Anime's You Find Overrated

[Casual Shinji]

]Akira- I liked it more as an action movie than a psychological thriller. I admit I do have respect for it because of the influence it had on current animes, but the film itself just doesn't hold up very well. The manga, on the other hand, I heard is very good.

It's hard to pin an actual genre on Akira, because it dips in and out of action, political, boy's adventure, and body horror at random. The movie was structured more like a tour through the chaotic culture of Neo Tokyo, rather than a linear narrative. Otomo made it like this on purpose, because he knew he couldn't encompass everything from the comic in one movie. Therefor the comic feels more personal while the movie feels like a grand, mindbending amalgam.

 

[malestrithe]

Add another log to the Bleach fire. I preferred the modern day stuff to the Feudal Japan stuff. That stuff could have easily been its own original content series, go in a different direction type of deal, but they followed the manga instead.

Death Note. Unless you are a certain British Doctor, it's no fun if God is one of the main characters. Whoever has that book is god... so .... yeah.

Probably the one that will get the most ire, but FLCL. Great animation, Great characters, but I should not need a Spotter's Guide to Japanese Culture to understand 75 percent of your show.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Dragonball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha, and other animes that drag on forever. And probably animes such as Neon Genesis Evangelionn Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2.

 

[scorptatious]

For me that would probably be Lucky Star.

I watched the first few episodes and I couldn't really get into it for some reason. From what I remember they spent almost half of the first episode talking about which end of a particular food you had to eat off of first.

It's a shame really, I like the art style and Konata seemed interesting. But again, I just couldn't get into it.

 

[370999]

Get ready to be quoted Palademon, it's on like Donkey Kong

I will number my discussions of different series so you know where they start.

1. I enjoyed TMOHS as a kind of more interesting slice of life anime.

My attitude to slice of life can be described as an analogy of the 'slice' refering to a slice of cake.
Everyone enjoys cake. There is probably no time where you are hungry and you would say no to cake. But, you are probably going to get more out of something else.

I was so annoyed with the Endless Eight. Mostly with that way it concluded since I was expecting some solution from the idea that "Haruhi must've been tellling us something", and we ended up with a random ending with nothing accomplished. However I enjoyed Kyon's several references to other anime during those episodes.

The movie was my favourite movie. I enjoyed the series for the most part and would say I'm a fan of the series, but the movie just makes everything else feel like a build up to it, because the only downside to the movie is that you have to watch the whole series first. I would have to make someone watch all the episodes and endure the endless eight, just to show them my favourite movie. The movie even brought me to tears.

I liked (not loved) the movie but don't you think part of the charm of it and the series at large was Kyon? I fucking love Kyon, I think he is one of the best slice of life protagonists that I have ever seen. And the reason that movie was good was that it is very much his movie, it's pretty intimate about how Kyon's mind works and how he deals with the abnormality of normality and the normality of abnormality?

I will say in regards to the endless eight that it could of made a good episode maybe event two, but eight? And as you said, it was ultimately pointless. Mind you it does IMHO help explain or at least shed greater lights on the plot of Disappearance.

2. I enjoyed the ending to Death Note. I thought it was great for making sure fangirls of either side would feel satisfied. Death Note was a good series because it wasn't black and white. Usually in a series we presume whom ever to have won to be in the right, or if the villain won, for the creator to bring out the emotions of that moment in a negative way. With the ending there's no defnintive win, showing how neither view will ultimately win, since both sides will continue to exist. If the antagonist won, the show would be over, and we'd have to either experience an ending of "YOUR OPINION IS WRONG!", or an uncomfortable ending that would try to play to Light's redemption from his insanity. If the protagonist simply won and it was over, you'd get the same ending possibilities only reversed. But since it carries on and they both lose, it shows the instability of their moral attitudes. Both ideas will continue to exist, as we see L as the person of more accepted opinion, and we also see that people were quite willing to follow Kira. Unfortunately since most people prefer one character they found it to be awful. I can agree that Mello and Near are weaker, but they added their own dynamic and were necessary for this message.

