Line #11 VindicatedByHistory/AnimeAndManga


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2	* ''Anime/BangDream'' was highly unpopular when it first aired, with merchandise warming shelves and one single-fandom doujin event expecting hundreds of groups and attracting ''nine.'' Then came the mobile rhythm gacha game, ''Girls Band Party,'' which not only made twenty background characters into {{Ascended Extra}}s with their own bands and stories, it was similar enough to ''VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestival'' to attract its millions of players but still very different (and more challenging) to play, and most of all, it attracted new fans by having half of the setlist be covers from other series. Maybe you didn't know ''[=BanG=] Dream!'', but if you loved ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', ''Anime/YourLieInApril'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', and many others, you still had a reason to check it out. The franchise picked up instantly, and after it launched a worldwide version, they announced two more seasons of the anime, a chibi gag spinoff, another web series based on the IdolSinger CastHerd Pastel*Palettes, a sixth band added to the roster, and a SpearCounterpart series with another new band. Not bad for a seemingly DOA franchise.
3	* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': When the series first aired, many fans of the ''Adventure'' series were disappointed and confused by the lack of relation between the stories, and much of the themes and subtext were lost on younger viewers. Coupled with RealLife problems outside of the writers' control ([[DuelingShows Pokémon being at its peak during this time]], Fox Kids going out of business) it lost much of the fanbase. Over a decade later, thanks to both access to the Japanese version and a higher demand for more cerebral, deconstructive series, ''Tamers'' has gained a large amount of popularity, and is easily the second most popular Digimon series.
4	* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': When it premiered, the series was considered at best an average comedy, and at worse extremely mediocre, with little to no praise as its anime adaptation came and went in summer 2018, with the expectation it would fall into obscurity like many of its kind beforehand. Over the years however, as it shockingly continued with further anime seasons thanks to being funded by tax payers and crowdfunding, many either came back or discovered the series, applauding it for its 2000s-like dark comedy, character writing, score, and its unique spin at slapstick humor that isn't found much, if at all in modern anime or manga. The welcomed addition of Music/HatsuneMiku in the third season that made the series at least somewhat known in the west also likely helped, enough for a fourth season to enter production when it was scheduled to end with the third season.
5	* ''[[Anime/SuperHighSpeedGalvion Galvion]]'': Back when this obscure mecha series first aired in 1984, it bombed horribly leading to it getting CutShort and cancelled at 23 episodes, leaving many plot threads hanging. Nowadays, the show has become a cult classic among mecha fans in recent years due to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lurMLaFQJZU its opening]] and its unique concept. Said cult status led to the series having new toys and an production artbook released as well as giving the show an official soundtrack release in 2009 [[note]] prior to this there were just vinyls of the opening, ending and insert songs [[/note]] and its first official home video release in 2013 on Blu-ray, a treatment that some more popular series have yet to receive.
6	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' and ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'' were not well received on their initial release, with ''Gundam X'' being the first (and to date only) ''Gundam'' show since the original to be prematurely cancelled. Now they are thought of as among the best entries in the franchise. In a complete reversal, the manga spinoff of ''Gundam X'' even had its run extended due to being unexpectedly popular. The same could be said for ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', which over time has come to be seen as one of the best in the franchise.
7	* ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'' was always well-received but it caught heat in America from older Toonami fans who wanted action anime, not cute hamsters. However, the eight-and-under crowd loved the show and it was a PetFadStarter for hamsters. As time went on, the younger fans that enjoyed the anime grew up and became vocal in their nostalgia. The reception of the series cleared up and it's known as a Toonami classic.
8	* ''Manga/HitoribocchiNoOOSeikatsu'' had a lukewarm-to-decent response from critics and audiences back during its run in the 2010s, and ended up (in terms of the anime at least) a disastrous commercial failure, selling less then 1000 Blu-rays in sales. However, with the rise of more socially awkward protagonists in anime and manga in the 2020s becoming more mainstream, including [[Manga/BocchiTheRock another, much more successful Bocchi]], ''Hitoribocchi'' in turn was retroactively given more attention, and was praised for being a great example of social anxiety in media and favorably has been received better nowadays then on its original release.
