Forum - View topicAnime Titles that you think are obscure and/or underrated.
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anime racket
Posts: 314 |
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Spiral: The Melody of Logic is the most obscure anime I have seen. It looks dated now but the story is quite good. The manga is even better and also manages to reach a satisfying conclusion whereas the anime just ends.
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Gatherum
 Posts: 773 Location: Aurora CO |
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Perhaps Ergo Proxy's issue is that it's one of those anime that were obviously not created for any recognised Japanese demographic, but, unlike shows like The Big O, Cowboy Bebop, or Trigun, were not necessarily geared towards the western market either. Its appeal is not geographic.
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Beldarius
 Posts: 45 Location: Finland |
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Future GPX Cyber Formula. Practically nobody in the western world knows about this anime - it's one of Sunrise's series from the early 90s and focuses on cyber racing (basically futuristic F-1) and it's packed full with old school charm.
The main protagonist is 14 years old and acts his age, but it never really gets annoying. Instead it's fun to watch as he grows and matures throughout the series, plus whenever he does his "teenage rebel" thing, he eventually realizes what he did wrong and apologizes for being an idiot. He also has that "nakama power" Monkey D. Luffy's so famous for.  ...I'd never heard of Junichi Kanemaru before I saw him play Hayato, and he sounds adorable. (Plus he also plays the dog, and the barks sound authentic! ...Just what.)
All the characters in this series are very easy to like (except Smith, but w/e), and the old school charm is very much present. This show is also good for people who don't usually watch sports anime - Cyber Formula actually focuses more on character development, Hayato's growth as a racer and his bond with his talking car, relationships between different characters (CF is also a rare sports anime in that it has canon couples), teamwork and only then racing. There are even episodes where there's no racing at all - several of them just show Hayato's team (Sugo Asurada) relaxing and/or fixing the car. Not to mention all three mechanics in the team get their own showcase episodes (heck, even rival racers get theirs - most notably Naoki Shinjyo and Edelhi Bootsvorz). PS. Sunrise recycled some character designs from this series. Henri Claytor was used to create Yzak Joule for Gundam SEED, and Kyoshiro Nagumo was used to create Gilbert Durandal (not to mention their attitudes are very similar and they even have the same voice). |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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^ Thank you for reminding me of this.
Future GPX Cyber Formula was one of the first shows that I watched subtitled, because the Bandai release is not dubbed. I was actually surprised at the time that I enjoyed it so much without a dub. It was also my first anime about racing. I am not really interested in racing, so that was another reason why I was surprised that I liked the show so much. It has been a long time now and I really cannot remember much about the show, but I think that the main reason why I liked it was the characters, which is usually the case with me. I am adding Future GPX Cyber Formula to the list of shows that I want to watch again soon. Since it has only 70 ratings in the encyclopedia it probably qualifies as obscure. The median rating is "Good." I think that might be slightly underrated, but I need to watch it again before I can rate it myself. |
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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If Usagi Drop had a good dub I believe it could do well on prime time in the U.S. Even though everyone who has seen it liked it, it has to be on any "underrated" list.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11330 |
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Hataraki Man - I don't think it's streaming legally anywhere besides Viewster, but it's worth tracking down. Besides focusing on an adult working woman, the whole series was just refreshingly grown-up.
