Underrepresented anime masterpieces. Evangelize here!

[monpuchi]

Originally Posted by GipFace

Mao-chan ... oh, the cuteness, the cuteness ...

But um ... Princess Nine is underrated too.

i wouldnt say that mao-chan is underrated. people dont talk about it for a reason. i suppose i should give it a chance but its not a good sign when you cant get past the first 5 episodes without forcing yourself. i just feel so empty after watching it.

[Kempis Curious]

Originally Posted by K_R

Hakaima Sadamitsu

Surprisingly good, but not well known.

Yep, I've never heard of that one. The description of the plot on the seller's website makes it seem recycled and forgettable. What did you like about it?
Anyone else seen this one?


-k

curious

[Kyuven]

Saber Marionette J: this series doesn't get the credit it deserves...LIME!!!!
Steel Angel Kurumi: my first real ecchi series (Tenchi Muyo doesn't count for me since i saw the CN version first >_< thank you international channel for broadcasting the unedited version! (i'm not kidding about this!))
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: 15 episodes and i STILL haven't figured out why i like this series!!!!
Sorcerer on the Rocks: even though it seems like it's right in the middle of a greater storyline (i think it is actually...) the 3 ovas were REALLY funny, the premise would have made a great series (we're talkin about the creators of Sorcerer Hunters...so of course it'd be good!) had it not been so desipicably cut short >_< the american DVD art didn't relay the true tone of the series
Haunted Junction: it's...just...so...funny, and i never attended a japanese school so i probably don't even get half the jokes
Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy: packaged the same way Haunted Junction was here in the states (NO DUB, just subs, so the 13 episodes cost about 35 bucks at a place where 4 ep discs cost 30) and had a really interesting story...ok it was just plain silly. A missile with a smiley face that the main character rides to school named Mimi for instance.

[LuciaMelody]

Well, here is one that very little people have seen (even though it is licensed in US)- Gestalt.

People hate it because its er....2 episodes. They started making it and then decided to pull it off. There is a whole lot of Manga for these series but it never got translated.

Anyway - the art is so beautiful. The main character - ohri -is just wow! Too bad they didn't make anymore, the second episode was really really good! I showed it to all of my friends without telling them that there are nomore episodes, they were very lol.

Also, Shamanic Princess - I thought it was trully a masterpiece but noone ever mentions it. Why?

Edit: forgot to say that I agree with Mermaid Melody being amazing!! I think I like it because i trully missed Sailor Moon. Its just soo cute and pretty!!! I love Lucia!!

[Go-lytely]

Originally Posted by monpuchi

i wouldnt say that mao-chan is underrated. people dont talk about it for a reason. i suppose i should give it a chance but its not a good sign when you cant get past the first 5 episodes without forcing yourself. i just feel so empty after watching it.

Mao-chan is one of those love-it or hate-it shows. I think that most underrated shows are like that because thats why they dont get the press other shows do.

[Radd]

I'm really suprised that the Macross franchise isn't more popular. I mean, it's decently popular, but it's not nearly to the level which Gundam has attainted. In Japan I can understand this...but in the USA and other international markets, I would almost expect Macross to be just as, if not more popular. Especially given how popular Robotech was in the 80's (one of the best animated series in the US to come out of the 80's, according to Rolling Stone, I think it was). I think a big part of it is that most of the people in the anime fandom these days have a very short term memory. People consider stuff from 1998 to be old, that's not right. Stil, Macross Plus was incredibly popular for a time, then it fell off the map, and now Macross Zero is out (Next episode the 28th of this month!) and it really is one of the most impressive looking OVAs coming out right now, yet you barely hear people talking about it.

I also think Macross 7 gets a bum rap. It's a great show, some of the best character developement in all of anime, and it has an excellent ending. We all know that there's a lot of great anime with really crappy endings, yet here's this show that keeps getting better and better, and ends beautifully, and no one talks about it, and those that do can't get over the idea that people could stop shooting at each other, or that one person could want to change the world.


Aside from Macross, King of Braves Gao Gai Gar is another show that deserves to be uber popular, and it was in Japan and most of Asia, apparently, as in super, mega popular, as big or bigger than Poke'mon, Sailor Moon, and other shows like that...yet over here in the west? Nothing. We get a ton of incredibly crappy Transformers shows, each worse than the last, yet still somehow remaining really popular with Transformers fans...yet here's this incredibly amazing show in the same genre of anime, and most people over here have never even heard of it.


