Anime Your Unpopular Anime, Manga and J-Pop Opinions

[Juliko]

Definitely check out Tamers if you can! It takes a while to get going, but the payoff is well worth it!

 

[Tactician Karina]

One Piece is getting too long for me, while I still like the series and it's characters most definitely I just can't keep up with it much anymore (this is actually one of my reasons for not picking up Detective Conan). Because of this I have dropped both the manga and anime for now, at least until it finishes then I'll probably pick it up again. But I guess my true unpopular opinion for this (at least within the OP fandom) is that I sort of think Oda is milking the manga, but I get he loves the world he created and can understand not wanting to end it too soon, but my goodness it's just too much sometimes. (I handled Naruto, Air Gear, Fairy Tail, Bleach, and now currently Black Clover, AoT, and Fire Force just fine though, especially since I really love Bleach, AG, FT, BC, and FF)

Speaking of which similarly to the above, I dropped the MHA manga since I just want to finish the AoT and FF mangas (and luckily AoT seems to be almost done), and I want to pick up BC again from holding off on it a bit. Though I still like the anime and at this point I might just stick with said adaptation instead, especially since it's easier to manage.

I was kind of disappointed that Shinra and Sho's births in Fire Force were virgin births, mainly cause I just wanted to see what their father looked like and what role he'd have but well that's no longer an idea. But I got over it quickly anyway, and plus the memes surrounding Shinra being fire Jesus is pretty fun.

Kyojuro Rengoku was killed off too early in Demon Slayer. Also Sanemi Shinazugawa is the best pillar (with Giyu as second best).

Seijuro Akashi is the most underrated character in KnB (not including his ability). He's still generally pretty much hated from what I've seen even when he's himself again, I just felt so sorry for him.

2.43: Seiin High School Boys' Volleyball Club already looks like it'll be criminally underrated when it releases. To me it looks good and I hope I'm wrong about it being underrated upon release, but it's already getting compared heavily to HQ (nothing against it though, I also love the series). Honestly just let it be it's own thing. (and I don't want to see similar comparisons/complaints like with the Slam Dunk and KnB comparisons a few years ago)

Robot x Laserbeam is actually a really good manga and I wished it wasn't cancelled (I know why it was but still). Yes I can see the obvious hints of certain KnB characters on the ones here, and yeah Robo is OP so far (haven't finished it yet), but honestly ngl this manga got me more interested in golf when before I just meh to it. (now hopefully Blue Lock will do this to me for soccer once I get around to reading it)

While I'm sort of on a role with sports manga/anime, I wish it was more popular here in the US (and in the general manga/anime fandom as a whole).

Goodnight Punpun is an overrated manga. I couldn't even finish it cause I got too bored reading it, also I don't really like any of the characters. I don't mind more realistic angst but well I guess this one isn't for me.

I think isekai is a fun genre and I don't mind all the LN/manga/anime that comes out of it.

A Destructive God Sits Next to Me and My Little Monster are both underrated anime.

 

[prog rocker]

One Piece is getting too long for me, while I still like the series and it's characters most definitely I just can't keep up with it much anymore (this is actually one of my reasons for not picking up Detective Conan). Because of this I have dropped both the manga and anime for now, at least until it finishes then I'll probably pick it up again. But I guess my true unpopular opinion for this (at least within the OP fandom) is that I sort of think Oda is milking the manga, but I get he loves the world he created and can understand not wanting to end it too soon, but my goodness it's just too much sometimes. (I handled Naruto, Air Gear, Fairy Tail, Bleach, and now currently Black Clover, AoT, and Fire Force just fine though, especially since I really love Bleach, AG, FT, BC, and FF)

Not helping is the fact that Oda doesn't really have the best health if all those one or two week hiatuses are any indication.

 

[Juliko]

I'm probably going to get a lot of shade thrown at me for this: I think the Love Live Nijigasaki anime is the best Love Live anime. Better than even the original and Sunshine, mainly for one thing: No boob grabbing and stupid melodrama!!