I enjoyed it for other reasons, to me Light was a thug albeit an intelligent one. the ending was really saying to anyone who missed the point that Light wasn't a good or even a good man, he was not only wrong but a dick. So I really liked it for that, it didn't eulogize him or make him out to be a great man but showed quite clearly that he was all talk.

I disagree with other people though, I think that need to happen. The series need to shake up the status quo. Failure to do that would just make the whole thing silly.

I'd probably say Evangelion. Not because Shinji is whiny, or because it's too pretentious, but because I was just bored after the fifth episode.
I'm one of those people who say to people who find certian characters whiny "Well, I suppose you'd be completely emotionally stable and courageous in this position?". Shinji was ignore by his father, left alone, and then randomly called on to carry the fate of humanity. HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU FEEL AS HIM?
I am aware that whiny characters can be annoying, but you can't say it's not expected.
I like the Rebuild movies though, but they don't even explain why the children have to do it.

See we disagree here. Have you ever watched Linebarrels of Iron/ It's not a great show but it does manage to make an intensely horrid protagonist unwatchable for the first four whole episodes. I mean this guy is foul, he is so self righteous, almost magnificent in his petulance that you can't stop watching. Yet you hate him. Now the show chickens out and redeems him but during those first four episodes it did stand out as doing a very good job of portraying how someone like say MovieBob would be like if they got any sort of real power. A disaster.

And I was enthralled.

My problem with Evangelion was that this didn't happen, yes emotional realism is a good thing but Shinji was just so passive, so unwilling to act that it was a struggle to watch.

Code Geass R2 had a bad build up to an ending. The ending itself was ok, but the 5 or so episodes leading up to that left so many questions in my head. So...Suzaku joined Lelouch because...reasons?

See my problem with it is that it became really realy pandering. There was the flying mechas which was pushing it a bit too much for me, then the maid became a ninja and then there was a transforming mecha and it was just so silly. The first season was pretty silly and over the top but IMHO it managed to toe the line expertly. The Second just lost it to sell toys to little boys.

 

[rayen020]

Death Note.


It's a great show, up until that happens.

Then the series turned to shit.

i thought it was shit to begin with.

Basilisk. I dunno what everyone else likes about it. I was working a theatre at akon, Basilisk was schedule, i got in trouble because it put me to sleep on shift.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Stick with it! Things really start to get good around the third episode.

Also Baccano!, the first episode was awful. It's going to take a lot of convincing to make me watch the rest.

Spoiler: This makes me a sad panda

[/spoiler]
It has been a while since I watched the show though, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were right about the first episode. It speeds up fast though. I suppose you likely have better things to do then to rely on the opinions of a stranger as to how you should spend your free time though.[/quote]

Well if enough people shouted at me I'd consider it :D[/quote]

Stick with it! Things really start to get good around the third episode.[/quote]

Well I put on my "on hold" list... I know a great many people think very highly of it so I feel like I owe it a second chance. I think I was just sampling for a new show at the time anyway.

 

[Zydrate]

Bleach and Naruto.

I haven't attempted to watch Naruto yet, so I won't judge 100%.

But I did try watching the first 4 episodes of Bleach, and it was a standard, boring "Monster of the week" hack and slash with a high school element. Every time the monster always 'almost' wins and the hero of the day gains an eleventh hour superpower, beats it, and the episode is over. I've seen it a dozen times already, and it's pointless.

For me that would probably be Lucky Star.

I watched the first few episodes and I couldn't really get into it for some reason. From what I remember they spent almost half of the first episode talking about which end of a particular food you had to eat off of first.

It's a shame really, I like the art style and Konata seemed interesting. But again, I just couldn't get into it.

That's precisely what drew me into the show. It was so... normal!
For me, Lucky Star seemed to go out of its way to avoid standard anime stereotypes. I loved it.
And it was short, so it didn't outstay its welcome.

