Acclaimed anime that you dislike because reasons
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Satoshi Ookami
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I don't like xxx because it does not have Hanazawa Kana.
Something like that? xDDDD
Hard to say... most critically acclaimed are those long running series I haven't even started (Gintama, One Piece), other ones that fall into this category usually either click with me or I don't even start them...
Maybe once some ideas will be thrown (inb4 SAO, Madoka), I will join someone's opinion...
Something like that? xDDDD
Hard to say... most critically acclaimed are those long running series I haven't even started (Gintama, One Piece), other ones that fall into this category usually either click with me or I don't even start them...
Maybe once some ideas will be thrown (inb4 SAO, Madoka), I will join someone's opinion...
derozio
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Hmm, I guess I'll have to kickstart this one. Here I go, then.
Elfen Lied
This one is loved by many. A chilling psychological thriller. One of the best out there, apparently.
Except not.
I started this anime with some expectations. That it'd be an entertaining watch, at least, if nothing more. The first 7 minutes, straight up, gore porn. Okay, cool. Then the next 4 episodes have something going on with these beings being researched on and our MC having a multiple-personality shtick to her. If nothing else, these first four episodes didn't make me dislike the show. I was still invested in it since I was still finding out more and more about the world, its inhabitants and the backstories and whatnot. I really wanted to like the series. Since it had most things that'd make for a good show - an interesting premise and a lead with issues (well, multiple personalities makes things interesting, to say the least!).
But as the show went on, it became all too clear to me that this show is more about shock value than anything else. It has been a long time since I watched the show so I don't exactly remember specifics, but I remember being extremely unimpressed by the time the anime ended - it having managed to do nothing for me to care about ANY of the major players in the show nor entertaining enough for me to consider it a good show at least on the enjoyment scale.
I guess it lacked focus? I mean, it tried to be more than one thing and failed at each of what it aspired to be. It tried balancing both the moe-echhi-comedy vibe with nyuu and the serious story behind the diclonius research and the atrocities committed by humans on these beings and failed at both since the two kinds of elements ended up being a mess that didn't mesh with each other at all. At least, in my eyes, it didn't.
So, diclonius or whatever those breeds of beings are, are being researched upon, Lucy escapes, we see her being shot, then this anime turns into softcore porn involving lucy's alternate state "nyuu" (MC-kun changing her panties while ***** enters and looks on - that scene crops to mind) and her moe shenanigans then it turns bloody and then we get more cruel stuff in the research laboratory. A few characters get killed and we are supposed to feel bad for them and lucy is being chased by the laboratory people and the army and whatnot and it just ends. And the ***** of a cousin keeps being bloody annoying the entire time all this stuff is happening.
The biggest factor that contributed towards my dislike for the anime, though, was the character of the female cousin (aka *****). I think I watched the show in dub and I remember her being the most obnoxiously annoying character I've ever had the displeasure of coming across during my entire anime-watching life. She's just the worst and the show would've been x10 better if not for her presence - she was merely a drama queen and an absolute *****.
I've been told that the manga is much better. And I'm inclined to believe that. At least, in the manga, I wouldn't have to hear the ***** at all. That'll work wonders, I bet. Although, no joke, some of my friends have urged me to give the manga a shot since even they consider the anime to be a step-down from the manga. A big one. So I'm actually gonna give the manga shot sometime. Hope it ends up being better than this style over substance of a gore-fest animu.
A psychological thriller done right, in my opinion, would be Monster. Or Higurashi. Both different by leaps and bounds and set in absolutely different kinds of settings but still managing to be engaging throughout their runs and keeping things interesting till the very end while maintaining a cohesive plot (okay, ~mostly~ cohesive in case of Higurashi. I can point out some inconsistencies :p) and possessing likable characters.
Ergo Proxy
I'll be honest, I absolutely loved the initial few episodes. It was vague but the imagery, the soundtrack and the stylized visuals made for some gripping stuff. The mysteries kept me interested for a good while.
