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[Lard]

Last Exile is one of the few modern animes I've watched, and I really, really enjoyed it.

 

[Jex]

Claiming this new page because I'm filled up both first posts.

Aoi Hana - Sweet Blue Flowers

A low key yuri series adapted from Takako Shimura's manga of the same name. Noteworthy because it doesn't devalue lesbian relationships by fetishizing or exploiting them, nor is the main character "temporarily gay until she grows out of it". It would serve as an interesting companion piece to the upcoming adaptation of Takako Shimura's other (and more well known) work, Hourou Musuko or Wandering Son.

Bokura ga Ita

This one is probably complicated to define as there are so many factors within it. Most shoujo tend to play around with the love-chase i.e. boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they don't end up together until the very last episode. This one is different in that it breaks that barrier and shows how friendships and the past can affect how much love one can give. It's up there amongst Honey & Clover as one of my favourite slice-of-life dramas.

Length: 26 episodes/

Cross Game

Cross Gme is a sports romance which follows the story of a boy and girl who grew up around baseball. It also follows the plight of a group of misfits trying to bring together a baseball team and make their dreams come true on the field. The story mixes together a well written and tender romance with the perseverance and determination of a sports series, and brings it all together into a cohesive whole. The emotional highs and lows are executed brilliantly, but one of the best elements of the series is how reserved everything is, never resorting to melodrama or characters overreacting to situations to tell the audience what to feel.

Length: 50 episodes

FLAG

“The United Nations stage the liberation of a less developed Central Asian nation. The country is devoutly religious, formerly ruled over by an absolutist Buddhist theocracy and tribal allegiances. Subsequent reconciliation, reconstruction and nation-building efforts are hampered by a plague of violent sectarian squabbling and seemingly random bomb attacks by insurgent parties. A largely unhindered and pervasive press presence documents the fraying of the peace process.

So it is with gusto that the UN pounces upon a single photograph of a flag-raising celebration taken by a Japanese photojournalist to push as an ultimate symbol of the peace process. They push the photographer into minor celebrity. The flag itself takes on a life of its own, the UN’s sacred cow.

So it is with great, panicked haste that the UN throws together a Special Forces detachment to retrieve the flag when it is stolen by parties unknown. The same photographer is offered a slot as an embedded journalist to the operation. Eager to utilize their newfound media asset, the UN’s goals are twofold: to have a extravagant multimedia documentation of the flag rescue when it goes public, and to have a proper coming out party for their new weapon, the High Agility Versatile Weapons Carrier.” – Mark from Colony Drop.

Length: 13 episodes.

Gag Manga Biyori

A really over the top comedy anime based on Kousuke Masuda's manga in Jump SQ.Each episode is a five minute short about a completely random cast of characters in a completely random setting. The anime is very similar to Detroit Metal City in direction, I haven't checked, but I assume it was made by the same people. It's quite possibly the funniest anime I've ever read. If you liked DMC this is a must.

Length: Season 1 – 12 episodes. Season 2 – 12 episodes. Season 3 – 12 episode. Season 4 – 26 episdoes.

GetBackers

A couple of guys run a retrieval service known as the Getbackers. They will take any request to get back what is lost or stolen. They must use their wit and strength to retrieve what should not be missing. One can also shoot lightning out of his body and the other can make people see whatever he wants them to see for a whole minute. Over the course of the series, battles take place that involve beast transformations, razor sharp string manipulation, poison control, swords made of blood, bug calling, thousands of needles, and more. When did getting back something become so complicated?

Another adaptation that I can't recommend enough. The amount of creative abilities in this are impressive and the battles are quite fun to watch. The characters are likable and funny to boot. Again, there's kind of a non-ending but it's a much better stopping point than most adaptations that end abruptly.

Length: 49 episodes

Hanada Shonen-shi

The story of a young boy who can see ghosts, based on a manga by Makoto Isshiki the creator of Piano no Mori. Story structure wise it's pretty much the same as Natsume Yuujinchou, but with a very different main character. It's a really charming show. Also the OP and ED are by the Backstreet Boys!

Length: 25 episodes.

Kaleido Star Licensed

It was an excellent anime series that was made by Junichi Sato, the series director for Sailor Moon. This anime had a great cast of characters, amazing pacing, a great musical score, and insanely high production values.

