Forum - View topicOver-rated And Under-Rated Anime
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StickyToffeePopcorn
Posts: 61 Location: UK |
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I disagree here. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure was huge in Japan when it was first released. It can't really be expected to be more popular now because the art is quite dated, the story (which was once innovative) has become cliche and it got terrible treatment as an OVA. I still think it's a classic though, just not under-rated. Also, I think it just started in American Shonen Jump...so it will probably reach a whole new market. As for the game, it was released in the US and the UK under the same name on the Dreamcast. UNDER-RATED Astro Boy 2003! Wooo! Although it did really well in Japan it seemed to be ignored even by anime fans everywhere else. I don't really know why though, because I loved a whole lot of it. Perfect Blue. I think it should have more of a 'classic' status. OVER-RATED Rahxephon. I'm a big Eva fan; and hate it when anybody says this is better >_> A personal thing. |
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Anthony P
Posts: 227 Location: Phoenix, Arizona, US |
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Yes! While I wouldn't say forget about Lain, but I definitely agree that Texhnolyze is underrated. The concept behind it is truly unique without being hokey, and the storytelling is restrained without being too obtuse. I also thought Texhnolyze had a very unpredictable and tasteful ending.
In terms of characters, I'd actually say Azumanga Daioh is fairly realistic. Rather than fourteen-year-olds saving the world or schoolkids overcoming monumental life-changing situations, it's character's lives and personalities develop in very subtle ways, like what happens in real life. Okay, I understand that you didn't like Azumanga Daioh, and I can definitely see why someone wouldn't like it; but if you're going to tout something as over/underrated, it should be done in an objective manner. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18394 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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To answer various posts:
While it isn't one of my personal favorites, RahXephon is a good series whose main fault is that it's a bit too obfuscated for its own good. I wouldn't rate it above NGE, but I would rate it above at least 2/3 of the titles I've reviewed this year. Azumanga Daioh is definitely a hit-or-miss series. For those that "get" it, it's endlessly entertaining. For those that don't, watching more than a couple of episodes is pointless. (The same thing could also be said of FLCL.) I'm in the former category, so I don't personally think it's overrated. Excel Saga is one of the funniest anime series out there. Can't agree with those who say it's overrated. DBZ is overrated if you try to regard it as something more than it actually is: a high-powered action series targeted at teen and preteen boys. Evaluated solely on that, it's the greatest shonen action series ever. Compared to the general pool of anime, I'd still rate it a bit above average despite its legendary tendency to string things out. (A trait Naruto has, unfortunately, apparently adopted.) Visions of Escaflowne can be an entrancing series despite its heavy use of common fantasy and romance cliches; I blew through it in only 2 days when I got the boxed set, and I don't normally do that. What makes it distinctive is that it's a rare series designed to appeal equally to teen male and female audiences. It also makes Hitomi an absolutely integral part of the story; the subtle but very potent power she has to spoiler[affect fate and see the unseen] not only permeates much of what happens in the series but is frightening if one considers the implications of what she could do with it if she set her mind to it. And Dilandau does rank high on my list of All-Time Great Anime Villains, too, especially given the shocking twist about his real identity. And we mustn't forget that the series offers up maybe the single best anime OST ever. I must agree that Escaflowne: The Movie tends to be underrated. Anyone who can divorce it from the TV series should recognize what a quality piece of work it is, both from a technical standpoint and in terms of being a story about characters trying to deal with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Millenium Actress underrated? Nah. Anyone who's seen it should recognize that it's among the best anime movies out there. I disagree about its plot being confusing, though; one just has to understand that the actress is very much telling her own story through her movies. Texhnolyze is an incredible-looking series, but it's a bit too dreary. I'd still take Serial Experiment Lain's storytelling over it anyday. What anime do I consider underrated? Kiddy Grade and sCRYed. The former is a much deeper and more complex series than it may appear to be at first (there's actually a reason why the main character look so young), and the latter overcomes mediocre visuals by presenting great action and a style all its own in a suprisingly philosophical story. |
