Anime Series you never thought you'd love but wound up loving anyway.

[The Tentacle]

Ever come across an anime/manga that was so far away from your usual sphere of interests that you wound up enjoying anyway?  I've come across a few of these in my time.  Here's a short list:

[b]Spice & Wolf[/b] - Not much going on in this series in the way of the knock-down, drag-out action sequences that usually get my blood pumping.  The fact that the male lead is a merchant instead of a warrior is a refreshing change of pace but his journey into the corrupt underbelly of Old World business practices goes totally against my grain.  Yet for some reason I really enjoy this series.  I think it's due mostly in part to the lovely leading lady that puts the Wolf in Spice & Wolf.  Following Holo on her journey across the country with Lawrence has become an unexpected guilty pleasure of mine.

[b]Kino's Journey[/b] - Gulliver's Travels Meets Anime.  That's the only way I can describe this series.  What I can't describe is why I have come to adore it so much.  There's just something about the series' introspective look into some of mankind's quirks that just appeals to me.  Kino herself is so likable as a character as well.  I truly envy her freedom sometimes and wish I could just up and leave my mundane life behind and travel the world like she does.  On the other hand......

[b]Mushishi[/b] - ......I probably wouldn't want to travel the world where Ginko plies his trade.  Those Mushi are just plain creepy.  But watching this series from the safety of my home is a relaxing experience.  Mushishi is, to put it simply, a beautiful series.  The art and music are outstanding and the individual storylines are like a peaceful island in a sea of catgirls, giant robots and badass samurai.  Watching Mushishi is a good way to unwind when I need a change of pace.

[b]Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro[/b] - It's sad but must of you have probably never even heard of this manga.  I'd explain to you what it's about but that's a little hard to do.  There's something about a girl named Kuro trying to track down a witch before the curse that said witch placed upon her ends her life but, for the most part, the series just follows Kuro and her companions around from one town to the next.  It's a slice-of-life sort of series.  Each chapter stands alone and might consist of nothing more than Kuro sharing a cup of tea with a new friend.  It's a whimsical series that, for some reason, I can't put down.

[CaNz]

Naruto, it was ridiculously hyped, the fans are usually annoying as hell, the series takes giant gaps of filler.. not to mention stupid writing like flashbacks of things that happened two seconds ago, bad voice acting, a god awful catchphrase, and many many more... but after a while i came to realize that if you look at every character other than the main team.. you can find pretty good characters, shippuden also seems to have less filler and more answers to plot points i cared about. i am by no means a crazed naruto fan, but i will admit that i love tuning in every week to the streaming websites that air the subtitled new episodes...(especially since now i don't have to hear their stupid voices,

s-CRY-ed, the first few episodes had the main character looking like a blundering buffoon that could only swing his over-sized fist at his problems... and though that doesn't change too much i eventually started to like that about Kazuma. he was kinda like the cool Ichigo in early episodes of bleach. the back up cast was also an interesting bunch. though the plot remained very generic... i think the art style got me. the fight scenes in s-CRY-ed rivaled rurouni kenshin, yu yu hakusho, and other deicent fighting animes in my eyes. I just really enjoyed it and i am glad i stuck with it.. Edited July 25, 2010 by CaNz

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Well..... I have to say I love wedding peach.....

[Nony]

Gurren Lagann.

No really.

Well, it's not that the genre itself isn't my thing. I'm not in love with robots and omgwtfaction, but it doesn't turn me off either. However, the reason I didn't think I'd ever like Gurren Lagann was 'cause the first episode I saw was the hot springs one. Yeah, didn't exactly give me a good impression of the series. On top of that, Yoko; just... yeah, her. I thought her fanservice was so annoying that I'd never watch the show.

Suffice to say, I was wrong. Horribly, delightfully wrong. Gurren Lagann is epic and I love it. I even like Yoko now. <3 Edited July 24, 2010 by Miss Anonymous

[Magus]

I've thought about doing a thread like this once before (along with the opposite take as well) but never got around to do it.

[b]One Piece[/b] - Let's be honest, it's a very ugly series. Yes it has it's moments where stuff can look good, mainly the facial expression/features (except when people cry) but the general premise of the artwork is ugly. And given how I'm all about artwork (first I'm action, then art/animation, then characters) I was throwing this to the side like crazy. Giving the manga a shot I've become a fan of the series mainly because of the characterization. It's really strong compared to other series I've seen in the shonen series.