 

[Tactician Karina]

This one might get some flack, especially since I usually like and defend dubs, but I'm not looking forward to KnB's English dub on Netflix that's supposedly coming on the 15th. I really disliked Netflix's dub of Evangelion (seriously Shinji's VA sounds too girlish at times, sounds almost like she wanted to try and imitate the original JP voice too) as I feel it didn't really have the charm the original dub had despite how dorky it sounded at times, so I'm kind of worried KnB's dub won't be as great either. That and sports anime generally don't do too well here in the US, so that's another worry of mine. I also feel that if they were gonna do a dub they should've done it earlier on when the series was still going, like sometime after season 1 early on into season 2. I'm also already used to the Japanese voice cast anyway, so it's going to be jarring to hear them in English for the first time (also please don't use Evangelion's Netflix cast, even if it's like one or two VA's, just don't).

This next one is a spoiler for the AoT manga, so skip this one to not be spoiled. Not sure if it's super unpopular, but I do see a lot of fans defend it, so I really felt that chapter 136 was kind of rushed? I guess? Also felt both short and long, if that makes sense, I know most of the dialogue helped move the plot forward some, but it also felt like the last chapter as well (not 1:1 obviously, but still). Also why is Pieck now suddenly able to transform constantly like that, and attacking the War Hammer titans very well each time? She has good endurance but that's for staying in her titan form, I don't remember it mentioning she can transform and attack constantly like that. And Falco has this amazing control over his new bird titan just like that? While not getting hit by one arrow from the WH titans? And Gabi now suddenly figuring out that spinal centipede creature that's connected to Eren's head is the Founding Titan? Wasn't she looking away with her eyes closed after shooting off Eren's head? Yeah okay, sounds almost like an ass pull to me.

 

[Juliko]

This one might get some flack, especially since I usually like and defend dubs, but I'm not looking forward to KnB's English dub on Netflix that's supposedly coming on the 15th. I really disliked Netflix's dub of Evangelion (seriously Shinji's VA sounds too girlish at times, sounds almost like she wanted to try and imitate the original JP voice too) as I feel it didn't really have the charm the original dub had despite how dorky it sounded at times, so I'm kind of worried KnB's dub won't be as great either. That and sports anime generally don't do too well here in the US, so that's another worry of mine. I also feel that if they were gonna do a dub they should've done it earlier on when the series was still going, like sometime after season 1 early on into season 2. I'm also already used to the Japanese voice cast anyway, so it's going to be jarring to hear them in English for the first time (also please don't use Evangelion's Netflix cast, even if it's like one or two VA's, just don't).

That's understandable, though in the Eva dub's defense, the only reason the dub turned out that way was because of Studio Khara's suffocating amount of control over it. Most Netflix dubs usually range from fine to pretty good, with the exception of the first dub for that AICO Incarnation show, but even that got redubbed soon after. Hell, from what I've heard, Netflix's dub for the 80s Saint Seiya series has been very well received, both from actually being a faithful dub that didn't have censors or alterations, but actually managed to complete the entire show, whereas other dubs couldn't go past a certain amount due to additional licensing issues. Who knows how the Kuroko dub will turn out at this point?

Admission: I honestly don't think the Dragon Quest movie is as bad as people are making it out to be. Could it be better? Probably, and the final twist is rather cringey, but I've seen far worse movies that have done far worse twist endings. (*coughcoughNiNoKunicoughcough*)

 

[Tactician Karina]

That's understandable, though in the Eva dub's defense, the only reason the dub turned out that way was because of Studio Khara's suffocating amount of control over it. Most Netflix dubs usually range from fine to pretty good, with the exception of the first dub for that AICO Incarnation show, but even that got redubbed soon after. Hell, from what I've heard, Netflix's dub for the 80s Saint Seiya series has been very well received, both from actually being a faithful dub that didn't have censors or alterations, but actually managed to complete the entire show, whereas other dubs couldn't go past a certain amount due to additional licensing issues. Who knows how the Kuroko dub will turn out at this point?

Well that's interesting, so thanks for that. I should admit I don't really watch anime on Netflix, exception being for Devilman Crybaby which for the dub I thought was pretty good quality for the most part. Otherwise I use other sites for both sub and dub, I did get curious from Eva's Netflix dub but it put me off so hard unfortunately. For now I am willing to give KnB's dub a shot anyway since I love the series, but I think it'll be hard to top VA's like Kensho Ono, Junichi Suwabe, Daisuke Ono, Hiroshi Kamiya, etc. especially Kamiya since I honestly can't picture anyone else as Akashi (imo at least). Though I'll be hopeful in that the dub does turn out good and my worries were unnecessary.