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PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Whether or not you like Excel Saga really depends on your sense of humor. I wouldn't reccomend watching it in one go though, it just has too much to take in. In addition to finding Excel Saga hilarious, I also love Excel Saga for its great cultural aspects, I learned a lot about the Japanese from watching it (with the cultural notes on of course). So I don't really think of it as overrated, its just not everyones cup of tea. |
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ParaParaJMo
 Posts: 333 Location: Gilbert, AZ, USA |
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I should have mentioned that I was saying it was underrated under the context of it being outside of Japan. But yes, I will acknowledge it is still popular in Japan. |
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shirokiryuu
Posts: 714 Location: Northern California (SF Bay Area) |
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Yeah, it's personal humor, because I really liked it even if i've only seen a few episodes, but a friend of mine hates things with overhyperness (a.k.a. Excel) so she couldn't stand it... |
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shirokiryuu
Posts: 714 Location: Northern California (SF Bay Area) |
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that is an understatment (by the "dubbing kinda stinks") For me, the most important thing isn't the dubbing, is the hacking to the plot is what bugs me the most |
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Mugen1style
Posts: 281 Location: North of the wall |
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Over rated shows: FMA, and One piece
FMA. I like this show but I can not see what the fuss is all about. While the characters are interesting it seems to suffer from a slow pace most of the time and I can not help but think the angst is overplayed beyound my tollerence level for emo dwelling. One Piece. Ok this show I can not stand the concept and the character design is so unapealing to me. The antics which I have been told are the key to this series are played out and just uninteresting to my taste. I would be last one to care about a Dub but they seemed to have royaly screwed that up as well. Underrated shows: Gun Parade March , Twelve Kingdoms and Cromartie High School Gun Parade March is a great romance/ mecha story with very relalistic character development. The situations seemed very real to me and the way the main characters come together is heart warming IMO. The Mecha action is a secondary part of the show in away. There are some battle's but it is not the main focus. Twelve Kingdoms is an excellent series I can say nothing bad about it except that they still need to finish the story. I was totaly enthralled with this one. The detail is allmost unsurpassed IMO, and the concept is well thought out. I hardly ever hear of people who like this show outside of a few on this site. Cromartie High School is so freakin funny I had to rest a hole day cause my gut hurt so bad after watching this. It dose have a couple slow spots but there are still funny stuff going on during those times I can under stand why it dose not rate well being that comedies are some what hit and miss depending on who you are. I thought Exell Saga was funny and a lot of peolpe say it sucks but those are just opinions, and every one has at least one. |
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remember love
 Posts: 764 Location: Germany |
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I tend to agree that it is underrated because I love the show myself and really wanting to know about the Gunparademarch Orchestra and when that wille ver be coming out. However, the reason I think people even watch the show is ebcause they thought the main focus would be the war against the Genji(I think that's how it's spelled).And the description on the tin case doesn't make you believe otherwise. So, I can't blame people for not like it or underrating it because you could get mislead if you buy anime like me which is look at the back of the dvd and see if there's a possibility of likeing it(sometimes I'll look online and check reviews out but not too often since my taste for anime is quite different in most cases to others). But for a nice romantic anime with funny lines and situations in it I will 100% agree that it is under-rated. As a mecha war anime which in many cases of people buying the anime was for the mecha and war (or at least my case) it's probably rated where it should be. I still love the show but I was miss-lead when I bought it at stores when reading the back of the tin collectors. (Luckily the whole series only costed me about 20$...so I got a bargin for a good romantic comedy.) |
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ShadrachAnki
 Posts: 180 Location: New England |
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First, I'm going to state up front that these are my opinions formed from observing the American anime community in general. I realize that a lot of people may disagree with me, but don't try to change my mind. It won't work. Now that that's out of the way, on to the series I think are overrated.
