Anime Your Unpopular Anime, Manga and J-Pop Opinions

[Neo Blaze]

Dear lord, did I really muddle up the titles of Nausicaä and Nadesico? I am ashamed and must commit ritual sudoku...


Earwig isn't available here yet so I can't comment on that one. But as for Nausicaä, I really didn't care for the story, the characters or the setting. Earthsea may have had plenty of flaws but it was still decent.

I definitely respect that and more power to you. There's things about Nausicaä I really enjoy but I can easily see how it would turn some people off since it's fairly unconventional in a lot of things.

Earwig is definitely something. Even if you put the mediocre CGI aside, it feels like a set-up for something that never happens, and (SPOILERS) that poster with Earwig with the microphone? Yeah, that's not even in the movie. It's just a mindboggling film in regards to certain decisions that were made and I'm actually kind of sad that Goro couldn't build upon From Up On Poppy Hill since that was a really good movie.

 

[Neo Blaze]

I have a couple more:

• Not necessarily unpopular, but I think Hayao Miyazaki hasn't made a single bad film. Even his earliest film, Castle of Cagliostro, is great. His films vary in quality of course, but I personally don't think any of them are bad. While some people prefer Isao Takahata, I think Takahata made two somewhat weaker films in Pom Poko and My Neighbors the Yamadas. I do think it's admirable that Takahata went outside his comfort zone more than Miyazaki, and he was definitely a more varied director, but I also think those two aformentioned films fell flat because of it (they still have their qualities though, but in the entire Ghibli canon they're two of my least favorites).
  
  
• Speaking of Miyazaki, I never understood why a lot of people got so riled up about his opinion on the modern state of anime and its fanbase (not to mention he never actually said "anime was a mistake"). I disagree with his assessment, but he's allowed to have his opinion. He's from a certain time and that impacts his mindset. For me it never detracted from his work and I don't see why one man's opinion is so upsetting to some people.
  
  
• While I do wish it had been executed better, I think the second half of Death Note was just okay and not as bad as a lot of people say it is. Although the show definitely dropped in quality after that big twist halfway, and the characters in the second half weren't as interesting, it was still decent enough. I also kind of liked the ending and I personally think it was the ending that made the most sense. Maybe it's because I love the first half of Death Note too much, but I don't think the second half ruined the show.
  
  
• On a similar note, I think the second season of One Punch Man wasn't that bad. Although there was a big drop in quality in a number of things (the animation being the most glaring one of course), and the tournament arc dragged on for too long, I think it still had some things going for it. Garou for example was an interesting character and a nice juxtaposition to Saitama.
  
  
• Slice-of-life is kind of a misunderstood genre and I wish it was more popular in the west. There's a good reason why SoL is as big in Japan as it is, but due to cultural differences I think it doesn't always translate as well to a lot of western anime fans. SoL is a broad term of course, and it's often mixed in with other genres, but if we're talking about pure SoL; I personally think there's a certain appeal to it that other genres tend to lack in that these type of anime are able to convey relatability and emotion in a simple and non-overbearing way. Not to mention that capturing the essence and beauty of daily and everyday life in animation and writing is an art in itself and something that I think is not as easy to do as it seems. I also think most SoLs tend to have characters that are realistic and relatable, much more than in shonen anime for example.
  
  
• Speaking of SoL: although its massive success speaks for itself and its hardly unpopular to like K-On nowadays, I think K-On is an often misunderstood anime. I've seen a number of people write it off as a hollow moeblob show with nothing substantial to offer, which I think is a woefully inaccurate interpretation. While on its surface it's definitely a show about cute girls doing cute things, and while most episodes are extremely low on plot, it has a lot of overarching coming-of-age themes that I personally really relate to and think are beautifully realized and executed. Although it's not the only aspect of K-On I love (I also love the characters, the humor, the music, the direction, the animation, the voice acting and the atmosphere), those themes are a big reason why the show works for me as much as it does. It has a heart and soul to its themes that not a lot of shows of its kind tap into. Under the Scope did a fantastic analysis about this which I heartily recommend for those who struggle to see the appeal of K-On:
  
