Name your overrated anime

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Jazoni89

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Xartyve2 said:
SckizoBoy said:
Are you asking that as a hater of anime? Or as a general critic of media?

If the former, I'd politely ask you to leave. If the latter, there are plenty that aren't overrated, because they do not subscribe to the 'safe tropes' of stock anime series and are subsequently scorned by the general viewer base for not being 'anime' or 'Japanese' enough. There are diamonds in the rough, and while they are few and far between, they are there... you just need to be bothered to look for them, unless you already know where to look.
Okay that was way more thought than my off-the-collar swipe required. I'm not a particularly articulate man, but I'll try to address what you said. But excuse me if I take a little detour first.

First off the term "general critic of media" is so broad and massive it's almost not even worth using. It's like asking your waiter to prepare your steak "cooked". Why bother? Is there some sort of distinction between someone who hates anime subjectively and objectively (which I can only hazard is what you meant by "general critic of media" whatever that means) that gets them different responses? One does not preclude the other you know. And if there is a difference and I was the former wouldn't you quoting me kind of contradict your request (to leave, that is).

You tell me that there is anime out there that doesn't subscribe to "safe tropes" of "stock anime". What tropes? What anime doesn't subscribe to these tropes? What "stock anime"? You wrote this paragraph, which I'm sure you put some thought into when all it really comes down to is you saying "Take my word for it". For a second, just assume I don't know anything about anime. Now sell me anime.
Darker than Black has a old man as one of the main characters.

That's one...
 

Assassin Xaero

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... all of it? They are cartoons, what is the big deal? Actually, I don't see what the difference even is between anime and cartoons.
 

smearyllama

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Wolfwood1203 said:
Slenn said:
I'm not going to say Akira is overrated, albeit I didn't like the movie at all. For me Akira had way too much stuff crammed into it. And all of it was done in a really graphic animation that was completely distasteful for me, which was probably the biggest factor. And that I can't really factor into my level of "overrated" estimation. Some people like it, some people hate it. To me Akira is like Koyaanisqatsi, it's like an experience more than like a message given.
Personally, I think Akira was highly overrated. I got into anime and always heard how great it was, and that if you were an anime fan you have to watch Akira. But if I had see this overrated trash first, I wouldn't watch anime now. There was just nothing about that movie that I liked, and I tend to enjoy most anime. This one just wasn't for me.
Now, I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the books, and I say give them a shot.
There's a lot less cramming, since the plot is spread out over six volumes, numbering over 2000 pages. Just a thought.
 

ObliviousGenius

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Besides many of the aforementioned - which I liked at the age when I was target market and then, like growing older faster than the Harry Potter series could keep pace with, all of it suddenly became a little banal - I'd like to add Itazura na Kiss. Strike one, it's a shoujo. Even as a girl, it grates on my nerves. Strike two, its heroine is, for lack of a better word, impaired. Strike three, it says this to young girls everywhere: if you love someone who usually shows no care for you, stay with them forever. Stay with them forever and worship them because, well, it's your fault. (The fuck?)
 

Death God

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Three of them: Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. I know that chances are, they will never stop making more but I started from the beginning with all of them and I am ending with all of them.
 

SckizoBoy

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A Hermit's Cave
Xartyve2 said:
Okay that was way more thought than my off-the-collar swipe required. I'm not a particularly articulate man, but I'll try to address what you said. But excuse me if I take a little detour first.

First off the term "general critic of media" is so broad and massive it's almost not even worth using. It's like asking your waiter to prepare your steak "cooked". Why bother? Is there some sort of distinction between someone who hates anime subjectively and objectively (which I can only hazard is what you meant by "general critic of media" whatever that means) that gets them different responses? One does not preclude the other you know. And if there is a difference and I was the former wouldn't you quoting me kind of contradict your request (to leave, that is).
That's plenty articulate to me. And the reason I wrote "general critic of media" is that anime has its shit and gold, just like any other medium. You could rephrase the question as 'is there any film/song/book/graphic novel/cartoon etc. that isn't overrated' and be bombarded by either flame or examples that pertain to refuting the intent behind the question.