 

[Tactician Karina]

This is unpopular mainly in certain anime circles, but Back Arrow is actually kinda boring to me. I like the character designs and the main character is pretty cool himself, but I'm just not really feeling the story. I mentioned this in another thread but being directed by the same guy that directed Code Geass I thought I'd like it, but no. Also the animation gets pretty meh to bad sometimes, especially with the mechas (and their designs are nothing to write home about imo). Depending on how episode 6 will go for me next Friday, I might just drop it.

Sort of a spicy take (and one that also counts for other media, but that's for other threads), but I like some controversial characters that people may not like (due to their archetype/trope or for whatever else). Some characters that I like that a lot of other fans don't (in their respective series) are Sakura, Mineta, Naofumi, Lucy Heartfilia, Meliodas, Kirito, Eren Jaeger, most countries in Hetalia, Arthur Rimbaud, etc. and this also goes for series as well (Fairy Tail, Shield Hero, Goblin Slayer, SAO, Seven Deadly Sins, etc.). I get why people may not like a certain character or series just as long as they're respectful about it and not hounding on people that like them (and likewise for fans of a character/series, shouldn't hound on people that don't like them).

Another sort of spicy take, especially in more SoL and cutesy type circles and because I've seen it mentioned here surprisingly, but Laid-Back Camp looks really boring. I've seen clips of it on YouTube and at first I wanted to get into it, but it just looks like another typical SoL "cute girls doing cute things" series with camping for flavor. I don't mind SoL series and some I do like, but this one doesn't grab my interest much (I'd probably be more receptive to it if it was an all male cast instead, seriously I can't seem to find one about camping).

I want to see an anime of Alice in the Country of... series, there's a movie but I have yet to watch it and from what I've heard it's not as good as the original VN games and manga adaptations.

I also want to see an anime adaptation of I Hear the Sunspot manga. I know of the live action movie but I think an anime version would be neat as well.

Edit: Forgot to add, there's nothing wrong with liking series like Diabolik Lovers, Brothers Conflict, and other shows/LN/otomes like it. I like them myself and it's generally pretty annoying seeing people occasionally say otomes or other stuff aimed towards women shouldn't get adapted because they're "bad". If regular harems are okay, why not reverse harems then?

 

[Juliko]

It's totally okay if certain shows or characters aren't your thing. I love Laid-Back Camp myself, but I know it's not going to be a show for everybody.

 

[CynthiaLover]

I'm with @SandwichSamurai on the dub thing, as not all dubs are as bad as everyone claims they are. I actually prefer them. For starters, I like to be able to understand what I'm watching without the need of subtitles. Secondly, reading subtitles makes me nauseous, as I don't like dividing my attention between both in order to get the full content of what's going on on-screen. And thirdly, I think the voice acting is fine in most dubs. Sure, there are a few missteps here and there, but they're not as terrible as everyone complains about. The Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters dub I find to be extremely good (especially once they settled on Tristan's voice actor, as his first one was... meh), and I love some of the jokes and such they've incorporated into it, like Joey's Brooklyn accent. And I find the Zoids Chaotic Century dub to be superior to the sub, not just because of the humor and stuff, but I feel the voices fit the characters better. While I can understand why people bash dubs, that doesn't mean all dubs are as awful as everyone says they are. If I was given a choice between watching a dub or a sub I'd watch the dub because it's not only easier on my eyes but I get more enjoyment out of just being able to kick back and watch a show without subtitles flashing on the bottom (and sometimes top) of the screen to distract me or make me nauseous.

 

[Juliko]

I myself have been watching more English dubs myself, and these days, they're a LOT better and more polished than they used to be. That doesn't mean there aren't any duds and a few bad decisions made in good ones, but I really hate this idea that all English dubs are bad no matter what. Yes, we get that the Cowboy Bebop dub is great, but there are more great English dubs than just that one. CB's English dub is old news!

