Anime Underatted and overated animes

[Dagger]

[quote name='Roflocopter][size=1][color=darkred] If people say It is one of the best anime's of all time, they are not overexagerrating, the sales of the Evangelion Dvd's and merchandise are proof.[/size'][/color][/quote]
You're treading on dangerous ground here. If this were the case, then Yu-Gi-Oh, Saint Seiya, Pretty Cure and the various incarnations of Dragonball would automatically rank among the best anime of all time. However, thanks for pointing out that the similarities between RahXephon and Evangelion are primarily superficial.

I like Evangelion's ending better than the rest of the show put together, personally. But maybe that's just me. Seriously, though, if you think about the kind of expectations created by Eva's most rabid fans, it becomes clear that no series (no matter how amazing it might be) could ever live up to them. So people tend to judge it more harshly.

In that sense I still believe it's fair to say that Eva is at least slightly overrated--while there's a vocal segment of anime fans who hate it, that's the case with pretty much any series. They're just more vitriolic than the norm, perhaps in an attempt to balance out the fact that the super hardcore Eva lovers tend to be really fanatical about the show.

~Dagger~

[Roflocopter]

[QUOTE]You're treading on dangerous ground here. If this were the case, then Yu-Gi-Oh, Saint Seiya, Pretty Cure and the various incarnations of Dragonball would automatically rank among the best anime of all time. However, thanks for pointing out that the similarities between RahXephon and Evangelion are primarily superficial.[/QUOTE]

[size=1][color=darkred]Ehh, that was a pretty dumb statement by me, don't really know what I was thinking. Alot of peopel don't say Evangelion has an ending. Even if Evangelion stopped on the first episode, the end of that episode would be the ending. That is a fairly stupid statement (though I do make stupid statements as shown above) to say a series does not have an ending. The ending may have left some people on a cliffhanger, or wondering what in the hell was going to happen next. But there is always End Of Evangelion, for thsoe of you who want a more or the less, "Proper" ending.

At least in the tv series ending everyone is going to be happy. Unlike the ending of The end Of Evangelion, which leaves you sad, disturbed and depressed.

[quote]However, thanks for pointing out that the similarities between RahXephon and Evangelion are primarily superficial[/quote]

Oh, by all means. Rahxephon and Evangelion do not have the same plot. Rahxephon does not even have [b]remotley[/b] the same plot as Evangelion. Sure there are "Angels" in Evangelion, and "Gods" In Raxephon, and there might be a near emotionless girl in both series's, but the similarites stop there.

Alot of people say, well Ayato and Shinji are basically the same. this is not true, Ayato is a lot braver than Shinji, and confronts his fears rather than runs away from them.

As for the actual topic, being' overated and underated anime's, I think .Hack Sign Is pretty overrated. i did not enjoy this series at all. I asked my friend why everyone was soo depressed in this show, and he said they all feel for Tsukasa, but seriously, How can one persons problems make a dozen people be sad, [b]All the frick'ing time[/b]?[/size][/color]

[EVA Unit 100]

[quote name='Dagger']I like Evangelion's ending better than the rest of the show put together, personally. But maybe that's just me. Seriously, though, if you think about the kind of expectations created by Eva's most rabid fans, it becomes clear that no series (no matter how amazing it might be) could ever live up to them.[/quote]

It's just you. Maybe a few others liked the TV ending, but not me. I hated it. Now don't go saying that "Oh, you don't understand it properly!", because I did understand what happened. You want to know what happened? All the characters complained a lot and Shinji decided that the only way to be happy is to live in his dreams and not face the world around him. And they expect us to agree with Shinji and consider it a "happy ending". The first 24 episodes and movies of EVA might have been tragic, but they within all of the doom and decay there was a deep and moving message about how you can make a difference and that while you might not always like the world around you, your decisions on how you live in the world can change it. Whereas the "true series" as we'll call it (as Anno intended it) was a biting criticism of the otaku lifestyle, the TV ending embraces it. Interestingly enough, I agree with the people who say that the two alternate endings are different sides of the same story. The TV ending is trying to put us into Shinji's mind, the movie ending lets us annalyze the events from an outside perspective. Shinji isn't the protagonist of the story of EVA, we are the protagonists! The true series doesn't force us to take sides other than our own on how we follow the story, the TV ending forces us to take Shinji's side. And taking Shinji's side entirely destroys the power of EVA's message.

