Manga Anime/Manga that you initially hated, but now really enjoy

[dig]

is there any anime or manga that you really enjoy now, but initially just didn't care for?

 

[Almonds]

I never really cared for serious anime with realistic settings, because they used to bore me. But after getting persuaded to watch Psycho-Pass by a friend, the anime now tops as one of my favorites.

Also, since mecha isn't my taste, I hadn't watched anything with robots. I initially didn't like Aldnoah Zero, but the first season really got me into the show.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

I wasnt initially interested in Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin but I kept watching and then read it and its now my favorite. It was kinda boring at first but then I started getting attached to the characters.

 

[Dolce]

Claymore, and Princess Resurrection are two series I hated initially because of their manga's artwork. It wasn't fluid nor convincing to me at first, but getting past the art I learned to love the action each series had to offer.

Another would be Sekirei, it's very perverse and it embarrassed me to watch at first. But the characters in the series had very charming personalities so I learned to look past that since I started to love the characters.

 

[Flaze]

I never really cared for serious anime with realistic settings, because they used to bore me. But after getting persuaded to watch Psycho-Pass by a friend, the anime now tops as one of my favorites.

Also, since mecha isn't my taste, I hadn't watched anything with robots. I initially didn't like Aldnoah Zero, but the first season really got me into the show.

I think it was the opposite for me in regards to Aldnoah.Zero.

On that note, originally I didn't want to watch Tokyo Ghoul because I didn't really liked horror anime since they tended to just be gory for the sake of being gory but it ended up becoming one of my favorite series up to date.

The same applies to One Piece which I didn't really enjoy at first and took me a long time to really set myself up for reading it just cause of how long it was and because of how silly the art style looked but I ended up really liking it.

 

[Almonds]

On that note, originally I didn't want to watch Tokyo Ghoul because I didn't really liked horror anime since they tended to just be gory for the sake of being gory but it ended up becoming one of my favorite series up to date.

That as well. I hate horror and blood and gore and I used to hate the kids who'd rent horror movies to watch in class back in middle/high school (I'd end up staying up all night being scared). The covers of the Tokyo Ghoul manga really scared the wits out of me at first (Kaneki and his mask and his ghoul-eye) and I refused to listen to anyone who'd recommend it.

But when the anime came out, I saw all these tumblr posts praising the anime, and some information said that the gore was censored almost completely to the point of disappointment to some fans. I gave the first episode a watch and the concept got me in the show. I wish Tokyo Ghoul stayed as a personal drama insead of expanding into a large scale battle show, but all the angst and despair and determination was what made me stick through season 1. Though, the torture scene was a huge turn off for me that I left the series. I would have stayed if there was no Jason in the first place.

Tl;dr, I still hate horror, but I've become a bit more accepting of the genre.

 

[蜃気楼]

hated free at first but shirtless men are op cause its gr8

 

[Adil]

Haha, that would be One Piece... I knew that it was popular, but I honestly didn't care for it at all. Until late 2012, I never bothered to give it a shot and I was even a bit repulsive to the idea of watching it.

Now that I think about it, I don't know why I didn't want to watch it. It may sound stupid, but I guess I disliked it because it was this much popular, if that makes any sense... I don't know.

In late 2012, one of the professors at my uni told us how much he loved One Piece (in his orientation class) and he went on and on about it... A few weeks later, someone gave me the first few episodes of the FUNimation dub and told me to give it a try and I did.

Now, it is undoubtedly my THE favorite series of all time and I'm not even exaggerating. Oda is a freaking genius and I'm so so SO glad that I gave it a shot.

 

[Aulos]

Many years back I really had this immature hatred for Dragon Ball Z. Do understand that we're talking like back when I was fifth grade, though. I remember only seeing glimpses of the Buu saga with Vegeta 'powering up', which looked to me like he was constipated. LOL. I thought it was sooo stupid! Perhaps around eighth grade, I decided to give the original Dragon Ball a chance, and found out that I most certainly did not hate it, and I transitioned into DBZ from there.

There's also Gurren Lagann. I never hated it persay. It's just that the whole giant robot theme is not in the least bit appealing to me. I also had heard that it had plenty of fanservice, which I hate. And then fans of it literally started telling me that it was "too manly" for a girl like me. =/ ...What? I finally watched it, and I didn't really get that vibe. I really ended up liking it. I liked the whole staying positive and shooting for ridiculous dreams lesson that it had, because it was really something I needed in my life at the time of watching it. Also, it's the only series aside from DBZ where I actually like the action in of itself. Ironic considering it's a series about giant robots, right? It just gets so outrageous... It's not at all like the robot fighting series I think of.

