Anime that flew under the radar... and just plain underrated anime

[[.redacted]]

Claymore.

I can't really explain to you the extent to which I think it's underrated.

Really, all I can give you to indicate its take on the dark fantasy genre is the words of a friend (who has been into anime for far longer than I have) after about 5 or so episodes in:

"I don't think I've ever seen anything this good".

 

[unicornninja]

Darker Than Black (which is my favorite anime but noone seems to know what it is)
Mushi-Shi
Soul Eater
Dead Leaves

Thats all I can think of

 

[pubbing]

Samurai Champloo is my favorite anime. I don't understand why it isn't talked about as much.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

Candy Boy
ef- a tale of memories
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Strawberry Marshmallow
Mouryou no Hako

To name just a few. What can I say, a lot of good Shoujo flies right under the radar.

 

[Blue Horn]

I never hear anyone talk about "House of Five Leaves", it's one of my favorites.

 

[Eicha]

Burst Angel <3

Smexy ladies, guns, robots, explosions, and one of the most epic things ever. An emotional, non erotically driven lesbian relationship! Its quite refreshing.

 

[Jazoni89]

Darker Than Black (which is my favorite anime but noone seems to know what it is)
Mushi-Shi
Soul Eater
Dead Leaves

Thats all I can think of

Darker than Black is one of my favourites as well, it's such shame it's relatively unheard of, Brilliant stuff.

Also Slayers and Escaflowne, both are incredibly underrated.

 

[Eicha]

Claymore.

I can't really explain to you the extent to which I think it's underrated.

Really, all I can give you to indicate its take on the dark fantasy genre is the words of a friend (who has been into anime for far longer than I have) after about 5 or so episodes in:

"I don't think I've ever seen anything this good".

Yes. Oh dear god yes. Claymore is in my top 3. Its sooo damn good, and the manga is amazing.

 

[NeutralDrow]

The fact that no one has yet mentioned Princess Tutu leads me to believe it qualifies.

It was quite entertaining...and mind-screwy.

 

[[.redacted]]

Claymore.

I can't really explain to you the extent to which I think it's underrated.

Really, all I can give you to indicate its take on the dark fantasy genre is the words of a friend (who has been into anime for far longer than I have) after about 5 or so episodes in:

"I don't think I've ever seen anything this good".

Yes. Oh dear god yes. Claymore is in my top 3. Its sooo damn good, and the manga is amazing.

My respect +++

Also, join the group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/chat/Claymore] =D

 

[loc978]

Ninjas took Le Chevalier D'eon already, so...

I felt that PlanetES, Genshiken, Kino's Journey and Golden Boy were all underappreciated.

 

[fnartilter]

Highschool of the Dead was a lot of fun. Only one season so far. It's about the zombie apocalypse... in Japan! A group of kids band together to survive. I think there's some archetypes in the group, I can't really say because I don't watch much anime, but I also had the thought that some of the characters are parodies of [serious] shows.

Anyhow, good action, plenty of funnies, bouncing boobs, and zombies.

 

[Gigaguy64]

Really?
Some of you have great suggestions but....

Gintama, Elfen Lied, Hiraku no Go, Code Geass, Golden Boy, Azumanga Daoh?

Those are what some of you think are Under the Radar or Underrated?
[sup]Elfen Lied is wayyyyyyy overrated[/sup]

Black Magic M66
The Weathering Continent
Tekkaman Blade
Tegami Bachi
Toriko
Vandread
Sayuki

Now those are some under the radar and in some cases underrated Anime/Manga.

Tekkaman Blade and Toriko especially.
Black Magic M66 is also a must see, its a excellent Movie biased off of a Manga by Masimune Shirow.

 

[genamp]

Highschool of the Dead was a lot of fun. Only one season so far. It's about the zombie apocalypse... in Japan! A group of kids band together to survive. I think there's some archetypes in the group, I can't really say because I don't watch much anime, but I also had the thought that some of the characters are parodies of [serious] shows.

Anyhow, good action, plenty of funnies, bouncing boobs, and zombies.

Ooh, I love HotD. What a fine show. And I think it deserves more love, although it does seem to be catching more steam. Hoping for season 2!!!!

As for my obscure anime, I love Ga-Rei Zero, Aoi Hana, Noein (a little more mainstream but underrated), the criminally unusual Mnemosyne, Strain, and the ever confusing Touka Gettan. Oh, and don't get me started on Saki!!
A lotta yuri series are really well done, but under appreciated too... But that's just me

 

[Naheal]

Obligatory Nanoha plug.

I'm serious, though. It's essentially what happens when you get a mech artist to do a magical girl show.

 

[Eicha]

Claymore.

I can't really explain to you the extent to which I think it's underrated.

Really, all I can give you to indicate its take on the dark fantasy genre is the words of a friend (who has been into anime for far longer than I have) after about 5 or so episodes in:

"I don't think I've ever seen anything this good".

