Anime/Manga Better than Expected

Palamon said:

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, full stop.

When I had first heard about the series, I didn't think it would be for me at all. I ended up really liking it and wanting part 5 asap. (Good thing it's finally coming in October.)

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Total opposite for me on that one. Heard nothing but praise, wanted to love it, and wow, it's easily one of the worst series I've ever seen. Full stop.

For the topic, Speed Grapher and Basilisk looked so dumb, people I couldn't stand loved the former, Gonzo generally has underwhelming reviews of their shows, so I was not optimistic at all.
Then it turns out both of them end up on my top 10 anime list.

Lipstick Vogue said:

I was always pretty open to watch any genre but I was surprised at how much I enjoy 70s and 80s shoujo series.

So cool.

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Very underrated anime, more people should watch Rose of Versailles.

One Piece. I thought it'd be mainstream and way blown out of proportion, but it's wonderful. My favourite, along with Dragon Ball.

I only read the manga, though, and not even that nowadays. I usually walked in with scepticism, only to run out screaming and clawing at my eyes. The art styles are murderous and character archetypes aren't fun after the zillionth showing.

I also thought that The World Only God Knows would be a bit of a flop but it turned out really funny. I used to be a bit negative, y'see. The only thing I never actually doubted, even a little, was Naruto.

jojo's bizarre adventure and pokemon sun & moon. i thought i would dislike these but man am i wrong.

I thought JJBA would be very meme-y - that's why i watched it (and in a way, it is). never expected to actually enjoy the whole thing. it starts out bland with jonathan (imo) but joseph saves it. it became even better in part 3 (unpopular opinion). I prefer Stands over Hamon any day. Part 4 was awesome too. and part 5 is starting out okay too!

pokemon sun and moon was universally hated. but it was pokemon. so i went ahead and watched it. aaaaand... it was better than i expected. i prefer it over xy (yet another unpopular opinion)

Daily Lives of High School Boys. Thought it wouldn't interest me, but after the first episode I loved it. The comedy is so well timed.

Pemderp said:

Daily Lives of High School Boys. Thought it wouldn't interest me, but after the first episode I loved it. The comedy is so well timed.

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You know, I hear this a lot.

I wouldn't say I expected to hate it per se, but I will admit, I went into Azumanga Daioh having no idea what to expect. I was largely exposed to it thanks to my cousin, and when I saw the first volume at a random bookstore I went to, I grabbed it, and got ready to read it.

What I got was one of the funniest, cutest, and best anime I had ever seen. I've enjoyed every moment, and was kinda sad to reach the end. Granted, I was already a bit late to the party when I read the manga and watched the anime, since this was back in 2008, but the ADV volumes of the anime and manga had yet to leave print, so at least I came in right in the nick of time; a year later, and I would have been pretty well left to dry outside the Yen Press omnibus.

SurrealBrain said:

I wouldn't say I expected to hate it per se, but I will admit, I went into Azumanga Daioh having no idea what to expect. I was largely exposed to it thanks to my cousin, and when I saw the first volume at a random bookstore I went to, I grabbed it, and got ready to read it.

What I got was one of the funniest, cutest, and best anime I had ever seen. I've enjoyed every moment, and was kinda sad to reach the end. Granted, I was already a bit late to the party when I read the manga and watched the anime, since this was back in 2008, but the ADV volumes of the anime and manga had yet to leave print, so at least I came in right in the nick of time; a year later, and I would have been pretty well left to dry outside the Yen Press omnibus.

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This is essentially the story of how I got interested in exploring anime beyond typical shounen stuff.

Black Clover. Early eps is just the main character screaming all the time. Then as you progress, the screaming decreases and will enjoy the episode more.

JJBA. When I saw Dio burn a dog in the first couple episodes I immediately started to love the show.

I watched Zombieland Saga, completely blind of what it had to offer. Then, I soon realized it was an idol anime...with zombies. I wasn't too invested (not a fan of idols) until the first episode effectively subverted my expectations.

