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fallin up 2008-02-02 20:23

Great Animes that most people havn't ever heard of
 
There's a lot of anime out there, and sometimes people forget that the most popular anime, dosent have to be the best anime.For example,

Touka Gettan is very good, but almost no one watched it.

Are there other animes that don't get the recognition they deserve? if so, what?

KholdStare 2008-02-02 20:34

If you don't mind old animation, then Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a must.

Other anime that I think is excellent but doesn't get enough attention is Bokurano, Byousoku 5 Centimeter (maybe it's popular in this forum but not really anywhere else), The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Kino's Journey, SaiKano, and Seirei no Moribito (it has quite a bit of attention but not as much as it deserves).

Saber Cherry 2008-02-02 21:10

Gakuen Alice and Otogi-Jushi Akazukin are both very recent and really good, but nobody ever mentions them. I'm just grateful that both were completed by fansub groups! (Thanks T-N, ADTRW, and Naisho). Super Gals is also quite good, and I never hear about it. I only watched it because I heard the OP and ED songs and they were so good, I was compelled to watch a genre I otherwise would have ignored. I never hear anyone mention Nadesico anymore, either, but it was really good, much more than episode 1 suggests.
Twelve Kingdoms and Zone of the Enders (TV) are also very rarely mentioned, which is odd, considering how much I liked both of them.

Right now, I think Hero Tales is a lot of fun, but I'm scared subbing will be discontinued for lack of interest! It does not really compare to exceptionally good anime like Gakuen Alice, though.

For the most part, pre-1998 anime are underappreciated, just because the Western audience was much smaller before digital fansubbing was practical. Often all that was available around then in the USA were horrible VHS English-dub-only versions.

As for pretty old series that I think more people today should watch:
Escaflowne (TV)
Slayers
Galaxy Fraulein Yuna
(OVA 1 and 2 - 1 is light, 2 is dark)
D4 Princess
Hunter x Hunter
Saber Marionette J



Lastly -
Xenogears is an anime-style video game, but I will throw it in too, because Xenosaga (a related game) had an anime made of it, while Xenogears was ignored. But Xenogears is nothing like Xenosaga, in that it contains 100% less suckage and 100% more awesomeness.

Deus ex Digital Boy 2008-02-02 21:20

From the past year, Baccano! was the best that barely anyone watched, right now few people seen to be watching Hatenko Yugi or Hakaba Kitarou which are both excellent (and my two favorites of the season). Um... but yeah, Baccano!

If you want to smething older that is rare to see these days, go watch Space Adventure COBRA.

Freeze 2008-02-02 21:48

Well theres a couple, IMO Speed Grapher is an anime that most people don't know of, Its a really great series with alot of action and suspense, and each episode just leaves you wanting for more. Theres also Yugo the Negotiator its only 12 episodes, and has only 2 arcs but it is an extremely well done anime that just doesn't get any attention or credit from how good it is. and as said before Baccano! is also a really good show, a big cast of amazing characters, and each episode is just awesome.

SeijiSensei 2008-02-02 21:52

I'll just point to my signature as including a number of underappreciated shows. Number one on my list is Bartender.

Also there are some "underappreciated anime" threads here that you might want to read.

Goofus Maximus 2008-02-02 22:19

GACK!!! He beat me to it! BARTENDER FOR THE WIN!!!

Has everyone heard of Last Exile? I just stumbled upon that one myself, and it is such a good series, there's no way it wasn't popular...

Saber Cherry 2008-02-02 22:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei (Post 1377416)
I'll just point to my signature as including a number of underappreciated shows. Number one on my list is Bartender.

I've wondered about that a lot. It has good ratings on places like ANN. But the concept sounds utterly stupid... and I *acquired* the OST, and every single instrumental piece was elevator-music garbage. Now, I have no problem with stupid-sounding premises; there are a lot of good anime that have them. But Bartender is supposed to be serious, I think, and the concept of fixing people's lives with a well-prepared cocktail seems abjectly insane. And the fact that the music is actively painful to listen to...

What am I missing? Or do I just have to bite the bullet and watch an episode?

