Good series/games/movies that are hard to recommend because of specific reasons.

[SKBPinkie]

The Monster Hunter series.

The controls are really difficult to get into, the tutorials don't give you everything you need to know about the game, and the game can get really hard really fast.

But there's no other game that is as satisfying and rewarding once you do things right.

 

[Trunkage]

DS9 and B5. DS9 is like most Star Trek but enjoyable. After a couple of seasons, it has a storyline! After B5 seasons its almost all one story. But the production values are... non-existent, especially B5 which had less than a quarter of the budget. Some of the writing is terrible and the set and acting is wooden. But I'd pay just about any price for another In the Pale Moonlight

Farscape is too trippy for most people.

Ergo Proxy because people seem to find it slow.

 

[ArcaneGamer]

High School of the Dead

Why?

Well...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs NSFW

Its amazing how well it nails the horror atmosphere of a zombie apocalypse between all the tits and ass so damn well though! But I agree its hard to notice it when you show a friend an episode and its just..well.. that haha.

My choice would be Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the series has amazing characters who you grow to love through the course of a pretty damn good story, insanely creative battles and just this dramatic flair to it which you just can't help but love. But it is bizarre.

Spoiler: Holy shit is it bizarre

Yes, that is indeed a killer squirrel formed from a (vampire) man's hand spinning through a cyborg nazi while dubstep plays in the background.

This is pretty normal compared to the stuff which occurs later in the series

I must admit though, I've reached a point where I recommend it now just for how crazy it gets, the levels of batshit insanity it reaches cannot be described and is truly something worth experiencing. Also its just a really quality show.

THANK you! Someone else that thinks so! I like a character in this series and it isn't the lead, it's the otaku gun nut Kohta Hirano. (He's likable, just not as much as Hirano. Also, yes, that is the same name as the creator of Hellsing.) Also, I think you just sold me on the series. I was looking for a great series since Bobobo-bo-bobobo doesn't have the complete manga translated for the US. Amazing how well this series can be when it isn't focusing on the cheesecake or boobs, huh? You almost feel like they're trying to compensate for something. Also, the less said about the AMV the better. (Seriously, who the Hell WROTE that AMV? For that matter, to quote Kyle Kalgren of "Brows Held High": "Some poor animator had to animate this s#*t.") With that in mind, (and with me desiring a good series that can be both so dumb it's amazing, and have good characters) Where should I start? The recent one? Also, brief aside, is Dio in it? I have heard...things about what he can do. "ZA WORLDO!" =D

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Cabin in the Woods.

Every time I try to sell it to people that I think would like it, it turns into a 15 minute explanation into why I can't tell them exactly what happens, but that they should totally still see it because it's awesome.

Then the next question is: "Is it scary?"

I always stumble upon it because I feel like no matter how I answer I will give it away.

I ran into the same problem with 10 Cloverfield Lane, maybe I was giving my friends too much credit but I thought if I even told my feelings about the ending with zero details, if all I said was "it's good," they could divine whether or not it's related to the original and I personally think this movie's better if you go in not knowing.

Anyway.

Mad Men and to a lesser extent House Of Cards. I personally love these shows but iff you don't have a taste for drama, these shows are BORING. When people say they're thinkin' about watching them I always say that for Mad Men, if you don't like it after the first episode, you're not gonna like it at all. People say for shows "it gets better," Mad Men only gets better if you like it from the get-go, if you don't, it won't hook you at any point. For House Of Cards, maybe the two or three or four grace episodes but I'm confident in saying that these are boring shows that if they don't hook you immediately, they're not going to do it at all.

 

[Hawki]

-The Lord of the Rings: Well, I'll get this out of the way. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most influential works in Western literature, pretty much solidifying what we think of when we think of high fantasy, and where the tropes and concepts pioneered persist to this day. It's also a slog to get through. So while I'd reccomend a fantasy fan read LotR, it would come with the caveat that the books move very, very slowly, and you have to deal with the characters breaking into song every few chapters.

I read Lord of the Rings myself when I was around twelve years old. To this day I still remember how it felt like it took weeks to finally get past Rivendell in book.

And I hear people give GRRM shit for bloat...

Wouldn't really count that as bloat though. Lord of the Rings is long and sometimes tedious, but it at least manages to tell an epic in three books, and while you could easily cut out stuff like Tom Bombadil, that's at least close to the start. A Song of Ice and Fire suffers from bloat in that apparently it was meant to be a trilogy, but has now bloomed to an intended 7 books. That, and A Feast for Crows is dedicated in its entirety to dealing with side characters and setting up new plot points.