 

[prog rocker]

Don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but:

Sean Schemmel > Masako Nosawa

Maybe it's because it reminds me of the Latin American voice actor, but I never felt Nosawa fit Goku (or at least, adult Goku).

 

[Tactician Karina]

Lucky Star isn't even that funny and heavily relies mostly on Haruhi's popularity at the time, making it an add for said series. The anime is at best mediocre and some other anime and otaku culture references, while at times neat and clever, don't hold up all that well.

There should be anime based on hockey, I know of a few manga about the sport and seeing an adaptation from them would be really cool.

Toradora is also a mediocre anime to me, doesn't help that I found Taiga to be annoying.

After watching the Netflix dub of Kuroko's Basketball season 1, I still think the original is far superior. But the dub wasn't too bad and I actually quite liked Zeno Robinson's role as Taiga Kagami (Akashi's English voice is the only one I really disliked, I don't like how my boy sounded tbh). I'm just hoping that whenever they get around to dubbing season 2, that Makoto Hanamiya gets a solid VA.

The King's Avatar is a highly underrated Chinese anime.

Antique Bakery is another underrated manga/anime.

Shiki has my favorite atmosphere when it comes to horror manga/anime imo. I also actually like the character designs in the series.

Don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but:

Sean Schemmel > Masako Nosawa

Maybe it's because it reminds me of the Latin American voice actor, but I never felt Nosawa fit Goku (or at least, adult Goku).

Yeah this opinion is pretty common among fans that started off with the dub. I think Nozawa doesn't fit adult Goku either, but by the time he grew up she became iconic as his VA, so that's who they see as and prefer for Goku still.

 

[prog rocker]

There should be anime based on hockey, I know of a few manga about the sport and seeing an adaptation from them would be really cool.

Wait, they haven't made one yet???

 

[Tactician Karina]

Wait, they haven't made one yet???

As of making that post I have found only one that's still in the works, called Pride of Orange based on the mobile game of the same name, releasing October of this year. Otherwise there are no other ice hockey anime, I would rather have a adaptation of Supinamarada! or at least have one similar (character and interaction wise) to KnB, Haikyuu, 2.43, Prince of Tennis, Ace of Diamond, All Out!, etc. Not sure if I'll watch it though since they look like the Love Live girls.

 

[Neo Blaze]

Pokémon-wise, I just didn't really care for I Choose You! and The Power of Us. I wanted to like them because the fandom seemed to lose their mind over them, but they just left me cold for the most part. I'm still keeping an open mind for Koko, but I've heard some mixed things on it so I'm kind of worried about that. Not that I was a fan of the last few Pokemon movies that actually tied in with the show, but the whole alternate universe yet standalone movies thing does very little for me.

Then there's Twilight Wings, which did absolutely nothing for me, sadly. Another Pokémon anime property I wanted to like, but just didn't. I also have some very unpopular opinions about the main anime of course, but these are some controversial opinions I have about recent stuff (and I've posted those about the main anime in the A&M controversial opinions thread before, if you dig deep enough).

---------

On something entirely different, I think Howl's Moving Castle is pretty overrated. I wouldn't call it Miyazaki's weakest film, and there's still a number of things I really like about it (overrated doesn't always mean bad in my book). It's just that when I come across lists of people's favorite Ghibli films, Howl often takes the #1 spot or is firmly in the top 5, and I personally just think there are lot of Ghibli films that are better. My problem is mainly with the plot, which I think is a mess. I've heard the book makes a lot more sense, but I'm strictly talking about the film. I also don't particularly care for Howl as a character. Calcifer and Markl are fine, and I do like Sophie a lot, and the personal character arc she goes through in the film. It just everything around that that I don't really care for, or think is just fine. And on another note, while the score by Joe Hisaishi is obviously very good, it's also just not as memorable as other Hisaishi scores to me.