How about Legend of the Galactic Heroes? I hear people bitch and complain about anime getting more and more shallow, but then there's great shows like this that few people talk about, yet it's one of the most character and plot driven shows, yet just from anime, but in entertainment in general. For those that complain of people only seeing anime as a one trick pony of fan service, magical girls, and giant robots, this show really shows that anime can be much more than that.

How about The Night the Earth Stood Still: Giant Robo? Another classic that was popular for a time then dropped off the map. The DVDs should be coming out soon, so maybe that'll bring some interest back to this 6 part OVA. It's basically the modern 'Tatsujin 28 Go!' (Gigantor), with characters from the creator of that classic (and Tetsujin 28 really is an old anime, the original was in black and white, not to be artsy, but because a long time ago, that's all there was for television).

[Quarkboy]

Here are some of my favorites that aren't well known (and maybe a few that are)

Boku no Marie: A 3 ep OVA about a geek who builds his very own lady-friend. Excellent, and a little disturbing.

Gundam 0080: What, a gundam show? This is the only one worth watching IMO. By itself a truly powerful war story told through the eyes of a VERY young kid. Popular among gundam freaks, but should be better known outside that circle.

Marmalade Boy: Hard to find good quality digital fansubs (they don't exist for most of the eps), but this might be the show that drove the nail in my anime habit coffin. Funny and sappy, this show DEFINED the anime love-triangle/square/generalized polygon.

Oh, and I second Kodomo no Omocha (Kodocha), Princess Tutu, and Gunbuster...

Kodocha has been described as Marmalade Boy on crack, so obviously I like it,
Princess Tutu has one of the most creative plots in any anime ever, and is just beautiful, and Gunbuster was the project that drove Hideki Anno INSANE.

[Kempis Curious]

Originally Posted by LuciaMelody

Well, here is one that very little people have seen (even though it is licensed in US)- Gestalt.

Also, Shamanic Princess - I thought it was trully a masterpiece but noone ever mentions it. Why?

I'm not a little person but I've seen Gestalt. I liked it.

I agree that Shamanic Princess is simply fabu anime. Excellent characters, plot, style, and one of the best musical scores I've ever heard. That anime was very balsy to make it about a magicly transforming girl with big eyes, two ponytails, and a cute sidekick. Not a shoujo anime, that's fer sure. Tiara was both scary and unbelievably sexy at the same time.

Originally Posted by Radd

I'm really suprised that the Macross franchise isn't more popular.

How about The Night the Earth Stood Still: Giant Robo? Another classic that was popular for a time then dropped off the map.

I'm not surprised about the original Macross not being as loved by a majority of anime fans. The recent thread asking gender and age shows that most of the people on this board were -5 to 3 years old when it was shown on American TV back in 1986. Sheesh, I'm one of the oldest people here and I was only 12 at the time, so the youngun's have to take my word that it was a good anime, or have an interest in historical anime and make an effort to go find it.
I agree that Mac 7 is good anime, though it's not so great if you're not a Macross fan already. (I'm glad you didn't mention the nausiating Mac 2). Macross Zero is suffering the same problem Mac 2 had... nice graphics aren't making up for a boring storyline and dull music.

I saw Giant Robo too, and after I got past the retro-graphics I found one HECK of an anime. The twists and turns on the storyline were awesome.

-k

[7thMethuselah]

Piano and To heart

2 very simple calm series which are ery very enjoyable and you can't stop to watch even not too much happens in them...

[seal-team-6]

Hmmmm what about Hellsing. It's my favourite action filled/horror anime. Short but good.

[Vulkar]

Originally Posted by Kempis Curious

I'm not a little person but I've seen Gestalt. I liked it.

I'm not surprised about the original Macross not being as loved by a majority of anime fans. The recent thread asking gender and age shows that most of the people on this board were -5 to 3 years old when it was shown on American TV back in 1986. Sheesh, I'm one of the oldest people here and I was only 12 at the time, so the youngun's have to take my word that it was a good anime, or have an interest in historical anime and make an effort to go find it.

I'm a young one, but I was fan of Macross. I have pictures lurking in my house somewhere of me as a five year old with a Robotech tshirt on. Great great stuff.

Of course, I love all those old animes which came to TV back then. G-Force/Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman and Voltron, and Speed Racer. Very cool, yet probably thought of as crappy nowadays. Well, maybe I'm biased, but I feel a certain amount of nostalgia when I see pictures or clips of those shows so I think they're good.

