In this thread, we discuss awesome shows which are not popular! Don't bother posting about your Fullmetal Alchemists or Bleaches or Cowboy Bebops in here! Feel free to be as elitists as you want!
And let's not turn this into a "list thread", because those are useless and suck. ITT, we talk!
To start things off, here are a few suggestions for awesome shows:
Windy Tales, Zettai Shounen, Fantastic Children are all slow-as-molasses anime. Action is very diluted.
I gave up on Windy Tales at ep06, but I was bored way before that. The first few eps were great for originality, then it became sort of repetitive and aimless. The fat-girls design didn't help to keep me hooked.
Zettai Shounen I finished, because I wanted to know the "secret" of the light balls. Also, the chara design was easy on the eyes. But in the end it was a very shallow meal.
Fantastic Children, I lost interest right at the first episodes. I checked a few eps here and there to see if I could finally get hooked. I wanted to like it, because the subject interests me. Whatever I saw failed to keep me there.
Of course they are slow shows - if there was a lot of action, people would watch them just for that and they wouldn't be overlooked, now would they?
But really, if you went in looking for explanations to secrets in Zettai Shounen, it's no wonder you were disappointed, because that was never the point of the show. Neither is Windy Tales "aimless" - it just doesn't have the aim you were apparently expecting.
Gyakuten Ippatsuman
One of the coolest of Time Bokan series!
Well, do tell us more! Because, you know, nobody has seen it!
Pretty Combat Communist Rika-chan
I hardly ever hear talk about this grreat series. :(
Cute.
>>4 Yeah, Fantastic Children is a great series, but I think surprisingly many people have seen it, regardless of the unappealing name, slow pacing, and the icky taste of licensing. Mahou did a decent job with their sub, and I doubt distribution has been poor enough to keep anyone from watching it.
Many people have been turned off by the mystery and weirdness in the first half of the series, but since this is for once an anime in which the loose ends are tied, it's just a matter of patience - which shouldn't be too rare a trait amongst otaku.
I believe good anime just doesn't stay unwatched nowadays, besides, timeless shows like this get more and more viewers in the course of years, unlike super-popular shows that are based on a temporary fad.
2064 is my favorite. i don't know why more people aren't into it!
Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari a.k.a. 100 Stories.
Great show with beautiful (and daring!) art. I'm hesitant to say the truth (it's a horror anime), since it's so much much better than most horror shit I've seen. No quick-cut-to-blood-you're-scared, but instead slow and meticulous building of atmosphere.
The excellent voices, the hot half-naked Ogin, the fog that looks like eraser smudges, the traditional Japanese setting, the quirkiness....it's all so good and beautiful. The only benefit of so few people having seen it is that I can rant about it in this thread.
>so few people having seen it
Wut? It got fansubbed, I'm sure more than a few people saw it.
As for my rating... well it was okay overall. Some good episodes, some less memorable ones. To call it "great" may be pushing it a little too far. Let's say above average.
>Wut? It got fansubbed, I'm sure more than a few people saw it.
Most series in this thread have been fansubbed. This doesn't mean that -relatively speaking- many people have seen them.
>To call it "great" may be pushing it a little too far.
I liked it a lot, but I can see how one could like it less or even dislike it. The bad CG was intentional in my eyes, but for many others it was probably just crap.
planetes =best show ever
12 kingdoms is pretty good also
I tried watching 12 Kingdoms, but it bored me to death within two episodes or so.
Of course, you could just take that as a re-affirmation of its cult classic status!
Oh I see...
So if I understand it well, an Elistist Superstructure anime is a boring anime where nothing really happens, or in very diluted quantities?
Ok, I nominate Pokemon.
Winter Days
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4812
Ski Jump Pair
http://www.jump-pair.com/
Momotaro - Umi no Shinpei
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5005
Hakujaden
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=655
Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3799
I admit you are true elite if you've already watched those anime.