And by the way, there is a series that lives up to those expectations. That series is called Fullmetal Alchemist. ;)

[Sasuke04]

[QUOTE=r2vq]DBZ started out as Dragon Ball. And although the anime involved a lot of wind blowing, I think the Manga was pretty well done. Actually, I think Akira Toriyama was a great mangaka. The series just doesn't translate very well into TV.
Also, remember how old it is. It [b]was[/b] a phenomenon back in the eighties.


Remember who the target audience is. Your argument for this is just like saying [b]Blue's Clues[/b] sucks because it's always the same. Well, it may suck for you, but it's educational and fun for the kids. [b]Pokémon[/b] is fun for the kids and teaches morals. I just don't think you should go around insulting a series without taking account who it was meant for. If it was meant for children, don't expect it to be Shakespeare.

I do believe there are overrated Anime out there though.

An example is [b]Inuyasha[/b]. I believe the series is overrated by dubbies who believe it's the greatest series in the world. It's an ever lasting journey that never changes, and worst of all, is predictable and boring. >.< But that's my opinion only, I might have to watch more episodes to have a less biased approach.

An underrated anime is [b]Mobile Suit Gundam[/b]. The newer Gundam series, mainly [b]Gundam Wing[/b] and [b]Gundam Seed[/b] are widely accepted by fans because the animation is pretty new. Though, the older series has the same emotional punch (with less soap opera influence) and was good enough to spur a hundred sequels. I think it's biased against because of the animation.

-ArV[/QUOTE]

The whole dragon ball series is gay...well it was good until i learned what good anime was.lol Dragon ball is good while your ten years old.

[Otaku America]

[QUOTE=r2vq]DBZ started out as Dragon Ball. And although the anime involved a lot of wind blowing, I think the Manga was pretty well done. Actually, I think Akira Toriyama was a great mangaka. The series just doesn't translate very well into TV.
Also, remember how old it is. It [b]was[/b] a phenomenon back in the eighties.[/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Navy]It really doesn't matter how "old" an anime is. DBZ is a perfect example of anime trash. I find it hard to believe that you say the series "doesn't translate very well into tv?" From the very start, the manga itself is poorly written. In other words both manga and anime are terrible.[/COLOR] :animedepr

[r2vq]

[quote name='Otaku America][COLOR=Navy']It really doesn't matter how "old" an anime is. DBZ is a perfect example of anime trash..[/COLOR][/quote]

Yeah, DBZ is trash. But I like the older series, Dragon Ball.
And the age of an Anime will affect it a lot. Newer Anime is directed towards you, older Anime isn't. When the movie Batman came out, it was given Four Stars. Some thought it should be "The Movie of the Decade." But when comparing it to Batman Begins, it just doesn't stand. Batman Begins has a much more solid storyline, fight scene, and characterization.
The reason for that is because a different generation expects different things.
This is also why I don't think Akira should be considered overrated.


[quote name='Otaku America][COLOR=Navy]I find it hard to believe that you say the series "doesn't translate very well into tv?" From the very start, the manga itself is poorly written. In other words both manga and anime are terrible.[/COLOR'] :animedepr[/quote]
The manga was based off a legend. And Sasuke04 has a good point.
"[b]Dragon ball is good while your ten years old.[/b]" Remember not only the target audience's perspective, but their age. The series was meant for children and was good at delivering for them.

It wasn't meant to be something sophisticated like Ghost in the Shell. It was what it was supposed to be.

I think the mangaka was great because the angles he used, the details he put in, and the way he differentiated between characters, [b]all with a deadline[/b] displayed such detail and care that should've taken four times as long as it did.