As I watched more, it turned out that the revelations aren't exactly all that exciting. The show tried to do some abstract stuff and ended up being vague for the most part. It was almost as if it was trying to go down the pretentious route and tried to be more than what it actually was. By the time I reached episode 18, I had lost interest in the show (like, completely) and dropped it. With only 4 more episodes to go before I reached the finale, I still didn't care because I had had enough of it boring the everliving crap outta me with its vagueness and story that, ultimately, didn't feel as amazing as the initial episodes made it seem like it would. I looked up the story of the show online after that just to make sure I didn't miss some ultra-amazing psychological thriller with tons of symbolic imagery which you wouldn't be able to catch if you're not paying proper attention or something. To see if the show actually had a worthwhile story and had content that I, maybe, just maybe, missed because I wasn't paying attention.
I did miss quite a bit of stuff, as it turned out. I just didn't pay attention to a few things and ended up missing stuff. But do I feel bad about dropping the show? Nope. A good show is supposed to make me pay attention. Pay attention to all the small details - make me excited enough to rewatch every episode to look for every nook and cranny for all kinds of metaphorical symbols and references and clever little details put in there. But this? Failed terribly on that account. I couldn't give a rat's arse about it, in the end. And, as a result, even though I look at all those MAL reviews that give it glowing praise, all I do while looking at this title is sigh and go "vague, pretentious bullcrap with a terrible MC".
Oh, and did I mention the fact that I disliked our MC? Initially, she seemed like she'd be a pretty interesting lead character. She seemed like someone who'd turn into my new favorite, maybe another Motoko Kusanagi. But she turned out to be a goddamn spoiled brat who, although does see a bit of development over the course of the series, still remains static enough as a brat for me to dislike her anyway.
inb4 flame wars
Elfen Lied
This one is loved by many. A chilling psychological thriller. One of the best out there, apparently.
Except not.
I started this anime with some expectations. That it'd be an entertaining watch, at least, if nothing more. The first 7 minutes, straight up, gore porn. Okay, cool. Then the next 4 episodes have something going on with these beings being researched on and our MC having a multiple-personality shtick to her. If nothing else, these first four episodes didn't make me dislike the show. I was still invested in it since I was still finding out more and more about the world, its inhabitants and the backstories and whatnot. I really wanted to like the series. Since it had most things that'd make for a good show - an interesting premise and a lead with issues (well, multiple personalities makes things interesting, to say the least!).
But as the show went on, it became all too clear to me that this show is more about shock value than anything else. It has been a long time since I watched the show so I don't exactly remember specifics, but I remember being extremely unimpressed by the time the anime ended - it having managed to do nothing for me to care about ANY of the major players in the show nor entertaining enough for me to consider it a good show at least on the enjoyment scale.
I guess it lacked focus? I mean, it tried to be more than one thing and failed at each of what it aspired to be. It tried balancing both the moe-echhi-comedy vibe with nyuu and the serious story behind the diclonius research and the atrocities committed by humans on these beings and failed at both since the two kinds of elements ended up being a mess that didn't mesh with each other at all. At least, in my eyes, it didn't.
So, diclonius or whatever those breeds of beings are, are being researched upon, Lucy escapes, we see her being shot, then this anime turns into softcore porn involving lucy's alternate state "nyuu" (MC-kun changing her panties while ***** enters and looks on - that scene crops to mind) and her moe shenanigans then it turns bloody and then we get more cruel stuff in the research laboratory. A few characters get killed and we are supposed to feel bad for them and lucy is being chased by the laboratory people and the army and whatnot and it just ends. And the ***** of a cousin keeps being bloody annoying the entire time all this stuff is happening.
The biggest factor that contributed towards my dislike for the anime, though, was the character of the female cousin (aka *****). I think I watched the show in dub and I remember her being the most obnoxiously annoying character I've ever had the displeasure of coming across during my entire anime-watching life. She's just the worst and the show would've been x10 better if not for her presence - she was merely a drama queen and an absolute *****.
I've been told that the manga is much better. And I'm inclined to believe that. At least, in the manga, I wouldn't have to hear the ***** at all. That'll work wonders, I bet. Although, no joke, some of my friends have urged me to give the manga a shot since even they consider the anime to be a step-down from the manga. A big one. So I'm actually gonna give the manga shot sometime. Hope it ends up being better than this style over substance of a gore-fest animu.
A psychological thriller done right, in my opinion, would be Monster. Or Higurashi. Both different by leaps and bounds and set in absolutely different kinds of settings but still managing to be engaging throughout their runs and keeping things interesting till the very end while maintaining a cohesive plot (okay, ~mostly~ cohesive in case of Higurashi. I can point out some inconsistencies :p) and possessing likable characters.