Incidentally, I noticed Edo Rocket in your signature. I devoted a couple of days to downloading and then seeding to 1.1:1 all of Edo Rocket on my fairly slow connection, because it was very highly rated all around. But I tried watching episode 1, and... good lord, episode 1 blew like a hurricane. It seemed like a 1970's American cartoon aimed at 7-year-olds and dubbed in Japanese. The characters were all stupid (mentally, not pejoratively), the storyboarding catered to the attention span of someone with severe ADD, the art was surrealistic and bad, the plot was utterly unrealistic, and... I have not had such a negative impression of an anime since Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu episode 1, which made me unilaterally stop watching the anime. Only much later did I watch episode 2 due to the fact that everyone was talking about how awesome it was, and I found that episode 1 was totally unlike any other episode, and that, in fact, the person who planned the episode order is terminally stupid. So, the anime is pretty good, and I am glad I did not miss it.

But what I'm asking is... is Edo Rocket like Haruhi, where episode 1 is utterly unlike any other episode? Or is episode 1 similar to the other episodes, and somehow, Edo Rocket falls in to the category of "everyone likes it except me"? Because honestly, based on episode 1, I would rate it about a 1 on ANN's scale.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Goofus Maximus (Post 1377462)
GACK!!! He beat me to it! BARTENDER FOR THE WIN!!!

Has everyone heard of Last Exile? I just stumbled upon that one myself, and it is such a good series, there's no way it wasn't popular...

You can answer too :)

@Last Exile: I rated it "Very Good". But that is largely for the wonderful music and animation. It had good character development, dialogue and drama, too, but years later, I find myself wondering exactly what the point was. Not that all anime have to carry a strong black-and-white message; but bear in mind that Last Exile is kind of ambiguous throughout, and ends feeling somewhat unresolved. Still, it has amazing visuals and an absolutely wonderful opening. On the other hand... I never thought of it as "unpopular".

Troilism 2008-02-02 22:28

hard to say these days. There was another topic like this awhile back with some great suggestions but here are a few that people don't recommend usually that are quite good.

Dennou Coil
Noein
Kamichu!
Fantastic Children
Simoun
Toward the Terra
xxxholic
zegapain
Honey and Clover

All these are pretty good titles you should check out. My personal favorites out of this that I think you should check out first are Noein, Toward the Terra, Dennou Coil and Kamichu!

EDIT: OOOOOOOOO I forgot one title. Oh! edo rocket. It's a comedy with an actual plot and a HUGE variety of different characters that are very charming and funny. Not sure how it's going to turn out but so far it's great!

darksider 2008-02-02 23:31

"KNYACKI!" the series of very short clay animation, if it is classified as an anime.
I'm at least sure that most people here haven't ever heard of it.

SeijiSensei 2008-02-03 00:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saber Cherry (Post 1377463)
[Bartender] has good ratings on places like ANN. But the concept sounds utterly stupid... and I *acquired* the OST, and every single instrumental piece was elevator-music garbage

What am I missing? Or do I just have to bite the bullet and watch an episode?.

I think you and I just have very different tastes. First, the music. I like Ootake's work and, though I can see its flaws, I'd hardly call it "elevator music." Is she the most inventive jazz pianist I've ever heard? No. Do I think she wrote some lovely tunes to complement a show about people in bars? Yes. While I watched each episode I found it easy to imagine her sitting in a corner of Eden Hall playing her piano for the few patrons who bothered to listen. It just fit the entire mood of the show.

I recommend you watch episode two, the most "Japanese" of the episodes in my mind. I found Miwa's personal story touching and saw the conflict between her father and grandfather as symbolic of the conflicts traditional Japanese institutions faced after the war. I'm an American, and what I know about Japen is from reading, some movies and TV, anime obviously, and my imagination. Even as a foreigner I could see how this episode might be poignant for a whole generation of Japanese viewers.

I like the didactic component of Bartender as well; how we learn something new about liquor, how and why different spirits were invented, and how many different ways humans have learned to mix them together. Of course the premise is hokey -- no one's life can be transformed by a cocktail -- yet this hokey premise motivates some lovely story-telling about dreams unfulfilled and loves lost yet hope for tomorrow. I guess I'm a sucker for that stuff but, at my age, hope despite loss sums up a lot of my life.

I also liked especially the episode concerning the movie makers and that spirit of rebellion, Scotch.

I'll let Goofus nominate his favorite episodes.