Unlike many anime seasons out there, both season 1 and season 2 had amazing endings.

Length: Season 1 – 26 episodes. Season 2 – 25 episodes.

Kino’s Journey Licensed

Moonlight Mile Licensed

The show is a very realistic and thus somewhat dark/grim look at an alternate now where countries are still focused on the space race and all the big powers want to get into space and the moon and start controlling it themselves. The first season of the show is very character focused about the two leads who head in different directions to reach their goal of space. The second season on the other hand is more of the bigger picture, of country politics and ambitions towards space, though the show is still mainly focused on astronauts.

The overall direction of the show is top-notch. The director worked with his budget and the fantastic source material and made a show where every episode felt like Apollo 13 the mini-series. It's very western film-influenced, but very well done. Scenes are powerful, emotional, and moving, and most importantly it keeps you on the edge of the seat enjoying every minute.

Length: Season 1 - 12 episodes. Season 2 - 14 episodes.

NANA Licensed

Based on the manga by Ai Yazawa, and directed by Morio Asaka (Cardcaptor Sakura), NANA features the story of two young women moving to Tokyo at the same time, and the story of two bands with an intermingled history, NANA is a real story about human drama, relationships and loss. The characters all feel like real people, the subject matter is written with a mature audience in mind, and there are no easy resolutions to the problems that characters face. It can be an intense series which can leave you feeling emotionally wrecked at time, but that is just one of many reasons why it is worth watch. The show also features an amazing soundrack, which is fitting given the focus the story has on music.

Length: 47 episodes

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia/Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase

A movie and OAV about a cycling based on two of the short stories in Iou Kuroda's eggplant themed Nasu manga. Both anime are pretty short and mainly consists of straightforward races, but they are well made and worth your time at the very least.

Nitaboh the Shamisen Master

A historical anime movie about a blind man who becomes a shamisen player and develops a new style of play. iirc it was based on a real person. It's serious, well made, realistic story which is pretty rare in anime.

One Outs

“Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the Lycaons, heads to Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134-kmph/83 mph pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Out." At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons. His contract differs form the usual, though, in that he gets 5,000,000 yen for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen for every point he gives up”

Another crazy-awesome gambling anime, in the vein of Akagi and Kaiji. Although Kaiji is easily the best show in that sub-genre, so I’d recommend starting there.

Length: 25 episodes.

Paradise Kiss Licensed

Paradise Kiss is the story of a high school girl who decides to leave her typical life of studying and trying to fit in to what society says she should do behind, and gets wrapped up in the world of fashion and modeling. The series subverts typical Japanese views of how people should integrate themselves into society, and approaches the subject matter with a heavy focus on realism and accuracy to detail.

Length: 12 episodes

Requiem From The Darkness Licensed

Quite similar in tone and content to another great 2000 show, Mononoke this work details the life of a writer attempting to complete a book of ghost stories. But it largely involves his run in with various unpleasant people and the nasty things they’ve done to others, which are uncovered over the course of the episode.

Fantastic art too.

Length: 13 episodes.

Saikano : The Last Love Song On This Little Planet Lincensed

The main characters are Chise and Shuuji, who have just become boyfriend and girlfriend. In addition to developing their relationship, Shuuji must also deal with learning that Chise is a weapon for the government during a worldwide war. This twist drastically alters how their relationship develop. There is a large supporting cast who's lives are all impacted as the war grows larger and closer to home. Despite the sci-fi twist with Chise being a weapon, the show is ultimately a romantic drama set during a war and looks at the way war affects the lives of everyone from the soldiers to the people at home. While the budding romance between the two main characters is there, the story is often dark with the war always being a part of their lives, even more so as Chise fights and grows stronger. Also has a pretty amazing ending.

Length: 13 episodes.

Tamayura

Although very recent, it's worth mentioning because it's probably been overlooked. From the director of Aria and the head writer of K-On!!, Tamayura is a show about the power of photography; the still image captures time and is both backward and forward looking - it is a physical manifestation of nostalgia, but it can also represent opportunities and possibilities. Three episodes of the OAV have aired at the moment and they're worth watching if you are at all interested in themes addressed Aria or K-On!!.