Ergo Proxy
I'll be honest, I absolutely loved the initial few episodes. It was vague but the imagery, the soundtrack and the stylized visuals made for some gripping stuff. The mysteries kept me interested for a good while.
As I watched more, it turned out that the revelations aren't exactly all that exciting. The show tried to do some abstract stuff and ended up being vague for the most part. It was almost as if it was trying to go down the pretentious route and tried to be more than what it actually was. By the time I reached episode 18, I had lost interest in the show (like, completely) and dropped it. With only 4 more episodes to go before I reached the finale, I still didn't care because I had had enough of it boring the everliving crap outta me with its vagueness and story that, ultimately, didn't feel as amazing as the initial episodes made it seem like it would. I looked up the story of the show online after that just to make sure I didn't miss some ultra-amazing psychological thriller with tons of symbolic imagery which you wouldn't be able to catch if you're not paying proper attention or something. To see if the show actually had a worthwhile story and had content that I, maybe, just maybe, missed because I wasn't paying attention.
I did miss quite a bit of stuff, as it turned out. I just didn't pay attention to a few things and ended up missing stuff. But do I feel bad about dropping the show? Nope. A good show is supposed to make me pay attention. Pay attention to all the small details - make me excited enough to rewatch every episode to look for every nook and cranny for all kinds of metaphorical symbols and references and clever little details put in there. But this? Failed terribly on that account. I couldn't give a rat's arse about it, in the end. And, as a result, even though I look at all those MAL reviews that give it glowing praise, all I do while looking at this title is sigh and go "vague, pretentious bullcrap with a terrible MC".
Oh, and did I mention the fact that I disliked our MC? Initially, she seemed like she'd be a pretty interesting lead character. She seemed like someone who'd turn into my new favorite, maybe another Motoko Kusanagi. But she turned out to be a goddamn spoiled brat who, although does see a bit of development over the course of the series, still remains static enough as a brat for me to dislike her anyway.
inb4 flame wars
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pkmin3033
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Oh boy, here we go. I have three that spring to mind.
Let's start with the big one: Madoka Magica. I absolutely DESPISE Madoka Magica. First off, Madoka is not a deconstruction. It in no way deconstructs the magical girl formula, and it relies solely on cheap, predictable shock value strategies to tell its story, which is itself run-of-the-mill and barely even there. The cast are shallow and under-developed even for a twelve-episode series, and none of them are remotely likeable or even sympathetic, despite the horrors inflicted on them...or perhaps even BECAUSE of those horrors. None of them grow as a result of their trials, or change noticeably throughout the series.
As he has proven time and again with other series, Urobutcher isn't that good of a writer. He's a shallow nihilist who thinks that suffering for the sake of suffering makes for a good story. This is one of the biggest things about Madoka that pisses me off: it doesn't go anywhere. It just unloads drama after drama onto its faceless Mary Sue cast to the point that it totally desensitizes the viewer and robs them of any impact they might have had if they'd taken more than five minutes to focus on them. Too much going on, too little time to explore and develop it, leaving a string of random, boring events that you can see coming right after the first one. Nothing about Madoka surprised me, other than how it was being so lauded as this masterwork of storytelling when it had hardly any story to speak of. Hell, even Utena was more coherent than Madoka, and that show was so wrapped up in allegory I was amazed that the characters could go for even a minute without turning into a cow or something...a mistake that was corrected in Yuri Kuma Arashi, only replace cows with bears with added lesbians. If you want to see what a deconstruction of the magical girl genre actually is, watch Utena. Or Princess Tutu, even. Madoka is not a deconstruction.
The fandom is also highly obnoxious with its rampant shipping and wildly speculative theories about symbolism that just isn't there. The Madoka fandom is one of the biggest reasons I hate Madoka: they act as though it has revolutionised the magical girl genre, when you know something? It barely qualifies as a magical girl anime. It follows a completely different formula and doesn't even come CLOSE to being a deconstruction. People need to look up what that damn word means before they go applying it to Madoka. It's an insult to the genre, and it really, REALLY aggravates me whenever Madoka crops up in a discussion about magical girls. Freakin' hell, Madoka is about as much of a magical girl show as Kill la Kill is!