DS9 and B5. DS9 is like most Star Trek but enjoyable. After a couple of seasons, it has a storyline!

So, obstensibly like Enterprise and TNG, I have to wait until season 3 until things get good?

Yeah, of my Star Trek TV series, I've seen the first two seasons of TOS, TNG, and Enterprise. With the last two, there's this vague promise that things improve after the end of season 2, but still, I want it to be good nowwwww!

I ran into the same problem with 10 Cloverfield Lane, maybe I was giving my friends too much credit but I thought if I even told my feelings about the ending with zero details, if all I said was "it's good," they could divine whether or not it's related to the original and I personally think this movie's better if you go in not knowing.

I think we all have. I've struggled to explain the ending of the film without spoiling it, and I've basically given up each time. Funny thing how the ending seems to be a "love it or loathe it" based on what I've read. I'm on the side of "love," personally (film is the #5 one I've seen in cinemas this year), but I can understand the "loathe" perspective as well.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Berserk is a well written series, but I have a hard time saying to friends "Hey, here's a story with around a dozen or two graphic depictions of rape, and the main female character nearly gets raped around half a dozen times I think you'll like it!"

Yeaaaah... In this post-Game of Thrones era it's a bit easier than it used to be, but there's still some moments in there that would make GoT blush like a little school girl.

Reading through it again it really sticks out how Caska is just walking around with a big rape magnet around her neck. We get it Miura, she got raped in Hell and it was all kinds of fucked up -- We don't need yet another gang of miscreants ripping her clothes off to remind us of how horrible it was. If I would be in a place were I'd be allowed to make an animated adaptation, that'd be the first thing to receive a good culling.

OT: Ninja Scroll

It's a fun, no-nonsense action anime with a very likeable main hero and a remarkably touching little love story. But yeah, it can get a tad rape-y.

 

[Cowabungaa]

BBC's Utopia.

Why? Because it's fucking insane. Extremely good, I reckon the best TV show the BBC made. But oh my God it's all kinds of fucked up.

Er, Utopia was Channel 4.

My bad, I'll edit the post. Point still stands though. Damn that show. Season 1 that is.

So, obstensibly like Enterprise and TNG, I have to wait until season 3 until things get good?

Yeah, of my Star Trek TV series, I've seen the first two seasons of TOS, TNG, and Enterprise. With the last two, there's this vague promise that things improve after the end of season 2, but still, I want it to be good nowwwww!

I still found them very enjoyable and worth thinking with. I liked DS9 mostly for the fun characters and the shit they get up to. Quark is 10/10.

 

[Blitsie]

THANK you! Someone else that thinks so! I like a character in this series and it isn't the lead, it's the otaku gun nut Kohta Hirano. (He's likable, just not as much as Hirano. Also, yes, that is the same name as the creator of Hellsing.) Also, I think you just sold me on the series. I was looking for a great series since Bobobo-bo-bobobo doesn't have the complete manga translated for the US. Amazing how well this series can be when it isn't focusing on the cheesecake or boobs, huh? You almost feel like they're trying to compensate for something. Also, the less said about the AMV the better. (Seriously, who the Hell WROTE that AMV? For that matter, to quote Kyle Kalgren of "Brows Held High": "Some poor animator had to animate this s#*t.") With that in mind, (and with me desiring a good series that can be both so dumb it's amazing, and have good characters) Where should I start? The recent one? Also, brief aside, is Dio in it? I have heard...things about what he can do. "ZA WORLDO!" =D

Hahahaha he's also one of my fave characters in the show! Him and Saeko (that one scene with her though, uhh...) was practically the main driving force of the show for me. It's a pity that there never was a second season though, I'll probably pick up the manga at some point to see what further happens.

Regarding Jojo, start with the 2012 one, its still ongoing and already fully covered the first three of (currently) eight parts of the manga, with the fourth part currently airing. You can also see the studio doing it absolutely loves the manga to bits as its just such a fantastic and faithful transition from the drawn page, unlike a certain new anime whose atrocious use of CGi makes me wanna go 'Berserk'.

But anyway haha, yes Dio is there in all his craziness as well, along with a whole slew of hilariously over the top villains. Give it a watch!