I also say that it doesn't translate well into TV. This is because in the manga, scenes showing a character's face is common. Talking is common. Shots showing one frame of action is also common. It actually flies by pretty fast.
The anime, though, chose to keep these scenes and shots. They made each episode long and tedious with lots of talking and not much movement from each character. Thus, what worked well in the Manga didn't work at all in the Anime.

-ArV

[EVA Unit 100]

[QUOTE=r2vq] Newer Anime is directed towards you, older Anime isn't. When the movie Batman came out, it was given Four Stars. Some thought it should be "The Movie of the Decade." But when comparing it to Batman Begins, it just doesn't stand. Batman Begins has a much more solid storyline, fight scene, and characterization. The reason for that is because a different generation expects different things. This is also why I don't think Akira should be considered overrated.



Remember not only the target audience's perspective, but their age.[/QUOTE]

No, older anime can and should be enjoyable towards newer generations. I personally think that Grave of the Fireflies is better than anything Takahatta has done since then and Gundam Wing can't hold a candle to the original. Also, Batman is an OK movie. Better than Returns, Forever, and lightyears ahead of Robin. Why the reviews made it out to be so much more awesome than it was is simply because people's memories had been tarnished by Adam West's Batman and didn't expect to see anything grittier from Batman outside of his comic book form. If I remember correctly, most diehard comic book fans weren't so keen on the original Batman movie, yet they're completely obsessed with Batman Begins. And if the higher quality and the recentness are somehow linked, remember that Phantasm is one of the best, if not the best Batman movies of all time and it completely clobbered the two Schumacher films in quality, both of which came out a few years after it. So quality and age are not linked, and if anime fans today say that Cowboy Bebop is better than AstroGigantoGatchaVoltronLionRacer, I'd think most anime fans from 30-40 years ago would think the same had Bebop existed back then.

The age of the target audience is an invalid matter in deciding if something has quality or not. Kids are smarter than you think. All of my friends at school (including myself) saw The Matrix in fourth grade and not only liked it, but completely understood it. If that example sounds a bit too specific to make a wide statement, think about this: the Harry Potter books are the most successful books geared towards children. Also, they are 300-900 pages long each and feature intricately described action scenes, political conflict that parallels the real world, an amazingly well thought-out history, a convincing and harsh coming-of-age story, some discussions concerning heavy philosophical issues, some downright disturbing graphic violence, and other stuff that goes against the stereotypicial notion of what is "for kids". And yet nearly all kids love them.

[gundampali23]

I think that scrye is overrated . It had great elements but the storyplot sucked.
Im not saying it is bad but it didnt live up to its potential.

[piccolo]

I would say DBZ is way overrated, though I once loved it. I re-watched it, the plot is not even well-organized. I watched during my late-teenager years, the only reason why I loved it because I used to love DB.

[Otaku America]

[QUOTE=r2vq]Yeah, DBZ is trash. But I like the older series, Dragon Ball.
And the age of an Anime will affect it a lot. Newer Anime is directed towards you, older Anime isn't. When the movie Batman came out, it was given Four Stars. Some thought it should be "The Movie of the Decade." But when comparing it to Batman Begins, it just doesn't stand. Batman Begins has a much more solid storyline, fight scene, and characterization.
The reason for that is because a different generation expects different things.
This is also why I don't think Akira should be considered overrated.[/quote]

[COLOR=Navy]Well, if you read the actual comic books that showed Batman's ultimate weapon which is fear himself, you should have realize that the first Batman movie sucked. All Batman movies sucked until Batman Begins came out. Batman Begins actually felt dreadful and real. Yes, Dragon Ball is way better than DBZ and actually makes chronological sense.