  Spoiler
  
  Whether these overarching themes were realized properly and whether they make for a compelling anime is completely subjective of course. But that these themes are there and that K-On is not just a hollow moeblob show are things that can not be denied in my opinion. There are also several interviews with Naoko Yamada (director) and Reiko Yoshida (writer) that talk about these themes and what they were going for, so it's not like fans attributed things to the show that aren't there. I completely understand that K-On's style is not for everyone. Some people are annoyed by and can't get past the moe/CGDCT style, or the fact that not much happens plotwise, and that's understandable. Moe is just a style (or the packaging if you will) in the end though, and for me personally it has never detracted from the beautiful messages Yamada and Yoshida meant to convey.
  
  I should also add that K-On is a fantastic example of an anime that vastly improves on its manga. This is something that is often overlooked but can not be understated. Yamada and Yoshida added many anime-exclusive key scenes and themes that turned a decent at best manga into an anime with more heart and feel than the manga could ever hope to convey.

 

[Tactician Karina]

A few more opinions from me:
Some people think KonoSuba is funnier than Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, but both are equally funny to me.

I really like Dazai from Bungo Stray Dogs and he's one of my favorites in the series, but sometimes he needs to be knocked down a few pegs; he comes off as a deus ex machina a lot, mainly due to his ability, but still.

Yuki Kaji is in way too many anime (and otome) and it's gotten boring, at this point I just roll my eyes whenever he's credited lol. (though I shouldn't talk cause I love Hiroshi Kamiya and he's in quite a lot of stuff too lol)

Eren became a badly written MC towards the end of AoT.

Speaking of AoT, I never thought Hajime Isayama was the best mangaka. I really liked early AoT and somewhat the middle, but he fumbled towards the end. At most he was alright to me, but certainly not the greatest.

I'm not a fan of the way facial expressions are drawn in Goodnight Punpun, they look kinda ugly, especially when the characters were kids in the first half.

Evangelion is only moderately alright and takes advantage of confusion to seem deep/smart.

Satoru Gojo looks nerfed in the JJK anime and he looks better in the manga. Still like him in the anime, but I don't know if it's the eyelashes or what but he looks a bit off.

All boy idol anime >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> all girl idol anime.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Slice-of-life is kind of a misunderstood genre and I wish it was more popular in the west. There's a good reason why SoL is as big in Japan as it is, but due to cultural differences I think it doesn't always translate as well to a lot of western anime fans. SoL is a broad term of course, and it's often mixed in with other genres, but if we're talking about pure SoL; I personally think there's a certain appeal to it that other genres tend to lack in that these type of anime are able to convey relatability and emotion in a simple and non-overbearing way. Not to mention that capturing the essence and beauty of daily and everyday life in animation and writing is an art in itself and something that I think is not as easy to do as it seems. I also think most SoLs tend to have characters that are realistic and relatable, much more than in shonen anime for example.

I love this side of anime, and it is indeed somewhat underappreciated by occidental fans. The problem with the genre is that when it's done badly, it's done very badly, and all too many manga authors have tried to write to a formula without having any real flair for making it work (Publishers probably have to take their fair share of the blame, given how anime and manga loves to chase the trendy).

There's not been a lot of it about for quite a few seasons now - it seems each anime season sees fewer and fewer titles

 

[Ryoma Maser]

I think the Pokemon: Yume no Tsubomi short and Twilight Wings are both better than the entirety of the Pokemon TV anime. Yes, I said that. Fight me.

Finally someone with the right opinion.

 

[Neo Blaze]

I love this side of anime, and it is indeed somewhat underappreciated by occidental fans. The problem with the genre is that when it's done badly, it's done very badly, and all too many manga authors have tried to write to a formula without having any real flair for making it work (Publishers probably have to take their fair share of the blame, given how anime and manga loves to chase the trendy).