 

[Nazulu]

One Piece is just average, nothing special about it at all, except the wacky art style.

D: I am saddened.

I didn't say it is bad, but c'mon, honestly, it does the same build up to the big villain who terrorises some poor race of civilians (or about to) to a final fair fight with all the characters almost every time. And Luffy yelling out "I'm going to be the Pirate King" is almost as annoying as "believe it" from the terrible Naruto dub.

 

[Palademon]

Get ready to be quoted Palademon, it's on like Donkey Kong

I will number my discussions of different series so you know where they start.

1. I enjoyed TMOHS as a kind of more interesting slice of life anime.

My attitude to slice of life can be described as an analogy of the 'slice' refering to a slice of cake.
Everyone enjoys cake. There is probably no time where you are hungry and you would say no to cake. But, you are probably going to get more out of something else.

I was so annoyed with the Endless Eight. Mostly with that way it concluded since I was expecting some solution from the idea that "Haruhi must've been tellling us something", and we ended up with a random ending with nothing accomplished. However I enjoyed Kyon's several references to other anime during those episodes.

The movie was my favourite movie. I enjoyed the series for the most part and would say I'm a fan of the series, but the movie just makes everything else feel like a build up to it, because the only downside to the movie is that you have to watch the whole series first. I would have to make someone watch all the episodes and endure the endless eight, just to show them my favourite movie. The movie even brought me to tears.

I liked (not loved) the movie but don't you think part of the charm of it and the series at large was Kyon? I fucking love Kyon, I think he is one of the best slice of life protagonists that I have ever seen. And the reason that movie was good was that it is very much his movie, it's pretty intimate about how Kyon's mind works and how he deals with the abnormality of normality and the normality of abnormality?

I will say in regards to the endless eight that it could of made a good episode maybe event two, but eight? And as you said, it was ultimately pointless. Mind you it does IMHO help explain or at least shed greater lights on the plot of Disappearance.

2. I enjoyed the ending to Death Note. I thought it was great for making sure fangirls of either side would feel satisfied. Death Note was a good series because it wasn't black and white. Usually in a series we presume whom ever to have won to be in the right, or if the villain won, for the creator to bring out the emotions of that moment in a negative way. With the ending there's no defnintive win, showing how neither view will ultimately win, since both sides will continue to exist. If the antagonist won, the show would be over, and we'd have to either experience an ending of "YOUR OPINION IS WRONG!", or an uncomfortable ending that would try to play to Light's redemption from his insanity. If the protagonist simply won and it was over, you'd get the same ending possibilities only reversed. But since it carries on and they both lose, it shows the instability of their moral attitudes. Both ideas will continue to exist, as we see L as the person of more accepted opinion, and we also see that people were quite willing to follow Kira. Unfortunately since most people prefer one character they found it to be awful. I can agree that Mello and Near are weaker, but they added their own dynamic and were necessary for this message.

I enjoyed it for other reasons, to me Light was a thug albeit an intelligent one. the ending was really saying to anyone who missed the point that Light wasn't a good or even a good man, he was not only wrong but a dick. So I really liked it for that, it didn't eulogize him or make him out to be a great man but showed quite clearly that he was all talk.

I disagree with other people though, I think that need to happen. The series need to shake up the status quo. Failure to do that would just make the whole thing silly.

I'd probably say Evangelion. Not because Shinji is whiny, or because it's too pretentious, but because I was just bored after the fifth episode.
I'm one of those people who say to people who find certian characters whiny "Well, I suppose you'd be completely emotionally stable and courageous in this position?". Shinji was ignore by his father, left alone, and then randomly called on to carry the fate of humanity. HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU FEEL AS HIM?
I am aware that whiny characters can be annoying, but you can't say it's not expected.
I like the Rebuild movies though, but they don't even explain why the children have to do it.