I've seen some clips of Momotaro, but that's about it. But now I really do want to see Hakujaden.
I know about it, and think it's bunk! Almost none of the series I've liked have waited three episodes to hook me.
Uh, I didn't originally read the link. orz.
Something about that stuff just annoys me. Yes, there are unlikeable people involved in the fandom. There are several stupid phenomenons. Also, there are several overrated series. Is this really something one should spend time in?
The things >>21 listed don't seem all that interesting to watch. Oh, and, if a show gets fansubbed, it's not a show "nobody has seen." Windy Tales, Zettai Shonen, FC, and the like have been seen by a considerable amount of non-Japanese otaku, and have beed discussed in great detail on Animesuki forums. I remember when FC was being fansubbed, some episodes had leechers into the 1000's; and 1000 + people is not "nobody." No one knows how well FC is selling, but Vol.2 is #14,814 on Amazon.com DVD ranking, it's currently outselling more popular shows like Elfen Lied. A few years ago, there was a thread on AoD discussing obscure anime, and some of the titles being brought up were truly rare, to the point where I felt like an idiot for thinking my DVDs of Spring & Chaos/Night on the Galactic Railroad are something special.
While you are definitely catching on to the spirit of the thread, I think it's better to have people actually discussing things than keeping quiet because they are not obscure enough.
The title is facetious hyperbole. The point is to talk about shows that are not all that popular, and don't get talked about much.
A fan read out the source code seen in Nagato's typing scene, and compiled it.
source
http://blog.proj.jp/ituki/data/2006/20060615.SimInject.org.cc
http://blog.proj.jp/ituki/data/2006/20060615.SimInject.cc (minor fix)
compiled file
http://blog.proj.jp/ituki/data/2006/20060615.SimInject.exe
Wow... It worked...
wrong thread... orz
I'm sure loads of ppl have seen this but I'd liked it Kashimashi (Girl meets Girl) it's been subbed by more than one group. I wouldn't normally be in to a show about "feelings" but this one caught my attention.
"I wouldn't normally be into a show about 'feelings' but this one has lesbians."
>>32
If it were that he would have watched Maria-sama ga Miteru.
Maybe he watches that too.
Kashimashi is just ok.I tried watching up to 4 episodes and then gave up. Even the manga is sucks. Hantsuki ??
i enjoyed to heart and boys be. both shows are somewhat well known, but not popular like say naruto. to heart is the typical slice of life - nothing special. but it's quite good for something based on an ero game. boys be is basically to heart but with a drop in production values.
おっす
Fairly non-obscure by the standards of this thread but fuck it:
Haibane Renmei
I don't know how many people on this forum haven't seen it, but to whoever hasn't: drop everything, get on amazon.com and buy the DVDs immediately. Immediately. Don't even think about it. Just go.
Three moments touched me, the opening, the well thing and when I realized what the toga's were. There were some chuckles, the characters were decent, but... Maybe I'm getting too picky?
It's an OK watch I guess.
waah! has Suzuka come up yet? Apart from the rinning thing (which sucks imho) the relationship development is marvelously worked out, in fact its what the whole series is about (screw the track and field club!)-->(running is what you do by yourself)
or am I not aware of better examples of this genre?
If you're wapanese you could be forgiven for thinking Suzuka wasn't popular outside Japan either. If you're from the west you should have known it was one of the most popular shows of the summer 2005 season among fansub downloaders. Also one of the most discussed.
My nomination would be Figure 17. Came out once a month, 45 minute episodes (only two per DVD) and the low fansub quality probably turned a lot of people away. However, the story itself is really beautiful and I just love the idea of suddenly ending up with an identical twin. Technically it was also good; nice animation and character design with interesting theme music.
Kamisama Kazoku is good, and also has super-cute unique character design style.
Wait...who were to Toga? I apologize, but I'm not well versed in religious references...
