Overrated/Underrated Manga and anime

Well yeah, lol. No Such Thing as Bad Publicity applies.

When it comes to media, if it gets rated a lot (negative or positive), it will draw attention and make more people curious about it.

FLCL is very much a love or hate thing. I think it gets away with its weirdness on the strength of its sheer energy, not to mention the equally manic performances of the cast. That, and it runs only as long as it needs to: 6 episodes.

The Sword Art Online anime is overrated.

Don't get me wrong, I follow and am a fan of the light novel, so it's not that I dislike the series or anything. What I don't like about the anime is that due to Adaptation Distillation lots of stuff got left out. Stuff important to the characterisation of some characters, especially Kirito. Many misunderstandings about Kirito arise from this, because people tend to base their likes and dislikes off of the anime without checking it against the source material.

I get that the studio has its restraints, but to be honest it wasn't a very good idea to squeeze the first two volumes (volume 1 is the Aincrad arc; volume 2 is a collection of side stories) into one cour.

Well whatever, this crap has been argued to death by now...

edited 12th Dec '13 6:45:40 PM by HanabiraKage

FLCL isn't supposed to be primarily funny, if that's why you're watching it, you're not gonna like it. It's a coming of age story, where pretty much everything is a metaphor.

Are you sure? That anime seems to be widely hated around most anime sites.

Spirit Circle, Sengoku Youko, Lucifer And Biscuit Hammer are all underrated. Satoshi Mizukami works seriously needs way more love. I love how his works actually has PLOT and not just cool battles one after another. Spirit Circle in particular is one f my all-time favourites.

x2 From what I've seen, SAO is pretty damn popular. It might be a vocal minority hating on it and all. But in any case, the AFA 2013 booth for SAO had the longest queue by far compared to the other booths; the queue doubled back on itself twice and went round the corner. The staff actually had to block off the entrance to the booth with a chain and allow small groups of about five or so in at any one time. And it was still about as long on Day 2 (I didn't go on Day 3, but I assume the queue was still long).

p.s. I didn't enter the booth because the queue was too long, and because I don't really like the series THAT much. Not to mention that it's pretty much all anime-related merchandise anyway.

edited 13th Dec '13 5:46:54 AM by HanabiraKage

Despite it's use in the "overrated garbage" meme, I think Monster is correctly rated. It's a Cult Classic that consistently gets high ratings from critics and has a small but devoted fanbase, but it's no megahit even within the anime fandom, and few people know it outside Japan. I'd say that's about right.

edited 25th Dec '13 7:16:34 PM by Wheezy

Overrated: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: It's too long and boring.

And that's it. I don't really follow too much of them yet. I don't find Gurren Lagann to be overrated.

If you ask me an Anime music that I found it overrated, I would say The first Pokemon english Opening.

edited 4th Jan '14 2:46:28 AM by Flamemario12

x4

SAO is a case where it's critically panned by viewers who've been around prior to the LN explosion of 2005 onward, but is liked by the casual watcher who doesn't look too closely. And you wonder why Reki is laughing to the bank despite some stinging critiques?

As for underrated, I can think of Seirei no Moribito. Virtually no one talked about it during its airing, despite how carefully crafted it was.

edited 25th Dec '13 10:03:52 PM by MyssaRei

I made a topic for Kiba no Tabishounin: The Arms Peddler, but there were zero replies :(

That's not underrated, that....well, just not rated at all. I beg you fine folks to check it out. I think fellow Berserk fans would love it, as it has (in my opinion) the potential to reach the same size and scope. It's in a place where it could easily wrap up in another volume, or go on for years. Man, I hope it's the latter.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it's a manga only. I don't really see it getting an adaptation either, but it certainly could!

edited 3rd Jan '14 11:59:50 PM by Murderdoch

Overrated: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, FLCL, Shakugan No Shana and The Devil Is A Part Timer.

Underrated: Baccano and Kaiji.

edited 16th Feb '15 4:44:31 AM by 64SuperNintendo

Overrated:

• UQ Holder: The story isn't anything stellar, and neither were the characters. It didn't give much of an impression beyond the standard fantasy/action shonen manga. Then it was listed as a "hot" manga within just a few chapters for no understandable reason.

Underrated:

• Nobunaga no Chef: Despite taking place in a rather ridiculous premise, it's a very informative manga that teaches a lot on the history of Sengoku Era and of cooking as well. Also one of the few adaptations that portrays the Historical Domain Characters quite realistically (including their appearances, which seems to be based on the traditional paintings of said characters).

UQ Holder was listed as a "Hot manga" probably because it is a Stealth Sequel to Mahou Sensei Negima, and Negima has a huge but extremely divided fanbase.

A good part for the Broken Base, and probably the biggest reason why UQ got so "popular" so quickly, is because the author of Negima made, what is arguably, the biggest case of Torch the Franchise and Run in recent memory, leaving a lot of plot threads unresolved, and the people who are reading UQ right now are probably hoping for a closure to those threads.

Mind you... I would not say that it is "overrated" because that implies that the people who are reading it actually like it. Which is... not what I have seen.

edited 6th Jan '14 8:07:39 AM by SaintDeltora

Man, "underrated" is the word to describe Paranoia Agent. Nobody seems to know or care about it, despite it being the best of Satoshi Kon's work. I think what I like most about it is that everybody actually looks Japanese in it.

Well, I don't read/watch Mahou Sensei Negima, nor had I ever cared about that particular series. Considering how its fanbase is apparently huge enough for people to get so worked up on a Stealth Sequel that frankly is nothing special, I suppose I'd put that on my Overrated list as well.

Underrated: Birdy The Mighty.

Was a seriously great show with an awesome soundtrack, and definitely needed a third season. Sadly due to poor DVD sales that will never happen. Come to think of it the franchise in general is underrated.

The first manga never finish and the later manga haven't been scanlated for the past few months.

So we may never know a proper conclusion to the story.

edited 8th Jan '14 5:40:15 AM by AfroWarrior27

There's the Captain Commando manga, but I only read the first volume. Also I don't remember the real name of Captain Commando, but I remember that he's like a Bruce Wayne expy.

Overrated: Attack On Titan.

Yes, I hate the series, and AOT fans may recall my hatred of Annie. But, to be fair, I look at everybody on that show as an unlikable Jerkass. I just couldn't get into it and don't understand its appeal.

Underrated: Geneshaft.

It's not well-animated, and the storytelling gets messed up, but I do like the premise based on genetic discrimination.

I could hardly tell. :/

I'm well-aware that the term "overrated" is overrated itself, and it seems that popular series have people dissing it simply because it's the most popular show, and some people just like to rag on it just because it's the most popular show. I did try the show, and I did my damndest to like it, but it just didn't turn out that way. That's my problem.

And who was the guy who said Gundam 00 was one of the best Gundam? The first season was awesome, but the second season and the movie were complete garbage.

edited 11th Jan '14 8:35:27 AM by JDogindy

Dude my comment was nothing to private message me for.

All I have to say is for a person that hate a show a lot you sure love bringing it up so often.

edited 11th Jan '14 10:21:19 AM by AfroWarrior27

But complaining is just so much fun!

Meh, I prefer having a more positive out look on things...

Why bother hating something if you can't bring it up on the internet?

I found the AOT manga someone overrated. It wasn't bad, but I never found myself caring about any of the characters so it was all plot. I suppose it was good for an all plot series. Havn't gotten to the anime yet. I'm a bit worried that it will make it hard to ignore how silly the 3DM gear is.