Anime Underrated anime

[Dagger]

Actually, I've always thought that Gravitation is severely underrated. Although the show's artwork and animation are far from fantastic, it's still one of the best romantic comedies in anime. With likeable characters, catchy music, a spectacular vocal cast, and the perfect balance of angst and humor, Gravitation compares favorably with most popular series (such as Fruits Basket).

In my opinion, it also makes better use of super-deformation than any other anime. For example, Rurouni Kenshin's characters go into SD mode at the most inappropriate moments possible, completely destroying the show's dramatic tension. Fruits Basket is somewhat better in this regard, but its director often relies on bizarre facial expressions--rather than wit--to get laughs. Gravitation, on the other hand, uses super-deformation to surprise the audience and poke gentle fun at its characters. Since the whole show is pretty over-the-top, this works very well and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Despite Gravitation's controversial subject matter (it deals primarily with the trials and tribulations of a homosexual couple), I feel that almost anyone could enjoy watching this show. I personally was introduced to it by a straight male friend, which just goes to show the power of its appeal.

~Dagger~

[Guest rttocs77]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Dagger IX1 [/i]
[B]Actually, I've always thought that Gravitation is severely underrated. [/B][/QUOTE]

Wow! I love Gravitation. It is a very good (short) series. I had a really hard time tracking it down, where on earth did you get your hands on it?! :cool:

[XxmagentaxX]

Gravitation is going to be so popular when it comes out later this year... Im dreading it. but hey now I can have a better chance of getting my hands on a kumagoru plushie.

I also love Dragon half. I bought it a few months ago.

There is this really cute little OVA put out be Anime Works called Elf Princess Rane. It's funny and totally adorable and underrated. No one knows about it. my friend bought it at Anime Expo and it was great! it anyone likes pointless OVA's then I totally reccomend it.

[Dagger]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by XxmagentaxX [/i]
[B]Gravitation is going to be so popular when it comes out later this year... Im dreading it. but hey now I can have a better chance of getting my hands on a kumagoru plushie.[/B][/QUOTE]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Gravitation's North American (if that's what you mean by "here") release is going to take place in 2004? I ran several searches online, but couldn't find any Gravitation-related news. I hate to keep bothering you, but could you possibly provide some more information regarding when it's coming out? If you don't wish to venture further off-topic, please PM me. This is obviously very exciting news, and I'd love to hear more about it. ^_^

~Dagger~

[XxmagentaxX]

April 2004
They announced it at Anime Expo and there is an ad in the latest issue of Newtype...

But anyway back on topic i thought of something else....
Violinest of hamelin... it hasn't come stateside yet. But it is soooo good! Everyone should see it! great animation, great music and awesome little plot twists

[Dagger]

Pretear is either underrated or undeservedly obscure. Its fluid animation, likeable heroine, and attractive character designs all serve to make it the best "magical girl" show I've ever seen (except perhaps for Shamanic Princess).

Many recent series, such as RahXephon, have emphasized pastel hues rather than using bold primary colors. Pretear carries this trend to an extreme by restricting its palette to soft, incredibly beautiful shades of stronger, brighter hues. Its backgrounds are mostly rendered in muted watercolors, yet they seem remarkably dynamic and perfectly complement Pretear's uniformly pretty characters.

This series is fresh, funny, and unabashedly shoujo in nature. It's also far from stereotypical, and really brings something new to the genre. For example, Pretear's main character, a girl named Himeno, must work with a group of seven "Knights of Leafe" into order to save the world. Despite the fact that these Knights are all male, only one or two of them show any romantic interest in our heroine. Better yet, they aren't all angsty teenagers--some are in their early twenties and some are scarcely out of diapers.

Because I'm a big fan of fairy tales, I enjoyed seeing how Pretear combined and changed a number of classic European stories (such as Snow White and Cinderella). I can't wait to finish watching it.

~Dagger~

[XxmagentaxX]

*claps for Pretear*

I love Pretear .... 7 pretty boys!!! What could be better then that? Hayate....
I need to finish watching it... I got up to episode 7 or so... I like it alot though

[JC Goodwin]

Proably the most underated anime ive seen is riding been it had a great story line and good animation for its time althought it was meant to be a series the director fell out wit the producing company and only one episode was made

[PWNED]

I would have to say that Neia under 7 and Vision of Escaflowne which are both good yet you rarely see good reviews of it.

[Rockstar Haruko]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but Ninja Cadets! Someone let me borrow a tape of the Ninja Cadets and I absolutely loved it. Not only is the animation a plus, but also is the action. The only problem was that no one had heard of it. I finally found the DVD and I bought it. My next mission is finding the soundtrack, but that probably won't be an easy task.

[XxmagentaxX]

OMG!! I forgot about ninja cadets!!
I rented it a few years ago and love it!! that one guy in it with the brown hair was pretty.... I wish that they would have finished it. it had a good setup and everything.