9	* ''Anime/IdolmasterXenoglossia'' was bashed by fans of the [[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster original game]] for being an InNameOnly adaptation when it first came out. Nowadays it's seen as a more decent robot anime ''as long as'' you don't consider it as an adaptation of ''IDOLM@STER''. This is mostly because there has since been a [[Anime/TheIdolmaster more faithful adaptation]] and because Xenoglossia was directed by Nagai Tatsuyuki, who later went on to direct other animes, most notably ''[[Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay Anohana]]''.
10	* ''Anime/IeNakiKoRemi'' (or Nobody's Child Remi) was the last series from the ''Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater'' before their ten year hiatus, and WMT was already having problems before then. The show did horribly in Japan, suffered from despicably low ratings, and was [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks brutally lambasted for massive changes from the original Hector Malot book]] (like changing the main character into a girl, removing the boat, and expanding on one small part of the story and running with it all the way through). The critical reception was so bad, the final three episodes never aired on TV and were straight to DVD instead. Thankfully, thanks to a devoted fansub group, some international attention, and more appreciative fans, it has gotten more positive reception in the form of fans viewing it as its own entity as a cute, charming, somewhat dark series, a good show in its own right, and don't mind that it's not faithful to the source material. Those who like the source material try to view the show as a separate entity and appreciate what it does well, rather than nitpick at everything it did wrong.
11	* ''Anime/JewelpetMagicalChange'' was initally a FranchiseKiller for the ''Toys/{{Jewelpet}}'' franchise, but eventually started to be seen in a better light for multiple reasons:
12	** The previous season, ''Anime/LadyJewelpet'', introduced fan-favorites Luea and Larimar but heavily shafted the pets in favor of humans. This time, both Luea and Larimar are main characters, ''Magical Change'' is pet-focused, and they are far more badass and have far more action.
13	** Luna, who is often considered underrated, is a main character for once.
14	** Dian had a human form back in the first season. Nowadays, fans have warmed up more to the other pets' visually distinctive and appropriately cute human forms, especially Luea's already universally loved one, and admitted that ''Magical Change'' got more hate than it deserved. There's even fan demand to bring back the human forms in later seasons.
15	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
16	** The franchise has always been popular in Japan, but it took a while for it to catch on in the west. While it was never hated in western countries, it was always pushed aside by other Magazine/ShonenJump series and remained a CultClassic at best, thanks to [[NoExportForYou a lack of localization]] (primarily due to the [[ShoutOut/JoJosBizarreAdventure character names]] creating [[ScrewedByTheLawyers a gigantic mess of legal issues]]), although MemeticMutation caused a bump in popularity in the early 2000s. Then it gained a proper anime (as opposed to 13 half-hour [=OVAs=]) in 2012, and because it came nearly 25 years after the manga started, it has no {{filler}} and it doesn't have to worry about [[OvertookTheManga taking a different path in the story]]. Because of this and [[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureAllStarBattle the tie-in game]], ''[=JoJo=]'' became exponentially more popular in TheNewTens, an era where fellow Shonen series were starting to fall off in popularity.
17	** For an individual season basis, there is the fifth part of ''[=JoJo=]''[='=]s, ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]''. For the longest time many Western ''[=JoJo=]'' fans considered Part 5 to be the weakest part of the series and the "bad one" due to a very poor translation job (which, unlike the infamous [[SoBadItsGood Duwang subs]], was so basic that it barely showed any individual personality), a supposedly bland protagonist, and the at times admittedly confusing power sets that could make fights incomprehensible. It didn't help that the series was so isolated from the events of the previous four parts that it felt almost like a FillerArc. However, in the late New Tens, this perception changed thanks in part to various ''[=JoJo=]'' [=YouTubers=] who praised the series as an underappreciated gem and a ''far'' superior translation that did a better job of establishing the characterization of its cast especially Giorno and showing of his AntiHero cred much more effectively. Finally the release of the anime made some of the more confusing fight scenes far more comprehensible, especially the infamous King Crimson battles, and now many fans of ''[=JoJo=]''[='=]s have turned around and now consider ''Golden Wind'' a very enjoyable part in its own right, if not one of the series' best.
18	** Throughout most of its existence, ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'' barely made much of a splash [[AmericansHateTingle in its native Japan]] due to how much it defied standard shōnen tropes compared to previous parts, which left many of its readers feeling alienated. However, thanks to the fine-tuning done with the anime adaptation, which has more standard shōnen elements at play while still keeping the overall story and characterization in tact, it's allowed for Japanese fans to revisit ''Stone Ocean'' and appreciate the more glossed over elements they had missed out on, especially since most of the work done in the anime adaptation is spearheaded by people who were fans of ''Stone Ocean'' to begin with and wanted to capture its essence.