 

[Tactician Karina]

I wouldn't really say hate for this series and more of a slight annoyance at first, but My Hero Academia was one I avoided for a bit before really getting into it. Katsuki Bakugo was the main reason I've snubbed it at times, I generally like characters like him but he doesn't do his trope well imo; another reason was a slight burnout from Marvel and DC stuff, and I knew the creator likes them so it was easy for me to just ignore it even more. Nowadays I like it thanks to most of it's characters, though admittedly I've dropped the manga for now in favor of the anime, but I'll get back into it whenever it finishes; and I still really dislike Katsuki (actually the only character I dislike from the series), but overall I'm able to push it aside for my enjoyment. (that said, it's no Tiger & Bunny, which is my favorite superhero anime)

 

[hanecco]

Monogatari. I tried watching Bakemonogatari several years ago and the nuances flew over my head or got lost in the visuals. When I revisited the series, it turned out I loved it!

 

[guzmania]

first two episodes of nge were, uh, slow.
i am forever grateful i kept going.

 

[Zexy]

I actually did not quite like some of the more boring near filler parts of the first two Yugioh ZEXAL arcs, I almost considered quitting it (which is super ironic considering how my username situation later ended up) after all the random profs, Nelsons, ninjas, Fortunos, Annas, digvorzhak guys etc would show up once then never again... Thankfully it got VERY good later, and even though arc 4 had some CotDs too, at least they were all linked by using the same card related to the villain. 3, 5 and 6 (especially the early cameos, and them being part of opening) were just great.

 

[mastermind lissi]

Pokemon. My siblings started watching it and I had a thing against Pokémon then because some guys at my school were really annoying about Pokémon cards

sometime over that summer I got super invested in it and ended up accepting my fate as a pokemon kid and made it about half my personality

 

[CynthiaLover]

First would be Monster Rancher when it first came out. Because of the Pokemon craze (that I was partly responsible for back in my previous home back in the day) any of the "copycat" shows were looked down upon. Monster Rancher really got the short end of the stick in that regard, as I at least got into Digimon more easily (and I now favor Digimon over Pokemon thanks to the audience shift and more mature themes). Not helping Monster Rancher's case was that it was on at an awkward time for me, as it was on during the time I was getting out of school, so I'd always miss it. But later in life when the internet became more advance I was able to watch it and really came to like it. Now I see it (and the games) as an underrated gem.

Second would be Beast Tamer. Initially, when it first came out, I didn't think much of it, especially since it was part of the harem genre. With the exception of Monster Musume and Sekirei, my experiences with the harem genre were... awful (mostly in the form of series like Love Hina, Oh My Buddhist, etc, where the male protag is basically a helpless punching bag for the almost sadistic girls for even the slightest of offenses, if any). But earlier this year I decided to give it a chance, as I needed something new to watch. Turns out it's actually pretty wholesome and it actually doesn't follow some of the more "traditional" harem tropes (like beating up the male protag for any offense). Plus I like the concept that the "hero party" are actually elitist, entitled bullies, thus are more antagonistic than the Big Bad themselves (who, if you delve deeper into the series, is actually rather tragic and has a legitimate reason for attacking the world), and have a personal connection to the main protag (as they fired him for being "dead weight" only to realize he was probably the most crucial lynchpin in the group for various tasks, yet they won't admit they're wrong due to their egos and pride). Reminds me a bit of Shield Hero with some differences (not to mention the opening is done by MAKID, the same group that does Shield Hero's openings). Overall, it's a pretty wholesome and fun anime that is rather underrated.

 

[guzmania]

several months later i return with bleach
i literally could not understand the hype initially but now i positively adore it

 

[Daenerys]

Not hated per se, but I was pretty indifferent about Naruto when it was first dubbed in the US. I remember watching the first 6 or 7 episodes, but only because it aired on Toonami and I usually watched that animation block on Saturday nights. Eventually I stopped watching it because I lost what little interest I had in it, but got back into it when Miguzi starting airing re-runs on weekday afternoons.

Also JJK probably counts too. I didn't necessarily hate it, but I found the first few episodes to be generic and not very remarkable, but now I think it's one of the best anime of the decade (so far).

I actually did not quite like some of the more boring near filler parts of the first two Yugioh ZEXAL arcs, I almost considered quitting it (which is super ironic considering how my username situation later ended up) after all the random profs, Nelsons, ninjas, Fortunos, Annas, digvorzhak guys etc would show up once then never again... Thankfully it got VERY good later, and even though arc 4 had some CotDs too, at least they were all linked by using the same card related to the villain. 3, 5 and 6 (especially the early cameos, and them being part of opening) were just great.

It's the opposite for me; I liked and/or borderline tolerated some of the earlier arcs basically up to the Duel Carnival finale. Everything after that annoyed me to no end because of the constant use of RUM cards and predictable duel writing..

 

[toastghost]

ouran high school host club. when i first watched it i didn't really like any of the characters and it gave me a weird vibe (it was probably the twins) but i gave it a second chance and i actually really liked it once i had to get past how everyone's kind of a rich asshole (but it does make haruhi a lot more relatable since you really get why she's constantly fed up with them)