[Rockstar Haruko]

Finish? I didn't know it wasn't finished. I thought it was a two-part series. What else is supposed to happen? Wasn't there two brown-haired guys? The questions! They never end!!!

[hawke3000]

Anyone ever heard of Bakuen(or combustible) Campus Guardress?It's one of the funniest animes I have ever seen. Another really good series would be Blazing Transfer Student. Also very funny.

[Dagger]

Okay, so Avenger isn't exactly "underrated," considering that it's shaping up to be one of the biggest hits of spring 2004. I just thought I'd spread the word and help this show along the road to fame. ^_~

Avenger was created by Bee Train, the same studio which made Noir and .hack//SIGN. While I don't care much for .hack//SIGN, I feel that Bee Train is finally starting to come into its own--and it shows. Artistically, Avenger's character designs borrow heavily from Bee Train's other popular series, but are also more complex and visually engaging. Its music, like .hack//SIGN's, is incredible. I'd go so far as to claim that Avenger's soundtrack is on par with Cowboy Bebop's, and that's saying a lot.

Avenger takes place on Mars, in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic sort of setting. The cities are covered by vast domes (which bring The Big O to mind), and red dust swirls through the air outside. I can't quite explain why, but Avenger feels different from most science-fiction shows. Its mood, atmosphere and world are surprisingly innovative.

One of the best things about this show is its heroine, a girl named Layla Ashley. Amusingly enough, it took me a good fifteen minutes to realize that she isn't male. Although her body is decidedly feminine, she looks pretty androygynous, and acts like your usual anime anti-hero. But because that type of behavior is coming from a young woman, it's not at all cliched. Layla bears no resemblance to Hollywood's femme fatales; when she fights, she excels as a fighter rather than as a female.

In other words, go watch Avenger [i]right now[/i]. I think that pretty much sums it up. ;P

~Dagger~

[Dan Rugh]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by xXchaosfaerieXx [/i]
[B]I kinda liked Android Kikaider (they showed it on CN a few months ago). Even though it was really old and only had 12 episodes, I enjoyed it. The plot was very interesting, and the ending actually made me cry. It's kinda weird tho, that it was based on a Power Rangers type of show from like the 60's... o_O Anyway, once I got past the unusual animation, it was one of my favorites for a short time. The ending song is catchy... ^^ The last episode was so surprising... I can't believe I cried!!! I've only cried twice while watching anime. The last episode of Cowboy Bebop, and the last episode of Kikaider... I'm weird... [/B][/QUOTE]

I agree. Android Kikaider: The Animation is a very underrated show. Although it was on Adult Swim, still, most people hated it. It is actually one of my favorite anime out of everything I've seen. People see the drawing style and turn away, not seeing the full potential of Kikaider. Adding to that, Kikaider 01 was a very good 4 episode OVA.

I've corrected many people on this, but Kikaider is not an old anime. It was made in 2001.

[size=1][i]Happy 500th post! I have finally achieved Member Status after 11 months.[/i][/size]

[craig8429]

SpeedRacer. I know almost everyone has heard the name, but its so underrated, about 85% of the people I know don't even consider this anime which it is.

Also its hints about the creators thoughts of americans just made it a funny series....


Also I add its under rated because most people blow it off forgetting it >_<

[Oukan05]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by xXchaosfaerieXx [/i]
[B]I kinda liked Android Kikaider (they showed it on CN a few months ago). Even though it was really old and only had 12 episodes, I enjoyed it. The plot was very interesting, and the ending actually made me cry. It's kinda weird tho, that it was based on a Power Rangers type of show from like the 60's... o_O Anyway, once I got past the unusual animation, it was one of my favorites for a short time. The ending song is catchy... ^^ The last episode was so surprising... I can't believe I cried!!! I've only cried twice while watching anime. The last episode of Cowboy Bebop, and the last episode of Kikaider... I'm weird... [/B][/QUOTE]


I agree, Kikador is a cool show. It became underrated to me when I first saw it at a convention last year. I thought it was one of those 1980's or such shows. Sure it really was a short series though, but it's pretty cool. I got excited when it came on Cartoon Network. At the convention, I love the ending theme "Looking for a Destiny;" it's depressing but cool. The ending is depressing I can tell you that; now that's drama. I didn't cry though; all I felt was not smilling for hours or maybe a day or two. It touched my heart big time.

Yeah, Kikador is alright!:)

[XxmagentaxX]

About Ninja Cadets... it was a short OVA which was 2 episodes and it had this terrible cliff hanger. It wasn't supposed to be finished because it was just an OVA but still it would have been nice to see a conclusion

I thought of another one..
Shinesmen... I dont think anyone has heard of it... But its this really weird little OVA about really stupid super heros... it has really bad jokes that everyone gets. But its funny if you have nothing better to do.