19	* ''Manga/KillMeBaby'' didn't start out with the best of reputations. Back when it first aired, it got poor critical reception and flopped financially, with the first Blue-Ray selling only 686 copies. It managed to get a cult following in Japan thanks to MemeticMutation, but it was still widely considered as bad in the West. However, by 2015 many people started warming up to the show. Also helping is the fact that it became a news sensation following Ai Takabe's drug case.
20	* ''Manga/KOn'' was originally very divisive amongst anime fans when it first aired in 2009, due to the sheer amount of {{Moe}}. Over the years, however, the show has become a widely loved story, because of its therapeutic, positive stories, and has even become an inspiration for many people to follow in the heroes' footsteps down the path of (rock) music.
21	* ''Franchise/LupinIII'':
22	** When it first hit Japanese airwaves in 1971, ''Anime/LupinIIIPart1'' was met with quite some controversy – the content was more adult-oriented than what was usually allowed on the air – and eventually succumbed to low ratings, being cancelled after just 23 episodes. Reruns then led to a ''considerable'' increase in popularity and it is now considered a groundbreaking classic, spawning a diverse multimedia franchise with two sequel series, a handful of movies, and dozens of TV specials. ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine'' actually gets away with much of the adult-content it has because of the fond memories Japan now has for the original anime series.
23	** In the English-speaking world, licensors have been trying to market ''Lupin'' since the early 90's, but always fell short of achieving the popularity they wanted. ''Anime/LupinIIIPartII'' got an airing on Creator/AdultSwim, but due to a two-front backlash by modern anime fans against the dated animation and by longtime ''Lupin'' fans who hated [[{{Woolseyism}} the dub]], the show's ratings were low and it was cancelled after airing just 30 of its 155 episodes. Its video release was halted not long after. Even so, that short run was enough to finally earn ''Lupin'' a large enough fanbase to justify a small licensing company, Creator/DiscotekMedia, releasing every ''Lupin'' anime it can get its hands on.
24	* ''Manga/{{Metroid}}'': When an official manga was released for the series, as opposed to the various gag guides before it, it was largely ignored in comparison to the more comedic works. Even ignoring the common criticisms concerning it as a standalone work, the next game released in the series, ''Videogame/MetroidZeroMission'', contradicted the events of the manga to the point that to consider it {{canon}} was to accept that ''Metroid'' had ''a lot'' more {{plot hole}}s than most fans were willing to admit. However, the manga got a lot more attention following the release of the controversial ''Videogame/MetroidOtherM''. Fans of the game would use the manga as justifications against the issues detractors had with it, while detractors of the game decided they'd rather have the manga, its shortcomings, continuity issues and all, if it meant ignoring ''Metroid Other M'', which despite drawing more heavily from the official manga than any other game before it managed to contradict the manga at least as much as ''Metroid Zero Mission''.
25	* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'''s first English dub by ADV was, back in TheNineties and early 2000s, frequently held up as a {{Macekre}} (and was frequently put onto the page as such on this very wiki despite not fitting the trope). The actors even received some hatred for playing the characters as over-the-top and overly emotional, bringing in some [[{{Narm}} unintentional comedy]]. However, as time went on, fans of it started to crawl out of the woodwork, reaching its peak on June 21, 2019, when Netflix aired the re-dub, which gained criticism for the new voice actors' performances coming off as DullSurprise, the script having [[BlindIdiotTranslation dead-on literal translations]], accusations of [[{{Bowdlerize}} Bowdlerization]] in the way it wrote the lines in Shinji and Kaworu's [[HoYay relationship]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking on top of that, they couldn't even license the original closing song "Fly Me to The Moon"]] [[ScrewedByTheLawyers due to licensing issues]]. Even Anime News Network looks back at the ADV dub as underappreciated.
26	* Numerous HumongousMecha anime have been pulled from obscurity by ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' like ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' and ''Anime/CombatMechaXabungle''.
27	* ''Anime/PenguinMemories'' was so reviled by its parent companies that it has never been released [[NoExportForYou outside of Japan]] or [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes officially re-released on a contemporary modern format.]] As of 2018 it has grown a cult following from both animation and ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'' fans thanks to the infamous [[MemeticMutation Club Penguin in Vietnam clip]] and the movie being much better than the dark premise with cute penguins made it out to be.
