Anime's You Find Overrated

[DoPo]

]Soul Eater- Hated the characters, the story's your typical generic shounen, and the action is nothing extraordinary. There is nothing in this 51 episode series that made it worth watching. Thoughtout the whole thing I was just kinda pissed and annoyed.

How dare you! You obviously have no taste and poor judgement. ...yeah, actually you're correct. I did enjoy it despite those, though.

As for mine - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It's not awful but I wouldn't praise it. It's watchable but doesn't make me want to want more. As a side note, is it any good after they deal with the big bad and the timeskip? I'm just there (episode ~17) and the new story arc didn't seem compelling enough (to put it this way) to make me want to watch it. I'm currently leaving it for later, but I'm wandering should I bother.

 

[Lewieroo0]

]

Katanagatari- I have nothing against dialogue heavy shows. I loved a lot of dialogue heavy shows, but when you have beautiful, distinct visuals like these, I expect to see so much more, but the majority of it is just people talking with no visual flare. When there is action, though, it looks fantastic, but even during the action scenes do the characters feel the strong need to explain their moved in great details, so you're left with about 30 seconds of fighting and 30 minutes of people talking about stuff I don't care about or should've been explained early on before the fight started. It just doesn't take advantage of it's visuals. There is so much you could've do with it but most of it is wasted on scenes of characters just talking. Also, I never got invested in the story or characters. For a story about two travelers searching for 12 special swords, it felt needlessly complicated, and becomes very hard to follow at some points. If I have one good thing to say about it, it's that the last episode was BRILLIANT! But overall it was pretty underwhelming.

I was wondering if I was the only one who thought that show was crap -.- I saw that last year in my uni anime club and I was just so bored of it. Bland characters, good fight scenes ruined by badly placed dialogue and of course TOO MANY WORDS! it did has nice animation and soundtrack though but that wasn't enough to save it.

 

[hazabaza1]

As for mine - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It's not awful but I wouldn't praise it. It's watchable but doesn't make me want to want more. As a side note, is it any good after they deal with the big bad and the timeskip? I'm just there (episode ~17) and the new story arc didn't seem compelling enough (to put it this way) to make me want to watch it. I'm currently leaving it for later, but I'm wandering should I bother.

This may have minor spoilers, but allow me to describe a situation in one of the episodes.

Spoiler

Earth is being attacked by some kind of mysterious enemy. Simon takes Gurren Lagann to stop them, and with the assistance of the other members of the main cast, they start battling this enemy in space. Gurren Lagann then receives another upgrade, and proceeds to punch one of the enemies so hard that he rips a hole in space and knocks it into an entirely different dimension.
And this is just getting started.

If that amount of spectacle doesn't get you watching it then I think you should just give up on it.

OT: I don't really watch that much anime, I more read Manga. Stopped reading Naruto and Bleach a while ago though. Honestly, after the first million upgrades that naruto/ichigo gets it becomes incredibly dull.
Death Note also got worse from the half way point onwards.

 

[Hazy992]

Death Note.


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

Then the series turned to shit.

Stopped reading it after that happened. Massive let down.

Also, Bleach went really downhill after the first couple of seasons.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Death Note.


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

Then the series turned to shit.

Stopped reading it after that happened. Massive let down.

Also, Bleach went really downhill after the first couple of seasons.

I don't even understand how they managed to fuck it up so badly.

Until that happened, it was fucking awesome, then it was just terrible.

 

[Hazy992]

Death Note.


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

Then the series turned to shit.

Stopped reading it after that happened. Massive let down.

Also, Bleach went really downhill after the first couple of seasons.

I don't even understand how they managed to fuck it up so badly.

Until that happened, it was fucking awesome, then it was just terrible.

It's like the writer just gave up. That or he completely lost the plot.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

R2. Motherfucking R2. I liked Code Geass R1. It was over the top and goofy, but it at least had a sense of pacing and a level of restraint. I liked the characters, it had some good action scenes as well as some nice subtle details, culminating in a pretty damn awesome climax cliffhanger of a last episode.

And then, within a single episode, R2 shit over that entire buildup completely. So we get to see a condensed repeat of R1 over the course of a few episodes before it actually gets back on track, but even here, it just gets stupider and stupider. It became less about the character dynamic between Suzaku and Lelouch, and more about what utter bullshit they could come up with next, including but not limited to murdering GOD.

 

[Dansen]

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.

 

[Starik20X6]

Anime is just like every other piece of entertainment: There's a lot of crap. To say all Anime is garbage would be grossly narrow minded, but I know people who act like all Anime is perfect and there's no such thing as a bad Anime, to the point where they ignore everything else because it wasn't animated in Japan.

What I'm trying to say is I sometimes find Anime as a whole is overrated.

 

[Ultress]

R2. Motherfucking R2. I liked Code Geass R1. It was over the top and goofy, but it at least had a sense of pacing and a level of restraint. I liked the characters, it had some good action scenes as well as some nice subtle details, culminating in a pretty damn awesome climax cliffhanger of a last episode.

And then, within a single episode, R2 shit over that entire buildup completely. So we get to see a condensed repeat of R1 over the course of a few episodes before it actually gets back on track, but even here, it just gets stupider and stupider. It became less about the character dynamic between Suzaku and Lelouch, and more about what utter bullshit they could come up with next, including but not limited to murdering GOD.

Yeah R2 sucked in some aspects but to me it didn't matter because it, and by extension I,was having fun. It was bombastic and a thrill to watch. It made the wait the watch the next episode agonizing.


OT:Lucky Star,I was just really bored and never laughed. I'd rather watch Hidamri sketch.


