We all know of an underrated anime series or three that was really good, but never seemed to get much attention from other fans, and faded into obscurity the minute the last episode aired. I recently made a tweet about the excellent Ben-to, a comical harem anime about people doing battle to get the last discounted bento meals in a supermarket, and asked followers what their favorite underrated anime series were. I ended up with dozens of responses, so I thought I’d make a proper blog post about some of them.
As both a longtime watcher of the industry and the owner of an anime business, I’ve watched the “long tail” of anime popularity slide from months or years to immediately after the final episode airs. This has been a challenge for J-List because, if fans forget about a show too quickly, they’re probably not going to want to collect the figures or other merchandise that we need to sell. Although it’s often the case that—likely based on the poor Blu-ray sales—studios will already know that a certain show had not caught on with fans and will have already pre-canceled any figures or merch that might have been in the pipeline. (You can often get a sense of this when the animation quality takes a nose dive around episode 7.)
What kinds of shows tend to fade out quickly? For starters, 1-cour (12 episode) series are generally susceptible to being forgotten about by fandom quickly because it’s harder to create a lasting buzz. If an anime studio wants a stab at winning a more lasting popularity, they generally have to pony up for a 24-episode series, which will keep a show in the forefront of fans’ minds longer (though there are plenty of 2-cour series that were also forgotten too quickly). Another observation I’ve made is that anime that manage to make fans cry or otherwise affect them emotionally (AnoHana, Erased, Madoka Magica), they will have won some lasting popularity with fandom.
There are other factors at work. Anime studios are currently making more shows that fans can possibly watch, with 118+ new and continuing series in the current season alone, and I fear that some air has to be let out of this “anime bubble” at some point in the future. Studios sometimes get experimental, for example, the recent rash of short-format shows, that may not pan out with fans. Some shows are just bad and deserve to be forgotten. And some studios incorrect assumptions about what fandom wants, like when the series Lagrange: the Flower of Rin-ne accepted money to promote the town of Kamogawa, presumably christening an anime “holy land” that fans would flock to, but they were insulted at studio attempts at fan manipulation instead.
So let’s look at the top 15 underrated anime series as suggested by J-List readers.
The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat
Being a huge fan of Japanese illustrator Kantoku, I did my best to push the show with J-List readers. Sadly, it didn’t seem to make much of an impression after the final episode aired. Happily, the series will live on forever in sexy gifs.
Pumpkin Scissors
A 24 episode series by Gonzo about the aftermath of a war and a special squad doing something that I don’t know because I didn’t watch the show. But the name sure got my attention!
Mawaru Penguindrum
Made by Shoujo Kakumei Utena creator Kunihiko Ikuhara, Mawaru Penguindrum is a gorgeous series about two brothers whose sick sister’s body is taken over by a mysterious inter-dimensional princess. The show is totally bizarre but beautiful and worth your time.
Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo
As a pretty serious fan of Sunrise, I enjoyed this series, followed the life of Angelise as she went from being the princess of the Misurugi Empire to a hated class known as “norma.” The show was quite edgy and seemed to represent Sunrise trying to take chances with their fanbase.
Requiem for the Phantom
The visual novel that put Nitroplus on the map was Phantom of Inferno, and Requiem for the Phantom was the company’s first attempt to create an anime that captured the grit and drama the company is famous for. They did a great job, capturing the story of brainwashed assassins. Sadly, the show faded into obscurity pretty quickly. If you like the hard storytelling of Nitroplus, give it a watch!
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
Another series created by Nitroplus’s star writer Urobuchi Gen, the show was sort of a cross between hard science fiction and Waterworld, with some busty female characters thrown in. A great show, but not one that caught on with enough fans.
Higashi no Eden / Eden of the East
Perhaps remembered as “that anime that had a naked guy walking around Washington DC with a gun,” Eden of the East was a solid show with amazing animation quality.
Slow Start/Anne Happy/Other CGDCT Shows
Major series like Yuru Yuri and Is the Order a Rabbit? have defined the genre known as “cute girls doing cute things,” leading to more series being made. Some of them, like Anne Happy, Sanshi Sanyou and Slow Start, are all cute and fun to watch while they’re airing but don’t seem to leave much of an impression when the final episode was aired and can be forgotten by fandom too easily. The above is Slow Start, a cute show that had delicious yuri elements embedded.