28	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
29	** The ''Orange Islands'' arc was originally disregarded as {{Filler}} that didn't really amount to anything since the Gym challenges weren't always actual battles and the League itself wasn't based on an in-game region. Nowadays, whenever a debate starts concerning Ash's competence as a trainer, people will often mention it immediately, since his victory there technically means Ash qualifies for the title of Champion, and that also marks the first real sign of his growth as a Pokémon Trainer. It is also pointed out that the Orange Islands brought several fan-favourites such as Ash's Lapras, Ash's Snorlax, and the Crystal Onix, and that the battle between Ash and Drake was the series' first full battle. Furthermore, the Orange Island arc acting as a precursor to regional variants and Teraststalization gives the arc more weight to the franchise's history. The parallels between Ash vs Drake and Ash vs Leon in ''Journeys'' also made the battle with Drake a bit more popular as well.
30	** When the ''Ruby and Sapphire'' series was airing its reception at best was overall lukewarm, with many considering it stuck in the shadow of [[Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries the Original Series]] for numerous reasons such as Misty and most of the previous Pokémon being dropped from the cast, May gaining contest victories too easily, the mishandling of the Magma vs Aqua Arc, and Max being TheLoad. However, following [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite far]] [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon more]] [[Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries controversial]] series fans have begun looking back on ''Ruby & Sapphire'' with more fondness. Fans highlight ''Ruby & Sapphire'' as being one of the funniest seasons of the show, while still allowing for superb CharacterDevelopment for Ash and May and increasing the anime's focus on battles and strategy. Later series improving upon the foundation of the new formula established here would cause many to see its flaws as growing pains rather than major issues. While it’s rare for anybody to list ''Ruby & Sapphire'' as their favorite series, its reputation has increased exponentially since its initial airing.
31	** The [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie first]] [[Anime/Pokemon2000 three]] [[Anime/Pokemon3 movies]] have a much better general reputation today than they did upon release. Back when they were brand new, they were critically panned as shallow films that served no purpose but to entertain little children. Nowadays, with the Pokémon franchise still going strong and being a touchstone of the Millennial Generation, the harsh initial reviews are largely seen as backlash against Pokémania coming from [[TheGenerationGap people who were too old to understand or appreciate the series]]. They aren't considered masterpieces or anything, but they're generally recognized for their merits and they're no longer debated as some of the worst movies of all time. In the first film's case, discovering the more mature original Japanese version has also improved its reputation.
32	** The Pokémon Company International (the company responsible for dubbing the anime since the ninth season) received major backlash back in 2006 due to its [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks several differences compared to the 4kids dub]], mostly notably the [[TheOtherDarrin change in voice actors]] being its biggest criticism, with many Pokémon communities online even starting petitions to bring back all the original voice actors for the subsequent seasons and giving death threats to the replacement actors. These days, the backlash towards TPCI has decreased with the newer seasons, with some fans even warming up to some of the newer actors, namely Sarah Natochenny (the current voice for Ash) being much better received for her performance in the later seasons and now voicing Ash long enough to be regarded as his definitive voice for a new generation of younger viewers, and the dub now receiving more praise for keeping much of the script and music from the original Japanese version (especially in Diamond and Pearl and Black and White seasons) and having a lot less dub edits.
33	* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'':
34	** The Black/White arc. Initially, a common reaction was that people would dislike Black for supposedly being a generic shonen protagonist, and White for being a weak female character. However, many fans ([[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff at least in the West]]) have warmed up to it and its main characters overtime, citing how much they improve as the story progresses, and many would now even say that this is the best arc or at the very least the peak of the manga prior to its perceived SeasonalRot.
35	** The following Black 2/White 2 arc as well. For a long time, fans ([[AmericansHateTingle particularly in the West]]) disliked it for [[ArcFatigue the constant hiatuses it went on]] and how long it took until any resolution on the dangling threads from the Black/White arc were resolved. Once the arc ''finally'' finished and those threads ''were'' resolved, however, more fans have begun deeming it a worthy follow-up, [[BetterOnDVD flowing very well together without the hiatuses.]]