Tenshi na Konamaiki

Featuring a character who believes she used to be a boy, Tenshi na Konamaiki is a light-hearted slapstick action comedy that explores how gender roles function in contemporary society. While gender-swapped characters aren't new to anime, what sets this show apart from the others is that it isn't a show predicated on fanservice or ecchi humor. The gags are predicated on the fact that the protagonist acts like a tomboy, not that she is a boy trapped in a girl's body. Beyond the premise, the show has well developed characters that evolve over the course of an interesting 50 episode arc.
Tenshi na Konamaiki, or Cheeky Angel, is recommended for someone who wants to watch a gender comedy that does not rely on the usual gags.

Length: 50 episodes.

Toshokan Sensou - Library War

Another member of the noitanimA block that I think is worth mentioning because it is "action" shoujo of the non magical girl variety. Take the shoujo romance cliches of a girl who wishes she could find her knight in shining armor and combine it with assault rifles and you have an interesting mix that scratches both itches. Indeed, by making the heroine a soldier, many of the typical shoujo tropes are reinterpreted or subverted. Definitely worth watching if you like shoujo but want a different take on it.

Tokyo Marble Chocolate

A couple briefly experience the ups and downs of a relationship on the eve of Christmas, a special time for lovers. At times beautifully animated with hints of surrealism, it's a beautiful tale woven in 1 hour and 30 mins altogether showing each side of the tale (one episode follows the male, the other follows the female - it's up to you to choose which one to watch first and then last).

Length: 2 episodes.

Tokyo Underground

An entire civilization of humans with superpowers are living underneath Tokyo. This underground world is pretty crappy, so a teenage girl tries to escape. She is successful and takes refuge at the house of an "ordinary" high school boy. However, people from the underground end up searching for her and the boy gets caught up in a pretty big battle for the girl. Turns out he has powers too (wind manipulation).

I know it doesn't sound very original, but the characters are entertaining and the battles are quite creative. Even if you've seen elemental battles a million times before, I still highly recommend this. There is a pretty crappy ending though due to the anime passing the source material.

Length: 26 episodes

Welcome to the N.H.K.

This is the true tale of the otaku life style. Forget your other otaku-centric works like Genshiken, this tale tells it like it is. The social awkwardness, fear, self-loathing and disturbing habits attached to the true otaku lifestyle.

Luckily the show acts as a (thoroughly) black comedy, so it’s not nearly as depressing as it could be. Based on the manga, based on the light novel, based on the real life experiences of the author, who was actually a complete-shut it. I believe he actually returned to that lifestyle after the work was finished.

Yukikaze

“30 years ago, aliens opened a dimensional gate under Antarctica in prepration of an invasion. Now Earth is under attack. Leading the defence is an air force using the latest fighters, with AI so advanced that one, the Yukikaze, is sentient.

The colour design is also particularly strong, and the Gonzo team pulls out all the stops to make a lushly designed show where the animation flows as smoothly as any movie”

Length: 5 episodes.

Zipang

The newest, most advanced destroyer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the JDS Mirai, sets sail from Japan on a training exercise with the United States Navy. Enroute, they encounter a strange meteorological anomaly. The Mirai loses contact with her sister ships and finds herself sailing by the unmistakable silhouette of a Imperial Japanese Navy battleship, the Yamato.

The Mirai eludes the Imperial Japanese fleet and, reluctantly, the crew realizes that they have traveled sixty years into their past to the early days of World War II. Their first desire is to return home, and to ensure that they have a home to which to return they decide to do nothing that will change history.

Length: 26 episodes.

 

[vocab]

It's been what, four decades? Not to mention the lack of interest.

Doesn't matter how old it is. There's tons of interest for Ashita no Joe. It's because no one focuses on just one project. It's why Live Evil takes forever getting one series out. Saizen has been subbing 2-4 other series while subbing joe. Resubbing Slam Dunk in better quality has set them back a lot.

 

[Enron]

WTF at no Cross Game or Last Exile?!?!? Seriously? Last Exile should be a no brainer for its art/animation and amazing musical scores, not to mention an engaging story.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u273/Kama151/last_exile_-_poster_002joined1.jpg

And no disrespect to that other baseball anime that was listed, but I feel that Cross Game was the better of the two in keeping a good pace throughout the series. Adachi is a master story teller.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u273/Kama151/cross-game.jpg

Neither of those can be considered by any definition to be "lesser-known". Last Exile was all over the place (as anime goes) in 2002-2003.