There's not been a lot of it about for quite a few seasons now - it seems each anime season sees fewer and fewer titles

I have yet to encounter a truly godawful slice-of-life anime, but I can definitely see what you mean. It's not an easy genre to get right, and although it is one of my favorite genres in anime, not every SoL show works for me.

 

[Neo Blaze]

• Digimon Adventure tri. was just a massive disappointment to me for a number of reasons and among my least favorite outings in the Digimon series.
  
  
• On the other hand, I think Digimon Adventure 2020 is underrated and deserves better ratings. It's definitely flawed but there have been some great episodes with fantastic moments. I've been really enjoying it for the most part and the positives have outweighed the negatives for me.
  
  
• I like and appreciate Yuru Camp, but I personally don't think it's one of the better slice-of-life shows. I just think it's good, but not much more than that. Although I enjoyed it overall, I didn't even like season 2 as much as season 1.
  
  
• Durarara was really boring to me and I couldn't get into the story. Probably should have dropped it early on but generally I don't really like dropping things.
  
  
• Despite having an interesting premise, I also thought Dr. Stone was pretty boring. It never really managed to grab me. I didn't care for most of the characters either.
  
  
• DP is my least favorite Pokémon anime saga for a good amount of reasons, although I respect why it's beloved. It just isn't for me.

 

[Juliko]

I don't know how unpopular this is, but...I wish the World Masterpiece Theater hadn't gotten cancelled in 2009. Seriously, everything they put out is better than most of the anime that have come out nowadays.

 

[Daenerys]

Okay so this might sound blasphemous, but I recently watched the first two episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen because I was trying to get into it since everyone else seems to be a fan of it... but gosh I just can't see myself liking the series. The 1st episode was okay-ish in a 'this is the premiere so it sets up the premise and its flaws can be excused" kind of way, but the 2nd episode bothered me because of its clichés. It's like every single anime cliché that exists was crammed into that episode more so than the 1st one and I actually rolled my eyes a few times and just wanted it to be over.

I might watch the 3rd and 4th episodes this weekend just to give it a fair chance, but if nothing groundbreaking happens to hook me in, this'll be yet another shonen series that I start but never finish.

 

[RustyTrubbish]

Mine is that Naruto is a really bad anime when you look at it objectively. The pre-timeskip episodes are popular and almost everyone has seen them but they had really inconsistent animation especially in the Chunin Exam arc. Also the dub isn't that great and Naruto's voice ranks among one of the most grating voices I've ever heard. Plus there was that year and a half of filler episodes towards the end.

Shippuden has some of the same problems especially when it comes to filler content but the writing is the worst part about it because Kishimoto kept introducing really strange twists that didn't make sense and retconned previously established events and that war arc at the end was a mess.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

Hot takes:

Evangelion is not good. Its attempt to be “psychological was dumb and I wasnt a fan of it even though i identify a lot with Shinji to a certain extent.

Gurren Laggan was real boring for me. I tried to watch it twice and I just couldnt get into it.

My Hero Academia is boring I considered watching it,but I probably wont honestly.

Sailor Moon Crystal is way better for me than the 90s anime which I now cannot stand to watch again. Its frustrating having to sit through so many monstrr of the day eps and the 90a show made Haruka and Michiru real assholes and tbh their anime characterizations and their whole “pure heart” thing was real bullshit to me because they really arent “pure” like we’re led to believe considering they tried to murder another senshi and child and were at one point treasonous to their Princess. At one point I felt they legitimately would badly hurt her id they felt the need to do so. They made Mamoru kind of an ass too and he basically doesnt do anything except show up for motivation most times.

 

[Juliko]

The anime Hakumei and Mikochi is criminally underrated and deserves more love! As does the currently airing anime Let's Make a Mug Too, or Yakunara Mug Cup mo.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Hot takes time.

Spoiler: My Anime Hot Takes

Attack on Titan is overrated. I've tried watching it but it's generic at best with equally generic characters and plots. I honestly don't see what's so good about it.

