Overrated/Underrated Manga and anime

I agree with Naruto being overrated. It's a good show, don't get me wrong, but it kind of drags on and on and on...and not in a good way.

Underrated:

The Law Of Ueki- Now this is smartly written shounen. Yes, the powers are kind of ludicrous, but you more than make up for that in awesome and in characterization.

Detroit Metal City- One of the most hilarious series I have seen IN YEARS. It's like the Japanese version of This Is Spinal Tap or Metalocalypse- and metal fans might see themselves in Krauser's fanbase army.

I'd also like to add (and anyone who's ever been to Japan I'm sure will agree)

Overrated: EVERY SINGLE STUDIO GHIBLI FILM EVER MADE and not just Hayao Miyazaki 's either. Seriously, I adore their work as much as the next guy but you can't even go into a bookstore without Totoro merchandise crammed down your throat.

edited 27th Aug '10 1:08:04 PM by Mattonymy

Underrated: High School Of The Dead (Yes, really, its dosent even have that big of a fanbase yet), Hunter X Hunter, Grenadier, Please Teacher, Yu Gi Oh 5 Ds.

Overrated: Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Princess Tutu, the original Yu Gi Oh, Ken Akamatsu stuff (Love Hina, Mahou Sensei Negima, etc, They are fine, but HIGHLY overrated).

edited 27th Aug '10 1:23:10 PM by Demongodofchaos2

^With Hunter X Hunter I would say it depends on the part you are talking about. Until the ants showed up I would have mostly agreed with you. Now... The mangaka is not very good at handling the Loads And Loads Of Characters that he has made. I won't even get into the number of people Put on a Bus.

Yu Gi Oh 5 Ds has been variable as well. The plot episodes have been good but the filler goes to some weird places. I can see people not liking it.

Once I catch up on the Bleach thread (still back on page 303 or something), I am tempted to make a list of what shows are begin listed in each category and how many times they have shown up.

Overrated: Neon Genesis Evangelion  ^*

Underrated: RahXephon

NOT Overrated: Cowboy Bebop  ^*

edited 27th Aug '10 5:43:51 PM by Nyktos

Keep in mind that there's two kinds of underrated works: ones that are obscure but popular with people familiar with it (Psyren) and ones with large Hatedoms they don't really deserve (Code Geass).

edited 27th Aug '10 3:21:37 PM by silver2195

Princess Tutu could be considered the former, but I don't think it really counts as "obscure" at this point. People know about it because it has a fanbase that just doesn't shut up about it.

GUITAR NINJAS

Mattonymy

Overrated: EVERY SINGLE STUDIO GHIBLI FILM EVER MADE and not just Hayao Miyazaki 's either.

I can't believe I didn't say this myself, considering I've mentioned my dislike of Ghibli before.

Belian

Yu Gi Oh 5 Ds has been variable as well. The plot episodes have been good but the filler goes to some weird places. I can see people not liking it.

Wait, 5Ds isn't based on a manga, so how can it have "filler"?

Filler:

Entries in a continuity based serial that have no bearing on the main plot, don't significantly alter the relations between the characters, and generally serve only to knock off another entry. Could be considered Padding applied to a whole franchise.

Whether or not it's adapted from some other medium is irrelevant.

Honestly, I think that the Kirby Animé (particularly the 4kids Dub Right Back At Ya) is way underrated. The story was fairly intriguing enough, the animation was decent, and a large portion of the show was very true to the original source, with some added elements. And, I know your mileage will definitely vary but Im one of the few that thought the English dubs were really good, given that it is 4Kids, especially southen accented King "Deh-Deh-Deh" and Badass Spaniard Meta Knight.

Please don't flame me.

Overrated: TTGL, NGE, Haruhi (especially in Japan. Seriously, what the hell?) and the Gundam franchise as a whole. Even the 'good' ones aren't that amazing.

Underrated: Eden of the East, Da Capo, Seitokai no Ichizon (screw you Seitokai Yakuindomo) and maybe Outlaw Star. Not that people think it's bad, but I feel like people just sort of forget how great it was. Or that it exists, sometimes.

Seconding Eden Of The East as underrated.

Also, whoever said that they got Totoro merchandise shoved down their throats at bookstores, I actually see more Domo stuff. A lot of it. And maybe one of the Miyazaki artbook/concept art books, if it happens to be in stock.

Actually:

Overrated: Domo. He/It is cute, but not as cute as a lot of people make him/it to be.

Also, the potato chip scene. Hilarious the first time, but then the hamminess gets boring after several views...

Haruhi Suzumiya is overrated in Japan, yeah. On the English-speaking web, I've barely ever actually seen people claiming it's the best thing ever, though I'm totally willing to accept I might just be lucky.

@ Manwiththe Plan

If you think that any version of FMA is underrated, I must wonder where you spend most of your time on the internet. Because all iterations of it are decidedly overrated, including my favorite.

You could make the argument that Brotherhood is underrated in Japan. But in the West? Not at all.

edited 27th Aug '10 5:29:36 PM by amarielah

Seconding Seitokai No Ichizon. It's totally underrated.

Overrated: Excel Saga, Serial Experiments Lain, Haruhi Suzumiya, Full Metal Panic

Underrated: Kara No Kyoukai, Paranoia Agent

Neither: Cowboy Bebop, Ghost In The Shell, Full Metal Alchemist, Code Geass  ^*

edited 2nd Sep '10 10:34:55 AM by shiro_okami

Not rated enough: Eyeshield 21. Mostly because people think they won't like it because they don't like football/sports.

Overrated: Haruhi Suzumiya: Okay, didn't live up to the hype.

Underrated:

Jigoku Shoujo

The Wallflower

Welcome To The NHK

I agree with you guys about Hunter X Hunter (although I'm expressing a rather unpopular opinion about liking the Chimera Ant arc best) and Welcome To The NHK.

>implying an Umineko anime exists

> Implying the Umineko anime was bad. Anyways...

Overrated: Neon Genesis Evangelion. Horribly boring show. No likeable characters or music anywhere.

Lucky Star. Talking about nothing is supposed to be funny? Well, okay the Lucky channel made me crack a small smile but the only reason I'd continue this is because of Kyo Ani and the english dub. And a lack of much better things to watch.

Naruto. Oh dear god, how can anyone like this?

Underrated: Digimon Frontier. Everyone constantly says that humans becoming Digimon are stupid, and either don't watch the season or ignore the numerous positives. It's not that stupid either.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I figure it must be pretty popular if it's lasted this long, but I almost never see mention of it, and it's definitely better than the 'Big 3'.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I figure it must be pretty popular if it's lasted this long, but I almost never see mention of it, and it's definitely better than the 'Big 3'.

Haven't seen it myself, but Gilphon often cites it an example of something clearly worse than the Big 3.

^^ At naruto: Because I can, and I want too?

edited 2nd Sep '10 3:08:44 PM by Demongodofchaos2

Yes, yes I do. Mainly because of the second half of the future arc. Asspulls, random but useless powerups and extreme idiotcy out the wazoo. Not to mention the way the author is very clearly making it up as he goes along.

With so many people claiming that Haruhi is overrated, I'm tempted to call it underrated, as it is quite a great anime, that apparently 90% of the internet refuses to acknowledge.