 

[Sheep]

The Secret World of Arrietty is my favorite Ghibli film. I see people who like it but a lot more who prefer others, or haven't seen it altogether. I think it deserves more attention than it gets! I also didn't really click with My Neighbor Totoro. :<

 

[Juliko]

The Secret World of Arrietty is my favorite Ghibli film. I see people who like it but a lot more who prefer others, or haven't seen it altogether. I think it deserves more attention than it gets! I also didn't really click with My Neighbor Totoro. :<

I personally liked Arrietty when I first saw it. I even went to see it in theaters with my best friend when it was first being shown in English! I wouldn't consider it my personal favorite Ghibli movie (That honor goes to Whisper of the Heart), but it's a nice little movie.

 

[techitisJ]

Anyway, I frankly don't have much against dubbed anime. I've seen some subbed episodes and can understand the negative reception, but all the thrown fits make it hard to sympathize with them.

I agree. I can't understand the hate around ALL dubbed anime. Like when the dubbing is bad I completely get it, but not all anime dubs are bad. And I think dubbing opens anime up to many other kinds of watches. For me, I'm the kind of person who has a hard time just sitting down to watch a show. I will get distracted by something, and reading subtitles while being distracted can get difficult. So, unless I know I can fully invest all my energy into watching something, I prefer to watch the dub so I can multitask.

It also just depends on the anime for me. There are certain anime that I refuse to watch with the dub because it's just atrocious, or I simply prefer watching that anime with subs. There are also some subbed anime that I won't watch, even when I can focus on it.

The Secret World of Arrietty is my favorite Ghibli film. I see people who like it but a lot more who prefer others, or haven't seen it altogether. I think it deserves more attention than it gets! I also didn't really click with My Neighbor Totoro. :<

The Secret World of Arrietty is a great Ghibli, and I really think it needs more recognition. I would say it's in my top 3 (along with Whisper of the Heart and Castle in the Sky), and is definitely my favorite in terms of lore and worldbuilding.

 

[Tactician Karina]

First part is AoT manga spoilers, so definitely skip and don't click if you don't want to get spoiled!:
Alright so I actually don't mind how AoT seems to be ending, yeah it would've been fun to see Eren come out on top in the end but that isn't the whole point of his character. I know that it was a common and popular theory that Mikasa would be the one to deal the final blow to Eren, and now that that's true I was pretty satisfied with it; well except when she kissed his disembodied head, that was gross. I also thought the visions she got with her and Eren running away from the war and living out Eren's last years together was kinda meh, maybe cause I'm not a Mikasa fan and I'm not a big fan of the ship between her and Eren, and the way it seems to imply that EreHisu may not have happened and the Farmer is the father of Historia's child is more likely true, but I wasn't really too satisfied with that specific part in 138. Also I wasn't sad when Connie became a titan, now Jean turning into one got me more sad, and Gabi getting turned into one is so funny she finally got her wish lol. One more thing, this also just shows that Levi should've died long ago, his arc and his use is done and over with, I dislike the guy but jeez give him a mercy kill or something (but we gotta shill his popularity apparently).

I like all the Black Bulls in Black Clover, but I'm way more interested in the other Magic Knight Squads. Also I prefer to see the BB's family moments with their own family and see their relationship dynamics (Noelle with her siblings, Finral and Langris, Yami with Julius and William, etc.). The only thing that really makes them a family is that they're all way more eccentric compared to other people, still fun to see but nothing really that makes me gush over it too much.

Speaking of BC I prefer Finral x Vanessa over Finral x Finesse. Finral and Vanessa have a better dynamic and she's a bit better with his personality type, Finesse is the most boring and milquetoast character to pair off with Finral imo; I'd rather she'd stay with Langris and go through with the marriage tbh. But I do respect his deep love for Finesse, at the very least, just wished she had more to her.

Stars Align was boring and I never saw the hype for it tbh, it being only 12 episodes and not the original 24 really hurt it in my eyes; probably would've liked it more if it wasn't cut from that. Though I still hold Prince of Tennis on a high pedestal as well for tennis anime/manga, and Stars Align didn't scratch that tennis itch.

I can't get into Ping Pong the Animation, I tried but the character designs and animation just throws me off so much and I find it kind of ugly. I might try watching it again, especially since it's apparently really character driven and their developments are great, and I do like the water color and soft palettes they use in some of the backgrounds.

Loveless should either get a second season or a reboot and adapt more of the manga. I really enjoy the manga and seeing more of Loveless would just make me happy in general.