See we disagree here. Have you ever watched Linebarrels of Iron/ It's not a great show but it does manage to make an intensely horrid protagonist unwatchable for the first four whole episodes. I mean this guy is foul, he is so self righteous, almost magnificent in his petulance that you can't stop watching. Yet you hate him. Now the show chickens out and redeems him but during those first four episodes it did stand out as doing a very good job of portraying how someone like say MovieBob would be like if they got any sort of real power. A disaster.

And I was enthralled.

My problem with Evangelion was that this didn't happen, yes emotional realism is a good thing but Shinji was just so passive, so unwilling to act that it was a struggle to watch.

Code Geass R2 had a bad build up to an ending. The ending itself was ok, but the 5 or so episodes leading up to that left so many questions in my head. So...Suzaku joined Lelouch because...reasons?

See my problem with it is that it became really realy pandering. There was the flying mechas which was pushing it a bit too much for me, then the maid became a ninja and then there was a transforming mecha and it was just so silly. The first season was pretty silly and over the top but IMHO it managed to toe the line expertly. The Second just lost it to sell toys to little boys.

I'm happy your quoting was stating your contrary opinion instead of simply telling me I'm wrong. I was a little scared by the first line.

The movie was definately about Kyon, and I even thought that after viewing the entire series through his eyes the movie might end up saying the Kyonism theory was right because it was certainly hinting at it. Kyon is definately the interesitng character as he's the every day guy having to respond to the crazy, and it was so sad seeing how his life became empty after a few things changed.

I didn't see the ending to Death Note as solid evidence Light was wrong and evil. I certainly think the entire series shows the descent into madness 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' shows. I think he jumped into too much crazy by the end of the first episode for lots of people to find him relatable. Probably mostly to the point of using the word "God" instead of "greatest power" that he surely would be, and the fact he excluded hismelf from his own rules.

I have not seen Linebarrels of Iron but I understand your point.

I didn't think too much about those thigns in R2. I enjoyed them. Strategy certainly jumped out the window a bit though. It's funny watching the commentary for Code Geass because the creators say that one of their main targets was making a "sexy" show.

 

[370999]

I'm happy your quoting was stating your contrary opinion instead of simply telling me I'm wrong. I was a little scared by the first line.

The movie was definately about Kyon, and I even thought that after viewing the entire series through his eyes the movie might end up saying the Kyonism theory was right because it was certainly hinting at it. Kyon is definately the interesitng character as he's the every day guy having to respond to the crazy, and it was so sad seeing how his life became empty after a few things changed.

I didn't see the ending to Death Note as solid evidence Light was wrong and evil. I certainly think the entire series shows the descent into madness 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' shows. I think he jumped into too much crazy by the end of the first episode for lots of people to find him relatable. Probably mostly to the point of using the word "God" instead of "greatest power" that he surely would be, and the fact he excluded hismelf from his own rules.

I have not seen Linebarrels of Iron but I understand your point.

I didn't think too much about those thigns in R2. I enjoyed them. Strategy certainly jumped out the window a bit though. It's funny watching the commentary for Code Geass because the creators say that one of their main targets was making a "sexy" show.

No probs.

I think Kyon is one of the better characters from MoHS, I feel he is more complex, like he is always struggling with being pulled one way or the other. Mind you I never really though MoHS has great characters, it had archetypes but they never really felt like people. I really like Nagato but she is one of the most obvious cliches, that of the aloof bookish girl, usually flat chested and small.

Well my thing with Light is that doesn't he start off killing a motorcyclist? Now in the manga I think the guy was just chatting up some girl, but in the anime I think he was being a dick. But to me at least that doesn't justify killing.

Which is part of the thing that annoys me with Death Note, how much it seems to wants to avoid ever having a serious discussion about morality. Yeah the plot has lots of twists but neither Light nor L ever really seemed interested in presenting a serious argument about why they are doing what they are doing. i mean L is only really there because he views it as a challenge to his intellectual abilities rather then there being any overriding moral imperative compelling him to stop Kira. Which comes back to it being a shonen manga but it does mean I deduct points from it. The series Monster does good/evil and wherever it's right to kill to stop an evil man ten times better then Death note ever does, because it attempts to do so.