I understand that there is additional material which expands on the shallow and pathetic anime, but I shouldn't have to read supplementary material to get the most out of it. If the anime had been done properly, and if Urobutcher was a better writer, maybe I wouldn't be so hard on Madoka. But there it is. I'm not watching the clipshow movies, nor am I watching the fanservicey third movie which is the worst bit of pandering I've seen since the epilogue to the last Harry Potter book. Not to mention the art style is ugly and blocky, and the soundtrack is mediocre by Kajiura's usually amazingly high standards. I wish people would just get over this show. It was forgettable, poorly written, and if you want to call it a "dark magical girl" show or whatever, well, then it has long since been surpassed by the likes of Daybreak Illusion, which did what Madoka did and did it better, but gets a ton of hate for it. It's like the Ocarina of Time of anime at this point, and I hate it.
Another one I really cannot stand is Mahouka. It's essentially a show about a godly, conveniently emotionless protagonist with a sister complex (WHY do they always have to have sister complexes?!) who can't move a block of wood with his mind, making him a weakling. Did I mention he could RAISE THE DEAD? He can FLY, assemble practically anything, generate nuclear explosions, and everyone thinks he can **** sunshine and spew rainbows? Hell, he probably COULD if he really wanted to. But he's a weakling, don't forget! Very important, that. Now, look what he can do for a few seconds, and listen to us explain exactly how he can for FIFTEEN MINUTES using terminology that is never fully explained and has no meaning anyway. I'm a sci-fi fan. I've watched a LOT of nonsensical stuff in my time. But half of what Mahouka offered to explain its flashy light shows was utter bollocks. It made no sense, and they just prattled on...and on...and on...and ON.
Code Geass is a third one that has always gotten on my nerves...I really do not like blatant, in-your-face hypocrisy, and Code Geass is swimming in it. Suzaku, who also has the misfortune to be voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in the dub, is one of my most hated characters, for the way he is constantly portrayed as morally right and just, despite his colourful backstory. I hate how the story plays out, resolves itself - if you can call the end of R2 a resolution - and also the racial stereotypes. This is Sunrise through and through. I have this love-hate relationship with their shows. I loved Cross Ange and Gundam 00. I hated this. It's weird how it works out sometimes.
Lelouch is also not even remotely comparable to Light Yagami, either. This one really pisses me off as well, when people bring this up. Lelouch was a spoiled, stupid, selfish little brat with a little sister complex who liked to make vague chess analogies. Light Yagami, at least, had selfless intentions, and he actually underwent character development over the course of the series, becoming progressively darker and decidedly less noble. Lelouch never had that, and he remained, to the end, a very unbelievable character.
I'm tempted to mention Attack on Titan for being more like Attack on Filler after its explosive first few episodes, but I'm considering that one in limbo until I see the second season. If the second season advances the plot, I'm willing to overlook the excessive flashbacks and plotholes and lack of anything as setup for it. Same goes for Sword Art Online, although that one is closer to disdain for the complete destruction of Asuna's character in the second half of the show.
Let's start with the big one: Madoka Magica. I absolutely DESPISE Madoka Magica. First off, Madoka is not a deconstruction. It in no way deconstructs the magical girl formula, and it relies solely on cheap, predictable shock value strategies to tell its story, which is itself run-of-the-mill and barely even there. The cast are shallow and under-developed even for a twelve-episode series, and none of them are remotely likeable or even sympathetic, despite the horrors inflicted on them...or perhaps even BECAUSE of those horrors. None of them grow as a result of their trials, or change noticeably throughout the series.
As he has proven time and again with other series, Urobutcher isn't that good of a writer. He's a shallow nihilist who thinks that suffering for the sake of suffering makes for a good story. This is one of the biggest things about Madoka that pisses me off: it doesn't go anywhere. It just unloads drama after drama onto its faceless Mary Sue cast to the point that it totally desensitizes the viewer and robs them of any impact they might have had if they'd taken more than five minutes to focus on them. Too much going on, too little time to explore and develop it, leaving a string of random, boring events that you can see coming right after the first one. Nothing about Madoka surprised me, other than how it was being so lauded as this masterwork of storytelling when it had hardly any story to speak of. Hell, even Utena was more coherent than Madoka, and that show was so wrapped up in allegory I was amazed that the characters could go for even a minute without turning into a cow or something...a mistake that was corrected in Yuri Kuma Arashi, only replace cows with bears with added lesbians. If you want to see what a deconstruction of the magical girl genre actually is, watch Utena. Or Princess Tutu, even. Madoka is not a deconstruction.