[Gaara11]

Juuni Kokki I think is underappreciated eventhough it has high marks. For a very VERY good anime such as this, I could only see a number of people that talks about this show. What a shame.

[lordwu]

Kokoro Library: Story about Kokoro and her two sisters running a library located far away from city and was inherited from their parents. Very heart-warming series and has a very moving ending. Highly recommended if you don't mind a slow-paced anime.

Tomorrow's Nadja: It's about the adventure that Nadja had with a Traveling Troupe. She's raised in a orphanage but she's actually a noble, which she's not aware of. I like the background setting of 19th century europe and also Nadja is very sweet and caring. Hopefully AC will release more episodes soon. I can't wait.

[Kempis Curious]

Originally Posted by Gaara11

Juuni Kokki I think is underappreciated eventhough it has high marks. For a very VERY good anime such as this, I could only see a number of people that talks about this show. What a shame.

Yeah, I was really liking this anime, but then it got licensed after only a couple of fansubbed eps. I think at the time there were a couple of other great animes available, so I kinda forgot about it.

Originally Posted by lordwu

Kokoro Library: ... Very heart-warming series and has a very moving ending. Highly recommended if you don't mind a slow-paced anime.

Ooo I loved Kokoro Library. That was one of the first entire series that I downloaded... it was the first time I had watched a peacefully paced anime that wasn't boring. It's also one of those animes you daydream about... makes you want to be a librarian, with a job in a beautiful library full of sweet, pretty girls and no customers.

I didn't like Piano as much... it went over the line of too slow. Awesome music, though.

-k

[Radd]

Macross does still have a degree of popularity, thanks to Macross Plus. Macross II probably hurt the franchise more than helped it. It was something for sequel starved Macross fans to pick up, but it wasn't very good. It also doesn't help that the movie has never had a completely uncut release, and is still only legitimately available on VHS.

It also doesn't help that Macross 7's music situation prevented it from ever seeing an international distribution, because it's just too pricey of an investment.

Now with Harmony Gold attempting to block all things Macross so they can milk their Robotech cashcow one last time, we're not likely to see any more legitimate releases until Big West sends an army of lawyers over...and they'll only do that if they think the market is profitable enough.

I suppose it's not that suprising after all, though it's still dissapointing.

[Youko Recca]

Flame of Recca

[Fronzel]

Isn't Marmalade Boy getting a R1 release? Or did I make it up? Wait, I'll just go check.


click
click
click


Yes, it is. Tokyopop has it. So rejoice.



Oh, and I'll say VOTOMS.

[Kempis Curious]

Looking over my anime files, I remembered this thread and had to evangelize about the first 13 eps of

Tenshi ni Narumon

Good heavens what a wild anime... great music, creepy, fun characters, a touch of sexy, and the most spooky bad guy I've ever seen. Too bad the second season made such a big, stupid change with the Dispel-Silky and Micheal/Sara relationships. Blah....

-k

[babbito2k]

Tenshi ni Narumon! is my favorite series. I don't get the beef about the second cycle (Muse x Eros is amazing), but it's too obscure to argue about here.

The show I want to rave about is Chou Kuse ni Narisou, an early 90s comedy based on an old Nakayoshi title. This show oozes low-budget charm with LOW visual quality and tacky music. Nagisa, the heroine, is an idol singer with a lousy voice; one episode is all about what a crummy singer she is.

The comedy is over-the-top. Nagisa pretends to be a boy so she can go to a public school, which is full of punks and insane teachers. Momoko, an idol wannabe, performs bizarre setpieces in her never-ending quest for recognition. Every episode casts off in a strange new direction, pulling in lots of references to pop culture and recent history.

The series never was subbed in its entirety (39 eps.). I have 20 fansubbed episodes on tape; the group responsible packed it in before they were finished.

[Deralti]

Originally Posted by Kid

The Violinist of Hameln TV series. Very underrated. Very few fans seem to have watched this one. It's probably never going to get licensed, so fansubs are the only way to go. The story is dark and controversial and thought-provoking and the artwork is beautiful. Only drawback is... the relative lack of animation.

Was the first fansub I really liked . I dunno about the controversial part, except for more fake or extreme christians with their you-know-what in a bunch who'd whine about the show. In the 1st ep I thought It was a hentai(tentacles = you have 20 seconds to convince me to not delete you.)
Its one of those where you have to give it a chance...although I still want flute to die . As for princess nutcracker-esque, or whatever it's called... I'll stay neutral on my opinion for that.