My contribution: She and her Cat (彼女と彼女の猫). This is a short (5 minute) story about th life of a girl, from the point of view of her cat. I'm sure many of you have seen it, but it's relatively obscure.
Planetes and 12 Kingdoms... very few people i know have watched the full series - mainly cause it's slow as fuck until ep 5
Yadamon
It's apparently a very good children's anime about a young witch that starts out as an adventure comedy but gets serious later on. However, the DVD set is so expensive(170 10-minute episodes) and the raws so rare online that only episode five has been subbed. From what little I've seen of it, the story looks pretty interesting, and the OP rocks. An anime with a character who flies by turning her hair into butterfly wings and riding a floor buffer, and whose mentor is a talking manatee must have some merit to it.
That really is some hair!
Anything with "moeru" or "moero" in the title.
I liked Legend of the Galactic Heroes...I haven't really met more than one person who likes or knows about it so I'm pretty sure it qualifies for this thread.
Shin Hakkenden. It aired in about 1999-2000 on AXN in SEAsia but nobody realy talks about it. It's typical anime fare once you think about it - adaptation of the Hakkenden fable with magical balls and a group of people, but I remember it well because I used to enjoy it with my one other anime-loving friend when we were still in primary school. And it had a generally sad ending which I liked. Yay.
Also it was the first time I ever heard an angela song (the OP, Memories) but I didn't realise it until about 2005... The ED is awfully nostalgic though.
EPIC THREAD REVIVAL MANEUVER
Diary of Tortov Roddle
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1205
Ryokunohara Meikyuu
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=2219
Laughing Target
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=2018
Mizu no Kotoba
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=2235
Twilight Q
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1981
A Tree of Palme
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1141
Psycho Diver
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1767
Pale Cocoon
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=770
Digital Juice
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1105
Night on the Galactic Railroad
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1441
Sci-Fi Harry
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1508
A Wind Named Amnesia
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1793
Fire Tripper
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=2973
Hotori: Tada Saiwai wo Koinegau
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=475
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=514
Noiseman Sound Insect
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1978
Spring and Chaos
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1206
Rumiko Takahashi Anthology
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=2486
Angel's Egg
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=885
Kigeki
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1072
Seraphim Call
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=2245
Kakurenbo
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1192
Arashi no Yoru ni
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1961
Darkside Blues
http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=1494
> Seraphim Call
I dunno, it's entertaining enough, but it is still a Dengeki G's moe production.
Tortov Roddle is pretty awesome, though.
However, we'd really be better off if you actually shared some opinions, >>51.
Snake bucket (forgot the japanese name)
In the late 60's early 70's about a boy in south america who collects snakes and how he accidently encounters a gorilla fighter and by time we seen him grow up and join them.Tragic show, but brilliant!
tokko!
Wasn't Tokko kind of terrible?
All of Studio 4C. Some of Noitamina like Mononoke and Hakaba Kitarou.
I've seen a few shoujo ones that not many people I know have seen.
Mainly really old magical girl ones though. In my defence, it was a few months after I started watching anime, and I automatically went for the girly ones..At least I didn't watch Sailor moon.
Hime chan no ribbon? Anyone heard of it?
Angel Sanctuary doesn't get the respect it deserves. Despite the plot (angel reincarnated as a boy with incestual fealings for his sister), it was pretty awesome as a manga, but rather short lived as an anime. Unless they did make more anime of it.
Also, Tsukihime, which isn't as well respected as an anime as the games were.
Possibly because the anime didn't have nearly as much rape.
Those are hardly shows "nobody has seen".
FREAKEN SASUNARU ISH TEH BESTEST EVER
Baccano!
http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1057.html
Great show with an entertaining OP.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1AmmvJS05oo
ever heard of haibane renmei. I loved that show even tho it was kinda slow paced
Everybody has heard of both of these.
>>65
yep true u_u
So... the best show uh...
i'm pretty sure you've seen it but there's Brave story who's cool, but not that great.