36	* ''Anime/PrettyCure'':
37	** ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar''. Initially, the series didn't do well, and until ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' came along, this series had some of the worst ratings in the franchise's history (though even then, it still did much better then most other series that aired at the time). It was also seen as a bad Retraux of the original two seasons, having the two main character being Nagisa (Saki) and Honoka (Mai) expies, and also garnered some detractors for toning down the realistic Seinen elements of the original, as well as favoring zippy flight and beam spam over hard-hitting fisticuffs for quite a bit of the show's run as a result of MoralGuardians attacking the original show and its sequel. After GrowingTheBeard, it still never made as much money as the original series or series after it ever did, regardless of quality (even when it didn't make '''10 Billion Yen''' that year, it still made more money then most other big anime franchises could even dream of making, just not as much as what Toei wanted). As the years have gone by since then, however, the fanbase sees the series with much more prestige, due to managing to make Saki and Mai their own characters, Michiru and Kaoru being the first true DarkMagicalGirl characters introduced in the franchise, the latter half of the series gaining back some more classic elements, like hard-hitting attacks, and many of the elements introduced here being mixed in with these original elements, setting new standards for the series to have when it comes to the fight scenes, and the villains as a whole are considered much more memorable, well written, and generally menacing in their own way and not too wooden either. It is currently held on many fan lists as amongst the best seasons in the franchise, alongside the likes of the EnsembleDarkhorse of the franchise, ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'', which says quite a bit for the series after its initial sour reception amongst the fanbase.
38	** Despite the toy sales being higher the series it was a sequel to, ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5GoGo'' suffered the fate of not only having mixed reception, but airing opposite the 2007 adaptation of ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro'', which got higher ratings. [[note]] This particular incarnation of ''Kitaro'' was known for being the first to promote the sole main female character, Neko Musume, to main character status, causing it to appeal to more girls, which took away a majority of ''Pretty Cure'' viewers as a consequence.[[/note]] Years after it ended, fans began to see the series in a more positive light, causing it to rank as the third most popular series in an 2019 NHK poll about the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise. [[note]] The only series to do better were ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'', which took [[FirstInstallmentWins first]] and second respectively.[[/note]] And then both ''Splash Star'' and ''Yes! Precure 5'' were the ones to get an Adult sequel in 2023, namely ''Anime/PowerOfHopePrecureFullBloom''.
39	** ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure.'' Due to the English-speaking fanbase's OldGuardVersusNewBlood divide, the old guard initially dismissed ''Fresh'' because it discarded many series traditions (the original art style, mascots with {{Verbal Tic}}s based on their names, monsters with "naa" in their names, etc.) and the new blood came flowing in with the ''next'' season, ''Heartcatch.'' Over time, though, both groups had more people go back to give ''Fresh'' a chance, as its changes had also been embraced by later series, so the older fans had gotten used to them and the new fans could easily adjust to this season. It also helped that word came out that, on the Japanese side of things, the changes in ''Fresh'' were an AuthorsSavingThrow after ''[[Anime/YesPrecure5 5GoGo]]'s'' heavy use of {{filler}} and focus on the fairies over the humans had tanked its ratings; ''Fresh'' had saved Precure as a whole, and the fanbase owed it that.
40	* ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' saved from obscurity ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'' entirely (it wasn't well liked and was cut short with no obvious ending) and possibly ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'' (which is at least rumoured to have a small cult following in Japan).
41	* ''Anime/SailorMoon'' was always a hit, but the original 90's ''Creator/DICEntertainment'' dub was subjected to [[CreatorBacklash heavy]] [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks criticism]] and extensive mockery for its weird and unfitting voices and extensive editing and cuts, that led to the show being [[BuryYourArt erased off the face of the Earth]] (with no [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes re-releases]] to this day) and the creators deciding to do the whole thing over again with ''Creator/VizMedia'' in 2014. Nowadays, the [=DiC=]/Cloverway version has become common for modern fans to discover online and enjoy it; compare to a few years ago when fans who grew up with it turned on the dub for [[{{Macekre}} any change made]] to the original. What really helped the old dub was that, with the existence of the completely uncut ''Creator/VizMedia'' dub, it's no longer ''the only'' way to watch Sailor Moon in English. Some fans have also grown to appreciate the 90's dub a lot more for despite its flaws, it possesses a [[NarmCharm certain charm]] that made it fun to watch, which they felt [[SoBadItWasBetter was lost]] in the newer ''Viz'' version, which drew its ''own'' criticism for its [[SoOkayItsAverage bland voice direction and performances]]. The vocal performances of the original cast also became praised for their effort, giving the characters distinctive personality, and [=DIC=]'s soundtrack continues to be a fan favorite. The reception and attitudes to the original English Dub has changed considerably that articles [[https://gamerant.com/sailor-moon-old-dic-dub/ like]] [[https://www.cbr.com/sailor-moon-why-fans-want-the-original-dub-back/ these]] are being written, which would be absolutely unheard of back in the 2000's and New Tens.