Quote:

Incidentally, I noticed Edo Rocket in your signature. I devoted a couple of days to downloading and then seeding to 1.1:1 all of Edo Rocket on my fairly slow connection, because it was very highly rated all around. But I tried watching episode 1, and... good lord, episode 1 blew like a hurricane.... I have not had such a negative impression of an anime since Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu episode 1, which made me unilaterally stop watching the anime.

But what I'm asking is... is Edo Rocket like Haruhi, where episode 1 is utterly unlike any other episode? Or is episode 1 similar to the other episodes, and somehow, Edo Rocket falls in to the category of "everyone likes it except me"?
Your comparison of Rocket with episode one of Haruhi made me realize why I liked both of them, and Bartender as well. They're all "theatrical" rather than realistic. Haruhi starts with an obvious home movie that you come to realize is being made by the characters themselves. In Bartender the characters often talk directly to the audience or play the role of a "Greek chorus" explicating the events around them. At times the director also makes use of staging and lighting effects which enhance the theatrical quality of the show. Oh! Edo Rocket is littered with ridiculously anachronistic jokes like the existence of trains, TVs, and blogs in Edo Japan. The characters often make "self-aware" jokes that indicate they know they're in an anime. One of my favorites is
Spoiler:

Another example is the episode where the main characters complain they're not in the script for that week. Since the show is derived from a stage play, you can see where theatrical aspects come into play.

Just so you won't think I like the show only for this kind of heady stuff, I also became quite attached to the characters and concerned about their fates. That's usually the number one motivation that keeps me watching a series. I'll give the author room on the story if he or she can make me care about the characters.

How do you feel about shows like Twelve Kingdoms? Dennou Coil? Mononoke? Monster? Noein? Are these among my favorite shows? Yes. Do I think they all have flaws? Of course. Do I expect everyone will like them because I do? No, but I do think they're worth investigating, especially by the seemingly large array of people here who rarely venture outside one or two genres.

Oh, and I thought the score for Oh! Edo Rocket was one of the best I heard all last year.

Wirbelwind8 2008-02-03 01:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goofus Maximus (Post 1377462)
GACK!!! He beat me to it! BARTENDER FOR THE WIN!!!

Has everyone heard of Last Exile? I just stumbled upon that one myself, and it is such a good series, there's no way it wasn't popular...

Not to be useless in this thread, but I thought Last Exile was very popular :confused:


and I second on Saber Cherry Twelve Kingdoms. Very good show I must say, and ironically has not been heard of by much.

Phantasmagoria 2008-02-03 02:01

Kekkaishi (Elsewhere outside of Japan)
Simoun

qtipbrit 2008-02-03 02:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deus ex Digital Boy (Post 1377366)
From the past year, Baccano! was the best that barely anyone watched, right now few people seen to be watching Hatenko Yugi or Hakaba Kitarou which are both excellent (and my two favorites of the season). Um... but yeah, Baccano!

If you want to smething older that is rare to see these days, go watch Space Adventure COBRA.

I agree very much with your statements, from the few people I had heard from who had seen Baccano!, it was a great series, but very few had heard of it (me included.)

Your statement of Hatenko Yugi is also true, from the few episodes that have aired, it's been a very interesting series, and reminds me a lot of Kino's Journey, which is also very understated. Not many have seen either of these, but they deserve much more recognition.

I also noticed ef - A Tale of Memories as your favourite.
I think we can be friends. :D

Saber Cherry 2008-02-03 02:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei (Post 1377684)
I think you and I just have very different tastes.

Sounds like it. Of course, there is room in the world for different tastes, too :)

Quote:

How do you feel about shows like Twelve Kingdoms? Dennou Coil? Mononoke? Monster? Noein?
Great; have not seen but expect it to be good; have not seen but expect it to be bad; awesome at first, but less good as time went on; excellent.