Vampire knight: I may end up sounding like a naive idiot but wow this is stupid. It's mostly from our female lead,don't worry this is not just her burden to bear. She keeps charging in only to get saved.They give her a weapon that is never useful and ends up out of her hands in a minute.The main vampire is a manipulative twat and everyone else is generically good looking dull. The plot is passable but the love triangle lacks any spark or compatibility between the characters. It's vampire rules are even sillier than Twilight's and seem like a really forced metaphor for sex. Overall just a really stupid Shojo show.

A few are subverted in yes I could call them overrated and they are but I still love them: NGE,Madoka and TTGL.

 

[Death Carr]

I'm sure you've all seen my posts on the subject at hand, so let me surprise you.

Neon Genesis Evangelion.
I watched it again after a while the other day, and began to notice everything everyone was complaining about. Shinji's a whiny little ***** 'cause his Dad doesn't love him. Asuka delves further and further into insanity (and ultimately a coma) because she's a stuck up *****. And Rei was given no personality whatsoever.

But, I still enjoyed it.

 

[Vhite]

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]
BACCANO WATCH YOU MUST!

 

[Danzavare]

All of it? Okay, that's not true. I will say that the vast majority of anime that get high reviews are utter crap. I can fully accept that that's because the majority of anime review sites hire terrible reviewers. A few recent ones:

- Black Butler: I wasn't told its genre before I started watching. The first episode made it look like a horror-ish version of xxxholic. I don't think it's fair to criticise it for its genre so I'll criticise everything else about it. There are so many plot-holes it hurts (See first conflict between Grell and the butler, particularly how inconsistent the strength of the butler's coat is or maybe how the apparently ace-sniper maid couldn't recognise someone's attempt to snipe her master). The butler's mystical McGuffin powers are stupid, usually ensuring that everything shown on screen was pointless to the plot. The humour was awkward at best and absolutely annoying at worst.

- Fairytale: A remarkably annoying cast of characters. I could only last three episodes. Also again with inconsistent show logic (Ah hah! This oddly-specific magic pan reflects fire magic so I'll reflect/block your first shot but panic and let myself get hit by the second for no apparent reason).

- I want to say Bleach, but I don't think anyone rates it highly, even if they still watch it. So instead I'll say Hellsing. It's mind-numbing and not in a fun action way.

- Clannad: Controversial, I know, but 3 episodes and it's painfully obvious that the main woman is oversensitive and useless and the man is an emo bully (Yeah, its okay to mock/tease the blonde guy but the second he hints you may like someone you get huffy and whiny). Bleh.

I wish there were some good anime reviewers that had some taste! D:<

Captcha: watch C-beams glitter - Are you hinting at a new anime captcha?

.....

I loved Baccano's first episode~! I'll admit the anime isn't for everyone, but my favourites never are. xD

 

[loa]

Bleach.
started out great, as soon as they hit soul society it kinda took a nosedive (sorry but "feudal japanese village" just doesnt sate my appetite for surrealism it had evoked so far) but was still interesting, then it goes on and you realize that grand thing it built up to has no payoff whatsoever.
It also plays the "damsel in distress" plot 2. fucking. times. with a straight face (at least I counted 2 until I stopped following it) and has the most bland, mary sue-ish, pointless villain ever.

 

[lapan]

I agree on Haruhi, i never got the hype about that story, and endless eight made me drop it outright.

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

That was a problem created by the sheer number of characters and time skips. It's dealt with pretty well for the most part, but it comes at the price of a weak beginning when you are thrown in into the action with all these characters. As you continue to watch it all of the plotpoints will be wrapped up nicely.

If you sometime get the motivation to watch it and liked it, i would also recommend Durara which is made by the same guys.

]
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 is, the movie was barely the story of the first volume.

Death Note.


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

Then the series turned to shit.

Stopped reading it after that happened. Massive let down.

Also, Bleach went really downhill after the first couple of seasons.

I don't even understand how they managed to fuck it up so badly.

Until that happened, it was fucking awesome, then it was just terrible.

While i agree the story got worse after that part i still liked the second half of Death Note. The ending however was awfull and completely out of character for Light.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

If I was to be brutally honest I would say most Animes people have praised. Not trying to be especially cynical here, but the japanese animation industry, at least now, isn't exactly the paradigm of creative freedom.

Right, now before I have my ass chewed off, read what follows... I completely understand the draw to anime. They offer a wealth of themes, atmospheres and characters that most western animations won't touch due to their kid friendly production ethos. But I think most of this wealth only works as a novelty. Too few of the Animes I've seen (and I'm still watching animes to date) have actually made anything other then an aesthetic or narrative gimmick... they all fall into derivative plot twists or cookie cutter story arcs, conceptually great characters become angsty parodies of themselves (usually once their motivations have been revealed) making some of the more emotionally charge shows unbearable when their drive is something petty or shallow or ludicrously overwrought.

Oh and don't get me started on the stereotypical characters they like to stuff haphazardly into every god damn show. Nothing like a shallow piece of eyecandy or painfully whiney protagonist to completely detract from a weighty plot line or completely crap on a emotional sequence for simply being there.

I watched anime for years, following all 3 of the still running juggernauts (One Piece, Bleach and Naruto) and a few of the earlier ones like Dragon Ball. I've watched anime of completely different styles, qualities and even targeted demographics. From Sailor Moon to Ergo Proxy, Elfin Lied to Toradora and possibly hundreds more of equally distinctive shows.

Don't get me wrong, some of my all time favourite pieces of media have come from Anime... not all of them do what I said above. But a lot do to some degree and there are other issues which I haven't touched on. I have also done quite a bit of research on the Anime industry and there are things I learned that have jaded my enthusiasm towards it...

I just can't take a favorable stance towards Anime anymore.