I also believe Akira isn't overrated. The director told a 20+ volume manga story into a 2 hour plus movie, outstanding indeed. Most would argue a tv show would favor Akira, but that's why the manga exist. If Gantz was censored in Japan, than Akira translated into the TV show wouldn't work, an OVA would most likely be suited.[/COLOR]



[QUOTE=r2vq]The manga was based off a legend. And Sasuke04 has a good point.
"[b]Dragon ball is good while your ten years old.[/b]" Remember not only the target audience's perspective, but their age. The series was meant for children and was good at delivering for them.[/quote]

[COLOR=Navy]The manga was based off a legend? How so? If the children were indeed the targeted audience why is it edited? I prefer children to watch something that won't make them stupid, like Sakura: The Cardcaptor. I give props though, to DBZ for having 60 milllion + fans around the world. The thing that makes me ill is that, if DBZ is that mainstream that makes complex anime look like ants to the general public.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=r2vq]It wasn't meant to be something sophisticated like Ghost in the Shell. It was what it was supposed to be.

I think the mangaka was great because the angles he used, the details he put in, and the way he differentiated between characters, [b]all with a deadline[/b] displayed such detail and care that should've taken four times as long as it did.

I also say that it doesn't translate well into TV. This is because in the manga, scenes showing a character's face is common. Talking is common. Shots showing one frame of action is also common. It actually flies by pretty fast.
The anime, though, chose to keep these scenes and shots. They made each episode long and tedious with lots of talking and not much movement from each character. Thus, what worked well in the Manga didn't work at all in the Anime.[/quote]

[COLOR=Navy]You have a very good point. I don't mind watching mindless anime at all but they could do without leaving giant plot holes that 3 year old's can spot. [/COLOR]

[Ailes de Velour]

[quote name='Roflocopter][size=1][color=darkred]As for the actual topic, being' overated and underated anime's, I think .Hack Sign Is pretty overrated. i did not enjoy this series at all. I asked my friend why everyone was soo depressed in this show, and he said they all feel for Tsukasa, but seriously, How can one persons problems make a dozen people be sad, [b]All the frick'ing time[/b]?[/size'][/color][/quote]
[font=arial][color=darkorchid][size=1]It wasn't [b]all the frick'ing time[/b], and the whole cast weren't depressed half the time. Some, like BT, Silver Knight/Ginkan, and Sora never felt bad for Tsukasa at all. If the other characters were ever upset, it was because of the severity of Tsukasa's problem (he was stuck in a game with no way to return to real life) or their own offline problems that made them that way.

You are [i]heartless![/i]

I kid, I kid.

As for overrated anime, everything I considered overrated has all ready been mentioned.[/font][/size][/color]

[botoman]

[QUOTE=Otaku America][COLOR=Navy]
The manga was based off a legend? How so? [/COLOR]
[/QUOTE]
[quote]Son Goku, the central character in the Japanese manga Dragon Ball/ Dragon Ball Z and anime Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT, is partly based on Sun Wukong. Other parallels can be seen in Goku's telescoping staff and Oolong, the shape-changing pig.[/quote]
[URL=http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/s/su/sun_wukong.htm]Source[/URL]

I feel Berserk may be a little underrated, or maybe just unpopular.

[Hobo Bob]

I think Wandaba Style is a bit underated because alot of people never heard of it and i think it is pretty good and you should check it out. For overated definatly DBZ and the shows that u can see on early in the morning like on fox or wb.

[Rick Hunter]

Well as for as underated Animes go, I think stuff like Paranoia Agent, Dear S, and Macross are probably the most underated animes you can find right about now. As far as the overated series go there are quite a few of them. Personally Dragon Ball Z is by far the most overated show, I understand how most fans got hooked on anime because of this show. But in all honesty after seeing all of its incarnations over the last 20 or so years it's getting rather played out, its time that people let these shows die out and move on. But quite recently the most overated show going around in Japan is/was Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny. I don't know how most anime fans bill this as a classic. This series basically rips off most of the other Franchise hits like Gundam Wing, and even Gundam Zeta. Probably the best Gundam series in all purist hearts will always remain as Gundam Zeta.

[Dagger]

[quote name='Rick Hunter']Well as for as underated Animes go, I think stuff like Paranoia Agent, Dear S, and Macross are probably the most underated animes you can find right about now.[/quote]
That's a pretty bizarre selection. I'm really interested in reading about what makes DearS so underrated, actually. By all appearances, it would seem to be a more ecchi version of Chobits (complete with an even more over-the-top version of the teacher from Mahoromatic). :animeswea

~Dagger~

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Ok, yes Dragonball Z was overrated, but I actually liked the manga. YEAH! I'm not afriad to say it! It's actually what made me like anime! I don't really remember it, though, considering I haven't seen it in years, and I like Dragonball a lot better to...