The fandom is also highly obnoxious with its rampant shipping and wildly speculative theories about symbolism that just isn't there. The Madoka fandom is one of the biggest reasons I hate Madoka: they act as though it has revolutionised the magical girl genre, when you know something? It barely qualifies as a magical girl anime. It follows a completely different formula and doesn't even come CLOSE to being a deconstruction. People need to look up what that damn word means before they go applying it to Madoka. It's an insult to the genre, and it really, REALLY aggravates me whenever Madoka crops up in a discussion about magical girls. Freakin' hell, Madoka is about as much of a magical girl show as Kill la Kill is!
I understand that there is additional material which expands on the shallow and pathetic anime, but I shouldn't have to read supplementary material to get the most out of it. If the anime had been done properly, and if Urobutcher was a better writer, maybe I wouldn't be so hard on Madoka. But there it is. I'm not watching the clipshow movies, nor am I watching the fanservicey third movie which is the worst bit of pandering I've seen since the epilogue to the last Harry Potter book. Not to mention the art style is ugly and blocky, and the soundtrack is mediocre by Kajiura's usually amazingly high standards. I wish people would just get over this show. It was forgettable, poorly written, and if you want to call it a "dark magical girl" show or whatever, well, then it has long since been surpassed by the likes of Daybreak Illusion, which did what Madoka did and did it better, but gets a ton of hate for it. It's like the Ocarina of Time of anime at this point, and I hate it.
Another one I really cannot stand is Mahouka. It's essentially a show about a godly, conveniently emotionless protagonist with a sister complex (WHY do they always have to have sister complexes?!) who can't move a block of wood with his mind, making him a weakling. Did I mention he could RAISE THE DEAD? He can FLY, assemble practically anything, generate nuclear explosions, and everyone thinks he can **** sunshine and spew rainbows? Hell, he probably COULD if he really wanted to. But he's a weakling, don't forget! Very important, that. Now, look what he can do for a few seconds, and listen to us explain exactly how he can for FIFTEEN MINUTES using terminology that is never fully explained and has no meaning anyway. I'm a sci-fi fan. I've watched a LOT of nonsensical stuff in my time. But half of what Mahouka offered to explain its flashy light shows was utter bollocks. It made no sense, and they just prattled on...and on...and on...and ON.
Code Geass is a third one that has always gotten on my nerves...I really do not like blatant, in-your-face hypocrisy, and Code Geass is swimming in it. Suzaku, who also has the misfortune to be voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in the dub, is one of my most hated characters, for the way he is constantly portrayed as morally right and just, despite his colourful backstory. I hate how the story plays out, resolves itself - if you can call the end of R2 a resolution - and also the racial stereotypes. This is Sunrise through and through. I have this love-hate relationship with their shows. I loved Cross Ange and Gundam 00. I hated this. It's weird how it works out sometimes.
Lelouch is also not even remotely comparable to Light Yagami, either. This one really pisses me off as well, when people bring this up. Lelouch was a spoiled, stupid, selfish little brat with a little sister complex who liked to make vague chess analogies. Light Yagami, at least, had selfless intentions, and he actually underwent character development over the course of the series, becoming progressively darker and decidedly less noble. Lelouch never had that, and he remained, to the end, a very unbelievable character.
I'm tempted to mention Attack on Titan for being more like Attack on Filler after its explosive first few episodes, but I'm considering that one in limbo until I see the second season. If the second season advances the plot, I'm willing to overlook the excessive flashbacks and plotholes and lack of anything as setup for it. Same goes for Sword Art Online, although that one is closer to disdain for the complete destruction of Asuna's character in the second half of the show.
Sir Codin
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Yuri Lowenthal isn't a bad voice actor at all. Otherwise, though, you are completely on the mark about Code Geass.
pkmin3033
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He always voices the characters I hate the most, both in anime and video games. I absolutely cannot stand his voice as a result. It made Suzaku all the more unlikeable for me as a result.
