Underrated Anime

[KennedyKiller]

So, for all the anime nerds out there, what are some you've seen that are, in your mind, underrated. The ones you feel people haven't seen, or don't talk about enough. What do you recommend and why? List as many as you want...I'll go with a top 5 myself.

5. Planet of the Beast King - Short, at only 13 episodes, and has a *LOT* of twists for something with such a short total runtime. Came out the same year as Naruto in the west, 2005, so was probably just completely overshadowed.

4. Beck - Probably my second favorite anime of all time, and I feel like NO ONE'S heard of it. Maybe I'm wrong...It's a really simple premise. Sh*tty local Japanese band trying to make it big in the music industry. It's not an optimistic tale. Nor is it dark and depressing. It's just...a realistic portrayal of the local music scene.

3. Gunsmith Cats - Ok...From Realistic to *completely* over the top. This anime is from '95 and only lasted three episodes before being cancelled. A damn shame, because it's such a fun premise. Two badass cute girls who run an illegal gunshop get forced into helping a detective catch a criminal, or he rats them out about their illegal store. It's just a fun, blow 'em up, buddy cop romp with two strong females, reminiscent of something we'd see in a cheesy 80's flick.

2. The Irresponsible Captain Tylor - Another throwback, from '93, this 26 episode anime is about a lazy, good for nothing, who accidentally becomes the captain of the strongest military ship in space. Or...is it? The show is so well done because you never know if he's an idiot with EXTREMELY good luck, or if he's actually a genius who just plays dumb. If you took the concept of Star Wars space battles, and made it a series, but a comedy with engaging story, you have Irresponsible Captain Tylor.

1. Suikoden: Demon Century - An anime movie that, while nothing substantial in terms of plot, is just a lot of fun. Japan is now a wasteland because an earthquake wrecked their sh*t. Place gets taken over by mobs and gangs. Girl gets kidnapped by said mob. And now her brother is going to trash walk through the post apocalyptic mafia to get her back. Just a fun movie if you like anime, and wanna watch something short that you've never seen before.

Anyway, that's my list! What about you guys!? I'm interested to hear about what you consider underrated and recommend folks watch!

 

[KevinStriker]

Fist of the North Star, my favourite shonen which is criminally underexposed in the United States despite legendary status in Japan and Italy. Only really known for internet memes. Beginning as a typical "rescue the kidnapped girlfriend/fiancee/wife" story, it quickly changes gears when Kenshiro's own goals shift from that of petty revenge to becoming saviour of a world left devastated by nuclear war and the resulting wasteland plagued by bandits, rogue martial artists and different empires clamouring for power over the remaining survivours.

Midori Days, a slice of life comedy about a deliquent with a heart of gold named Seiji who resents brawling because it's making things rather difficult for him to get a girlfriend, lamenting that he'll only have his right hand for a girlfriend. But the irony gods heard his cry when he wakes up one morning to discover that his right hand has been replaced by a girl named Midori, a girl from a different high school who had a crush on him from afar. With a premise like that, you may expect it to be overly pervy, but while it does indulge a little, you also have a series that has a lot of heart as Seiji learns to love Midori and see that having a girlfriend is not a status symbol or a metric of his worth.

And speaking of Gunsmith Cats (and of '80s cheese), the character of Rally Vincent is actually from a 1989 OVA called Riding Bean, where she acts as markswoman as well as domestic partner for the Bean Bandit, a getaway driver for hire who would appear in a minor role Gunsmith Cats.
Riding Bean feels like a two-part episode of a series you didn't see the beginning of, being well established as a driver already, while the OVA centres on Bean being framed for the kidnapping and ransom of a rich man's daughter and attempting to clear his own name and find the real perpetrators responsible. Not your typical cargo...

 

[KennedyKiller]

And speaking of Gunsmith Cats (and of '80s cheese), the character of Rally Vincent is actually from a 1989 OVA called Riding Bean, where she acts as markswoman as well as domestic partner for the Bean Bandit, a getaway driver for hire who would appear in a minor role Gunsmith Cats.
Riding Bean feels like a two-part episode of a series you didn't see the beginning of, being well established as a driver already, while the OVA centres on Bean being framed for the kidnapping and ransom of a rich man's daughter and attempting to clear his own name and find the real perpetrators responsible. Not your typical cargo...