So I guess this thread really should be "Anime that you like that you think might not known by other anime fans" so here's my contribution (didn't see it listed anywhere).

Zipang

The newest, most advanced destroyer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the JDS Mirai, sets sail from Japan on a training exercise with the United States Navy. Enroute, they encounter a strange meteorological anomaly. The Mirai loses contact with her sister ships and finds herself sailing by the unmistakable silhouette of a Imperial Japanese Navy battleship, the Yamato.

The Mirai eludes the Imperial Japanese fleet and, reluctantly, the crew realizes that they have traveled sixty years into their past to the early days of World War II. Their first desire is to return home, and to ensure that they have a home to which to return they decide to do nothing that will change history.

 

[Johnlenham]

Picked up Tokyo godfather for something silly like £1 in blockbusters awhile back, great film
Will subscribe and browse the list better later but there is some good stuff in there.
I noticed Berserk was missing but thats pretty old, still alot of quality shows.

 

[firehawk12]

And no disrespect to that other baseball anime that was listed, but I feel that Cross Game was the better of the two in keeping a good pace throughout the series. Adachi is a master story teller.

It depends on what you're looking for. Cross Game really isn't about baseball, in the same way Field of Dreams isn't really about baseball.

 

[vocab]

Zipang

I keep forgetting that damn series exists. Like I know obscure stuff, but Zipang is the last thing that comes to mind.

Cross Game really isn't about baseball, in the same way Field of Dreams isn't really about baseball.

Is it more like Touch or H2?

All three of them are very similar in some aspects. Touch being the best obviously.

 

[Jex]

So I guess this thread really should be "Anime that you like that you think might not known by other anime fans" so here's my contribution (didn't see it listed anywhere).

No, it's for people who aren't even anime fans but may have been in the past, or who have seen the occasional critical acclaimed work (e.g. Ghibli, Bebop, Champloo) but nothing more.

Thanks for the show, I'll be sure to include it in my new post, when I'm free.

 

[firehawk12]

Is it more like Touch or H2?

All three of them are very similar in some aspects. Touch being the best obviously.

Haven't seen H2 actually, so I can only say that it's similar to Touch... what were the qualities of H2?

 

[polyh3dron]

There's still a sizeable amount of Moe in there and most of the good anime of the '00s was from the first half of the decade with a few exceptions.

 

[flawfuls]

Here Enron, some really obscure anime just for you.

Gag Manga Biyori

A really over the top comedy anime based on Kousuke Masuda's manga in Jump SQ.Each episode is a five minute short about a completely random cast of characters in a completely random setting. The anime is very similar to Detroit Metal City in direction, I haven't checked, but I assume it was made by the same people. It's quite possibly the funniest anime I've ever read. If you liked DMC this is a must.

Hanada Shonen-shi

The story of a young boy who can see ghosts, based on a manga by Makoto Isshiki the creator of Piano no Mori. Story structure wise it's pretty much the same as Natsume Yuujinchou, but with a very different main character. It's a really charming show. Also the OP and ED are by the Backstreet Boys!

Noramimi

It's about a Doremon inspired world where kids can get their own personal mascot who freeload at there house until they graduate from elementary school. The main character Noramimi can't find a kid and freeloads at an agency that works with mascots. It's a very charming and funny show this seems to have gotten completely overlooked by western anime fans. There are two seasons, but it's not licenced and not as single episode was subbed. You can read the manga though!

Nitaboh the Shamisen Master

A historical anime movie about a blind man who becomes a shamisen player and develops a new style of play. iirc it was based on a real person. It's serious, well made, realistic story which is pretty rare in anime.

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia/Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase

A movie and OAV about a cycling based on two of the short stories in Iou Kuroda's eggplant themed Nasu manga. Both anime are pretty short and mainly consists of straightforward races, but they are well made and worth your time at the very least.

Red Colored Elegy

This one is so obscure I'm not even sure it exits! If it does it's probably pretty good though! Supposedly someone released an OVA based on the classic 70's gekiga manga of the same name, but for the life of me I can't any information about it. If anyone knows anything about this let me know.

