"Diamond in the rough" discussion

I just thought it would be interesting to make a discussion to talk about anime that were far better than you thought they would be. Maybe the name sounded stupid at first or the plot looked like a cheap harem or some other junk. Whatever it was you didn't think much of it and only watched it to kill time or someone kept telling you to watch it and...... it was actually good.

One example for me is The Ambition of Oda Nobuna. Just looking at this it seems like a cheap harem series full of Loli's but it's not even really a harem. A few girls "Swear loyalty" to him but given the fedual era setting that is fairly normal. He only ever shows interest in one girl and the rest may show signs of liking him but never even try to act on them beyond promising to help him. The plot progresses pretty well and the idea of basically an Otaku of Feudal era based games getting sent back to an altered version of the Fedual era is pretty good when if used properly. The first episode is full of great moments like when Saru scares off Soldiers trying to kill him using a sound effect of an army from his cell phone. If you gave this anime a pass because you thought it was a cheap harem I say you should give it a try. It still has some cheap fan service but it's not nearly as bad as you would first expect.

a first show of a genre i watch i userly expect the worst for example puella mokoka magica was the first magi-girl show and i quite enjoyed it. the same goes for kanon , famliar of zero and infinite stratos all shows i started to kill time, all show i ended up enjoying greatly

Madoka bears mention again, but one that really surprised me was Mawaru Penguindrum. It takes a look at such varied themes as fate, the enviroment, love, family, innocence valuation (I think), and life and death.
I feel like I have a dozen of these, but none sticks out as vividly as penguindrum.

Shogun13 wrote:Madoka bears mention again, but one that really surprised me was Mawaru Penguindrum. It takes a look at such varied themes as fate, the enviroment, love, family, innocence valuation (I think), and life and death.
I feel like I have a dozen of these, but none sticks out as vividly as penguindrum.

I have that on my to watch list. I'll have to bump that one up if you you that.

Kiddy Grade. It sounds stupid, the cover looks too girly for me, and it had "pervert anime here" written all over it.

I was very wrong though, especially towards when you start to delve deeper into the main girls past. There's a few anime that have surprised me but none so much as Kiddy Grade. Who knew a girl with some lipstick whip and a loli girl who hacks computers actually not suck?

Doomguy wrote:Kiddy Grade. It sounds stupid, the cover looks too girly for me, and it had "pervert anime here" written all over it.

I was very wrong though, especially towards when you start to delve deeper into the main girls past. There's a few anime that have surprised me but none so much as Kiddy Grade. Who knew a girl with some lipstick whip and a loli girl who hacks computers actually not suck?

Yeah but it's sequal is the greatest disappointing ever.

But back to that one the only problem I had with the show was how some of the plot points felt unfinished especially around the time they become outlaws for a while. You see all these flashbacks to far in the past that get little to no explanation. A few other things just felt off about the series and I think it is just because they tried to add a little to much backstory and complexity into the story given the time they had. But the flaws I pointed out are not the kind you would expect from the title. From the title you would first think it was a kid or Moe show. After the first 5 minutes of episode one you'll think the word "kiddy" is some kinda sexual joke and that it is actually borderline hentai. Actually stick with the show and you'll see a pretty good plot with nice action and a plot who's only flaw is being a little too deep for it's own good.

Spoiler:

Death Note

upon watching it id had never heard of it before as i watched it on adult swim, i mean, if you read the synopsis you think "he find a book that kills people, and they try to catch him...umm...wut?"sounds boring to me, lo and behold its on of the greatest thriller animes ever!

DemonEyesJoe wrote:Death Note

upon watching it id had never heard of it before as i watched it on adult swim, i mean, if you read the synopsis you think "he find a book that kills people, and they try to catch him...umm...wut?"sounds boring to me, lo and behold its on of the greatest thriller animes ever!

Death Note probably has the worst synopsis ever. No wonder everyone has to hype it up otherwise who would watch it?