Holy sh*t! You're the only person other than myself that I've ever seen knows Riding Bean!

 

[KevinStriker]

Saw clips of it used in a music video years ago (2010) and thought it looked pretty cool. I didn't pony up the cash for the limited edition Blu-ray or anything, but the DVD I've got is delightfully early 2000s.

Do you know my other two picks?

 

[KennedyKiller]

Saw clips of it used in a music video years ago (2010) and thought it looked pretty cool. I didn't pony up the cash for the limited edition Blu-ray or anything, but the DVD I've got is delightfully early 2000s.

Do you know my other two picks?

Fist of the North Star I know. I have not seen it. I have an old Roommate who loved it. It's one I plan to watch.

Midori Days...That one I'm at a loss.

 

[KevinStriker]

Fist of the North Star I know. I have not seen it. I have an old Roommate who loved it. It's one I plan to watch.

Midori Days...That one I'm at a loss.

Midori Days really is something.

Spoiler

The bloopers from the old MediaBlasters DVDs are on YouTube right now, and bloopers are always great.

 

[Rain611]

So I don't really have much to offer this thread because I've never really been very big into anime but my husband watches it so we got Crunchy Roll and I've been trying to find animes I might like. So far I've found 4 or so that I like and there's a couple more that are tolerable. I'm looking for more to really enjoy but I find it difficult because I'm not a fan of the art style in general so the story has to be especially engaging to me in order to overlook the art styles typical of anime. That being said, as someone who doesn't particularly even like anime (though I'm trying), I very much enjoyed:

Kado : The Right Answer

I actually stole my sig quote from the English dub of this, though I enjoy the Japanese version more. In a nutshell, it's about Shindo, who is a negotiator. He, along with his co-worker and a plane full of people are seemingly crushed under what you later learn to be Kado, an other dimensional craft that was being 'piloted' if you will by Yahakui ZaShunina, a mysterious being who offers a slew of futuristic advancements to mankind. I feel that this series has a bittersweet ending because I level greatly with ZaShunina's ways of thinking and I am drawn to his character because of this. I won't say anymore though, as to not spoil anything. This is easily my favorite anime that I've managed to sit through and I've wanted to buy it on Blu Ray but haven't found it.

Death Note

So.... Do I really have to explain this one? Lol. It was very smart and not too over the top (like Season 2 which I didn't care for). And the potato chip scene. Ha. Anyways, I do actually own this on DVD.

Cells At Work

This is a great show. It does a good job teaching about all kinds of bodily processes and functions while making the viewer familiar with different types of cells in the body. The main character is a red blood cell and the support character is a white blood cell. It's way more interesting than it sounds and I believe its getting an English dub soon.

As for the ones I can sit through but don't go out of my way to watch:

Ghost in the Shell (this one is kind of in between because I really liked the original anime feature film but Stand Alone Complex is kinda meh for me)
Rurouni Kenshin
God Eater
Attack on Titan
Just about any of the tcg animes can generally keep my attention (YuGiOh, Cardfight!!, Etc) as well as Pokemon. Not so into Digimon.

Are there any animes that you guys would recommend I try watching based on my list?

 

[KennedyKiller]

So I don't really have much to offer this thread because I've never really been very big into anime but my husband watches it so we got Crunchy Roll and I've been trying to find animes I might like. So far I've found 4 or so that I like and there's a couple more that are tolerable. I'm looking for more to really enjoy but I find it difficult because I'm not a fan of the art style in general so the story has to be especially engaging to me in order to overlook the art styles typical of anime. That being said, as someone who doesn't particularly even like anime (though I'm trying), I very much enjoyed:

Kado : The Right Answer

I actually stole my sig quote from the English dub of this, though I enjoy the Japanese version more. In a nutshell, it's about Shindo, who is a negotiator. He, along with his co-worker and a plane full of people are seemingly crushed under what you later learn to be Kado, an other dimensional craft that was being 'piloted' if you will by Yahakui ZaShunina, a mysterious being who offers a slew of futuristic advancements to mankind. I feel that this series has a bittersweet ending because I level greatly with ZaShunina's ways of thinking and I am drawn to his character because of this. I won't say anymore though, as to not spoil anything. This is easily my favorite anime that I've managed to sit through and I've wanted to buy it on Blu Ray but haven't found it.

