Raxephon. A possible hint about this post?
Greetings, one and all. I am Arashix, member of SUTORAIKUanime, owner of Kaminarianime, and also now, guest writer here at AOIA. Wanted to do something big for my first post, but think I will start out rather simple. Hope you all find it interesting.
As a seasoned viewer of anime, ever once in awhile someone mentions a title or series I never heard of and one that will seem up my alley of taste after some research. Once I start watching and really get engaged into all that is happening, I have to ask myself: “Why Didn’t I Watch This Sooner?” Even to this day, I find myself doing it ever once in awhile, but not as much as I did back in my rookie days (that was before finding sites like Myanimelist, AnimeNewsNetwork, etc). Why do some series seem shadowed…?
Pushing aside things like studio history, promotional campaigns, series life, genre, and even blogger support (review or coverage wise); most of the series are mainly done in by their own peers — either series of lesser or even greater renown. Let’s face it, you will probably remember a mainstream title like One Piece or Bleach compared to something obscure like H2O: Footprints in the Sand or even something old-school like 3×3 (Of course, depending on who you are). I rather watch the latter. I am not declaring any hate for Mainstream or memorable series, but simply saying their are some titles that deserve equal notary and also just as memorable.
Hyakko
For example, a series in the slice-of-life/comedy genre that I felt got overlooked is Hyakko. I did a recent review for it and even a fellow blogger, @fkeroge voted it the Most underrated during AOIA’s award cermony. I would rather place that first on my list to watch rather than something that I minimally enjoyed like K-ON or even something I did like Lucky Star. Again, not casting any hate, but it is somewhat inconceivable of how or why series miss the intended target audience or are just plain missed entirely by a large portion.
Even series that I initial thought were poor turned out to be brilliant and deserve some spotlight. In this case, the mecha series, Zegapain. While the first four episodes are abysmal at best and enough to make me drop the series; sticking with the series was the most rewarding thing I ever did. Above the action and the aesthetics, it was the themes that captured my heart. I see why now it was granted a remake, but still lacks some the prestige I was hoping it would get. However in some regards, I believe it is for the best and something you can not really force someone to set down and watch. At least, it was the themes that I expected to make an impact.
Maybe I am thinking too highly of such series or maybe it was my positive experiences in general. Whatever the case, their is no denying that their are series that deserve more of a chance than given. However, I guess that is why I am so fond of reviewing, since it gives you a chance through words to make the best case you can for your favorite series and also explain why you dismiss or dislike others in a fair and logically manner. Well, most of us anyway. Simply, maybe these series are “shadowed” for a reason and is up to each of us to uncover these hidden gems and present them into the world the way we remember them. To that end, it is up to everyone else to decide whether it is junk or a a diamond in the rough….
Any series you think deserve more attention?
Ambivalence , or is it ambiguity? 
I was going to write a post on this topic several weeks ago, but I realized that my low readership and terrible writing style would leave me with no responses. So instead of leaving this post to flop around without comments, I’m going to weigh in. I-It’s not like I’m doing this for you.
Alien Nine is one of my favorite shows. It’s four episodes long, has a surreal setting and premise, and freaks the shit out of me. There are elementary school girls on rollerblades killing aliens with alien hats. What’s not to love about this? Unfortunately, Alien Nine is among the lowest rated shows on sites like MAL and A-P so nobody ever hears about it unless they somehow read this comment, watch Alien Nine, love it, become a fan, and spread the word, damn it!
Tweeny Witches is also a very good show that nobody has ever bothered to watch. It’s on many of those “recommended shows” charts that circulate around the internet, usually listed as “Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu.” It’s among the few full anime series Studio 4C has made, and although the art may be hit-or-miss, the dark magical girl-ish story is golden.
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class was one of my favorite shows of 2009. It’s your standard 4-5 girl comedy show, but its art theme is really prominent. Imagine a K-ON with music as a central aspect of the show instead of a side note, and much less blatant moeblobbiness. It’s also quite informative. I learned a lot of useless facts about art!