42	* The ''Manga/SoulEater'' anime's ending was originally not regarded well, [[spoiler: due to Maka defeating Asura with a single punch [[note]]Meant to symbolize her confidence in herself and her friends[[/note]]]] being considered very [[{{Narm}} narmy]]. It also has issues with the pacing, where many found the story quickly went through plot points set up before it OvertookTheManga, and didn't execute them to what fans wanted. However, with the end of the manga, many people found this ending a lot more satisfying by comparison [[spoiler: due to the execution being more cathartic in some ways, such as Medusa in the anime getting defeated by the heroes, compared to the manga where she is killed by Crona in a MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning gambit that made her a KarmaHoudini, and Asura actually being defeated whereas in the manga Asura simply rage quits the fight and is sealed on the moon. It helps that the finale of the anime does set up this moment, whereas the manga was criticized for not doing a good job of actually setting up some of the stuff from the finale, such as Crona choosing to stay behind rather than be redeemed.]]
43	* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' was ScrewedByTheNetwork, airing opposite the very popular ''Anime/HeidiGirlOfTheAlps''. The first season was reduced from 36 to 26 episodes, resulting in a planned appearance by Anime/CaptainHarlock being cut. Later TheMovie become wildly popular and revived the franchise, turning it into one of the most influential anime series in history.
44	* ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' was in a similar mess, but the fans caught on this time and it was given a full movie for its GrandFinale, despite being cancelled with only a few episodes left.
45	* ''Anime/SuperMilkChan'' was considered a mediocre, if at best okay comedy during its original release, being quickly forgotten about once Creator/AdultSwim stopped airing it to western audiences in the mid 2000s. Nowadays, it's regarded as a comedic CultClassic enjoyed for its eccentric characters, unique art style, and especially humor that is rarely, if at all seen in modern anime. When its reboot was revealed in 2021, plenty were happy to see it return.
46	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': The [[Anime/TransformersArmada first]] and [[Anime/TransformersCybertron last]] entries of the Anime/UnicronTrilogy both went through this, though ''Cybertron'' gets it more. ''Armada'' was released to very tepid responses thanks to its GottaCatchEmAll premise and its TroubledProduction, but wound up GrowingTheBeard in its second half and came to be regarded more [[SoOkayItsAverage neutrally]]. ''Cybertron'' was dragged down by its [[DullSurprise limited animation]] and [[GuiltByAssociation loose connection to the previous entries]], but eventually won over a lot of fans with its [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel surprisingly]] strong writing, ArtEvolution, and SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing. Both initially suffered the stigma of being a ContinuityReboot, until such reboots became a common feature for the franchise. This helped them to shake the bad rap they got. This pointedly did ''not'' happen with [[Anime/TransformersEnergon the middle entry]], which is still widely hated and generally considered the worst ''Transformers'' series ever.
47	* ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'': The Vehicle Voltron didn't enjoy half the popularity of the Lion Force Voltron. But that's only because it followed the Lion episodes in most markets (in some, it was shown in bits and pieces between several Lion episodes). The Vehicle series wasn't "bad" by any stretch. It simply had the unfortunate tendency to be compared to the "cooler", but more formulaic, Lion series. Kids of that time latched on to the Lion series probably because it had elements that they already identified with: Fairytales (magic, castles, princesses, evil rulers) and superheroes (the SuperRobot and the FiveManBand). Vehicle Voltron was adapted from the more MilitaryScienceFiction show ''Anime/DairuggerXV'', presenting a more mature hard science fiction ''Franchise/StarTrek'' like format. It also had a lot of characters to keep track of on both sides as well as presenting a lot of shades of grey instead of good vs. evil. Kids just weren't yet ready for a cartoon that had a lot of character relationships, politics, and subplots. It was the early 80s after all. Kids like their formulas. They just wanted to see "action". But then ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' would come along and then they'd be ready. Now Vehichle Voltron is looked at as wrongfully underappreciated. One will also now notice that ''Dairugger'' was far less Bowlderized than ''Golion'', which even in its original form was formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek.

Context VindicatedByHistory / AnimeAndManga