Scum’s Wish/Kuzu no Honkai
Taking of yuri, one show I enjoyed a lot was Scum’s Wish, a show about a girl named Hanabi who likes a neighborhood friend and new teacher named Narumi, but he likes a (slutty) teacher named Akane, so Hanabi decides to date a boy from her class named Mugi, who also has the hots for the slutty Akane. Meanwhile, Hanabi’s best friend Ecchan has a sleepover, with sexy results (see above). A wonderfully executed series, but sadly, one that failed financially.
Jinsei -Life Consulting-
Acute slice of life series about a boy who creates a “life consulting” club in his school with three girls: predictably, a sports girl, a cultured rich girl and a good student, who help him solve other students’ issues.
Kotoura-san (The Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura)
A cute comedy about Kotoura-san, a girl who can read minds. This sounds like a nice power to have, but she causes the divorce of her parents and lots of other troubles. The first episode was so dark—we’re talking Up levels of sadness—I don’t think fans knew what to make of the show.
Sankarea: Undying Love
When the cat belonging to a boy with a fascination for zombies dies, he tries to bring it back with a resurrection potion. A suicidal girl named Rea drinks the potion instead, and becomes a zombie, fulfilling the main character’s desire to have a zombie girlfriend. The show is a lot better than I just made it sound.
Urare Meirochou
Considering I do this for a job, you think I would at least have heard of every show that came along, but this one slipped under even my radar. It’s a show about catgirls living in a fortune-telling city who show their tummies at random moments.
Mekakucity Actors
Made by Shaft, the studio famous for remaking Bakemonogatari a million times, Makakucity Actors had quite a bit of buzz when it came out, but didn’t seem to keep it. Did you watch the show? Tell us in the comments!
Noucoume
Noucome, aka Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru, aka My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy, is the story of a boy named Kanade who was cursed with the inability to control his choices, which leads to many funny moments. The series has also given us many great gifs over the years
Re:Creators
A fresh and interesting anime with a huge budget, Re:Creators literally made anime real, with 2D characters entering “our” world, where they could meet with their own creators, character designers, voice actresses, and so on. It was very “meta” and entertaining, however the inability to tell any kind of structured story (which is a problem with all light novel-based anime series) made it hard to get through all 24 episodes.
A-Channel/Yuyushiki
With the popularity of Lucky Star, a lot of shows wanted to be the next big thing in this genre. Two series, in particular, Yuyushiki and A-Channel, won a lot of fans. Do you like these shows?
Mayo Chiki!
It’s the perfect anime! A “reverse trap” maid. The best tsundere since Kugimiya. The best tanned catgirl. Great production quality. Funny jokes and ecchi moments. And yet fans have not remembered this great gem.
AnoNatsu
Two of my all-time favorite anime series are Please Teacher and its sequel, Please Twins. Imagine how happy I was when AnoNatsu – Waiting in the Summer came along, providing us with a “third” series in the Pleaseoverse. It’s not an official sequel of course, though made by the same staff but at a different studio. It’s an outstanding show that I love to watch and rewatch, but sadly buzz didn’t seem to last beyond its broadcast date, and we didn’t get a decade of figures based on the show, as we did with Please Teacher. *cries sad anime retailer tears*
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
A fresh and interesting work by Shaft about a troubled girl who may or not be an alien. One of the shows that brought in the chunibyo boom of the late 2000s, it’s a gorgeous show that has one of the best OPs of any series I can think of.
Ben-to
A fresh and fun anime about people fighting to buy the last discounted Bento meals at the supermarket. Ideas don’t get any more random than this.
The Devil is a Part Timer
Perhaps the most criminally underrated anime series ever, Hataraku Maoh–sama is an outstanding 1-cour show about a demon from another world who comes to our world and…gets a job at McDonalds McRonald’s, where he plans to conquer the Earth by climbing the corporate ladder in the fast food world.
Well, that’s our list of underrated anime series from the past few years. Did we miss any? Tell us in the comments!