You tell me that there is anime out there that doesn't subscribe to "safe tropes" of "stock anime". What tropes? What anime doesn't subscribe to these tropes? What "stock anime"? You wrote this paragraph, which I'm sure you put some thought into when all it really comes down to is you saying "Take my word for it". For a second, just assume I don't know anything about anime. Now sell me anime.
The (widely considered) 'safe tropes' of anime are along the lines of the tsundere main female protagonist, clueless mech operator who's a natural, whiny brat who just happens to be good in a fight, out for revenge bad guy, the couple who hate each other, but secretly love each other etc. etc. fucking etc. Down to it, its fanservice. Sure, not all of it will be boucing boobies, but its fanservice nonetheless because it caters to the tastes of the majority of anime viewers.

There are a number of series that buck this trend (an insufficient number if you ask me). It's not really in my ability to 'sell' anime, though were I to recommend some that are not referential (either in general content or dialogue) to anime culture:

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 - think back to March/April this year in Japan and the massive earthquake, this is a personal story that received very little coverage anywhere when it was released in 2009

Hourou Musuko - this one covers concepts that you won't find handled so well anywhere else in anime production: gender identity. The short of it is that a boy and a girl like each other, but are unsure of their relationship, because the boy wants to be a girl and the girl wants to be a boy. Critics praised it for its handling of the subject material and the only gripe they could come up with was that the characters were a little too intelligent.

Gunslinger Girl - personally, I prefer the manga, the anime's a little too polished (haven't seen the second season, so won't comment on it) but this is a pseudo-sci-fi series about the nature of how a little girl thinks when her existence is based solely on being a government assassin. Stark is probably the best way to describe the general mood of the series. Understanding the humanity of the main characters is the ultimate goal of it, and it's both very easy and very hard to do that (all credit to Yu Aida).

Ergo Proxy - this series spends about fifteen episodes exploring the various facets of human existence, and references virtually every philosopher under the sun. This is more an intellectual piece than anything else with action spread across the series.

Haibane Renmei - a subtle exploration of death and emotional maturation. It takes a couple watch-throughs to realise it's a 'coming-of-age' series.

There are others, but these five series are ones that I'd consider 'great anime'. You're welcome to watch and enjoy/disparage them as you please, but understand that I know I can't affect your stance on it, because you might find the above titles too heavy (I don't think there's a single laugh to be found in there, with the possible exception of a couple scenes in Haibane Renmei). However, they might let you realise that not all anime is cliched dialogue ridden superpower fights, tits, teen angst, big walking machines and hamfisted revenge.

Good evening... (by that I mean it's half-past midnight and I need to be up at six).
 

gigastrike

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Code Geass. It's entertaining and all, but I die a little inside every time I hear someone call it smart.
 

Username Redacted

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One more drop in the bucket for Naruto and DBZ. Those series are exhibits 1 and 1A of filler content. I would add Bleach to that but I haven't seen enough of it (and that's unlikely to change) to drop the hammer of judgment upon it though when you're series is already nearly 50% longer than DBZ that probably isn't a good sign.

Gurren Laggan: Watched the first ~1/3 of the series and could not bring myself to watch any more of it. Mentioned this to a friend who assured me that it got better later. Mentioned to said friend that that a) that isn't exactly a point in its favor AND b) the amount by which it would have to get better by for me to consider it watchable is mathematically impossible to achieve.

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: I used to like this series a lot and then they came out with a second season which consisted of 8 episodes of the creators wanking all over audience expectations. I don't even remember if I finished watching the entire season.

Highschool of the Dead: I would have liked it if the series had decided if it was going to be zombie or fanservice based and not flipped back and forth between the two so much. This is the only series I can think of where the fanservice has gone from "Ooooh titties" to "I hope they get eaten by zombies" in less than an episode.
 

weker

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Death note, for the most part it makes sense, and is really intelligent, but as it goes along it really falls off and becomes way to silly.
 