My Hero Academia is meh. The whole "underdog with no powers becomes super and gains a harem" thing is getting a bit overdone. Plus I roll my eyes at the whole "superpower" quirk thing, as I find it uncreative and rather cut-and-paste (plus I find superpowers to be overrated, having had to deal with people who adore Marvel for most of my early life). The characters (well, some of them) are okay but nothing outstanding, while the rest are too cliché, generic, and/or stupid. Overall, it's just meh.

Gurren Laggen is a real snooze-fest. I've tried to watch it but it doesn't do it for me. The characters are just boring and the plot is meh at best.

This one pains me to say it, but Zoids New Century Zero isn't that great. While it is better than what followed it by a large margin NCZ really isn't that interesting. The characters really remain static with too many flaws that are never overcome (such as Leena's psychopathic temper and Brad being only in it for the money). And the fact that it popularized Liger Zero as the "mascot" of the Zoids franchise despite the fact it's not even that special lore-wise didn't help (after all, in the Zoids lore it doesn't have an Organoid System, while Bit's is suddenly this super-special one with said system). Bit is an okay main lead but nothing special. Plus the more episodic nature of NCZ was a letdown compared to the more interwoven Chaotic Century plot. And the Backdraft Group were completely unoriginal at best. And the comedic characters such as Harry and the Fuzzy Pandas... I mean Tigers Team were pretty one-note and unoriginal. Plus Laon's whole "revenge" plot against Steve is incredibly petty, as the whole thing was a massive misunderstanding that he refuses to listen to reason about, not to mention their "rivalry" with the Whale King VS Hover Cargo bit was just dumb.

Another one that pains me to say it, but Inuyasha is a heavily flawed series. Mainly due to one very annoying aspect: it overused the protagonist-centered morality trope with Kagome, who I find to be the absolute WORST character in the show. The narrative ALWAYS took her side, even when she's in the wrong, and treated Inuyasha like an abused dog at her hands, and she's NEVER called out for it. While I despise Shippo and Koga (the former being a useless bratty half-pint while the latter enforces all the negative aspects that people see in wolves, plus he's just plain annoying) Kagome takes the cake at how far she can take her jealousy temper tantrums and the narrative will always side with her even when Inuyasha is in the right and she's in the wrong. If Kagome wasn't part of the series and it was about Inuyasha and Kikyo fighting Naraku then that would be more desirable to me, as Kikyo is superior to Kagome in every way, especially since their romance felt more natural compared to how Kagome's felt so forced. If they had left out Kagome or made her more sympathetic to Inuyasha and his past then maybe this paragraph wouldn't be here but that's not the case.

The Dragon Ball franchise is overrated. I don't like any of the characters (and many of them are flat-out ugly in design), the plots are generic, the various powers are boring and unoriginal, and the villains act like any other Saturday morning cartoon villain. Sure, it was one of the earlier franchises but the fact that it just won't die and is getting new versions on almost a yearly basis has worn me out at how one-dimensional the series is.

And the last one for now is that Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's isn't great. It's much better than GX ever was and it's better than Zexal but it was the first one to introduce a Gary Stu as it's protagonist: Yusei. He only lost once, and that was a flashback, so it really doesn't count, while any other duel has been a "miraculous" victory or ended without conclusion. Granted, when I created Django I accidentally turned him into a Gary Stu before someone graciously informed me, which caused me to wake up and quickly make new plans for (and, yes, Psychic Duelist Django will eventually continue, but I'm kinda off Yugioh because of recent events with the franchise) so that I wouldn't make the same mistake as the writers did with Yusei. Plus his "relationship" with Akiza went absolutely nowhere (ironically, the most loathed female character in the franchise, Tori, would actually succeed in her relationship quest despite being the most useless and hated character in Yugioh history). Speaking of Akiza, she pretty much lost all relevance after Season 1, where even the official site calls her a "benchwarmer". Ouch. Just ouch. Way to shut down your best female lead to date, Yugioh. Yeah, 5D's was better than the series before and after it, but those were not high bars to jump over, and yet it still fell flat with both its invincible protag and female lead/love interest.