Also, whilst I wouldn't say I hate them, I've struggled to get into Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. I'm more perplexed as to why they're so acclaimed than I am irritated by it, though. I don't see the appeal in Hetalia, either. Most acclaimed shows just don't appeal to me, only a few really piss me off.
Also, whilst I wouldn't say I hate them, I've struggled to get into Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. I'm more perplexed as to why they're so acclaimed than I am irritated by it, though. I don't see the appeal in Hetalia, either. Most acclaimed shows just don't appeal to me, only a few really piss me off.
Satoshi Ookami
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That's what you get for watching dubs :P
Also, obviously, I have to reply to Mahouka because everyone expects me to do so.
Let's get back to the main point of the thread, is Mahouka acclaimed anime?
Mahouka is and always was mainly acclaimed for LN, because the terminology you mentioned is explained in HUGE detail (one of reasons I absolutely love it).
Which is obviously very hard to bring fully to anime. (Though, MADHOUSE did it quite well)
Obviously, the anime is gorgeous, Onii-sama is Onii-sama, Mayumi is HanaKana, Miyuki is Saorin, I have been watching it twice on ongoing and plan to rewatch it eventually but is it really acclaimed anime if you compare it to other mentioned anime here (maybe except Ergo Proxy as I see that as pretty underground anime xD I'm not even sure how many people here in A&M actually watched it =D)?
As far as I'm concerned, even fans of LN do not like anime that much. Obviously, I'm die hard fan of the series, and they put HanaKana as my favorite character, so they made everything they could to make my no.1 anime, but that definitely does not apply to everyone.
Though, you do make a good point about Eotenas. That definitely is something that I could have mentioned, but I kinda want to avoid it now since the main point why I don't like that piece of overhyped #pokemon089 are later parts of manga that were only briefly touched in the anime.
Kenchiin
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I will never, ever, understand the hype with Date A Live. It's like, the most un-original concept I've ever heard, with the most generic setting ever. Yet, a successful show everyone loves. Did I miss something? ;__;
tofu-scrambler
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i kind of agree with madoka magica. i didn't dislike it, though, i actually did enjoy it. but at the same time... i don't understand the huge hype? some people are SO obsessed with it and think it's the greatest thing ever, lol. i liked it for what it was but i didn't think it was the most amazing thing i've ever seen in my life. maybe i just went in with expectations that were way too high due to all the hype, and then it fell short for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but it's cool, some people are super into it, i'm happy for them i 'spose.
derozio
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Never liked Suzaku so Imma give that a thumbs up, haha.
Although I've gotta mention this - I personally don't exactly think you can consider shows like "Naruto" and "Bleach" acclaimed.
But I guess that's my fault for not clarifying my point properly. Acclaimed = Praised and generally held in high regard. Am aware that acclaimed can refer to "celebrated" too and those two qualify, in that case, since I guess they're celebrated by a lot of people as the "best anime EVAR!!!1!!". But I'm strictly referring to the first kind of anime when I refer to acclaimed ones.
For the sake of this thread, let's say that "acclaimed" anime are the ones with a generally positive reception among the general anime community on the internet. Naruto and Bleach, if you look at sites like MAL or Hummingbird or any other anime community, do not possess a very high general rating and most of their reviews diss them. :p Sure, they're the most popular ones out there aka mainstream but I don't exactly view them as anime adored by the general anime viewer barring a few exceptions (our beloved Laptrap comes to mind. I wish he was still here..).
The ones that qualify, I guess, let's see, if they satisfy some of these:
1) They're in top 25-30 or maybe 50 of MAL/ANN/Hummingbird/AniDb or other sites
2) They, despite slightly lower ratings (like, below 7 or 7.5), possess glowing reviews and have achieved somewhat of a cult status among the anime-watching community.
Example:
Kekkai Sensen
Jin Rou - The Wolf Brigade
These two both qualify since they, despite having scores below 8 on MAL, are generally liked among the anime community based on their reviews and, well, based on whatever I've come across on the forums. :p
3) Insert your own loosely constructed/vague as **** definition of an acclaimed anime
Seriously, it is difficult to come up with objective rules and whatnot since this is a grey area, but I hope you catch my drift by now. Because if we're gonna get into the debate of what an acclaimed anime is and what's not, then that's one can of worms I'd rather stay shut haha. Let's just say that we're supposed to pick an anime that's well-liked by fans, not one that's popular but a lot of general public calls it trash (aka SAO/Mahouka and whatnot).