GOSICK

I watched it because my friend praised it, the first ep was okay, weak mystery (I grew up with Detective Conan, so this was a biiiig step-down for an anime inspired by golden age mystery novels, very by the book), my brain wanted to curl up and die at the obvious otsku-pandering moe-cute-for-the-sake-of-cute moments, then the Queen Berry case was beautiful and it ended too perfectly for me to want to watch more. Didn't want to tarnish that lovely ending. I also LOVED Victorique's character!

Very snarky, cynical, brilliant, but owing to almost never stepping outside, her stunted, childish behaviour actually made perfect sense. I was absolutely curious about her... and she and Kujou have a very innocent and cute dynamic.

So, I put the rest off indefintely.

I don't know why I picked it up again? Unfortunately, the third case was even weaker than the first, and I wanted to gie up entirely, but I started catching on to the fact that one weak case is usually just setting up for the next big case and hey, they seem to be giving us pieces of the bigger picture!!!

After that, I was hooked!! Even if I'm not big on moe, the beautiful details and settings and colours grew on me and, of course, I loved Victorique's beautiful (hand-me-down, but gorgeous and vintage) clothing.

It was such a beautiful, emotional series and its strong points are the main character's character development, the drama, and the sweet friendship-turned-romance. Some of the bigger mysteries actually tied to the country and Victorique's origins are genuinely good too!!

It's now one of my favourites and I've watched it over and over, maybe three times.

Oh, yeah, and the Art Nouveau-inspired opening is a thing of beauty.

Fruits Basket

I had an inkling of it being deeper than it first looks, because certain quotations have reached me through the fandom, like that piles of laundry metaphor that helped me with my own anxieties, but, wow.

When I was a kid and this was all over the place, I thought from the name, it was just a cutesy, slapsticky romance with ~wacky hijinks~ because of the characters transforming into animals if they're hugged.

I later knew it was a heavier story and the characters are more than the tropes they appear to be in the beginning, but I never expected to be moved so much this early on, it's such a beautiful story, with a lot to say both for and against the self-sacrificing ideal of femininity.

There's something really healing about watching broken people helping each other heal, even if Tohru hides her feelings behind a smile, that it shows this hurts her badly too, that this isn't a healthy way to always be, and they're trying to help her learn to be "selfish" sometimes too...

It reminds me of two good friends of mine. They try so hard to be a ray of light and you can't help admiring it, but it's also a little sad they can't show their own hurt to the friends they're always supporting... as if friendship is just a lonely one-way road, even if they're happy for other people's happiness (that really is one of the best kinds of happiness, but still!!).

[Note: no spoilers, please, I am watching the 2019 version and I'm about 7 eps behind!]

Gosick is definitely up there for me, I don't think I can add anything else that wasn't mentioned about it, except maybe something about the ending:


Magi: Labirynth/Kingdom of Magic is an anime that begins in a typical shonen fashion and the early episodes are a bit meh imo. But the further I went into it, the more I was drawn in by its political plot of all things. It is complex and well written, you can understand where almost every party is coming from. The main group is also rarely travelling together, which is a nice subversion of the trope. There are many characters they meet along the way and some of them become significant much later, despite seeming like one-time side-characters upon their debut. Unfortunately, the anime adaptation isn't complete and it doesn't look like it will continue any time soon. Manga, however, is complete and is an absolute blast.

Carnival Phantasm is more of a niche thing that is best enjoyed once you're caught up with the Nasu-verse. I went into it expecting another wacky parody anime along the lines of Koro-Q. Turns out, it stomps all over it. It is chuck-full of references that are very easy to miss and each time I find something new whenever I re-watch it. It also has a lot of heart and hearing the ending makes a bit sad each time. Most of the characters in it come from a surprisingly dark universe full of suffering and seeing them enjoying their everyday lives and having fun makes me smile all the way through. If you're a Type-moon fan and you haven't watched it yet, what are you even doing?