 

[Crash Station]

There's a distinct lack of battle shounen in this thread, so I thought I'd pimp a few even if they're leaning more toward known than unknown.

Tokyo Underground

An entire civilization of humans with superpowers are living underneath Tokyo. This underground world is pretty crappy, so a teenage girl tries to escape. She is successful and takes refuge at the house of an "ordinary" high school boy. However, people from the underground end up searching for her and the boy gets caught up in a pretty big battle for the girl. Turns out he has powers too (wind manipulation).

I know it doesn't sound very original, but the characters are entertaining and the battles are quite creative. Even if you've seen elemental battles a million times before, I still highly recommend this. There is a pretty crappy ending though due to the anime passing the source material.

Length: 26 episodes

GetBackers

A couple of guys run a retrieval service known as the Getbackers. They will take any request to get back what is lost or stolen. They must use their wit and strength to retrieve what should not be missing. One can also shoot lightning out of his body and the other can make people see whatever he wants them to see for a whole minute. Over the course of the series, battles take place that involve beast transformations, razor sharp string manipulation, poison control, swords made of blood, bug calling, thousands of needles, and more. When did getting back something become so complicated?

Another adaptation that I can't recommend enough. The amount of creative abilities in this are impressive and the battles are quite fun to watch. The characters are likable and funny to boot. Again, there's kind of a non-ending but it's a much better stopping point than most adaptations that end abruptly.

Length: 49 episodes

 

[Jex]

There's still a sizeable amount of Moe in there

As in, maybe two shows?

and most of the good anime of the '00s was from the first half of the decade with a few exceptions.

This sounded pretty crazy to me, especially given the boom in the middle of the decade. So I sorted everything by year. Of course, this is using scientific methodology (checking year produced, counting) to prove a subjective (personal) point, but whatever!

Yeah, I'd say you're pretty wide of the mark! I've got the full list of shows used, somewhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a distinct lack of battle shounen in this thread, so I thought I'd pimp a few even if they're leaning more toward known than unknown.

Here Enron, some really obscure anime just for you.

This is like the opposite of all those "recommend me some anime" threads. Now I just wish I had reserved another post or two. Ah well, live and learn. As long as someone finds something interesting.

 

[leroy hacker]

Here Enron, some really obscure anime just for you.
Red Colored Elegy

This one is so obscure I'm not even sure it exits! If it does it's probably pretty good though! Supposedly someone released an OVA based on the classic 70's gekiga manga of the same name, but for the life of me I can't any information about it. If anyone knows anything about this let me know.

Wow, it seems that it does exist. The official page with a trailer is here:
http://www.ganime.jp/sekishoku/index.html

Given the unbelievably meager information Drawn & Quarterly provided with the English release of the manga, I'm not surprised that I didn't know about this anime until now.

 

[K.Jack]

GetBackers

A couple of guys run a retrieval service known as the Getbackers. They will take any request to get back what is lost or stolen. They must use their wit and strength to retrieve what should not be missing. One can also shoot lightning out of his body and the other can make people see whatever he wants them to see for a whole minute. Over the course of the series, battles take place that involve beast transformations, razor sharp string manipulation, poison control, swords made of blood, bug calling, thousands of needles, and more. When did getting back something become so complicated?

Another adaptation that I can't recommend enough. The amount of creative abilities in this are impressive and the battles are quite fun to watch. The characters are likable and funny to boot. Again, there's kind of a non-ending but it's a much better stopping point than most adaptations that end abruptly.

Length: 49 episodes

Damn I've meant to have bought this so many times, but I always put it off for something else.

Too bad I just spent my anime budget on a pair of headphones.

Yikes I feel out of place in this thread.

 

[flawfuls]

Wow, it seems that it does exist. The official page with a trailer is here:
http://www.ganime.jp/sekishoku/index.html

Given the unbelievably meager information Drawn & Quarterly provided with the English release of the manga, I'm not surprised that I didn't know about this anime until now.

Thanks. But damn that looks like it could be the one of the lowest budget anime ever made. :lol It's basically just an animated manga, no colour, no voices and no added detail. Guess weird manga get weird anime.