Maybe Makoto Shinkai's work like ; Byousoku 5 centimeter, Beyond the cloud the promised place etc.
well i vote for
saikano - fictional "would-be-war" drama, real good presentation and the only things to complain about are the back-story of the war and the kinda abstract ending
kimi ga nozomu eien - romance drama thing that's kinda heavy and pretty hard to describe without spoiling the plot, usual high-school (and beyond) drama with great presentation
kini no tabi - short stories about a traveler visiting different countries, hard to classify this, it's kinda like slice-of-life deal with a look at human psychology and why people behave the way they do (well, if anyone can help with the description it would be great)
>>67 All of those are pretty mainstream.
Look, people, this show is not about "shows that are less popular than Naruto". It's about stuff that is actually obscure. If you can walk into your local video store and rent it, it likely doesn't go in here.
What about Love Pheromone? That show's pretty wild. Never managed to find a copy of it IRL but found it on an obscure web site recently.
Still, the way the Internet is, it's probably on major torrent sites by now.
Summer Days With Coo
Twilight of the Cockroaches
Some one said be elitist ....
Turn A Gundam
Urarochi Diamond
Restaurant of Many Orders
That's probably because it's very much hit-or-miss comedy. I tried to watch it, and found it excruciatingly painful and entirely unfunny. However, I know very well that that's a very personal reaction and that somebody else might find it hilarious.
Maeterlinck no Aoi Tori
Kaiba, best show you'll watch for a long time.
Le Petit Prince
Dagger of Kamui.
Epic and moving.
The Dunwich Horror
dragonball z
Kin no Tori
Ursa Minor Blue
Windy Tales
Genius Party
jojo's bizzare adventure, blue sub 6, welcome to the nhk, hajime no ippo, gin detsu weed
Rayca
2X2 Shinobuden
Cream Lemon
Lost Exhile!
Cencoroll
So is this nothing more than a list thread now?
Ponyo on a Cliff
Captain Future!
I wish some subbing group could grab original Japanese version and sub it in english. There are only German/French dubs.
A Piece of Phantasmagoria
Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula
Yoiko
Space Adventure Cobra 2008
Heck, I haven't even seen it myself, but I really mean to. Soon!
No one has heard of GantZ, the storyline is realistic aswell as the culture, and gives a message and meaning. nothing can top this. sad that a true Otaku should actaully know about this since its tells us the meaning of Life, itself.
The Old Crocodile
>>103
Isn't Gantz about dead people dressed up in leather suits that fight aliens for the amusement of some kind of hovering black ball?
Kikumana
Kagami no Genon
Utena
Everyone ITT will have heard of the movie, but I think few of you actually watched the series.
It is the sort of gentle mindfuck anime that doesn't pretend to be DEEP, yet you will never forget the characters, the setting, or the music.
Ushiro no Shomen Dare
clannad
wallpaper
http://www.sweetnote.com/board/moekasu/
Planet Busters
Legend of Black Heaven
An ex-rockstar who's sick of his wife for throwing away his favorite flying V tries to have an affair with the new hot chick at the office, who's really an alien, and ends up going to space to jam out and save the universe.
The end.
Iczer Reborn
I've seen a bit of utena, but apparently I've never gotten to
the mindfuck part o.O
hmmm, I don't know whether this is popular or not, but EVE no
Jikan. It's about a future where androids are used, and about
whether they have feelings or not. I at least think it's very
interesting. Despite the deep subject, it feel somewhat light
hearted, which is a good thing. (or at least i think so)
>>18
I've seen some part of 12kingdoms, but I read the first book first and thought that was better. plus the anime started to become so different I stopped watching it. The book really had me hooked but, somehow the anime put me off.
>>51
I've been interested in Mizu no kotoba. Same makers as EVE no
Jikan I believe? Cosette I have seen. It has a great, and creepy
, atmosphere. Angels Egg and Darkside blues seem very
interesting, I think I will watch them some time.