And the whole, Legend-based Dragonball thing, Dragonball Z totally wasn't based on it at all, while a good amount of stuff in DB was. The first chapter of Dragonball was called, "Bloomers and the Monkey King." Son Gokou himself was based on the Monkey King of the same name, and his equipment Nyoibo, the Extending Staff, and Kinto'un, the "Nimbus Cloud," were also used by the Monkey King. I really don't feel like putting more, but I think you get the picture... :animeswea

But I think an underrated manga is "Beet the Vandel Buster," because I don't think I've seen one person mention it since I've been here! Check it out, its good!!![/FONT][/COLOR]

[Guest darknight910]

I find that every overrated anime usually has there own card game along with it. I mean, just look at Yugioh (Sorry to all the fanboys in advance if I spelled it wrong.)

[Sage Kaley]

Ah someone said DBZ is better than Cardcaptor Sakura, a sin in my book but oh well. I'll just say that I don't think by watching it, you become stupid. It happens to be one of my favorite animes.

Everyone pretty much covered DBZ for me so thanks for that. Did anyone else think that Inuyasha is overrated? I still like it and all but I don't think it's anything especially good.

For underrated eh...that's kinda hard but I'll go ahead and say Detective Conan even though it's not that underrated. It has a good solid fanbase but it's not really that popular around here. I think it's a cute, interesting show though and I wish I could figure out more of the crimes before Conan did >_<

[Guest Rudy"Jubei"Yagu]

well 1st of all dbz is overated but its not that bad of a show.... inuyasha is overated as well but i still watch it when i can .... as for underated, Dai-Guard is underated im the only around here that everheard of it but its an awsome anime, and princess mononoke is the all time best and its NOT overated at all it deseves all the fans it can get....

[Killer7]

For me the two big overrated anime are Inuyasha and Trigun. Inuyasha has an extremely repetitive bland story. Come on, many people like it for it's love story, which has been done much better in almost any other romance. The setting is kind of interesting, but they basically make it generic by adding in those darned jewel shards.
Trigun has two main flaws that make it extremely basic. One, the freakin preachiness. Seriously the "I don't kill" and "no one has the right to take another's life" is child stuff. Also the ending was so incredibly anti-climatic. [spoiler]Come on, saving Knives, if Knives turned good that would prove that this show is intellectually empty[/spoiler]

My two underrated anime would have to be Elfen Lied and Onegai teacher. Both are some of the best in thier genre, but very few people actually know of them.

[Dagger]

I think [b]Serial Experiments Lain[/b] is overrated.

It's not that the show doesn't have its good parts. I like the character designs, the OP and the overall creepiness. Some scenes are pretty innovative, and it definitely strives to be different. It doesn't pander to the crowd.

But honestly I just found Lain pretty unenjoyable. It has a fairly straightforward plot, yet I got the sense that the creators were really jumping through hoops to make it as obtuse as possible. The characters, including Lain herself, are pretty flat--which could have worked in a show of this type, but for me it didn't. The pace is frankly agonizing, so much so that when genuinely exciting scenes came along, I felt too sedated to care about what was happening.

I liked the beginning episodes quite a bit, but as the series wore on it became more and more of a chore to watch. Some parts of the ending episode were fantastic--but it, too, dragged on too long and soured on me after a while.

While I can see why some would find Lain appealing, there are much, much better series of that type out there, as far as I'm concerned. I have trouble seeing it as the work of genius that others claim it to be.

~Dagger~

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656448][SIZE=1]I cannot believe that no one's mentioned [b]Galaxy Angels[/b] yet. It is severely underrated in my book. You read that right: [i]underrated[/i].