 

[vocab]

There's a distinct lack of battle shounen in this thread, so I thought I'd pimp a few even if they're leaning more toward known than unknown.

HxH, and One Piece is all you need.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

HxH, and One Piece is all you need.

Both of which are from the 90s, so they're rather outside the scope of this thread. There are certainly good battle series outside of those, although there are few that I would recommend wholeheartedly to anyone.

D.Gray-man probably at least deserves a shout out in the section on fairly well-known series, though.

 

[Crash Station]

HxH, and One Piece is all you need.

HxH isn't even in my top 20 for the genre. There's a lot of good stuff out there that people tend to ignore because there's more crap.

 

[vocab]

HxH isn't even in my top 20 for the genre.

You have some serious problems.

Both of which are from the 90s, so they're rather outside the scope of this thread.

Both fall into 1999-onwards phase. It's fine. One Piece is god tier anyway. Doesn't need a year.

Also

Another good series. Yakitate!! Japan. A show about competitive bread making.


Currently watching:

Fukomoto inspired baseball gambling.

 

[speedpop]

Healthy double recommendations for Cross Game and both Nasu OVAs.

 

[InfiniteNine]

Another good series. Yakitate!! Japan. A show about competitive bread making.

That show is one of the most hilarious things I've seen.

 

[Crash Station]

You have some serious problems.

For not liking HxH as much as everyone else or for having read/watched 20 battle shounen I consider better? Curious to know if I'm being criticized for my tastes or my love or a certain genre.

 

[george_us]

the 00s produced some great anime, totally undeserved hate.

Pretty much all of the good shit is towards the early 00s and even then it's only a handful.

FLCL, Satoshi Kon's stuff, Ghost in the Shell, and Full Metal Alchemist were the only things I truly loved.

Then again FLCL alone almost makes it the best decade of anime ever sooo...

 

[Dresden]

Pretty much all of the good shit is towards the early 00s and even then it's only a handful.

FLCL, Satoshi Kon's stuff, Ghost in the Shell, and Full Metal Alchemist were the only things I truly loved.

Then again FLCL alone almost makes it the best decade of anime ever sooo...

I like the way you roll, Jexhius.

 

[Crash Station]

Pretty much all of the good shit is towards the early 00s and even then it's only a handful.

FLCL, Satoshi Kon's stuff, Ghost in the Shell, and Full Metal Alchemist were the only things I truly loved.

Then again FLCL alone almost makes it the best decade of anime ever sooo...

You realize what thread you're in, right? Start watching stuff!

 

[flawfuls]

Pretty much all of the good shit is towards the early 00s and even then it's only a handful.

FLCL, Satoshi Kon's stuff, Ghost in the Shell, and Full Metal Alchemist were the only things I truly loved.

Then again FLCL alone almost makes it the best decade of anime ever sooo...

But we have charts that say otherwise. You can't argue with the charts.

Edit: too slow

 

[InfiniteNine]

I like my charts like I like my Pacman. In pie form.

 

[Lafiel]

I like the way you roll, Jexhius.

Yeah i can't possibly comprehend how someone could think the first half of 00 is better then the second half. 05-07 is pretty much the peak of the decade as far as I'm concerned.

Also 00 & 01 were very forgettable years aside from FLCL & Millennium actress and a few other shows.

 

[Dresden]

We all know 2007 was the peak.

 

[TheKaeptain]

What is this? I need to watch it.

 

[InfiniteNine]

We all know 2007 was the peak.

Which is probably why I took a 2 year break. I was burnt out from watching so many shows!

 

[Lafiel]

What is this? I need to watch it.

LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Yeah i can't possibly comprehend how someone could think the first half of 00 is better then the second half. 05-07 is pretty much the peak of the decade as far as I'm concerned.

I would say 04-07, although that's just going off the top of my head, without bothering to check what actually aired in those years.

Here's hoping that we enter a new golden age soon, because I definitely miss the days where it seemed like there were 5+ must watch shows each season.

 

[Lafiel]

I would say 04-07, although that's just going off the top of my head, without bothering to check what actually aired in those years.

Here's hoping that we enter a new golden age soon, because I definitely miss the days where it seemed like there were 5+ must watch shows each season.

