Forum - View topicAnime Titles that you think are obscure and/or underrated.
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
|
|||
|
I notice I've posted a couple of times in thread yet have not mentioned Hyouge Mono. It recounts the last years of Oda Nobunaga's rule and the first half or so of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's reign that followed. The story takes considerable license with the official history of Nobunaga's assassination, usually credited to Akechi Mitsuhide, but otherwise appears to follow the established course of events.
The protagonist is one of Nobunaga's vassals, Furuta Sasuke, a sly negotiator and devotee of ritualized tea ceremonies and the various masterpieces of art used for them. Sasuke is a stand-in for the historical personage Furuta Oribe who developed a style of ceramics still practiced today. Other important historical figures make appearances in this story including eventual Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and influential tea master Sen no Rikyu of whom Sasuke is a disciple. There are action sequences scattered throughout this show, but it focuses much more on politics and scheming than military encounters. The ideal of the "warrior-esthete" colors the presentation throughout. The story ranges widely from humor, often at Sasuke's expense, to drama and sadness over the course of the thirty-nine episodes. It was beautifully animated by Bee Train, with an unusual score by Kou Outani, and one of the loveliest ED's I've ever heard, the samba-flavored KIZUNA sung by Saito Yuki. There is no legal source for this show in North America. Fansubs were released fitfully over the course of months then finally concluded by a second group some two years after the anime ended in Japan. Hyouge Mono is really unlike any other anime series I've watched. If you're a fan of history or politics, or like shows with strong characterizations, I strongly recommend this to you. |
||||
|
||||
Beldarius
 Posts: 45 Location: Finland |
|
|||
|
Future GPX Cyber Formula - I've barely encountered one English-speaking fan of this series, despite the official DVD box with English subtitles (which I happen to own). I saw this anime for the first time in 2010 and ever since then, it has shared my top-favorite spot with Saint Seiya.
Despite being a sports anime, Cyber Formula doesn't focus solely on racing. The character development and personal relationships are also important (the series even has three or four official couples), not to mention all the characters are very enjoyable. It's impossible to hate anyone in the series (except one) and even the most annoying ones have redeemable qualities; Hayato, the main character, becomes a cyber racer at 14. Unlike modern anime protagonists, he isn't immediately a perfect racer and makes all sorts of mistakes and learns from them. He has a teenager's attitude which is understandable given his age and has some rebellious moments, but he always comes back to apologize for being an idiot. Teamwork is everything in the show; there's even an entire episode that showcases how important the mechanics and computer specialists are in a racing team, and practically every character gets their showcase episode. ...It's also quite amusing that Junichi Kanemaru (Hayato) plays the team's dog.  Outside of the character development stuff, the racing also looks really, really cool. In the later OVA series, Sunrise seems to have gone for 2D with the characters and CGI with the racing. It ends up looking really smooth and fluid that way. I also like the voice actors and background music of the show; this is also the first time I've heard Naoki Tatsuta play a handsome character (he usually plays gonks like Jamian in Saint Seiya).
Oh yeah, Sunrise made this show in 1991-1998. The final OVA ended before Gundam SEED and the studio reused some Cyber Formula character designs in the former series. Henri Claytor, a French cyber racer, became the basis for Yzak Joule; Kyoshiro Nagumo, Aoi Formula's boss, was the basis for Gilbert Durandal (down to even the voice actor); and it's my personal theory that Edelhi Bootsvorz was used to make Andrew Waltfeld. ...Cyber Formula itself draws some elements from the original Gundam series, as Knight Schumacher is a Char clone. ----------------------- Ginga Nagareboshi Gin / Ginga Densetsu Weed - an extremely obscure series since this show (and original manga) has never been translated into English. The only languages it has been released in are Japanese, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Hungarian and Korean. As a Finnish person, I own the uncut DVD boxes of both Gin and Weed, alongside every manga volume that's been released so far (currently at Orion vol. 10). The series is about a pack of stray dogs living in the Ou mountains of Japan (specifically the Akita Prefecture). An area of the mountains called Futago Pass (Twin Pass) has been taken over by a giant bear called Akakabuto; the bear is 12 meters tall and no hunter has been able to kill it. The dogs decide to face the bear without human help and travel across Japan to find other stray dogs willing to help; the journey takes them from the northern reaches all the way to Shikoku and back. The anime doesn't adapt the final arc of the manga (the Wolf arc). The Weed sequel focuses on Gin's son Weed, and his fight against a genetically manipulated dog called P4 (first half) and an army of dogs led by a Great Dane called Hougen (second half). The sequel ends after the Hougen arc, though the manga is far longer; other threats Weed fights are an insane baboon with an axe, Russian war dogs and hybrid bears (polar bear x brown bear). ...The following manga series Orion and Last Wars have even more, with a clan of ninja dogs (Kurohabaki) trained by humans and Akakabuto's equally gigantic offspring. |
||||
|
||||
Heishi
 Posts: 1317 |
|
|||
|
What a perfect opportunity to once again mention these classics that are near and dear to me, especially the first 3.