ReservoirAngel

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gigastrike said:
Code Geass. It's entertaining and all, but I die a little inside every time I hear someone call it smart.
I will back this one up. I am loving the show so far from what I've seen, but it isn't smart in any real deep way. The closest it gets is some of the risky gambits Lelouch takes, which I will openly admit are clever as fuck and incredibly badass, but the show itself is not smart. Interesting and entertaining, but not "smart". At least not from what I've seen so far. It's a fairly standard "repel evil invaders" thing only with awesome rollerblading mechs, awesome Chess Master bullshit that should be impossible for any human being to figure out on the fly, and magical "you will do what I say" powers.

Also: Death Note. What is the big fucking deal with this show? It's fucking stupid, and not in the insane way that normally makes anime entertaining. It's just... dumb. It has no value for me and every time someone recommends it I just want to pop them.

Honourable mention for Reborn! which is one of the most "look at our crazy random shit" shows I have ever fucking seen. Just throwing over-played batshit insanity at the screen does not a good TV show make, and this pile of stupid just proves that theory single-handed. I can maybe understand it has a certain campy appeal to it, what with the magic lizard that turns into a gun that fires magic bullets that set an annoying kid's hair on fire and make him rip his clothes of and oh my god even writing this is giving me a fucking headache. But while it may be stupid, and fun for some people, it still isn't... good.

Honestly, both Death Note and Reborn! combine with Naruto, Bleach and fucking One Piece to illustrate why you should not take anime recommendations from a 14-year-old girl.
 

Xpwn3ntial

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Dec 22, 2008
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UncleUlty said:
So I'll put up a nice inflammatory response : Madoka Magika.To start I really enjoyed this show but a some things hold. First,Kyubby failure at how energy works,Second the the explanation of Madoka being such a powerful magical is kind of flimsy. Finally,this is where over relatedness comes in, is the fans. I could live with the flaws if the fans would not treat it like the second coming. I get it you liked the show,now please shut up about it,and talk about Penguin-Drum or Hourou Musuko.
Yeah, I can agree with that. The show's actually one of my favorites but nothing deserves that much praise. Shaft treating it like its baby doesn't help. Do not make a sequel/spinoff series, Shaft! Do not do it!

OT: Gurren Lagann. I don't hate it. I don't. Hating it requires I have feelings towards it. It is beneath my attention, but it gets more love than Madoka will ever have.

Question to the general audience: how many people actually like Evangelion? I mean, I like it, but I see nothing but contempt for it from people. How is it overrated? Is it one of those "if so much as one person likes it but I don't" things?
 

Yugeky20

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NARUTO!!!!!!!
Naruto is a stupid, way too overpopular manga/anime. HERE'S why:

1.The characters, in both the manga and anime, are terribly drawn. What kind of a half-assed author was it that created it, anyway?
2. Any manga/ anime that has a main character named Sakura is stupid and half-assed, anyway. That is an overused fucking name.
3. The people that wear those retarded headbands? Ohmygod, do they knowhow retarded they look. Waste of money. People that wear them to stores, malls, and school? FAIL.
4. It's really an anime for people that don't know quality anime. Go watch some Deathnote or Ouran High, PLEASE.
5. I actually saw an episode to see how freaking terrible it was; I was very dissapointed that any functioning members of the human race would even sit through an episode of the anime. A little blond son-of-a-***** was running around eating 812972 pounds of food, yelling "BELIEVE IT!" in his little gay orange jumpsuit. What the fuck kind of ninja is that?
6. Which brings up another fact. I know that ninjas don't always dress in black, killing people silently. But, I'll be damned if they run around in bright orange jumpsuits yelling "BELIEVE IT!". What the fuck am I supposed to be believing here anyway? That ninjas are loud, annoying, and dressed in bright orange?....disbelief! =0
 

K_Dub

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One Piece. Trying to get into it, at episode 51 I think. So far as I can tell, it's fairly average. Funny characters and all, I just don't understand why it's so freakin' popular.
 

Baneat

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Death God said:
but I started from the beginning with all of them and I am ending with all of them.
I know exactly what you mean. Naruto, please finish before the main character is promoted to GOD-STATUS from training.