 

[Trunkage]

So, obstensibly like Enterprise and TNG, I have to wait until season 3 until things get good?

Yeah, of my Star Trek TV series, I've seen the first two seasons of TOS, TNG, and Enterprise. With the last two, there's this vague promise that things improve after the end of season 2, but still, I want it to be good nowwwww!

I still found them very enjoyable and worth thinking with. I liked DS9 mostly for the fun characters and the shit they get up to. Quark is 10/10.

Man, do I hate Ferengi. Mainly because they are there to demonise Capitalism, but they were also are annoying. Quark's eventual story makes it better but they kept making him go back to 'Ferengi mode.' Unlike B5, characters don't really evolve (better they are better than most Star Trek, with the exception of the Doctor and Seven of Nine. I don't count Data, it was like he was just getting upgrade.) I cant say for TOS but I didn't find TNG enjoyable except for an episode called Hue (I think its spelt). My dad loved the show and there was only one TV back in the old days (which I admit may colour my preference. But I did enjoy Voyager, which was force on me, but have never revisited it like DS9.)

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

The romantic visual novel Katawa Shoujo. There's actually nothing wrong with it, but the description makes it almost impossible to sell to anyone who isn't a pervert. Hell, I only downloaded it because I thought it was pornography. This is because it's set in a school for the disabled and was made by people who met on 4chan's /A/ board after somebody posted some concept art there, and it also contains reasonably explicit sex scenes. In actual fact it's very sweet, but also rather an (intentionally) uncomfortable experience in a lot of places.

Katawa Shoujo sits in the same basket as the manga My Lovely Ghost Kana; erotic love stories. Most VN I'm familiar with allowed the PC to basically shag the entire cast before picking one to settle down with but Ol' KS doesn't do that: once you're into a girl, that's your path for good or for ill.

 

[Squilookle]

Tron: This is...um...okay, I'll just say it, this film is WEIRD. But it's a kind of weirdness that's kind of endearing? I mean, I admittedly prefer Tron: Legacy, but I can't deny that the original film was influential for its time. I kind of reccomend it, if only for its weirdness.

Came in here purely to say that I once thought about Tron exactly the same way, with that uneasy 'influential and endearing but so bonkers' feel about it too.

Then I watched The Last Starfighter.

Same endearing type story, same level of laughable-but-boy-did-you-give-it-a-good-try 1st generation CGI, but the actual story and characters are all simply... better. Now I just tell everyone to skip to Tron Legacy, and check out The Last Starfighter to see what it was all like back in the early 80s.

 

[Rabish Bini]

I seem to be mentioning this game often recently, but Deadly Premonition.

It's pretty much Twin Peaks: The Game, but it has it's own character and charm, and the narrative I personally found captivating and gut-wrenching.

The problem is, it's rubbish as a game. Crap looking, mediocre controls, boring combat, horrendous driving, and a truly terrible PC port that requires time and effort to get working, and still have a chance of crashing on you. And even then I can't recommend purely on the narrative because of how downright bizarre it is. But if you're willing to put into it, and enjoy unique and weird, the game's a joy.

 

[RaikuFA]

Berserk is a well written series, but I have a hard time saying to friends "Hey, here's a story with around a dozen or two graphic depictions of rape, and the main female character nearly gets raped around half a dozen times I think you'll like it!"

I've heard people compare it to Game of Thrones. Maybe try that?

 

[baddude1337]

Another +1 for the Berserk manga. Been collecting the issues and reading them for just over a month now and it's easily one of my favourite things ever. I'veRead up to 13, bought most of the volumes, which my bank account is super mad about. I am only missing 18 and 32. They seem to be out of stock everywhere! Hope there is a reprint or something soon, not paying ?90+ for a single volume from third party sellers. I hope Dark Horse do a re-print soon.

I think in this day and age where GoT is such a mainstream phenomenon it is easier to recommend, but as other people have said it is still all shades of fucked up, with frequent rape and graphic violence. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable reading it at work or in public if I'm honest. At the very least my girlfriend also really likes it.

Another one would be Stargate. I am a massive SG fan, but I have not been able to get anyone else to watch it. It seems even nowadays with nerd culture icons like Star Trek and Star Wars being incredibly mainstream, Stargate is still somehow considered nerdy as hell. It has a definite amount of cheese and camp to it, which I guess is why it's a hard sell when many things these days seem to go for dark and depressing sci-fi.

