Underrated Anime?

H

harkins

Adventurer
We all know that regardless of our own personal opinions, anime such as Spirited Away, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell and Akira are amongst those that are very well thought of by the masses and are frequently given as examples of anime excellence. But is there an anime that is not often regarded as a ‘classic’ or 'masterpiece’ that possibly should be?

To start the debate I would say that Haibane Renmei would deserve more recognition than it currently gets (although I have seen it in some of those '25 essential anime’ type lists).

But the one that I’ve never seen in one of those lists or often listed as individual's ‘favourite anime’ is Kino’s Journey. I must confess that I haven’t seen the whole series yet but it really does strike me as a potential classic. It does seem well thought of by the users of animenewsnetwork, see.

Let the squabbling commence!
 
<b>Outlaw Star</b> - Definitely didn't recieve as much attention as it deserved, all the while dickfests such as Excel Saga and FLCL get ten times the credibility >_>

It's sickening I tells ya' 0.0
 
without a doubt id say Hunter X Hunter
the anime was just superb in everyway imo. and the shonen action is so uniqe and has easily influenced current major shonen titles such as Naruto.

if you have not watched it...go do it now!

and i still wonder why the anime hasn't been licensed (mabye because the series ended suddenly on its tv run and continued via OVA's)
but still just license it!!!
 
I don't think Haibane Renmei or Kino's Journey deserve to be seen as classics. They're not really epic enough.

Outlaw Star maybe.

My personal suggestion would be Now and Then Here and There.
 
The only way HxH can be truly perfect is if they animate the Chimera Ant arc, now that's something which will be perfect. So go read HxH or watch it, or something. [Even though it has a lot of text.]
 
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora gets my vote. This was great on so many levels yet it is no where near as popular as it should be.
 
Ark said:
I don't think Haibane Renmei or Kino's Journey deserve to be seen as classics. They're not really epic enough.

Outlaw Star maybe.

My personal suggestion would be Now and Then Here and There.
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But is being epic a prerequisite for being a highly regarded piece of animation?

I’ve heard good things (and some not so good) about 'Now and Then Here and There' before. So I’ve decided to check it out and I have just ordered a copy of the box set.

Looking at the varied suggestions that have been put forward already it looks unlikely that there’ll be any consensus of opinion here. Not too surprising really.
 
I have to second the opinions of His and Her Circumstances - Hideaki Anno's finest effort as director (if you ignore the abrupt and messy ending). Pure romcom dramatic gold.

Gasaraki is a little too overlooked I think, possibly because it's off ADV's catalogue now and as a result is a rarity. I haven't finished it yet but it's a very thoughtfully written series and the mecha designs are superb.

Kino's Journey is outstanding, and very unlike anything else. It's atmosphere is similar to Haibane Renmei and Mushishi. Mushishi by the way deserves to be seen by everyone. EVERYONE.

Future Boy Conan is an oldie, but if you want to see Miyazaki's style in its earliest form it's well worth checking out. If you want epic though, look no further than Crest of the Stars.
 
harkins said:
But is being epic a prerequisite for being a highly regarded piece of animation?
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In anime yes I think so. By epic I just mean a show with a powerful and hard hitting ending. It doesn't have to be like the End of Eva. I'd consider Cowboy Beebop to have an epic ending even though I don't like the show that much. I don't even remember the endings of Kino and HR.

harkins said:
I’ve heard good things (and some not so good) about 'Now and Then Here and There' before. So I’ve decided to check it out and I have just ordered a copy of the box set.
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I got the boxset myself a couple of months ago. It does have a couple of flaws but they are far outweighed by its qualities. It's definately my favourite after Eva.

hopeful_monster said:
Also Rahxephon mainly as is always almost talked about a eva's poor cousin.
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Don't play the victim nobody says that about RahXephon anymore. Infact I think you'd be hardpressed to find any remotely negative reviews of it even though it really does deserve some in my opinion.

Martin said:
Future Boy Conan
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I'll second that. One of the few Miyazaki productions I liked.
 
X_nick_X said:
Eureka seven watched 1 episode didn't appeal to me
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dictionary.com said:
un·der·rate [uhn-der-reyt]
–verb (used with object), -rat·ed, -rat·ing.
to rate or evaluate too low; underestimate.
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Sorry, couldn't resist :p

I'd have to second the mentions of Now and Then, Here and There and Planetes, and throw in my own mentions of Witch Hunter Robin, Bartender, Hajime no Ippo, both Gunsmith Cats and Riding Bean, and Spriggan.
 
Suprised that Planetes is on this list, more because i never seen a bad review for it or heard anyone really speak ill of it. While it may not have done as well comercially as other series, this is probably more due to the pitch of the show (animed at older anime fans) and the fact it mixes more realistic sci-fi with romance (seldom mixed well).
 
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