Destiny of the Shrine Maiden - Went from being once called "the flagship shojo ai(or yuri) series" to just a forgotten series and its a f**king shame, too! As I've said before, most misunderstood and underappreciated yuri series, as far as I'm concerned. Karas - I just don't get it. This had a pretty good english voice cast, with splendid animation and fight sequences, and a good if a little confusing plot. I guess that's what happens when you try to cram an OVA into a movie, I guess. Still, I really don't understand why this didn't more attention than it should have. Casshern Sins - Another series that got the short end of the stick. It has a good philosophical theme of death and redemption if you look past the fight scenes, which are also great! Really dark, sad, action, sweet, and deep all in one package! Here's hoping CR will help give this one more exposure, though I'm not very confident. Samurai 7 - Aired on IFC and Toonami and yet, still a niche title that barley gets any recognition and that really sucks because it was better than I thought it would be. I really liked the characters, especially the armored Samurai and the emotionless one Kyuzo. Katsuhiro gets an honorable mention. |
||||
|
||||
|
Animegomaniac
Posts: 4074 |
|
|||
|
Underrated isn't a very interesting topic on the "my opinion is primo" internet but I like the idea of a show becoming "obscure". If a series drops below the awareness radar level then it's almost as if it just ceases to be exist. And this can happen to presently licensed shows as well as out of print ones.
Brigadoon is weird. It's a show about a relationship between a 13 year old girl and her alien cyborg robot warrior friend who's twice her size and then there are the aliens which are half her size who control the warrior caste. Anyway... can I get away with an "anyway" after that?... those two inhuman groups are separated away from Earth in another, invisible world/planet/island in the sky where the lead alien who looks like a gremlin and sounds like Wendy Lee on helium is exiled to Earth... and things happen, many of which are weird. From Sunrise but not one of the ones that will be rescued any time soon, sadly so, uh, yeah... "obscure". OOP, originally from Tokyopop. Solty Rei only has 930 ratings on this site? For a series that has been SAVE labeled as long as Funimation has used it... the 2009 Viridian version started the SAVE line... that is surprisingly low. This series has been underappreciated by everyone, including the company who licensed it. Older male private investigator meets young nameless girl, they hit it off and he... adopts her. Did not see that one coming. But he ends up adopting her because her lost his own daughter... as in couldn't find... and his wife... as in dead... during a previously terrible tragedy. Meanwhile the City is under assault by the terrible thief Rose Anderson and the rest of the Anderson gang who steal from the rich and give to the poor as well as the needy and occasionally people who aren't them. Mean meanwhile the City is under the watchful protection of... quite a number of people actually. Prime Gonzo series, still in print by Funimation. Great fun, one hell of a... series of climaxes actually. SAVE it to your watch list, you won't be disappointed. |
||||
|
||||
|
Spawn29
Posts: 551 |
|
|||
|
Underrated in my opinion.
Angel's Egg - Very amazing movie from start to finish. One of Mamoru Oshii's best work before he did Ghost in the Shell in my opinion. Bio Booster Armor Guyver - The Guyver series does not get much love in today's fandom because it's a great series. I do think the 2005 anime was probably one of the best anime to be release that year and should have got a second season. There is a lot of great action, good character development and memorable characters in this franchise. Demon Prince Enma - One of the best horror anime titles from 2006 and no one bother to watch it. I found it to be really good and I love every moment of it. The anime has some good plot twist that really took me by surprise. Domain of Murder - A solid hard boiled crime thriller and it's really good too. The anime had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I wish it was not a one shot OVA title though. Dominion Tank Police - Masamune Shirow's best work and seem to be forgotten by many fans over the years. Dominion Tank Police has a really good social commentary that is very relevant in today's world. The music and the humor are great too. Iria: Zeiram the Animation - A very enjoyable sci-fi action anime with amazing animation and a great cast of characters. Not to to mention, the action is very good too. Gunsmith Cats - I know that Gunsmith Cats was huge throughout most of the 90s, but the series has become a forgotten gem as time goes on. Do you like fist-pumping classic jazz music, guns, classic muscle cars and seedy pulp crime fiction? If the answer to any of those "yes" then Gunsmith Cats is amazing. Gunsmith Cats gets better with each viewing and the manga is even better. People like act like Bebop was the first series to be a throw back to jazzy seedy pulp western movies when Gunsmith Cats did it first. Mind Game - A very great anime film from the mid 2000's that most people didn't see. I personally love the art style and characters in this film. Puppet Master - One of the last old school OVA titles and it's pretty good too. The anime has great hand drawn animation and the story is very well done too. Psycho Diver: Soul Siren - Another good forgotten gem that I found to be very enjoyable. The sinning in the dub is god awful, but you still get a really cool story with great action and a very suspenseful atmosphere to it. This anime also did the whole going into dreams to solve crimes long before The Cell and Inception did (Which is pretty cool) too. Tetsujin 28-gou (2004) - The best version of Tetsujin 28 and probably the closet version to the manga. Yasuhiro Imagawa needs to be more popular because he is really good at directing in my opinion. Twilight of the Dark Master - The plot may be not very well written, but I consider it to be underrated for how unquiet it is. It has a beautifully gothic and pitch dark atmosphere to it. The whole anime feels very dark, moody techno/industrial similar to music from the mid-late 90's like Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM and Marilyn Manson. It makes me wish that we had more industrial goth aesthetic type of anime these days. I personally would recommended Twilight of the Dark Master if you are into experimental type of anime. Last edited by Spawn29 on Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:27 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
|
Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
|
|||
I quite agree. When I first watched Gunsmith Cats I wrote this in the What are watching now? Why? thread:
|
||||
|
||||
TEXASenpai
 Posts: 24 |
|
|||
|
Without echoing the titles already posted, my addition as an underrated anime would be Natsuyuki Rendezvous. I wish this had a dub because my wife hates watching subs, but I adore this story.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Spawn29
Posts: 551 |
|
|||
Old post, but the original Gundam is associated with Cartoon Network which is why most people have seen it. With older anime, a lot of it is unknown to modern fans unless it aired on a kids network like CN, KidsWB!, Fox Kids, Fox Box or Jetix. Captain Harlock is very well known to the old school otaku fandom from the 70's, 80's and even 90's. I think modern fans know about Harlock a bit more know thanks to the CG animated film that is on Netflix. |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group