Doomguy wrote:

DemonEyesJoe wrote:Death Note

upon watching it id had never heard of it before as i watched it on adult swim, i mean, if you read the synopsis you think "he find a book that kills people, and they try to catch him...umm...wut?"sounds boring to me, lo and behold its on of the greatest thriller animes ever!

Death Note probably has the worst synopsis ever. No wonder everyone has to hype it up otherwise who would watch it?

100% agreed, it takes some work and alot of "trust me's" to convince people to watch it, if they haven't heard of it before

Well only one comes to mind. Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I didn't think much of it to be honest. I was recommended it by a friend and put it on hold for at least a month or two and then I finally watched it and DANG was I impressed with this show. I was soo mistaken and I didn't think much of it because of it's name but even still now I know better and also for those who don't know, Puella is 1 of my two #1 animes. (The other is Kampfer)

Natsuru-san wrote:Well only one comes to mind. Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I didn't think much of it to be honest. I was recommended it by a friend and put it on hold for at least a month or two and then I finally watched it and DANG was I impressed with this show. I was soo mistaken and I didn't think much of it because of it's name but even still now I know better and also for those who don't know, Puella is 1 of my two #1 animes. (The other is Kampfer)

I may have too give this one a shot one day, I keep hearing good things.

Another anime I was surprise about is Chobits. I was afraid it would go overboard on the fan service but it was actually pretty funny. Not sure what compelled me to watch this anime, really out of character for me but it was pretty good actually.

Doomguy wrote:

Natsuru-san wrote:Well only one comes to mind. Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I didn't think much of it to be honest. I was recommended it by a friend and put it on hold for at least a month or two and then I finally watched it and DANG was I impressed with this show. I was soo mistaken and I didn't think much of it because of it's name but even still now I know better and also for those who don't know, Puella is 1 of my two #1 animes. (The other is Kampfer)

I may have too give this one a shot one day, I keep hearing good things.

Another anime I was surprise about is Chobits. I was afraid it would go overboard on the fan service but it was actually pretty funny. Not sure what compelled me to watch this anime, really out of character for me but it was pretty good actually.

If you merean Puella yes, do give it a chance and the sooner the better. I wish I hadn't put it off for so long. Now if you mean Kampfer then dispite what some may say I still say give it a chance.

If you merean Puella yes, do give it a chance and the sooner the better. I wish I hadn't put it off for so long. Now if you mean Kampfer then dispite what some may say I still say give it a chance.[/quote]

Whoops I meant to mention Puella although that Kampfer one looks like a funny one. I have a whole list of comedy anime I still have to delve into though.

Strike Witches is one for me. Seriously it's about a bunch of multinational girls in their teens to early twenties who are witches with animal ears and tails that fight aliens in an alternative WW2 while not wearing any pants. I've tried to describe it to people before and just outright been accused of making it up as I go because it sounds so ridiculous. But damn it was good. Funny with lots of yuri, boobs and WW2 weaponry.
And Jamie Marchi saying "jiggly juggs". Would love that line as my text tone lol.

Hentalia, this one really suprised me, i heard alot about it, and tried multipule times to watch it, as im not a huge history buff alot of it went over my head, but throughout my journy of this show i did learn alot about world history, and it was very funny to watch (italy is so funny, and america)

although it took a few tries to get into it, it was a great show that i did eventually turn to love and would recommend it to any history buff, anime-watcher or not.


Puella is a GREAT SHOW, i also wish i hadnt put it off so long. strike witches was good, but i wouldnt call it great, i am anxious to see a 2nd season though

Sakurasou, an anime airing this season actually. At first it seemed like a generic harem anime; after all, it was a single guy suddenly moving into a dorm full of (but not exclusively) women. Well, it's still a bit of a harem anime, but it's deeper than that. It takes love seriously, and it has good dramatic moments through appropriate directing. I would compare the feel more to Toradora than to a generic harem anime because of the good directing (but Toradora is still better by a good deal). All the love approach a theme of talent, success, and self-worth through different perspectives.

Have to agree with you on The Pet Girl or Sakurasou. It's much better than I expected it to be and Shiina's autism adds an interesting mechanic to it.

