What is something that's surprisingly good?

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Terminate421

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Jul 21, 2010
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Don't judge the cover:



The sheer definition of how to make a great pokemon game with a great story. It's gameplay isn't the most amazing thing ever, but the game is still great.
 

Someone Depressing

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Jan 16, 2011
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Ponyo.

I thought Ghibli was going down the Disney route, of voiding their films of all substance and having them annoying, cutesy cash-ins.

I was wrong; it's funny, cute, and there are about 175,000 hand-drawn images in this one movie alone. Probably better than any of their other films.
 

Queen Michael

has read 4,010 manga books
Jun 9, 2009
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I'm having an extremely hard time not saying something extremely politically incorrect now, so before I run out of willpower I'll just say Maison Ikkoku.



I borrowed the first book at the library because I figured that I should at least give it a chance, even though it didn't seem that great, and it quickly turned out to deserve a spot on my top 10 list of the greatest manga series I have ever read.
 

FPLOON

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Jul 10, 2013
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Well, my choice of something that was surprisingly good, according to me, is going to throw you for a loop (since it's a hentai series):

Space Pirate Sara

Didn't know what to expect going in expect for the title, and the first few sex scenes in the series I really felt uncomfortable in the "this doesn't turn me on" kind of way... But, I kept watching because I actually cared about the character Sara, surprisingly, who seemed to have this interesting backstory as to why and how she ended up in this situation... and even why she was even putting up with it... (besides the "obvious" reasons...)

Can't say anything else about this series for "obvious" reasons, but I will say that I regretted not buying the DVD at that one anime convention I went to this year...
 

INF1NIT3 D00M

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Aug 14, 2008
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For me, it was Ouran High School Host Club.
For one, it's an anime that takes place in high school. Hooray, another one of those. Secondly, the whole cast is androgynous and there's roses everywhere. I got into it thinking this was going to be some Yaoi nonsense.

I was wrong, because it's actually one big joke, lightheartedly poking fun at anime stereotypes. The male characters know about the tropes for characters in anime, and they play up their roles in order to make money off of their female classmates. The twins pretend to be homoerotically entwined, the "smart guy" plays up his mysterious aloof attitude, the "quiet guy" plays his strong-and-silent routine, and the youngest-looking guy does the whole "excitable little loudmouth" thing. They charge the girls to "date" them at lunchtime, and they use the money to throw lavish parties and fund their various activities. When the new girl arrives at the school she's got short hair, because her brother got gum in it and she had to cut it off. Nobody knows her, because she got into the school through grades rather than money. She gets herself indebted to the club, and they put her to work thinking that she's just a clumsy boy. She's super popular with their clients, so once they figure out that she's a girl they have to go to insane lengths to keep her secret. It's a fun little show, and it does some interesting things with existing anime tropes.

I've gotta say, I could list pretty much any anime I've watched on here. I know they're good. I know what I like and what I don't like. But until I sit down and watch it, I'm never really expecting the show to be as good as it is. It seems like every time I sit down to stream some Anime, I'm blown away by what I'm watching. I tend to roll my eyes at certain aspects of anime, but there's really no denying that their storytelling puts a lot of western programming to shame.
 

Kged

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Mar 17, 2013
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Vikings [http://www.history.com/shows/vikings]. I was looking for something light to watch, a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd try this. I assumed it was going to be a crash-bang all-action show with lots of hairy men waving axes and storming monasteries, no-brain entertainment. It's so much more than that. I'm still only 5 or 6 episodes in, but it's a fascinating show. It has a slightly Game of Thrones feel, but it also feels very authentic, very real. (Not that I'd know, but still.) There certainly are scenes of raiding and axe-wielding, but there is also a great sense of being taken into that world. And as much as I am a science fanboy, there is a small part of me that envies the sense of wonder and mystery that people like these must have had when they didn't even know if there were lands to their west, and if there were how to get there.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

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Dec 11, 2009
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Spec Ops The Line.

I agree when people say that it is one of the most under-rated games of all time.

Community;

I thought that it would be rather bland, but once I hit season 2 and where they began doing parodies, the series became a joy to watch.
 

The

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Jan 24, 2012
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Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, and though it falters by the last 13 episodes, it was still pretty captivating. The CGI animation was also pretty great. Hopefully the new Batman series will be just as good... as soon as I get around to watching it.

Motorcity. Also not a masterpiece, kinda bland characters, and has some boring episodes, but for some reason I kept coming back. Maybe it was the slick-as-fuck animation and the cool premise. Or something... whatever, I liked it more than I should have.
 

