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

[bj_waters]

I would say three of the most underrated anime are: Samurai Jack,which is just bloody awesome. If you haven't watched it yet, you have no idea what you're missing out on, Air, which is still the only medium of art, games, music, books, movies etc. that has made me cry, and finally Digimon tamers which I found to be a wonderful series.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! I HATED AIR (the TV series)!! I know it has a massive cult following, but that ending made me rage (only one other anime has done that and that was Kino's Journey but I won't rant about that because it was pretty good. And definitely flew under the radar). However, I certainly can't bring myself to hate you for it because you also like Digimon (Tamers certainly was a pretty unique series for a kid's show.)

However, if there is one anime that totally flew under the radar, I would pick Samurai Pizza Cats. If you can find it anywhere, prepare for some pretty off-beat humor. Fans like me know what I'm talking about.

A few others: Shangri-La, Hyakko, Guin Saga, Soul Hunter, Irresponsible Captain Tylor.

 

[Annhialator]

hmmm there are some that haven't been brought up

-Kaiji: Gambling apocalypse (artwork may throw you off but goddam this show is amazing just by it's plot!)

-Crest Of The Stars : ok fine it requires a personal taste (slow paced, not many action going around, space opera)

-Utawarerumono: based on an rpg game you can definitely notice it through the pacing and progress, but it's very well done (except the ending kinda got fast and abstract)

-Scrapped Princess: I'm not sure if it's under the radar but still it's really good

-PlanetES: amazing sci-fi story very well thought out and realistic

-Knights of the Zodiac (Chevalier Du Zodiaques): To any of the North american continent and/or English speaking places The English dubbing butchered the series HARD! the French dub was very well done back then, I've heard many Spaniards and South Americans loved the series. although the pacing of the story arcs are dam repetitive and formulaic it's charm and mythos just sucks you in.

and for those that were mentioned

-Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei: almost not bringing it up could've brought me in DESPAIR!
-Code Geass
-Mushishi

Well I'm not sure I qualify what's on the radar as well since I'm in the middle-east if I say Manga they think I'm talking about the fruit T_T (Mango: we pronounce it Manga)

 

[luckycharms8282]

The higurashi series definitely doesn't get enough credit. I had never heard of it, and I stumbled upon a review of it on the escapist. I thought Id give it a shot and it became one of my top 3 animes.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Revolutionary Girl Utena
Not unheard of, but not that well known either.

Also, +1 for Violinist of Hamelin. It may have that annoying habit of not moving, but it's still a great show. Gotta respect the director who read a crazy, over the top comedy and said "what this needs is to be a depressing but beautiful tragedy" - and then pulled it off.

 

[Baby Tea]

Ergo Proxy has not received enough love, that's for sure. Not that anyone's unduly trashed it, It's just that I'm the only person I know who's even heard of it.

I watched about halfway through Ergo Proxy.
I stopped after the 'Book Store' episode, because, quite frankly, it's the most poorly paced anime I've seen. The writing, beyond being horrifically confusing, is also just heavy with pseudo-intellectual philosophy, and the story was barely holding any semblance of coherency.

I mean, I basically 'got' what was going on, but they presented it in a terrible way.
The animation itself was just awesome. The characters, the movement, the environments: Just fantastic.
The writing? Awful. Just terrible. Everyone has a ridiculous soliloquy that they have to go into about life and death and love and hate and every other black and white emotion, not to mention that Vincent is probably the most annoying character since Shinji from Evangelion.

I went from watching that into watching 'Darker Than Black', and what a breath of fresh air that was. Coherent stories, much more organically written, far more interesting characters...I just wish I could combine the animation of 'Ergo' with the story of 'Darker'. That would be sweet.

This is all subjective, of course. It's just how I felt about it.

More on topic: I'll have to wind my way through this thread to find something else to watch!
I've only got 4 episodes left for 'Darker Than Black'!