I like anime from every genre (except hentai and shounen ai, I suppose). But I have a pretty narrow tolerance for music - aside from OPs/EDs, music I don't like (including rap, jazz, and abuse of engrish) is one strike against an anime, extremely surrealistic art is another, and I have a sort of "two major flaws and you're out" policy, unless it as an absolute masterpiece otherwise. Hmm, maybe I'm intolerant:heh:


Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantasmagoria (Post 1377766)
Kekkaishi

Kekkaishi is hardly unknown, but it should probably be more popular than it is. Unfortunately, it is hard to define in a genre. In the suggestions forum, people can ask for "romance", "comedy", "action", "high-school", "dark", "happy", "mystery", "fantasy", "epic", "masterpiece", "depressing", "uplifting", "sports", "crime", "war", sci-fi", "mecha", "martial arts", and so forth... and really, it does not fit any of these categories, so it is hard to recommend. It is probably my #1 most anticipated weekly(ish) release now, but it somehow never seems like the correct suggestion!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantasmagoria (Post 1377766)
Simoun

Unfortunately, like Kekkaishi, it is hard to categorize. Simoun is usually recommended to people looking for yuri (which it really isn't), so again, I'll have to say it is an unfortunate case of a very good (but again, not masterpiece-level) anime relegated to obscurity because it has no clear genre.

Ichihara Asako 2008-02-03 02:58

One of my favourite series that almost nobody has ever heard of, is Hyper Police. Ten years old now, pre-digisubbing scene, so naturally very unknown among the modern anime crowd.

For more recent, underrated stuff, I'd have to say both Mushishi and Dennou Coil (both are in the same league in my books) though gaining some popularity due to regular recommendations from folk here ^^;

Though at the top of my underrated/unappreciated list is Yomigaeru Sora (Rescue Wings) which is a truly excellent drama, that is highly unknown, sadly. Froth-Bite did an excellent job subbing it, too. Also still unlicensed and listed here on Suki. I know drama series don't often get much love in general, especially among the younger anime crowd who are all in to action, fanservice and mecha, but it really is an unmissable show I think anybody should be able to appreciate in some aspect or another.

KholdStare 2008-02-03 04:00

I'm going to say Kite even though some of you will hate me for it. I think it's a wonderful story with invigorating action. I understand that most people won't watch this because of its age rating, but I think it's worth it.

Then there's _summer, which is just overall two good short episodes that leads nowhere. It is a mix of slice of life and romance that's just perfect in my opinion. It's one of the rare anime where I don't mind childhood friends.

Spectacular_Insanity 2008-02-03 04:01

About what some people have suggested....

Dennou Coil: I've seen a couple episodes, and I'm not really impressed. I can't tell if this is supposed to be a Matrix rip-off or some other kind of futuristic sci-fi, but the elements I did like have been in other anime and done better. It didn't help that most of the events gonig on were completely unexplained for too long. While it wasn't bad, neither did it make me think "oh my god I have to see the next episode". Unless an anime tempts me to stay up too late every night watching it, it's average at best.

Same goes for Kekkaishi. I've watched 28 episodes, and while it is an okay anime, it is average. In every way possible. Storyline, characters, all immediately made me think, "meh, I've seen better". Again, while it's not bad, I wouldn't rate it as "must see", because as I said, it just average, and frankly has too many boring anime character archetypes. It has good animation and effects in its favor, but I kind of dropped it after a while because I just got bored with it because it didn't bring anything new to the table for anime. Five years ago it would have been great, but since then I've seen other shows that do what Kekkaishi does but better.

One anime I will support is Baccano!. It has immortal characters, evil bad guys, and a plot so twisted and convoluted spanning so many years that you can't help but be enthralled by way the whole thing ties together. While I typically don't like confusing storylines (complicated and confusing are different), I had some friends explaining things to me as we watched it, which helped a lot. Very good anime with excellent quality animation and a huge cast of characters.

NightSamurai 2008-02-03 04:23

Definitely going to say Kiba, I am surprised at how few people have heard of this, especially considering it is among the best shounen action/fantasy anime out there, some sweet characters, great progression, and the story itself can actually get rather deep and meaningful at times.

Another great one very few people have heard of is this anime Naruto, it is about the struggles of one little boy to become a great ninja. You will probably have a hard time finding episodes to watch this one, however, but it will be worth your time to do so.

Spectacular_Insanity 2008-02-03 04:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightSamurai (Post 1377914)
Another great one very few people have heard of is this anime Naruto, it is about the struggles of one little boy to become a great ninja. You will probably have a hard time finding episodes to watch this one, however, but it will be worth your time to do so.

Uh, actually, I'd say that is probably one of the most well known anime out there, with One Piece and Bleach. If someone hasn't heard of Naruto..... :uhoh:


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