Guffe

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Jul 12, 2009
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Chocolate Pudding! (sort of)

Seriously, I think it's actually a "Moussé" but the "Blå Band" chocoloate pudding/moussé is some of the best ready made dessert ever. Blend the powder and milk with a mixer for 5 minutes and then go to heaven!
 

Atlys

is best pony
Mar 3, 2011
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I'd have to say Sun Drop. It's the most surprisingly good thing ever.
(Actually I've never had it. It's just the first thing that comes to mind when I hear "Surprisingly Good".

Because I have no creativity, I am going to use OPs idea and say that part 2 of Twilight's Breaking Dawn was surprisingly good. I went to go see Wreck-it Ralph I believe, and got tickets early. Then a friend wanted to join, but Wreck-it was sold out. So we went with the Twilight movie cause I could just trade in my ticket. I have to say that the fight scene totally made the movie for me. Didn't expect that. And the whole crowd was having a great time, cheering and booing. Probably my most fun theater experience.
 

Calibanbutcher

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Nov 29, 2009
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My local asian-operated asian-grocery store has "indiomie"-ramen. These are just DAMN DAMN DAMN good, especially if you add an egg to the mix.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Dec 13, 2008
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Slipknot for me. For far too long I thought 'What is this mask bollocks? I don't want to listen to some gimmicky nu-metal band', but thankfully I gave them a chance because they were headlining a festival I was going to a few years back and shit... they're amazing.

As silly as I think the mask thing is I'm pretty sure they're quite sincere about it and they're much thrashier than most nu-metal bands. In fact, past the first two albums there really aren't many, if any, nu-metal elements at all. Corey Taylor is pretty much the complete metal frontman (the guy can do so many different vocal styles and can write brilliant lyrics. I maintain that Snuff is one of the best breakup songs ever), they've got so many great riffs and a fantastic live show.
 
Jan 27, 2011
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The anime Demon King Daimo.

At first glance you go "oh, it's just a stupid ecchi anime with random fanservice everywhere". Then you get into it and go "oh wow, I like the characters, the plot is pretty good...And watching the plot get suddenly interrupted by random fanservice silliness with the super noble main character who wants none of it, but gets all of it is pretty damn amusing!"

And then the finale comes and you stare at it while saying "This finale is way more awesome than it has any right to be. Why is this so over the top awesome?!"

FYI, the plot is about a guy who transfers to a prodigious magic school, finds out his powers are off the charts, and also that his predicted future occupation is demon king...Which prompts half the school to want to kill him, and everything he says or does to try to fix that impression only makes things worse.

...It's way more fun than I'm making it sound. XD
 

Lugbzurg

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Mar 4, 2012
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Well, I can think of a few animé and videogames...

BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo
Now, I wasn't so cynical about it to begin with, but I've noticed a LOT of people who seem to get entirely the wrong idea about it and why it exists. They see the random chaos (and I do mean "random") and just assume the worst: that it's a brainless, mind-numbing show of ultimate stupidity. This is false. Beneath the layers of madness, BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo is a work of satirical genius. It's a parody on animé itself, particularly on shounen animé, such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Inuyasha, the the like. There aren't a whole lot of satire animé out there, so this really stands out.
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130325162646/toonami/images/e/ec/Bobobo-bo.Bo-bobo.full.213110.jpg

Heaven's Lost Property
Might I point out that FUNimation did a TERRIBLE job of advertizing it? It seemed as though all the clips they posted on their YouTube channel simply involved scense involving sentiant flying panties with no context. You read that correctly. "SENTIENT FLYING PANTIES". Obviously, I assumed that's pretty much all the show had in store, considering that's what FUNimation considered such a high point that it was all they would dare say anything about and NOTHING ELSE. But as I started seeing mentions of it and pictures on animé groups over facebook, I realized I had been given entirely the wrong impression right from the start and decided to give it a chance. It is now one of my most favorite animé.
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/993928_10151798269209059_785053316_n.jpg

Grand Theft Auto III
Or rather, the series in general. The idea of playing as a criminal and just doing nothing but criminal stuff just didn't appeal to me. But since I am an aspiring videogame designer, and I saw the game sitting around for a buck, I decided to reluctantly give it a shot. It ended up being a lot more looney than I had assumed. I ended up having a lot of fun. Yep. Christian dude right here. I had fun murdering innocent people and stealing their money IN A VIDEOGAME.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Gta3-pc-police.jpeg

School Days
Now, I must admit that I have not actually watched this yet. but I have observed quite a lot from the vast amount of otakus exploding over this series. A lot of them tend to say that they thought it was ok, up until the supposedly-out-of-nowhere shock ending (which I will not spoil). Much like BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo, this series is a work of satire. but it isn't a parody. Rather, it's a deconstruction (on the harem genre). 99% of the hate for this series seems to come from people not realizing this obvious fact.
http://images2.alphacoders.com/131/131000.jpg