Oh yes. 2004 had Koi kaze, Gankutsuou, Paranoia agent, GITS SAC S2, Monster, Mind game. Samurai champloo. I think the three awful shows i watched from that year (gantz seed destiny and samurai 7) were soiling my memory.

 

[TheKaeptain]

LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES

I have been meaning to watch the whole thing...but it is long.

 

[george_us]

You realize what thread you're in, right? Start watching stuff!

That's kind of the thing though, I've either watched a lot of that stuff and didn't like it or have absolutely no desire to watch the stuff I haven't watched because the concepts don't interest me. I almost forgot to add Black Lagoon and Lain to the awesome list. Kind of wary of Gundam Unicorn though. Gundam Seed and 00 were awful.

 

[Dresden]

I have been meaning to watch the whole thing...but it is long.

Just watch one a day or something. Once you start it becomes easy.

 

[flawfuls]

That's kind of the thing though, I've either watched a lot of that stuff and didn't like it or have absolutely no desire to watch the stuff I haven't watched because the concepts don't interest me. I almost forgot to add Black Lagoon and Lain to the awesome list. Kind of wary of Gundam Unicorn though. Gundam Seed and 00 were awful.

If you like the older Gundams, Unicorn should more that deliver.

 

[Perfect Blue]

Bakemonogatari deserves some love.

 

[CiSTM]

Neither of those can be considered by any definition to be "lesser-known". Last Exile was all over the place (as anime goes) in 2002-2003.

So I guess this thread really should be "Anime that you like that you think might not known by other anime fans" so here's my contribution (didn't see it listed anywhere).

Zipang

Really liked this show <3 Too bad there was never season 2.

 

[DrForester]

Another for the list.

Saikano: The Last Love Song On This Little Planet

The main characters are Chise and Shuuji, who have just become boyfriend and girlfriend. In addition to developing their relationship, Shuuji must also deal with learning that Chise is a weapon for the government during a worldwide war. This twist drastically alters how their relationship develop. There is a large supporting cast who's lives are all impacted as the war grows larger and closer to home. Despite the sci-fi twist with Chise being a weapon, the show is ultimately a romantic drama set during a war and looks at the way war affects the lives of everyone from the soldiers to the people at home. While the budding romance between the two main characters is there, the story is often dark with the war always being a part of their lives, even more so as Chise fights and grows stronger. Also has a pretty amazing ending.

 

[MidnightScott]

Are we allowed to mention anime we may or may have not watched on sites that uploaded it for streaming?

 

[DrForester]

Are we allowed to mention anime we may or may have not watched on sites that uploaded it for streaming?

Think as long as it's a legit streaming site then sure. Plenty of those int his thread already.

 

[MidnightScott]

Think as long as it's a legit streaming site then sure. Plenty of those int his thread already.

Damn, well I guess I better only mention stuff I bought.

Outlaw Star - I liked the main character, he was horny and hilarious.

Scryed - The main character was badass

Sword of the Stranger - An interesting movie

Samurai 7 - I liked the story of a group of strangers helping a village fight off robotic thieves. It was sad when they died.

Bleach - badass fights

Kekkaishi - I like how the main character doesn't want to hurt anyone. A likeable character I guess.

Ghost Hunt - I liked how Mai cared about the people. I like stories about the Occult so this one worked well for me also.

I also tend to enjoy anime about the history of Japan (or stuff set in the past like Inuyasha).

I don't know why we are calling this thread Lesser Anime of the 2000s, all of the above is well known I think lol.

EDIT: Gurren Lagann arrived from Amazon. I can't believe they have the whole series fit into a standard DVD case.

 

[Crash Station]

Saikano

Didn't even think of this. Definitely a heavy hitter for the decade though I probably wouldn't consider it unknown.

 

[InfiniteNine]

Saikano's cover reminded me of Planetarian for no reason.

 

[exarkun]

Best thread on Gaf. Goddamn, so much material here.

Anime marathon with the gf when I get home for break. Gonna be awesome.

 

[Antiochus]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll take a look at some of them and see how they compare with the tv shows I love.

 

[Haly]

Bakemonogatari deserves some love.

Jexhius wants to convince people there is good stuff from the past decade, not shatter their misguided faith entirely.

Spoiler

I love Bakemono