 

[Dizchu]

I've found it hard to recommend Breaking Bad because it relies heavily on unpredictability and what makes the series so fantastic is its continuous escalation of the situation. So without spoiling it all you can really say is "it's about a guy with cancer who makes and sells crystal meth to pay the medical bills", which honestly doesn't sound very compelling. Once you try describing the overall arc of "it's a story about Ned Flanders turning into Scarface", people either consider it an exaggeration or ridiculous.

There's also the added factor that people are often reluctant to watch things that get such enthusiastic praise. People want to watch things in their own time so whenever someone says "you have to watch this massive 50+ hour commitment" the reaction is often "ehh, not interested in this silly drug show".

 

[Hawki]

Another one would be Stargate. I am a massive SG fan, but I have not been able to get anyone else to watch it. It seems even nowadays with nerd culture icons like Star Trek and Star Wars being incredibly mainstream, Stargate is still somehow considered nerdy as hell. It has a definite amount of cheese and camp to it, which I guess is why it's a hard sell when many things these days seem to go for dark and depressing sci-fi.

This is admittedly erring towards the territory of "disagreeing for the sake of it," but, well, I've got time to burn.

I'll point out that I don't think there was ever a time when Star Trek or Star Wars weren't mainstream, no matter what some Trekkies might say about the recent Star Trek films. Star Wars has always been part of the cultural gestalt. Always. Star Trek to a lesser extent, but talk to someone who's never seen a Star Trek episode in their life, and they'd still pick up phrases such as "beam me up Scotty" and know who Kirk and Spock were. "Mainstream Star Trek" might have been confined to TOS and TNG as far as specifics go, but as a franchise, Star Trek has always been fairly mainstream, at least compared to practically every other sci-fi show out there. Genre fiction is, by definition, drifting towards specific tastes.

So on one hand, it's no surprise that Stargate is more clique than Star Trek/Star Wars - as far as I can tell, it's never entered the mainstream in the same way. That said, I never would have considered it nerdy. It's military sci-fi, and I'd have thought it would be reasonably accessible, considering that Stargate is effectively set in the present day (yes, I know, the timeline does correspond to distinct dates that began in the 1990s), and has that framework to always go back to. At the least, the only trouble I'd have reccomending Stargate outside of pre-established reccomendee tastes is that it would practically be impossible to start watching from Universe without watching SG-1 and/or Atlantis first.

Finally, "dark and depressing?" Um, not sure where that came from. Granted, I can't speak for every sci-fi show that's airing right now, but in the scope of personal experience, there seems to be far more of a trend towards the other end of the scale.

Watched Evil Dead with my girlfriend recently. She'd never seen it before. Then just as the scene was coming up I remembered "Oh, this girl's about to get raped by a tree." We'd only been together like a month and I had hyped the hell out of the franchise. Luckily she loved the movie and didn't think I'm a freak and dump me for my tastes in arboreal pornography

Well, if things went wrong, I'm sure you'd be able to turn over a new leaf. As iffy as that scene is, too much outrage would be barking up the wrong tree. But if things did go south, I'd be stumped when it came to offering advice, though I'd try to extend a branch of sympathy all the same. Maybe we'd both get to the root of the problem.

 

[WindKnight]

Well, not so much struggle to recommend, but generally give a big warning to - Azumanga Daioh.

'yeah, its basically peanuts but with these really funny Japanese high school girls, only there's this one teacher named Kimura who basically perves on them anytime he's on screen, and says inappropriate things around them, and they all find him really creepy and uncomfortable to be around, and me makes my skin crawl every-time he's on screen.'

 

[Jute88]

I nominate Berserk as well. And as a side note, it seems that often manga aimed at adults (seinen) has usually atleast one woman being raped (Basilisk, Hellsing). I wonder why

Kingdom of Heaven (yes, even the extended version). First, it is visually a beautiful movie, music is good as well. But the characters, not so much... It's still one of my favorite movies purely for visual reasons, but I'm first to admit that it is a flawed movie.

 

[Khazidhea]

Of the anime I'm currently watching it would have to be Shokugeki no Soma (I'm not sure if I can remember the english name, Food Wars maybe?). It's pretty much a typical shonen show, except replace physical fighting with cooking. However the standard reaction of every female who tries the dish is blatantly sexual in nature, which would be fine for some but does put some limits on who to recommend it to.