>>66
Byousoku 5 centimeter, Beyond the cloud the promised place,
those are pretty well known I think. B5C a little less maybe.
both were really good, sadly I watched the first one together
with a friend as we were in a giddy mood, which sort of
destroyed the entire feeling in it.
>>105
yeah that would be pretty much what it is about, in a nutshell
anyway. The protagonist annoys me so I stopped watching it.
Doutei Kawaiya
Venus Wars / Venus War Chronicles
same animation director as the original Gundam, main character rides a single wheeled motorcycle.
part cyberpunk, part war story.
I live in the UK where nobody has ever seen this, maybe it's different in the states, but people online never seem to talk about it.
or maybe it's just shit, but I love it.
Sora no Iro Mizu no Iro
Futakoi alternative. It's got a great soundtrack, nice animation and a story that makes little to no sense, just the way I like it...
There's also Kabocha Wine, which I watched several times when I was a kid... Probably anyone else would think it sucks and wouldn't be wrong, but I still love it...
Alright, the suggestions I'm about to give out aren't exactly that obscure, but what the heck.
What about Cat Soup? That was one of the weirdest movies I've ever watched, but it was great nonetheless. I also say Inaka Isha and Kanashimi no Belladonna. And Monster, and Texhnolyze :D
Oh, could some of you talk more about your favorite obscure titles? Just the name tells me nothing, after all...I want to hear about the soul, the heart of your favorite titles!
I know I've seen Dagger of Kamui, mentioned in this thread. That one is incredible and moving, with beautiful art and music! A classic if there ever was one, that film. A ninja movie done right, if you can believe it!
Alright then. Inaka Isha is an adaptation of Franz Kafka's short story "A country doctor". In my opinion, it transmits the atmosphere from his books quite well (I don't know what else to say about it, if you're familiar with Kafka's works you should know what I mean ^^'').
Kanashimi no Belladonna is a movie with some psychedelic tones about a woman who was raped on her wedding day and how she later started communing with nature. This one is set in the middle ages, and it's somewhat erotic, tough I still recommend it if you still dislike that kind of stuff. Very unique style and beautiful animation sequences.
Monster, who is actually fairly well known amongst more dedicated anime watchers (by this I mean people who care to look for hidden gems, I don't mean it in an offending way), is about human nature. What makes people monsters and that sort of thing. I'd rather not give you an explanation of the plot, since it's always more interesting when you find out by yourself (at least that's how I feel about Urasawa's stories xD). It actually takes some episodes for the story to take form, but its really worth it, at least that's what I think.
Texhnolyze, another one which is not that obscure either, kind of also deals with human nature (it is COMPLETELY different from Monster tough). Well, I don't know how to explain it, since I watched a few episodes, and then finished the last four months later. I don't have a solid idea of the plot (kinda forgot), I'll have to re-watch that one xD
Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, also known as Silver Fang.
You might find it on the net, but it t's the has never been translated in English. It is the most famous anime in northern countries because is one of the fist ones released and the first marked as anime. For a change, it focuses on animals, dogs, instead of humans.
It might sound stupid at first, I know, but try it out. You might be surprised.
>>121
fuck yea, Futakoi alternative.
I love the ending, whole jumping out of a plane running on missiles to kick a giant squid. was just a fun anime to watch cause i never knew what would happen.
>>125
Monster is top-ranked in every corner of the internet, so it's not really a hidden gem. Don't suspect so many people have seen it all, but who does finish a series, really?
I never really understood why Otomo's "Memories" hadn't received more love. I mean, the three parts, each in their own way, are very high quality animation, be it artistically or technically. And the stories are great. Maybe it's the fact they're short stories and not a real movie or a series.
You could also try fucking yourself. Just a suggestion.
>>129
They probably lack kame-hame-has or death notes.
>>131
Sadly, you might be right. But one of the stories has somebody who kills with his body odour! This could appeal to the teenage audiences...