[b]Hajime no Ippo[/b] - If there's a series with stronger characterization than One Piece it's this one. (Gungrave as well as Yu Yu Hakusho tops OP though, but they're old stuff) I don't care for the sports genre when it comes to anime because a lot of times it just don't seem like it can really do much of anything for me. But given how HnI is action heavy I thought I'd give it a shot. I also didn't think I'd like it because of the old-ish look to it, but that didn't hamper the animation down one bit because movements are nice and smooth though they can repeat a few times. New Challenger almost made me hate the whole series for being so crummy on how Ippo was builded up only to turn out to be so crappy in that one.

[Pleiades Rising]

Though I wouldn't exactly say that I was expecting to not love this series (I had absolutely no preconceptions about it at all), I felt that I had stumbled across something captivating when I first watched [i]Mushishi.[/i] A good friend recommended it to me, and I'm ever thankful that she did! The only thing I knew about the series was its name and how the main character looked. Other than that, I knew next to nothing about it. When I finally watched the first episode . . . I knew and [i]felt[/i] that I was hooked. Almost everything about [i]Mushishi[/i] is beautiful, from the art to the music (I like the reedy sound the Mushi make when moving through the air. It's so haunting, yet wonderful in all senses of the word). [i]Mushishi[/i] is one series that I'm very glad to have seen. Edited July 25, 2010 by Pleiades Rising

[Shinmaru]

I heard many, [i]many[/i] bad things about [b]Gundam Wing[/b], and while it didn't make me jump for joy by the end, I did like it much more than expected. Maybe that's because my expectations were in the basement, haha. But I dunno . . . it's a bit confusing and dumb, sometimes, but anyone familiar with [b]Gundam[/b] (especially the various TV series) can tell you that each series has a bit of confusing and dumb in it.

[b]Kemono no Souja Erin[/b] was pretty far out of my sphere of interests; usually, I think fantasy of that type is incredibly boring. And [b]Erin[/b] is just OK in the beginning, but once the story gets rolling after ep7 (or 8, can't remember which), then it starts turning into something special.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Another Anime I didn't think I'd like was Najica: Blitz Tactics.

The Panty shots every thirty seconds.... that was a bit much. But, it is a genuinely good series.

[color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]I've edited your post to remove potentially crude/vulgar content. Please refrain from using such a crude analogy in the future -- that was unnecessary.
~ Sangome[/font][/color] Edited July 26, 2010 by Sangome

[Heaven's Cloud]

[quote name='Miss Anonymous' date='24 July 2010 - 05:20 PM' timestamp='1280006437' post='697799']
Gurren Lagann.

No really.

Well, it's not that the genre itself isn't my thing. I'm not in love with robots and omgwtfaction, but it doesn't turn me off either. However, the reason I didn't think I'd ever like Gurren Lagann was 'cause the first episode I saw was the hot springs one. Yeah, didn't exactly give me a good impression of the series. On top of that, Yoko; just... yeah, her. I thought her fanservice was so annoying that I'd never watch the show.

Suffice to say, I was wrong. Horribly, delightfully wrong. Gurren Lagann is epic and I love it. I even like Yoko now. <3
[/quote]


[color=indigo]I agree. I didn't think I'd like Gurren Lagann at first. After choking down the first two episodes I fell in love with it. Great series.

My pick would have to be [b]Chobits[/b]. At first I just couldn't stomach the idea of the series, but I warmed up to it pretty fast. After watching a few episodes I immediately picked up the manga (one of the very few manga I have actually read). The story is sweet and interesting and weirdly perverted at the same time.
[/color] Edited July 27, 2010 by Heaven's Cloud

[xrosex]

One Piece most definitly. Didn't seem like something that would be funny or adventurous but it actually turned out to be good. Not to say that I am in a hype over it or anything but it is a series I will read.
Another is Full Metal Alchemist. I had a friend who LOVED it and told me all about it. I guess it was inevitable that I would eventually check it out. I never guessed that I would end up liking it.

[Maully]

[color="#2E8B57"][i]Ouran High School Host Club[/i]-- I love that show, and it's totally not my thing. I am way more of a scifi/action girl. Cute sweet things don't really do it for me, but that and [i]Fruits Basket[/i] absolutely captivate me. Both of them are sweet but with a hint (or with FB, a large dose) of mystery or dark background stories. I adore Kyoya, he kind of makes the series for me.
[/color]

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"][b]Lucky Star[/b], Indi and the rest of Team Utah bugged me for ages to watch it but the concept behind the series didn't exactly engender me towards it. Suffice to say when I actually sat down and watched it I was hooked very, very quickly.[/size][/font]

[Silver Mech]

Toradora. At first I thought it wouldn't be that good, but I eventually got attached to the characters.