Death Note is still very watchable though.

I wouldn't recommend Linebarrels of Iron as a show to watch for fun, but you might be interested in just looking at the first four episodes to see if you agree with me. He is a truly horrible protagonist, think the kid from Chronicle but prone to ranting about why he is a "hero of justice". And honestly I think there is a degree of honesty in suggesting that perhaps quite a few otaku would react like that if given a mecha, not going catatonic but rather being drunk on power.

See I really like the first season of Code Geass, it was my first real anime, so I'm quite fond for it and I'm quite a military nerd so I can see why it wouldn't bother you but for me it was really pushing it. While before it was borderline it seemed to be at least partly grounded in reality, but then it became a super robot show which I disliked. I can get what they are saying about sexing it up, Geass was always a bit of a tart when it come to some stuff (Jeremiah please stand up).

I would still maintain that Geass was at least a bit better then Death Note in that it at least attempted to answer it's main theme of wherever it's better to work in an unjust system for legitimacy, or to work outside it to destroy it, when compared to Geass' complete apathy towards it's superficial main theme over if it is right to kill guilty men.

 

[lordlillen]

ignore the visuals.

honestly i dont care if its the point of the anime the main character was an annoying whiner and i couldnt stand more then a few episodes and the little action it had wast anything spectacular.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

]

Fate/Stay Night (The anime, not the VN.)- This one's probably popular due to the VN, but the anime itself is very generic and mediocre, and the main character is an idiot. The other Fate anime, like Fate/Zero, Carnival Phantasm, and even Unlimited Blade Works I thought were way better..

Popular due to the visual novel, really? most people I've seen who know about it have only watched the anime, which is as you say, incredibly mediocre.

I don't know. I never played the VN, but the anime seemed to have gotten a lot of very positive reviews, and I've seen people who've considered it one of their favorite anime.

 

[somonels]

Most of them.
I mean, green is fun if you have been colorblind for your whole life, but it soon becomes mundane and you see it's not that great.

 

[Palademon]

No probs.

I think Kyon is one of the better characters from MoHS, I feel he is more complex, like he is always struggling with being pulled one way or the other. Mind you I never really though MoHS has great characters, it had archetypes but they never really felt like people. I really like Nagato but she is one of the most obvious cliches, that of the aloof bookish girl, usually flat chested and small.

Well my thing with Light is that doesn't he start off killing a motorcyclist? Now in the manga I think the guy was just chatting up some girl, but in the anime I think he was being a dick. But to me at least that doesn't justify killing.

Which is part of the thing that annoys me with Death Note, how much it seems to wants to avoid ever having a serious discussion about morality. Yeah the plot has lots of twists but neither Light nor L ever really seemed interested in presenting a serious argument about why they are doing what they are doing. i mean L is only really there because he views it as a challenge to his intellectual abilities rather then there being any overriding moral imperative compelling him to stop Kira. Which comes back to it being a shonen manga but it does mean I deduct points from it. The series Monster does good/evil and wherever it's right to kill to stop an evil man ten times better then Death note ever does, because it attempts to do so.

Death Note is still very watchable though.

I wouldn't recommend Linebarrels of Iron as a show to watch for fun, but you might be interested in just looking at the first four episodes to see if you agree with me. He is a truly horrible protagonist, think the kid from Chronicle but prone to ranting about why he is a "hero of justice". And honestly I think there is a degree of honesty in suggesting that perhaps quite a few otaku would react like that if given a mecha, not going catatonic but rather being drunk on power.

See I really like the first season of Code Geass, it was my first real anime, so I'm quite fond for it and I'm quite a military nerd so I can see why it wouldn't bother you but for me it was really pushing it. While before it was borderline it seemed to be at least partly grounded in reality, but then it became a super robot show which I disliked. I can get what they are saying about sexing it up, Geass was always a bit of a tart when it come to some stuff (Jeremiah please stand up).