 

[PhoenixKing]

I would say three of the most underrated anime are: Samurai Jack,which is just bloody awesome. If you haven't watched it yet, you have no idea what you're missing out on, Air, which is still the only medium of art, games, music, books, movies etc. that has made me cry, and finally Digimon tamers which I found to be a wonderful series.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! I HATED AIR (the TV series)!! I know it has a massive cult following, but that ending made me rage (only one other anime has done that and that was Kino's Journey but I won't rant about that because it was pretty good. And definitely flew under the radar). However, I certainly can't bring myself to hate you for it because you also like Digimon (Tamers certainly was a pretty unique series for a kid's show.)

However, if there is one anime that totally flew under the radar, I would pick Samurai Pizza Cats. If you can find it anywhere, prepare for some pretty off-beat humor. Fans like me know what I'm talking about.

A few others: Shangri-La, Hyakko, Guin Saga, Soul Hunter, Irresponsible Captain Tylor.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! How could you hate Air? The ending was so perfect and so sad, it's amazing. But, as you had said, Digimon is the mutual series between us, and I applaud you for liking it. Tamers was sthe best in terms of everything, from character development to action to plot, although season 1 was a really close second.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Anyone here ever hear of a old anime called Virus? I thought that was very good. Also 3X3 EYES

 

[Macgyvercas]

I may be wrong, but I haven't met many who know of 'Spice and Wolf'

I have the first three volumes of the manga and have seen all of season 1.

I may be wrong, but I haven't met many who know of 'Spice and Wolf'

I have

I'd be shocked if you hadn't, seeing as your avatar is the lead female character

OT: Not a lot of people in my circle of friends have heard of El-Hazard, so that's my pick.

 

[bj_waters]

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! How could you hate Air? The ending was so perfect and so sad, it's amazing. But, as you had said, Digimon is the mutual series between us, and I applaud you for liking it. Tamers was sthe best in terms of everything, from character development to action to plot, although season 1 was a really close second.

Okay, all I ever saw was the TV series (plus the 3 extra episodes) and I have to admit that I was pretty intrigued. But then it reached that third arc with the crow and it's like everything crumbled. For me, it seemed like all the time I had invested in what was going on was wasted because (again, in my opinion) nothing was resolved; nothing changed. Everybody involved is still screwed, sorta like if the Death Star succeeded in blowing up the Rebel Base in Star Wars (IV). Okay, I admit that I was looking for a happy ending to some extent only to later learn that Key Studio games usually don't have happy endings and stuff. Not that I must have some kind of perfect "happily ever after" but I still feel that it could have left something for the efforts of the heroes.

 

[blankedboy]

Azumanga Daioh

Really? I was under the impression it was really well-known.

As for my vote, I'm going with Ergo Proxy too. Watch it or be molested.

 

[owniscool1993]

not sure if many ppl have heard of this but Birdy the Mighty Decode
This is great.
For the longest time i hadnt heard of it, but then read review on Escapist, and decided to check it out
that was one of the best ways i had ever wasted my time

 

[Ganthrinor]

I don't really keep up with the "What's Hot Or Not" list of Anime, but you might want to look at:

GantZ
GunXsword
Armitage III (that's The Third, not #3)
Ergo Proxy
GunSlinger Girl
Wolf's Rain
Last Exile


I've got a buddy that keeps bugging me to watch/read Spice and Wolf, but meh. Eventually.

Some Older anime that may be overlooked now-a-days:

Escaflowne
Berserk
Lain
Jin-Roh
Iria
Record of Lodoss War

 

[Nannernade]

Well everyone knows One Piece and Bleach and the lot but some of the animes that I watch that make my friends tilt their heads seem to have all come out of the year 2006 or 2004 something like that. One being Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl and the other being Inukami both are great animes.

 

[epunk35]

Panty and Stockings with Garterbelt......... It sounds perverted I know, but it really is a good one (well to me)

That has hardly slipped under the radar. Everyone has heard of that one.