 

[Dorothy]

Don't even get me started on Attack on Titan.

 

[prog rocker]

I used to like AoT (even though I despised Ehren), then came the ending... I'm glad I jumped ship when I did. In fact, I ended up wanting the original "kill 'em all" ending that was vetoed by executives.

On the topic of Akiza: Maybe it's because most of my exposure was through the games, but I never considered her a love interest, although I'm not sure if that was the intention of the games or not.

On Yusei: Someone asked here about the YGO protagonists winrates to see how they compared to Ash, and boy, Yusei was the only one with a 100% winrate. While I get the stakes in YGO are way higher than Pokémon most of the time (which justifies why the Yu's have winrates in the 90s), I found out that the complains against Yusei were completely valid. Even Crow had non-flashback losses, for God's sake!

 

[Neo Blaze]

Grand Blue (or Grand Blue Dreaming as it's known in the dub I believe) is pretty terrible in my opinion and I don't really understand why it's so popular and has such extremely high ratings. It's just a repetitive slew of unfunny cringe jokes about naked men, female body anatomy (let's put it that way), drinking and partying. It also falls back a lot on exaggerated faces/expressions, which tends to get really annoying after a while. Now, I know that comedy is one of the most (if not the most) subjective things out there, so I wholly acknowledge I'm in a minority and this series' style of comedy just may not be for me. But perhaps the biggest part of what annoys me about Grand Blue is that it's so repetitive, it just heavily relies on the same cringy tropes and jokes over and over again and it never had much to offer besides that. Even the characters aren't all that great, the male characters have pretty empty-headed and awful personalities and the female characters mostly seem to serve as eye candy.

I also never really understood the big deal about Kaguya-sama: Love is War. I didn't find it all that funny and I honestly found it a chore to get through.

 

[CynthiaLover]

On the topic of Akiza: Maybe it's because most of my exposure was through the games, but I never considered her a love interest, although I'm not sure if that was the intention of the games or not.

On Yusei: Someone asked here about the YGO protagonists winrates to see how they compared to Ash, and boy, Yusei was the only one with a 100% winrate. While I get the stakes in YGO are way higher than Pokémon most of the time (which justifies why the Yu's have winrates in the 90s), I found out that the complains against Yusei were completely valid. Even Crow had non-flashback losses, for God's sake!

That's just the games, which only take tidbits from the anime. In the anime the ship tease between Yusei and Akiza was pretty much off the charts, with both sides showing attraction to each other. Especially at the very end of the series where they nearly confessed to each other during a romantic nighttime setting but chickened out at the last second (note that the dub never made it past Season 2, so that only got shown in the Japanese version). So, yeah, Akiza was Yusei's love interest, especially since it was him that helped her through many of her difficult times. Yet, in traditional Yugioh style, never went any further than the aforementioned near love confession (which, again, would be ironically broken with Tori in Zexal despite being the most hated and useless female lead to date... though her manga counterpart was somehow worse than her anime self, but I digress).

 

[Dorothy]

Tori in Zexal despite being the most hated and useless female lead to date... though her manga counterpart was somehow worse than her anime self, but I digress).

I liked Tori...

 

[CynthiaLover]

I liked Tori...

Well, good for you. As pretty much the rest of the fanbase loathed her (myself included) due to several factors. It says something when she made Tea, who was originally the least liked female lead, become significantly more popular and well-regarded, even the eyes of her previous haters.

 

[Dorothy]

Well, good for you. As pretty much the rest of the fanbase loathed her (myself included) due to several factors. It says something when she made Tea, who was originally the least liked female lead, become significantly more popular and well-regarded, even the eyes of her previous haters.

Well I really like Tea as well so I guess I do have unpopular opinions!