@Misaki: Wow, I really like your choices. Tweeny Witches was interesting because it has a very different visual style.
Alien Nine ~ this is actually pretty interesting because some of the standard things you see in shows are present, but they are presented in a way that kind of horrifies. One of my favorite parts: the main kid is crying about how she doesn’t think it is fair that she has to have a symbiotic relationship with an alien and fight to protect the school. Her mom’s reaction? “Now honey, we can’t only do things that we want to do.” Lady, there’s this creepy alien life form licking your kids naked body! Don’t just tell her she needs to take her responsibilities seriously!! Seriously, though, it is well worth checking out.
GA: I love Art, so this was a real treat for me. They actually do spend some time discussing art techniques and graphic design concepts. Very unusual.
@ tsurugiarashix: I’ve only seen a few episodes of Zagapain, but thought the concept was really interesting. I guess I’ll have to check out Hyakko now (never heard of it before). I love the basic concept of your post, though: don’t follow fashion! There are all sorts of hidden gems, but you won’t get to experience them if you only watch the most popular shows.
Apparently everyone completely forgot about Real Drive as soon as it finished airing, despite the fact that a) originally created by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell) b) animated by Production IG and c) had an old man as the protagonist.
A few others that I think have been overlooked are Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars, Hitohira and Touka Gettan.
I haven’t seen these a lot on forums, blogs, or Youtube, though please forgive me if you have seen any of these before:
Gankutsuou
Ookiku Furikabutte
Hunter x Hunter (overlooked by modern shonen fans, HxH is the shonen of a decade ago)
Le Chevalier d’Eon
Michiko to Hatchin
Samurai 7
White Album
Well, the show isn’t exactly underappreciated, but I do remember it being grossly overshadowed by everything else that was airing that year. Dennou Coil (2007) was airing at the same time as code geass, gurren lagann, darker than black, claymore, and even seirei no moribito. It was a great show, just kind of forgotten because of all the competition that year.
I’d say:
GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class. It may be bias on my part, being an art student myself, but I think most of the humor in it are easy to get. The characters are all so charming and I enjoyed the series far more than K-On. You don’t need to like art to watch the show, just as K-On isn’t about music.
Basquash also deserves more love. Its a series that certainly had a lot of effort placed into it, all the music and high quality animation with a star studded seiyuu cast. And how can mechas playing basketball not be awesome? The whole plot was meant to be exaggerating and ridiculous yet highly entertaining. I think it sort of achieved that.
The most under rated series I’ve come across would have to be Element Hunters. Everyone dismissed the show off thinking that its just some silly edutainment show for kids. Sure its like Pokemon with chemistry, the science isn’t all that accurate (neither is mine) and the over 20 out of all the many episodes were rather boring but the whole show itself had lots of character development and the final few episodes were rather amazing, with that final plot twist.
And I also realized I actually enjoy childish shows to a certain extent, guess I’m still young.
I think GA was a overshadowed show… man, that show never fails to bring up fresh ideas and looks more promising than K-on itself(but I’m still a fan of K-on!).
Hourou Musuko was kinda overshadowed by the Madoka because back then the ratings in noitaminA are kinda low and that makes it a bit unnoticed… But it still beautiful.
Sora no woto is a known name, but rather unappreciated because of it’s slowness and a few cracks in the show… for me it is also an overshadowed show.
Taisho Yakyuu Musume? anyone knew this show?
In the old days, series that deserved to be in the spotlight tended to make their way there, while series that weren’t so good fell to the wayside. This was mainly due to little or no advertising outside of Japan, and fans basically heard about series from each other.
Nowadays, it seems whichever series gets the most marketing money gets the spotlight so I try to give every title a try by watching at least the first episode.
thanks for mentioning Hyakko again. That show is so underrated. Do include Hatsukoi Limited the next time you attempt to do the same post
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GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class.. glad that many of you mentioned it up there
B Gata H Kei….. watch it urself to get what i meant
Hatsukoi Limited… the manga series was cut short due to popularity issue.. glad that the anime version did justice on its behalf, but i hope the series can continue