NaTHaT is one of my all-time favorites. It's devastating, but I've seen it through at least 4 times. Monster, too, probably 5 or 6 times through that one. But I'm not sure I'd call that obscure or underrated, except by Viz. On the other hand Master Keaton definitely has flown under most people's radar. I think Kingdom was far better than anyone gave it credit for here (it was pretty popular in Japan) because people couldn't get past the CG animation and character designs. It seems like hardly anyone has seen Mushibugyou. It took awhile, but Jinbee slowly won me over with his innocent kindness and courtesy, like he did with everyone in the series. Though he's deep in the "I must get stronger" trope, he's not typical of that character type. He is willing to learn from everyone. And even when he does well, he doesn't show any sort of smugness or braggadocio. Instead he's simply pleased things worked out, and agog at the people who helped him succeed, who he praises for being so awesome. Even when he's being cocky, it's still self-effacing. "Leave it to me! I will do everything in my power...not to get in your way!" Anyway, it's not challenging or deep, just fun to watch. Zipang is another obscure one that's worth a look. The dilemma of the Japanese trying to decide what to do in the situation they find themselves in is really interesting, since they're not sure it would have been good for Japan to win the war, and yet, they don't want to just stand by and watch their countrymen be killed. Unfortunately, the anime had a non-ending ending since the manga wasn't finished. Someday, I'll have to dig up the manga and actually find out how it ends (and given my aversion to manga, that's a testament to how much I liked it). Also unfortunately, it got an Odex dub, so that didn't help it either. |
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TRNielson
Posts: 182 |
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The fact it would need a dub to be successful in the U.S. just saddens me. It was such an amazing show! And most people won't experience it because it's in Japanese. The only show I've seen lately that I would say is underrated was ef: a tale of memories/melodies. For a romance slice-of-life/psychological show, I thought it was exceptionally well done. Absolutely loved the majority of the cast (and hated the characters you were meant to hate). The animation was top notch and trippy as hell. The first OP was an amazing rock track (probably in my top ten OP of all time). And, to cap it off, it had the best bittersweet ending I've seen in anime since 2003 FMA. Granted, I can understand why this show is underrated. I'm sure people are fed up with romance/psychological shows and are hoping for something more in their slice-of-life anime. However, for anyone who enjoys slice-of-life/romance/psychological anime, I'd highly encourage this one to anyone. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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^
I, too, deeply enjoyed Bunny Drop. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Gina, do you live in the US? I've tried finding this show on Viewster a few times now, but it doesn't show up in any of the searches. I'm guessing they don't hold the rights for distribution in the US. Thankfully we have the excellent fansub to fall back on. I watched this early in my anime viewing career and had a tongue-in-cheek argument at the site that may not be named with Sam Pinansky about his translation of "oyaji" as "geezer" when the word was used to refer to a guy in his fifties. I was in my fifties then, and am now 65, and have a hard time thinking of myself as a "geezer." Doesn't seem to fit someone who watches anime as a hobby! Anyway I was curious to see how he handled that translation in the script he wrote for Viewster. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11330 |
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I was just going by the Encyclopedia entry. The US doesn't seem to be on the list of countries it streams to though.
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phia_one
Posts: 1657 Location: Pennsylvania |
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I got another one. I'm just going to repost what I typed in another thread:
Finished Windy Tales. It was an enjoyable watch and gave me some things to think about. I actually ended up writing a mini essay, but I'll just make a short version here. While it definitely has an overall positive message, I couldn't help feeling a sense of melancholy in some of the episodes. The show focused a lot on possibility/the unknown. I liked that it didn't shy away from the fact that even though there are some things you really want to do, you don't always have the luxury of doing them. I also liked how it showed how the future doesn't have to be a scary thing to think about. The main character Nao started the series not being able to think past her decisions in the present to being more accepting of what the future may bring. The music really fit the show and had a pensive, dreamlike quality in some of the tracks. Some people may not like the animation but I thought it was great. I don't think it would have had the same effect if the characters had that generic moe look. tl;dr Windy Tales is a great show. |
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Anime_Apothecary
 Posts: 1 |
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Kimi ga Nozomu Eien aka. Rumbling Hearts - Three words that I would use to describe it are; drama, drama, and drama. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is a roller coaster ride of emotions from beginning to end. There are no comedy elements like Clannad or Please! Teacher. With only one season, it crams everything in very well.
On a side note: I refer to it as Kimi ga Nozomu Eien because I don't think the name "Rumbling Hearts" gives it enough emotional oomph. Were as "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien" roughly translates to "The Eternity You Wish For." Which I feel is much more dramatic. |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1860 |
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I don't know how obscure we're talking. To a hardcore anime fan, many "obscure" anime are common knowledge. A casual fan might not have seen Fate/Zero, Monster, GTO, Gankutsuou, etc. So I'm at a loss. Erm... I guess Denpa Teki na Kanojo was a great OVA that I doubt many people have seen. ^^;;
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gsilver
Posts: 614 |
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It's not the greatest show, but I very much liked Kero Kero Chime, and I haven't really seen anyone else talk about it.
The humor is a lot like Akazukin Chacha. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4828 |
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The anime is meh but I LOVE THE MANGA. It's really adorable. :3 |
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