Death Note

So.... Do I really have to explain this one? Lol. It was very smart and not too over the top (like Season 2 which I didn't care for). And the potato chip scene. Ha. Anyways, I do actually own this on DVD.

Cells At Work

This is a great show. It does a good job teaching about all kinds of bodily processes and functions while making the viewer familiar with different types of cells in the body. The main character is a red blood cell and the support character is a white blood cell. It's way more interesting than it sounds and I believe its getting an English dub soon.

As for the ones I can sit through but don't go out of my way to watch:

Ghost in the Shell (this one is kind of in between because I really liked the original anime feature film but Stand Alone Complex is kinda meh for me)
Rurouni Kenshin
God Eater
Attack on Titan
Just about any of the tcg animes can generally keep my attention (YuGiOh, Cardfight!!, Etc) as well as Pokemon. Not so into Digimon.

Are there any animes that you guys would recommend I try watching based on my list?

Definitely good choices. I kinda find Attack on Titan too over the top, so I get why you wouldn't go out of your way to watch it. Also, when it comes to animation style, I both get what you mean and don't. There's so many different art styles in anime in general. Like, my signature is an anime. And it looks VERY different artistically than something like Cells at Work or Kado. In fact, I don't like Kado's art style at all. Because it's kind of...Generic, as far as anime goes. As opposed to something like Carole and Tuesday, which I'll leave a picture of, looking VERY different. It's still anime though. So....I guess as a whole, anime art styles are like sushi. There's a lot of different kinds, and not all are gonna be good XD. So I get it.

As for anime I think you'd like based off of your list? I have a couple ideas. And if they aren't on Crunchyroll and you need a way to watch 'em, lemme know.

91 Days - Takes place in the 1930's prohibition era. A kids parents are murdered by the mafia, so he grows up, joins them, and works his way through the ranks to kill the people who murdered his family. Watch the english dub because the 1930's mobster accents are to die for. They are done so well. It's only about 12 episodes.

Kids on the Slope - It seems like you watch a lot of...Unrealistic stuff...But if you want a break from that, this is an interesting one. It's about a shy kid in school in 1960's Japan. He's timid, weak, and gets bullied. Until one day he and the bully find out they're both musicians. He, a jazz drummer, and the main kid, a classically trained pianist. And the shows turns into the bully teaching the kid to break out of his shell and learn jazz piano. Also only 12 episodes. Completely grounded in reality.

Supernatural - If you like the TV show, a lot of fans I've found don't realize it actually had an anime released between seasons (I believe) 3 and 4. It's actually really awesome. Blends anime tropes and the style of the show REALLY well. Only downside is, while Jared Padelecki does voice Sam, Jensen Ackles only voices Dean in the later episodes, because he was working on a movie while it was being made. If you don't care for the show Supernatual, you may still enjoy it, but you wouldn't have much context. Just like a regular season of the show, it's 22 episodes.

Psycho-Pass - This is the last one I'll recommend, because it's the most like anything on your above list. If you like Death Note and Kado, I assume it's because of how well written and intelligent they are...I'd be willing to bet it's the psychological and philosophical implications of them that really make you love 'em. And Psycho-Pass, to me, is the ultimate psychological anime. Basically, it takes place in the not too distant future, where rather than the police responding to crimes, a computer surveillance system constantly monitors the brainwaves and mental state of it's inhabitants. Crime is basically zero...because if they're a POTENTIAL criminal, as decided on by this computer system monitoring them, the police go take them out. Because they're "Latent Criminals." I highly recommend it. Very morally and psychology driven. This one has 22 episodes in season 1. I haven't seen season 2.

Oh, and because I was talking about animation styles being different earlier, tell me what you think of this one.

 

[Rain611]

That style isn't the most pleasing to look at imo but there are others that I've seen that I disliked far more lol. And thanks for the recommendations. I'll have to look into them on my next day off.

 

[KennedyKiller]

That style isn't the most pleasing to look at imo but there are others that I've seen that I disliked far more lol. And thanks for the recommendations. I'll have to look into them on my next day off.

If you end up watching any of those, lemme know what you think!

 

[jordynmcmillan]

i suggest you to watch Meng Qi Shi Shen which one the most underrated anime there are also many underrated anime lik Meng Qi Shi Shen you can check them here