MacMeaties wrote:Have to agree with you on The Pet Girl or Sakurasou. It's much better than I expected it to be and Shiina's autism adds an interesting mechanic to it.

I don't recall them ever saying she had autism.

Kusanagi wrote:

MacMeaties wrote:Have to agree with you on The Pet Girl or Sakurasou. It's much better than I expected it to be and Shiina's autism adds an interesting mechanic to it.

I don't recall them ever saying she had autism.

Yeah they never said she had any mental problems. It could just be her personality or something. But even if it is some kind of problem there are other kinds besdies Autism.

I would agree with Sakurasou too, but lately I've been losing my interest in it. Yes it far surpasses my expectations of it but now it just seems kind of I don't know, sort of slower or off pace from what it was before. Up to about ep 10 I couldn't wait to see the next now it is more of, okay whenever I have time.

Hmm diamonds for me, well one would be HOTD as I really undersold this series. The people I spoke to about it made it sound like they forgot that they were even in a zombie apocalypse and focussed entirely on the fanservice. Now while it wasn't the best series it was certainly much better than what I thought it would be.

The other option I have is Tari Tari, I seriously thought this one was going to be really boring, I mean starting a school choir it just didn't sound like my type of anime. So I am not even sure what the hell made me enjoy this one, but I can't thank my club enough for making me watch one of my now favourite anime shows.

Kusanagi wrote:

MacMeaties wrote:Have to agree with you on The Pet Girl or Sakurasou. It's much better than I expected it to be and Shiina's autism adds an interesting mechanic to it.

I don't recall them ever saying she had autism.

It's never stated she is but her behavior is text book autism. It's one of those things that has drifted into Word of Dante territory.
To quote TV Tropes "Mashiro from Sakurasou No Pet Na Kanojo is usually taken by Western viewers as autistic. However, this was never mentioned in the original; just that the descriptions about her follows textbook definitions of autism so closely that they just can't give any other explanation."
As someone who has an autistic cousin I can attest to that. Her behavior is very reminiscent of it.
But yes your right it isn't mentioned in canon so it's just an assumption I've had since pretty much episode 1.

MacMeaties wrote:

Kusanagi wrote:

MacMeaties wrote:Have to agree with you on The Pet Girl or Sakurasou. It's much better than I expected it to be and Shiina's autism adds an interesting mechanic to it.

I don't recall them ever saying she had autism.

It's never stated she is but her behavior is text book autism. It's one of those things that has drifted into Word of Dante territory.
To quote TV Tropes "Mashiro from Sakurasou No Pet Na Kanojo is usually taken by Western viewers as autistic. However, this was never mentioned in the original; just that the descriptions about her follows textbook definitions of autism so closely that they just can't give any other explanation."
As someone who has an autistic cousin I can attest to that. Her behavior is very reminiscent of it.
But yes your right it isn't mentioned in canon so it's just an assumption I've had since pretty much episode 1.

I have an Autistic brother and while they do seem similar it feels a bit different to. She seems more lacking in common sense than anything else as she seems extremely brilliant is just about anything besides taking care of herself. Even then it just seems like she lacks common sense in how to go about it rather than being truly unable to take care of herself. I suspect she was also pampered and spoiled before the start of the story so she likely felt no reason to try to learn to take care of herself. Sorata was probably one of the few people who made her feel like she should try to learn to do something besides drawing. But there are many kinda of Autism as well as other disabilities that are similar so she could have some kind. She certainly has a minor case of it if anything since her ability to communicate with people is just fine (although she is a girl of few words).

Could equally be me reading into it too much which I have a habit of at times if I'm to be honest lol. All things aside it's a good show and I wait for it to air every week Which is something I've never done before with a romance.

Regarding Sakurasou.

Spoiler:

heres one, Sekirei

i thought it was pretty good, a little to much echii for my personal taste, but i found it not to overbearing and still had a great story-line with it, unfortunately, people who dislike echii, probably will never watch it, or freezing (which was even better IMO)