Duke Nukem Forever
At first, I was hearing nothing bad, bad press for this game; how it was a massive failure right up (or down) there with ET, Big Rigs, Sonic '06, and Ride to Hell. Even TotalBiscuit made at least TWO videos slamming the game down. It's nothing of the sort. In fact, it's almost as good as Half-Life 2 (which, admitidly, I think is still a bit overrated). It's NOT a bad game. It's actually a pretty good game. It's just not ideal. We're starting to get better FPSes learning from its mistakes that are realizing better why we loved those old shooters from the 90s so much now, with a very good example being the new reboot of Shadow Warrior (the original of which was the spiritual successor to Duke Nukem 3D, so if that was the kind of Duke Nukem Forever you were hoping for, either version of Shadow Warrior should have you covered).
https://www.2kgamesinternational.com/sites/default/files/game/en/duke-nukem-forever-913/screenshots/dnfcycloid.jpg

Serious Sam
A first-person shooter? That's not made in America? what is this...? What's up with the goofy title? Why does the text look so cartoony? Aliens everywhere with nearly barren levels while you can carry every single weapon in the game with you all at once? Clearly, this is a mindless shooter, right? WRONG!!! The Serious Sam franchise is a sight to behold. The massive, open levels give you a lot of freedom. The severe lack of cover, coupled with the massive swarms of enemies open up a lot of on-the-fly strategizing. Along with that, even though you can carry all the guns in the game all at once, there's still plenty of ammo management to consider. it's not just handed to you. You've gotta explore the levels to find it. And there are indeed a LOT of enemies coming at you all at once. so, you've gotta be careful with your shots and keep dodging the insane amount of stuff being hurled at you all at once from all sides. Plus, certain combinations of enemies are handled very carefully to keep the experience fresh and to keep you thinking carefully. "Which enemies do I shoot first? Which ones do I have to save for later? Where do I shoot them at? (This is especially true for the beheaded kamikazes) What's the ideal weapon for this situation? Indeed, there are several weapons you have to consider that are more suited to specific enemies that you'll have to keep juggling to succeed. The shotgun, cannon, and chaingun all work very differently. (Yes, you can pack an actual CANNON in this series.) You need to be very aware of your surroundings and your tools and take much care in all the information your brain keeps juggling to make it through Serious Sam. If you ever have the chance to actually PLAY such a game, you'd better be prepared... and you'd better be SERIOUS.
http://vividgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/serious_sam_w1.jpeg

Puella Magi Madoka Magica
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32900000/Puella-Magi-Madoka-Magica-puella-magi-madoka-magica-32924983-2628-1898.jpg
 

Ed130 The Vanguard

(Insert witty quote here)
Sep 10, 2008
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Greek yoghurt, pickles, and chilli sauce (the hot stuff, not that sweet crap).

I was randomly searching through a fridge looking for something to eat and decided to mix the three together.

I already liked the three individual ingredients and expected something I would pick on until dinner but I ended up wolfing down the entire batch.
 

thesilentman

What this
Jun 14, 2012
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Terminate421 said:
Don't judge the cover:



The sheer definition of how to make a great pokemon game with a great story. It's gameplay isn't the most amazing thing ever, but the game is still great.
I agree. The story man, the story. It's something to behold.

OT- Do me a favor and read everything by Kurt Vonnegut. Should keep you busy for a while.

Oh, and Edgar Allan Poe is fucking amazing. Nope, don't care what you think, he's fucking amazing. =)
 

Shoggoth2588

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Aug 31, 2009
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Spam. What's-His-Name Andrew Zimmerman from Bizarre Foods or whatever it's called has traveled the world eating...well...all sorts of stuff. The one thing he won't eat however is Spam which is surprisingly good if it's cooked correctly or, with complimentary side dishes. There is a bit of taboo when it comes to eating canned meat but if there was anything horribly wrong with it, production would have ceased decades ago.

Speaking of food, Sushi is awesome. Ya know what else is awesome? Any type of sushi of is fried. Ya know what ELSE is awesome?! Baby Octopus.
 

McElroy

Elite Member
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Apr 3, 2013
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I have high expectations about everything I do, and so I never get positively surprised. Of course it's not as clear cut in reality, but I've never taken up something with the attitude that it's gonna suck (well, I did as a kid, but that doesn't count anymore), and then ending up with a different conclusion.

Maybe I either overthink things in advance or just don't experiment enough. Or maybe I'm too positive. Or maybe I simply dislike surprises in general :D