I would still maintain that Geass was at least a bit better then Death Note in that it at least attempted to answer it's main theme of wherever it's better to work in an unjust system for legitimacy, or to work outside it to destroy it, when compared to Geass' complete apathy towards it's superficial main theme over if it is right to kill guilty men.

Well the motorcyclist was attempting to gang rape her...

That reminds me that if someone wnats to get into anime I suggest to them they watch Death Note then Code Geass, because Death Note can show how anime can use story to a great deal, have dark themes, and show anime overcoming the often held western idea that animation is either for children or all comedy, or only more complex in animated movies. And then Code Geass eases them into the anime cliches people often bring up as a negative, and combines them with similar themes from Death note. Although Lelouch is a much more redeemable character than Light.

 

[370999]

Well the motorcyclist was attempting to gang rape her...

That reminds me that if someone wnats to get into anime I suggest to them they watch Death Note then Code Geass, because Death Note can show how anime can use story to a great deal, have dark themes, and show anime overcoming the often held western idea that animation is either for children or all comedy, or only more complex in animated movies. And then Code Geass eases them into the anime cliches people often bring up as a negative, and combines them with similar themes from Death note. Although Lelouch is a much more redeemable character than Light.

He was wasn't he. Mind you that I would say is another problem, how completely and unrealistically apathetic people appear to be in the Death Note universe. They don't even care about people dropping dead next to them.

I concur in regards to death Note, I do feel it is a very good gateway drug (Cowboy Bebop is the same) as it is incredibly entertaining and reasonably smart. Just don't expect any real insights into the human condition.

 

[spartan231490]

Melancholy is supremely overrated. I hated that anime. Couldn't even tolerate it well enough to watch more than a handful of episodes. It was boring and the concept was idiotic.

 

[Richardplex]

]

]

Fate/Stay Night (The anime, not the VN.)- This one's probably popular due to the VN, but the anime itself is very generic and mediocre, and the main character is an idiot. The other Fate anime, like Fate/Zero, Carnival Phantasm, and even Unlimited Blade Works I thought were way better..

Popular due to the visual novel, really? most people I've seen who know about it have only watched the anime, which is as you say, incredibly mediocre.

I don't know. I never played the VN, but the anime seemed to have gotten a lot of very positive reviews, and I've seen people who've considered it one of their favorite anime.

Fate/Stay Night is a 7/10 anime, using the gaming industries scale, and seen it given that quite a few times. I haven't seen anything give the visual novel anything below a 10.

I knew a friend who I've lost contact with, he thought the F/SN anime was his favourite anime.. until he read the visual novel. His response? "How on earth did I think that anime was good?" A random anonymous guy on the internet I was sort of talking to said "Fate/Stay Night was pretty average really, but it had something underlying it, a beautiful story not being told. That beautiful story turned out to be the visual novel".

So like we said, VERY overrated anime, it is a shadow of the visual novel. Fate/Stay Night's biggest strength is easily the characters, and that, unlike the story and somehow the action (bit of a head-scratcher there, an unanimated visual novel making the fights more gripping than an anime, but they managed it) can be carried over easily. Couldn't really get into their development or their deep complexities, but still.

(Sorry to come across as a massive fangirl. I try to safely release it in the form of bouncing, but some of it still comes out).

Edit: Only just realised you're not a third person, so my post will probably read a bit weirdly. My bad.

 

[Nerexor]

Full Metal Panic. I've tried to watch it several times, and every time I get so bored I start skipping through the episodes until stuff actually starts happening. High school BS takes up way too much time on that show.

Bleach. The first bit of bleach was awesome, cool premise, awesome swordfights, interesting characters, and Aizen's reveal. All of it was great. And then it faceplanted into manure and filler and filler made of manure... Ugh. Same goes for Naruto after the Chuunin exams arc everything went to shit.

 

[Risingblade]

Cowboy Beebop, I never saw the appeal of it.