Cowboy Bebop is the first series that comes to my mind when topics like this are brought up for discussion. While the characters are interesting and the music is beautiful overall I found this series to be incredibly average, and combining this with all the hype the series received left me markedly underwhelmed. The storytelling is markedly scattered, trying to be entirely episodic and completely linear and thus failing on both counts. If someone were to lend it to me, I'd watch it again, but it isn't going to find a place in my DVD collection. Evangelion takes a close second on my list of overhyped and overrated series. I know that a lot of people love this series, but I continue to be unable to bring myself to care enough about even one of the characters long enough to finish watching it. I've tried more than once, and each time I stopped watching in exactly the same place. There are quite a few other series that I don't feel are truly deserving of all the hype and popularity they receive, but those are the two big ones on my list. Now on to the series I feel are rather underrated in America. One Piece springs immediately to mind, not because there aren't a lot of fans of the series, but because the current mediocre dub and hackjob editing are having a distinctly negative impact on the series overall. I realize that this is probably one of those hit-or-miss series that a lot of people won't understand the popularity of (and they may even view it as being horribly overrated). It's also one of my favorites, and I'm sad that it really isn't being given a fair chance in the American market. Escaflowne: the Movie is one of the things that has already been mentioned, but I agree that it is underrated. Of course, I will be one of the first to admit that when I saw the movie character designs for the first time I made the rather foolish declaration that I would "never" see this movie because they were going to "ruin" the series. I am glad I changed my mind because this is one of the most beautiful alternate tellings of any story that I have had the priviledge of watching (even if I still have issues with Folken's character design for the movie). Shamanic Princess is a title that just doesn't seem to receive any sort of recognition, and I have met very few people who know about it. I doubt it will ever be immensely popular, but I think it's a beautiful, thought-provoking OAV that more people should watch. ~Shadrach Anki |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I have to agree that Cowboy Bebop can be somewhat overrated, though it is an entertaining show (and has an excellent OST, but that's not surprising since it is Yoko Kanno). I just found it to be far to episodic for my own tastes, since on of the things I like best about anime is how they have an overarcing plot that goes through the entire series (Bebop had Spike's past sort of do that, but not enough for my liking).
I really enjoy Escaflowne and it will also hold an important place in my heart, but it isn't a truly wonderful show either. I like it well enough, but not so much that I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on it or anything. It's good, not great (except once again for the OST  ).
The Escaflowne movie isn't really for me, though I do like most of the character designs in it better than in the series (except for the previously mentioned Folken...that was just bad). It's just too hard not to compare it to the series, even though they are entirely different, plus I find that the movie is just too rushed...Hitomi goes from being Angsty McAngstsalot to being, hey, I don't want people to die after all, far too fast. Azumanga Daioh I think is realistic to a point, though some things are rather exaggerated (Sakaki and the cats, for example). It's an amusing show, if you have a tolerance for such things. Also, remember that it was based off a four-panel comic strip. I love Excel Saga very much, though I can see why other people wouldn't. It's definitely one of those things you either love and hate, such as series like FLCL (which I can't stand but know other people who love it). |
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daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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Excel Saga and FLCL certainly belong in the over-rated category IMO. Believe me, I can enjoy unbelievably zany shows with no obvious path forward (I even enjoyed Trouble Chocolate) but Excel Saga and FLCL just annoyed the hell out of me. |
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Mugen The Great
Posts: 189 |
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Storytelling can't "advance" over time. Yes, lots of the best TV shows, books, and movies around have been made more recently (i.e. Evangelion, Harry Potter, The Matrix). However, there are lots of great shows from the past, and lots of downright shit from both older times and more recent times. Comparing DBZ to Ghost in the Shell will result in an obvious win for GitS. Comparing the original Star Wars trilogy to the prequels will show how even the most modern special effects can't make up for poor storytelling. |
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ParaParaJMo
Posts: 333 Location: Gilbert, AZ, USA |
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I say Cowboy Bebop is more overplayed than overrated. I mean, just the same episodes over and over and people still talk about how good it is.
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PantsGoblin
Subscriber Encyclopedia Editor Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Wow, I thought I was the only person who thought Cowboy Bebop was overrated. Yes, I did like Cowboy Bebop but it didn't really live up to its hype. Very episodic and half of the reason people like it is because of its "cool" characters. Certainly an anime that was made to appeal to American audiences (evident from it not being popular in Japan at all), and it worked. Didn't work for as well for me though, but I'm not really an average American anime fan. "Cool" characters, although likable, don't make it a "Masterpiece" in my book. |
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