Probably because of it's name

OT: Sad to say, but hardly anyone I know has heard of SGT. Frog AKA Keroro Gunso. I could be wrong though.

 

[thehermit2]

Spice and Wolf was a great drama with fantasy elements. I hope they do a third season or a movie.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 may have been the saddest realistic anime I've ever seen.

Welcome to the NHK is an amazingly depressing black comedy with an even more depressing history. Too bad the original novel is out of print.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is probably the funniest anime I've ever seen. I am aware of three season plus some OVAs: Sayonara, Zoku Sayonara, Goku Sayonara, and Zan Sayonara.

Let's see, I didn't notice any of these when I was skimming:

Genshiken - otaku sitcom, ran for three seasons although season 2 was called Kujibiki Unbalance and it wasn't as good as the regular show.

Planetes - one of the most authentic near-future humans-in-space shows I've ever seen.

The Tatami Galaxy - surrealistic college comedy. Funimation licensed it but hasn't released the DVDs yet; you can see it on their site or youtube page.

and my personal overlooked favorite,

Tsukikage Ran (possibly "Carried by the Wind Tsukikage Ran"). This was a parody of... I think the term is "jidai geki", period dramas, and it kind of ran like a Japanese version of Xena Warrior Princess. Only ran for one season and is now out of print, but I found the dvds online with relatively little trouble.

Finally, these seem pretty mainstream, but I didn't seem them mentioned either

Bakemonogatari

Katanagatari

Lucky Star

Real Drive

Occult Accademy

 

[Scarim Coral]

The only one I can think that may have fell under the radar is Samurai 7?

 

[Jack and Calumon]

RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne is a truly wonderful. Great animation and great characters mixed in with a great plot make this an awesome Anime. It's not without it's flaws though, as the plot doesn't kick in too well until the fifth (of Sixth) episode and it gets a little convulsed from being packed in so much. Of course the main problem is with the content. The show features Sex. I don't mean that they go behind closed doors and you hear some banging and whining, I mean you see everything but the stuff between the legs. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if it wasn't right in your face, with Episode 5 (as I've said, a main episode) having most of it and at one point, tries to explain plot while 3 girls are having hot, steamy, sweaty and loud sex. Why? I honestly had no idea. Maybe to wear themselves out before the irresistible rapist, murdering, cannibal angels came along. There's also a fair bit of blood, but that didn't really phase me. Plus both Sub and Dub are great.

I would also like to say Digimon Tamers at the risk of being shot. Great characters and story mixed with good animation for the time and both good versions (If the English version is censored a fair bit) make this a great Anime and please stop glaring at me like that!

Calumon: If you want him you'll have to go through me you big mean... Uwaaah! Jack can help himself!

 

[carnege4]

Angel Beats
Shiki
GOSICK (very good till now, Bones studio is doing an excellent job)
Kore wa Zombie desu ka? (dont know how to describe, but is fun as hell)
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (First season)
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai (second season)
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (The VNs are way better, but the anime is ok)
Soul Eater
Code Geass
Suzumiya Haruhi
Clannad
Working!!
Toradora!
Tengen Toppa Gurren Langann
Fairy Tail
Ore No Imouto ga Konna ni Kawai Wake ga Nai
Shakugan No Shana
Zero No Tsukaima
High School Of The Dead
Lucky Star

 

[Raven's Nest]

Im not really aware if any real fuss has been made of it but "The Sky Crawlers" was possibly the best animated feature of 2008... Simply stunning to watch.

Also for this thread I'll add these; (regardless of how popular, I don't hear enough people mention them)

Angel Beats!
Clannad
Kanon
Last Exile
Tekkonkinkreet
Tokyo Godfathers
Millenium Actress
Claymore
Beck
Toradora!
Spice and Wolf
Bakemongatari

Oh and best of the most recent bunch of anime? Eden of the East... 'tis fucking superb!