Yes. Oh dear god yes. Claymore is in my top 3. Its sooo damn good, and the manga is amazing.

My respect +++

Also, join the group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/chat/Claymore] =D

Done! Ever play the DS game?

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Patlabor, seriously, its about as 'real' as real robot mecha anime can get (to the point that it shows that giant robots quite frankly suck, case in point: the mecha in patlabor, known as labors, are little more than glorified cranes/forklifts, its only due a rise in the use of them in run of the mill crimes that the police are outfit with specialised law enforcement labors, and even then all they have are an upscaled revolver and telescopic baton (the cherry on top being that to reload the revolver the pilot has to get outof his mecha and reload each shell by hand)) well developed stories and nicely choreographed fight scenes, flawed yet believable and likeable characters, and a complete absence of fanservice or angsty teenage protagonists

also armored trooper VOTOMS for similar reasons (it did the skating mecha deal waay before code geass did, and again the mecha are as real as you can possibly get (both technically and asthetically, the scopedogs are as butt ugly and mundane as you can get, no flashy super prototypes here)

another one that i hardly hear of is martian successor nadesico, which is a shame as its awesome, brillaintly taking the piss out of space opera shows, anime tropes and the anime fanbase in general

Well, you said pretty much what I would have. Patlabor especially is one of my all time favorites and the movies are some of my favorite Oshii films. I would like to put additional stress on how well developed and interesting the characters are. After watching Patlabor, it's hard to go back to the cookie-cutter archetypes of most anime. A lot of people just ignore things when they see giant robots in them these days, possibly because the mecha fandom has gotten so hard-core and reclusive. As far as Nadesico goes, most of its fanbase is regrettably just creepy people obsessed with Ruri, who is in my opinion the worst character in the show.

Just to throw out something really obscure, I'd like to mention Angel's Egg. It might be my favorite Oshii film and it certainly comes as close as anything ever has to replicating Yoshitaka Amano's art in animated form. It's very slow and experimental, so it's not for everyone, but it looks absolutely gorgeous and it can give you a lot to think about if you really pay attention to it.

 

[newwiseman]

I watched Beserk with my friend, it seemed pretty good but it didn't seem to get much mention on the internet, i could be way off base there.

The problem with Beserk is Kentaro Miura started writing it in the 1988 and there are less chapters of it than Naruto. The reason for that is he does all the writing and illustrating, that also means it takes months for him just to release a few chapters. Then there was the poor execution of adapting it to anime and the loss of historical-fiction fan-base when all the Magic started happening...

Anyway great Manga with a new 3D production currently in the works, Miura mentioned it in the last chapter Hopefully it is closer to the manga than the last anime.

Highschool of the Dead was a lot of fun. Only one season so far. It's about the zombie apocalypse... in Japan! A group of kids band together to survive. I think there's some archetypes in the group, I can't really say because I don't watch much anime, but I also had the thought that some of the characters are parodies of [serious] shows.

Anyhow, good action, plenty of funnies, bouncing boobs, and zombies.

Another great manga with a problem similar to Beserk. It lacks the solitary big bad thing to overcome instead focusing on the struggle of the survivors. I love it but because of this a lot of people are just dismissive. I was very surprised when I saw it had gotten an anime, and it was even really close to the manga (changed some dialogue and toned down the gore). The main problem with it is the chapter releases aren't regular enough. It's not as bad as when Kentaro Miura (Beserk) said he was taking half a year off to play dating sims and his xbox but still pretty bad, with new chapters released anywhere between a week and 3 months.

 

[Arisato-kun]

I find that Katanagatari isn't very well known. Definitely worth a look even if the only thing that interests you is the art style.

http://myanimelist.net/anime/6594/Katanagatari

Maria+Holic is great for some laughs as well.

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

Well, you said pretty much what I would have. Patlabor especially is one of my all time favorites and the movies are some of my favorite Oshii films. I would like to put additional stress on how well developed and interesting the characters are. After watching Patlabor, it's hard to go back to the cookie-cutter archetypes of most anime.

QFT, makes me lament that it never really took off in the west, then again that gives me solace in that didn't become a franchise and oversaturated the market into stagnation, kind of like what gundam is doing to itself right now

A lot of people just ignore things when they see giant robots in them these days, possibly because the mecha fandom has gotten so hard-core and reclusive. As far as Nadesico goes, most of its fanbase is regrettably just creepy people obsessed with Ruri, who is in my opinion the worst character in the show.

indeed, that is very unfortunate, and worse its a problem not exclusive to nadesico, or anime even. the irony in nadesico's case is the fact that both those obsessive creeps and the hard-core reclusive mecha fandom were the very people the anime was taking potshots at to begin with, leading to the depressing realisation that along with ruining shit for everybody else, they also completely missed the point.

much like most fans of anything to be honest