinat]

I never buy anything without first looking up reviews an opinions online

[Yuiichi]

I thought the To Heart 2 anime would be better. I just love Tama-ne... the story isn't that interesting though.

[Maceart]

But still, ARIA the manga is one of the best manga I've ever read.

I've thought Karas will look a lot better, after the kick ass first episode. The 2nd ep languished...

[hooliganj]

LOL. OK, in a vain attempt to drag this thread back to the topic... shows that turned out differently than expected.

I remember seeing promo art and preview for Starship Operators that focused on nothing but the cute girls running a battle ship, and I was left with a lackluster impression. But after watching the first few episodes, and discovering a good plot, complete with insights into the political, commercial and social ramifications of war and rebellion, I found myself both surprised and impressed.

As for ADV's horrible marketing strategies, please ignore the cover and summary on the packaging of Metal Angel Marie, and proceed to watch an OVA that is both funny and intelligent and much less perverse than their own lisensor wishes it was.

[Daniel E.]

After watching a promo for .Hack//Sign, I got the extremely wrong idea that this anime would be an action title with lots of 'adventuring' in between.

Later on, I discovered that this series ended up being one of the most boring, uneventful, anime dramas I have ever seen.

Certainly a waste of time, IMHO.

[Dragnfly@Gamefaqs]

Thanks for the on-topic replies.

As promised, I'm back. Sorry for being so late but work was absolute hell. Anyhow, the anime which mixed me up the most was Elfen Lied. The trailer I saw was a very early Japanese one (mainly all still images) which introduced Kouta and the gang. The only animated bits were from comedic parts and it shows sketches of the various buildings and scenery with a DNA motif in the background.

A temple... a school... a beach... some island facility... a bridge at sunset, and so on.

So to me it looked like a guy learning genetics at the local university who ended up being surrounded by girls who never left him a moment's peace and repeatedly fought over his affections. A run-of-the-mill harem show with nothing really new to contribute to the harem anime gendre.

Boy was I wrong.

[Shiryuu]

Monster. It's a good show, but I actually thought it was going to have real monsters in it.

[Pellissier]

Surprised in negative:

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan

A smooth, colorful and seemingly entertaining package, great artworks.
Then the truth is: one of the most insane, crazy, disgusting amount of sick sketches and way of behaving I've seen recently.
So, from appearance it was cute, actually it was disgusting.

I've been also surprised in positive:

Nanaka 6/17

Childish package, childish usage of colours and basically a child as a protagonist.
But instead: a very refreshing and surprising analysis of the difficult of growing, a great cure for characters' interactions between them and a lot of psycological grow.
I consider it a little gem, very unexpectedly I admit.
So here, from appearence it was just for kids, but instead it could teach a lot also to older ones, so it was a very deep one.

Just my two cents, and the usual warning: Don't let the appearances deceive you , that has always a great value in my book

[CompShrink]

Narutaru. Which I still have yet to finish!

Classic colorful monster sidekicks that do what you tell them to. A pokemon/digimon clone, right?

Then people start dying. Psychological issues too. It's no kiddie's show, even though it's apparently aired on a channel that has Kid in the name.

Been a while since I saw it, sorry don't remember the details. If I recall, although aired on a channel called Kid Station or some-such, was aired after midnight...


Scrapped Princess turned out to be post-appocalyptic. Not overly surprizing, but not expected at first.


Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu. Looks like a pointless colorful kid's show. It has adult humor and situations... not too bad if a kid watches it, but only adults will get most of the jokes and a lot of the plot. Hillarious beyond belief.

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by CompShrink

Been a while since I saw it, sorry don't remember the details. If I recall, although aired on a channel called Kid Station or some-such, was aired after midnight...

The naming of Kid's Station is quite deceiving. Many otaku-centered anime shows air on this subscription channel.

[Lambda]

Most obvious one would be Princess Tutu. From its name, and the way a few people were talking about it, I thought it would be something exceptionally silly. Sort of like an ultra-cute version of Excel Saga, or something like that.

Read or Die TV would be another one, since I watched it having loved Read or Die OVA, and expecting it to be like that. Not that I was disappointed or anything, it was very good as well, just very different.

But mostly I find out what sort of thing it is before watching it, so I don't get surprised often.

[Apekatt]

KGNE, I expected it to be a romantic school drama with a little comedy. After the second episode I was...... suprised, to say the least.
I belive the plot-twist is one of the main reasons why I hold "Kiminozo" as one of my favourite animes.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by Yuiichi

I thought the To Heart 2 anime would be better. I just love Tama-ne... the story isn't that interesting though.

Definitely suffering from a lack of Tama-ne.

Major. I was expecting kind of a mindless show following a major league player (or possibly a team) around through some kind of miracle season. I started to watch it (hoping for something like the movie Major League, which always amuses me) and found out it was actually a sort of slice of life show centered around a boy who grows up wanting to play baseball.

[Ending]

Monster. It's a good show, but I actually thought it was going to have real monsters in it.

Ditto. Instead it was just monotonous blah-blah 95% of time in a absolutely uninspiring enviroment.

[SirHellsing420]

Samurai Gun: Its DVD cover art made it look like it would be similar to a 007 movie with action and guns. What I got was an anime of predictable action and weak story.

Ninja Scroll TV series: If you're expecting this to be like the Ninja Scoll movie from some years ago, well you're sorely going to be disappointed. I was nearly bored to tears.

[stelok]

The ARIA poster is such a colorful piece of artwork.

Anyway, many of DVD covers tell me a little about what is inside the anime. For example, When I see animation/character designs on a poster or a DVD cover and it's enough to suit my tastes, I rent or buy anime. I always do that. But I often read reviews/opinions before buying, too.

[ultrataro]

I'd have to echo Princess Tutu. I kept looking at it & putting it back figuring maybe I'll watch it someday when I don't have anything better. Finally took a chance on it on a whim & discovered it was really good! Where's the rest!?
Elfin Lied I was already forewarned about so it kind of doesn't count.
What other shows... there aren't too many that totally came out opposite of what I expected, but there are some that came as pleasant surprises. Honey & Clover I didn't know what to expect & discovered I liked it. Futakoi Alternative another I didn't know what to expect & I liked. There are others that I thought I'd like but were dissappointing for some reason, but not because they were different from what i expected, like Dokurochan, Pani Poni Dash.

[Leo_Otaku]

The good:
Monster: One look at screencaps and it looks like some action/doctor drama thing. But really it was soo awesome and really well put together.

the bad: Saikano: I heard oh this so sad and so much good stuff I was expecting a really creative sad drama. Instead all I got was nothing. To date the worst anime I have ever seen.

the ok: Azumanga: I heard how funny it was but was so happy when the 1st DVD was over. It wasn't as great as I expected it to be.

[Veritas]

The music and atmosphere made me think AIR was going to be good. Oh, how wrong I was. How wrong, wrong, wrong.