[xrosex]

[quote name='Molleta' date='27 July 2010 - 06:42 AM' timestamp='1280212979' post='697984']
[color="#2e8b57"][i]Ouran High School Host Club[/i]-- I love that show, and it's totally not my thing. I am way more of a scifi/action girl. Cute sweet things don't really do it for me, but that and [i]Fruits Basket[/i] absolutely captivate me. Both of them are sweet but with a hint (or with FB, a large dose) of mystery or dark background stories. I adore Kyoya, he kind of makes the series for me.
[/color]
[/quote]


I am a total Ouran Fan! When I watched the first episode it my reaction was litterally, 'what the heck'. But I couldn't stop watching it so here I am, a huge fan. I love Kyoya as well, I think he has such great background character. (And he is handsome)

[Zombie_Nosh]

[quote name='Beretta' date='24 July 2010 - 11:06 PM' timestamp='1280009217' post='697804']

[b]One Piece[/b] - Let's be honest, it's a very ugly series. Yes it has it's moments where stuff can look good, mainly the facial expression/features (except when people cry) but the general premise of the artwork is ugly. And given how I'm all about artwork (first I'm action, then art/animation, then characters) I was throwing this to the side like crazy. Giving the manga a shot I've become a fan of the series mainly because of the characterization. It's really strong compared to other series I've seen in the shonen series.


[/quote]

You took the words right out of my mouth. This is [b]exactly[/b] what I was going to say.

[Nony]

I have another one to mention, a more recent anime this time: [b]Heartcatch Precure[/b].

Although I'm not completely averse to the magical girl genre, HP isn't something I would've normally looked at and gone, "Yeah, I definitely want to see that." If anything, I would've probably dismissed it as some stupid modern moe show or something. But then I got linked to the second ED and went, "Well crap, I love this. And that one girl there has a pretty cool character design..."

So finally, I swallowed my pride and gave it a try. And boy am I glad I did. It's been a great ride so far.

[Lilt]

[color="#9932CC"][b][size="3"]Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei[/size][/color] - I never thought I would end up liking this series, especially with how scary some of the episodes can get in the second season, but [i]Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei[/i] is becoming one of my favorites.

Somehow, a teacher with a constantly negative outlook on life paired up with students who have all kinds of problems just works. I normally watch something more dramatic, but this is the first anime I've watched in a long time that usually has me giggling out loud.

Also, it's an old meme, but I now can't help saying:

"I'm in despair! [BLANK] has left me in despair!"

XD[/b] Edited September 6, 2010 by Lilt

[The Tentacle]

I'm going to add the [b]Hell[/b] [b]Girl[/b] series to this list since it's so far outside of my usual preferences.  When I first started watching this show's first season I had some issues with the content but just couldn't stop watching.  My ongoing fanboy crush on Ai might have something to do with it but that wouldn't explain my current fascination with watching the train wreck that is the Hell Girl anime.   

[Akan]

Much like you I thought I wouldn't like Kino's journey but its so good <3

I have yet to finish it..

[AirOfTheSky]

[b]Clannad[/b]-Because of the genre drama and romance Thought i would hate it but after i watched season 2 It became the best anime i watched.

[b]Air-[/b]Because it seemed very boring did not have high ratings First couple episodes seemed bad but turned out to be a great anime.

[angelkit14]

Ouran high school host club - I didn't care for the manga but I adore the anime.

Bleach - cause it seemed like I wouldn't like it but I did.

[The Mask]

[b]Detective Conan[/b] - I wasn't a fan of the detective genre in the past, and I thought this show wouldn't make any impact on me. But eventually, the plot led me to take a second look and then fall in love with the series.

[b]Major[/b] - I'm not too familiar with the rules of baseball, so I thought I wouldn't care much for this show. But after watching a few episodes of the series, I began to like it for its plot. Eventually, I became a fan, though I still need to understand the game of baseball to appreciate the series better. Edited November 25, 2010 by The Mask

[Lyndy]

Soul Eater. I never planned on watching it, but so many people were talking about it so I thought I would watch it and I ended up loving it. lol

[rotlung]

As have already been mentioned
Soul Eater
Toradora
Ippo (the boxing one loved it)
One Piece


I also loved Hunter x Huner. I was on the fence about it cause I thought they were going to hunt monsters.... Gon however was possible one of the best anime characters ever. He is carefree and confindent plus he always seems to get the point that they are testing in all the hunter exams. He also is able to think outside the box and come up with interesting solutions.

The other anime is Intial D. It is kind of old school and I wasn't big into racing anime. This show changed my perpective on cars and Japan's street racing. (I blame Tokyo Drift for my preconcieved notions...) The series was great and it even got me looking at Impreza WRXs when I was looking for a new car....

[JamesMay]

Mushishi. Not usually my cup of tea but this series is amazing

One Piece. Looked too childish for my taste but I ended up getting a real kick out of it.