It's some sort of a joke really, the anime being an extremely entertaining sidedish/junkfood to the chunkier videogame GA universe. Those who have watched the any of the GA series know that it doesn't follow a graspable storyline nor provide a definite conclusion in some episodes, leading it to be dismissed as "utterly pointless" and "a complete waste of time". But truth be told, GA anime was intended to be utterly pointless right from the start. The highly-transformable and logic-deficient place that is the GA universe set the stage for a variety of events and instances that you will not see in other anime.

It went for entertainment value and was more like a revue on 2D than a plot-driven anime, something that made it stand out in a plethora of more serious anime. A breath of fresh air, yeah?[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue]I, personally, think it's a bit strong to say that the Dragon Ball series was trash. It fit the genre it was supposed to: a shounen fighting anime/manga. True, it's gotten way more than enough credit for what it is, but as was said, it was/is loved by several million fans worldwide, even if it is guys screaming and beating each other to death for 25 minutes with a dash of plot added for good measure.

Anyway, getting back to the topic, there are several shows nowadays that are starting to get a bit overrated, Inu-Yasha being the main culprit. Don't get me wrong, I like the series to an extent, but there's only so long one can stand a plotline of:

Good guys: We have jewel shards! Yaysness!

Naraku: I will steal these now with an evil incarnation and/or bad guy troop! *does so and goes into hiding for 30 episodes*

Good guys: Oh noes! :< We must find him and get them back! *chase*

Repeat. Add in a few filler arcs, some random characters and there ya go.

While one aspect of it's fame may be due to the fact that it's by Rumiko Takahashi (who I do have a lot of respect for,) there are some that just take it to a level that's...let's say "annoying."

On the other side of the spectrum, I agree that Paranoia Agent isn't getting enough credit, as well as Haibane Renmei, Magical Shopping Arcade: Abenobashi and a few others. I'm not saying that they're the be all and end all of good anime; there are some aspects of them I don't like. But that's not to say that they should be overlooked, as they're just as good as the well-known stuff, if not better.[/color]

[Katana]

[size=1][color=royalblue]Well, this was fun to explore a little bit.

For underrated anime, I would seriously have to go with [b]Azumanga Daioh[/b] and [b]Kikaider[/b].
Azumanga Daioh is so funny, so great, just so connecting to me, it's a shame that more people don't know about it. It breaks the stereotypical high school anime, and has [i]absolutely no plot what-so-ever[/i]. It was a revolution for high school comedy anime, mainly breaking the barrier that there is a love interest involved.

And c'mon, who couldn't love Osaka? XD

People mentioned earlier how Kikaider was overrated, and that forums everywhere were going "check it out!". I never, ever saw that, even on anime sites. I actually loved Kikaider; it reminded me a lot of .hack, what with the complex storyline. It's been years since I've seen it, though.
Kikaider was made in that Osamu Tezuka style - you know, the one used for Astro Boy, Cyborg 009, Tetsujin28, etc...So it kinda has that classic air around it. Kinda.

Overrated anime? [b]Gundam SEED[/b]. Why is it I can never get into an anime that is hugely awaited by the masses? Maybe it's because I was actually apart of the population that liked G Gundam. More so, maybe it's because I was actually apart of the .1% of people that liked SD Gundam Force. Zero was cute. = =;;

I just could never get into SEED. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I never watched any of the Mobile Suit Gundams. I just didn't like the whole "WAR! WAR! FIGHT! *sobs* Nooo! FIGHT! LASER! *Sob sob* I hate you!" thing.
That, and the whole thing that Kira, as mentioned by that recent article, always bounces back and is seemingly immortal. C'mon.

...'course, that's also like any other action anime...

And I know I'm gonna get my ear ripped off because I insulted SEED. B1t3 m3. - -;;[/color][/size]

[wayofthreversed]

I would have to say that for underrated I would have to go with Haibane Renmei, ninja scroll i only know tree people who have watched around my place Blood the last vampire and fist of the north star for overrated i would say DBZ , and Gundam witch is better than DRZ but it is not the best mecha anime, Escaflowne or Dai-Guard
any one?