As a result of these classifications, though, I'd have to side with Satoshi on the point of Mahouka not exactly being acclaimed anime material. Sure, it doesn't have a terrible rating on MAL (just below 8) and the reviews are not all horrible (mostly polarizing - the top reviews score it as a 3, 7, 9 and a 4 respectively right now) but an acclaimed anime would generally not possess a review in the 3-4 range. Nor have an extremely vocal crowd call it otakubait or cheap power fantasy - which, if you check its forum, people do. :P
SATOSHI ABANDONED HIS RED TEXT AND SIGNATURE FONT
END OF THE WORLD IS HERE
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, PLEBS
RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!11!!1!!!!!
If the world doesn't end, Satoshi's serious mode will end it. :p
Anyway, jokes aside, Mahouka sure doesn't seem like it can be considered acclaimed, to say the least. The Light Novels are a different beast in its entirety and I won't get into that but the anime was just tons of style and no substance. Their attempt at trying to make it have substance via streams of constant magical technobabble ended up falling flat. But yeah, even you agree to the fact that Mahouka wasn't the best anime of all time so that's that. :p I've heard the LN is good though so I might still give it a shot. A friend of mine whose word I trust quite a bit said so, so yeah. :p
Attack on Titan = complete crap later on. Yes, agreed. The first anime season was pretty good for what it was, though, so no complaints from my side either.
It has qt 3.14s like these. Of course it'd be popular and well-liked, silly.
Kidding. Got no idea about DaL since I haven't given it a shot as of yet. Maybe, once I do, I'll get back at this thread, yes? :p
I'm inclined to say it is this:
1) Played with expectations / Shock factor: Most of the people who went into it did so thinking that they're getting a run-of-the-mill Mahou Shoujo anime. And, from initial looks, nobody would blame them for thinking so. But then the show screws with their expectations and pulls out the unexpected card. Most people like themselves unexpected things - predictability is looked down upon, y'know and anything that manages to surprise, manages to secure a better place in people's hearts than most stuff that don't.
2) Started being hailed as a deconstruction of a genre: It started being hailed as a brilliant deconstruction of the mahou shoujo genre because it provided something unexpected. People bought that, went into it and they got surprised too. And then they jumped on the "brilliant deconstruction bandwagon" without actually giving it substantial thought in the first place. I, personally, haven't seen enough Mahou Shoujo anime to confirm to one belief or another but there are people in this thread who apparently have and their opinion sure seems like it differs from the crowd (look at Meloetta's post in the thread!). But they're a rarity - a one among thousands.
The third point, rather than concentrating on what worked in the anime's favor as far as general public opinion goes, concentrates on why it perhaps didn't end up as high on your list as you probably hoped it would.
3) Hype: Then there's this hype. Well, I'm gonna talk general anime here rather than concentrate on Madoka - hype for a series before you actually watch the damn thing sometimes ends up working against it. Expectations from a series can skew your perception and end up forming a bias against it subconsciously that always ends up working against the series at every corner, every second of every episode. It happened with me and Steins;Gate. I ended up going into it expecting it to be one of the best anime ever - since it is #2 on MAL and REALLY liked by people in general on other communities too. But color me disappointed - I was underwhelmed with it when I finished it the first time around. But I decided to give it another go - this time, instead, clearing myself of anything I had in mind regarding the show and only judging it for what it was while pushing the "hype" aside (since, y'know, I had already seen it once so any "hype" had already settled by then heh). I found it to be a pretty good anime in its own right. Definitely NOT the best I've seen but definitely not as bad as I initially perceived it to be. My expectations from it, during my first watch, made me nitpick it to the point I ended up placing it in the 6-7/10 anime category in my list. But during the second watch, I actually went into it for the ride itself and ended up enjoying a lot more - which resulted in it being a solid 8.5 in my book. So yeah, that's one aspect you gotta keep in mind as well. :p
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I haven't seen much nor do I dislike any anime in particular but kind of dragged myself to finish Psycho-Pass. I didn't like any of characters and the plot wasn't something I could get into. Evangelion was kind of disappointing as well. I am kind of reluctant to try older anime because of Evang.elion. I must not like excessive character development and symbolism and the like.