[Semjaza]

An anime no one ever really talks about is Nadia: Secret of Blue Water. It got some name recognition when anime nerds complained that Disney's Atlantis ripped it off, but that's about it.

I really love Nadia. It's light hearted and fun, but can get serious at times. It has pretty much everything in it that I like to see in an animated series. My only complaint is the dub, because yet again you have a hero who can't keep their accent straight.

DBZ being mentioned in an [i]underrated[/i] thread melts my brain. Even ignoring the fact that I am not into the show, it's literally everywhere and hugely successful. How is that underrated?

[Dagger]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Dan Rugh [/i]
[B]I agree. Android Kikaider: The Animation is a very underrated show. Although it was on Adult Swim, still, most people hated it. It is actually one of my favorite anime out of everything I've seen. People see the drawing style and turn away, not seeing the full potential of Kikaider. Adding to that, Kikaider 01 was a very good 4 episode OVA.[/B][/QUOTE]

Android Kikaider has decent animation, and some of its episodes are extremely well scripted. However, I was incredibly disappointed by its ending, which fails to provide the audience with a decent sense of closure.

For almost a week after I watched Kikaider's last episode, I remained convinced that I'd missed [i]something[/i]--some kind of uber-significant detail which would explain why its storyline had stopped so abruptly. It's a shame; if Kikaider did a better job of wrapping things up, I might really have come to like it. The show's character designs never bothered me, and I enjoyed its music.

Oh well.

EDIT: Heh, I completely forgot to mention my original point. Yes, Kikaider is underrated, if only because many people refuse to give it a chance.

~Dagger~

[2010DigitalBoy]

We did overrated last week and came up with a great veriety of too bad to be so good animes, but what about shows that are too good to be so bad?

For instance, a while ago I bought the Soul Hunter Complete Collection. It was really good, though one or two episodes were a little corny, but overall I enjoyed it. The thing that gets me is, no one Ive spoken to, in real life or on websites, thats even heard of it, except my friend who recently became an otaku and bought it right after me.

Another is Generator Gawl. This was a great series, but I never hear anyone talk about it. I heard abou it from this lowly popular website, where this guy wouldnt shut up about it so I got it and liked it a lot!

[Meggido]

I'm not sure if I've got what you meant by underrated, but where I'm from I would have to say.Hack//Sign was underrated. Myself and three others are the only people I know who have heard of and watch the series. I stumbled across the website whilst looking for anime shows.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I'm not surprised no one's mentioned one of my personal favourites, NaruTaru, seeing as no one seems to have heard of it, and those who have think it is entirely like the first episode. (No one will ever know what is with the first episode of NaruTaru, but I guess it filters away alot of fans. *sigh*)

This series may not have "gorgeous" animation or character designs (though I'm rather partial to Shiina's hair, myself^^), but is extremely--[i]extremely[/i]--thought-provoking and, well, disturbing.

It's a great show that I love dearly and try and force people to watch whenever I get the chance. Sadly, alot of folks get bored after an ep or two. Losers.

Another series that no one seems to have heard of (or if they have, watch) is Paranoia Agent. In fact, I do believe that every fan of Paranoia Agent I have ever met, online or off, was introduced to the title by none other than Godel, herself.

Even. Skippedry. *gasps of shock and horror*

I haven't noticed any discussion involving this series, aside from that of one or two fans who have been fans for a while, and no one ever seems to mention having started downloading it of late.

I don't know why, seeing as it has realistically "gorgeous" (that word always sounds silly to me for some, reason : / ) animation and a plot that makes your brain hurt.

People ought to subject their minds to random spurts of incomprehensibility more often; it keeps you from going senile early, I imagine.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Dagger]

*grins* I still owe you for that one.

PA is currently receiving a ton of hype (and deservedly so) in other circles, but few people here have heard of or seen it. Hopefully that will change once the first volume finally hits DVD; Satoshi Kon's name may end up drawing in a lot of casual fans.

[b]Nightwalker[/b], while certainly not the most brilliant show ever created, is surprisingly engaging and well-written. A twelve-episode vampire anime released over two discs, it has fantastic dialogue and a superb dub. The script is packed with hilarious double entredres, and the characters' banter make it a ton of fun to watch even when the storyline sags. Nightwalker generally manages to strike a good balance between sly comedy and the obligatory bloody fights.

It feels very much like a product of the 90's, and I mean that in the best way possible.

~Dagger~

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Has any one mentioned Shingetsutan Tsukihime yet?

I discovered this series by downloading the file with the most tongue-twisting name on AnimeSuki.

It's a 12-epper that was based on a hentai video game, revolving around the life of an amnesiac teenager named Shiki.

Few vampire stories manage to be nicely berreft of [typical] angst, and few series manage to completely avoid the weak, slutty female characters in their entirety.

Great show. You watch [i]now[/i].

^_~[/FONT][/COLOR]