Chikara
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I've never understood the FLCL obsession. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's by any means bad, I just don't see what was so phenomenal about it. I believe it got so popular because it was shown on Adult Swim, and people were like "wow!! there's only 6 episodes!! so underground!! so edgy!! look at that guy with a tv for a face!! cutting edge!! omg underlying meanings!!" and thereafter it just grew in popularity because it felt like it was one of a kind. Fairly, it was popular in Japan as well, but we've all seen OVAs that were pretty damn cool. I loooooove Gainex, but one just didn't stick out to me/the people obsessing over it got really ****ing annoying :(
tofu-scrambler
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oh yeah for sure, i think you're right. you make some really great points. i think the biggest thing for me was that i went into it already knowing/hearing quite a bit about it from my friends and other people, and that set up a lot of expectations and preformed opinions at the start. :P like people would always tell me that i should be prepared to cry and get my heart torn out, and that it was super dark and not what you would expect from the genre, etc. so that's probably the explanation for why i was underwhelmed: the hype, as you mentioned, and also going in already knowing what to expect kinda so the shock factor wasn't there as much for me. that's really interesting about steins;gate for you! so now i'm curious if things would be different for me too if i tried re-watching madoka magica with a fresh perspective!
thanks for the insight. c:
and out of all the other "acclaimed anime" i've seen i've actually really enjoyed them a lot and have no problem with them, but there are a few that i'm late to the party for, so maybe in the future i'll be able to contribute to the conversation more haha!
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Satoshi Ookami
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GainAx :P
Shiriasu moodo hatsudo shimashiita :P
Okay, I won't do it again.
But as I said, it is for me, because MADHOUSE made it for me =D
Kenchiin
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It has qt 3.14s like these. Of course it'd be popular and well-liked, silly.
I will find you... and I will... call you senpai
You got a point there. It's quite the popular show, it has some kind of hipster/underground fandom that loves the series. I personally like it, but it cannot be neglected the fact the hype is too much sometimes .
I'm still surprised only one person mentioned Neon Genesis Evangelion in this topic
I've never understood the hype, for years, around FLCL. I've seen it in Japanese, and again in English thanks to having friends who wanted to watch it, and yeah it's got some funny or some nice moments, but I don't think it's anything enormously special that should've gotten the hype that it did some years ago, even leading into current day. I understand to an extent why people like it, but I don't understand why it's revered as some legendary series.
I think that's really the only one that comes to mind. Unless-
Other than that, maybe the original Evangelion. The newer movies are amazingly well done, and Rebuild was also good, but the original anime was pretty bad. Even for the 90s the animation wasn't the best quality it could've been, and there is nothing complementary about a still image being on screen for ten minutes while an entire piano track plays. I know a lot of Eva is supposed to be metaphoric, but really, even the team that worked on the original anime kinda looked back and went "Damn, we could've done this or that better", which is part of what prompted two remakes.
I think that's really the only one that comes to mind. Unless-
Other than that, maybe the original Evangelion. The newer movies are amazingly well done, and Rebuild was also good, but the original anime was pretty bad. Even for the 90s the animation wasn't the best quality it could've been, and there is nothing complementary about a still image being on screen for ten minutes while an entire piano track plays. I know a lot of Eva is supposed to be metaphoric, but really, even the team that worked on the original anime kinda looked back and went "Damn, we could've done this or that better", which is part of what prompted two remakes.
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It's soundtrack is legendary, IMO, and it was a fair bit of fun as a show, but I just couldn't see heads or tails as to why it's as acclaimed as it is, myself. It felt like it was overly symbolic while also kind of hopping around in the plotlines.
Other than that, no series that was critically acclaimed in the west comes to mind as something I did not like.
Satoshi Ookami
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Because you can't hate EVA =D
You can get mindf0cked, you can get a big WTF, you can go jump from the skyscraper, but you cannot hate it =D
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I probably didn't mention it because I've only seen the rebuilds, not the original series.
Kenchiin
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Oh, well, depends on your taste, but I do suggest you to watch if if you like "retro" anime. You might like it or not, but it will surely not be a waste of time.
And I love Madoka so even if it's not that magical (pun intended) I'm so obsessed with it that I couldn't care less ;____;