Anime/Manga Expectations Subverted

Which series (or specific seasons maybe) have you enjoyed way more or way less than you expected at first? What made the difference?

A Destructive God Sits Next to Me comes to mind... I ended up... not liking that one as much as I thought I would. It came out a season directly after Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy, which was so funny & enjoyable. I thought another anime about a chuunibyou would be funny, but this one just ended up getting stale very quickly. I'm disappointed that this anime just wasn't very good. I wanted to like it.

Also, Classicaloid. I enjoyed that anime A LOT more than I initially thought I would have. Definitely exceeded my low expectations.

91 Days. I watched it shortly after completing Baccano thinking that it would have a similar vibe, which it did. What I didn't expect is for me to like it more than Baccano. It's just a really good tale of revenge and at certain parts had me hoping that he'd throw it all away for the sake of the bonds he'd forged.

Beastars. I looked at it a couple of times before actually watching it and was put off by the animation style since I've been done dirty by bad cgi so many times. But after getting into it it's definitely one of my more favorite "Netflix Originals".

Citrus. I was made a victim of targeted ads and thought that it would be a good show from what I'd seen. But no, it was not. For me lately, shows that brush off attempted rape or stalking as being romantic or endearing acts that make you want to fall in love have become grating.

Deca-Dence. I figured after the first episode that it was just going to be an AoT ripoff with pretty colors and would probably be a middle of the road show. But after watching it through, it was definitely a lot more enjoyable than something like that.

Eromanga-sensei. The way that people on the internet bashed this anime, I would have assumed it to be something absolutely atrocious and/or completely unwatchable. Imagine my surprise when it's neither of those things and pretty much nothing exciting actually happens. Took the perspective of a 3 anime up to a 7. Also falls into the same category as Rent-A-Girlfriend. People getting upset over nothing to make everyone think it's bad when it's actually just OK.

Cross Ange springs to mind immediately here, because I was not impressed by the first couple of episodes. But what I got the best anime I'd seen in years, with some really likeable characters that made up for the absurd trainwreck of a plot. What made the difference was that Ange didn't spend all her time lamenting about how miserable and downtrodden she was, she got...well, cross. Also Embryo is probably the most hilarious jab at creepy otaku I've ever seen in an anime...that he was a Milliardo Peacecraft expy only made it that much more hilarious.

Considering how dismal the original Hellsing anime is, I didn't expect much from Hellsing Ultimate either. But I was impressed by this even before it was dubbed, and when the original dub voice cast reprised their roles - the dub of the original show being the only thing I liked about it, because come on, it's CRISPIN FREEMAN - I was absolutely blown away. Fantastic show.

Gundam: Reconguista in G goes the other way, as being the first (and only, at least to date) Gundam anime that I have absolutely loathed. The plot has no clear focus and doesn't go anywhere, the characters are extremely boring and generally unlikeable, and it has that abhorrent Eureka Seven art style. Considering this was written by Tomino, who also wrote Zeta - i.e. my favourite Gundam series - that only makes it all the more shocking for how BAD it really is. I actually watched this show week-to-week as well, waiting for something to happen, because it's Gundam, something ALWAYS happens. Nothing ever did. God, what a waste of time.

Speaking of weekly wastes of time...Dokidoki Precure. This one kinda did a complete 180 mid-season, because the first half of it was amazing. I mean, it wasn't Suite amazing or anything, but it had a pretty grounded plot, some great character development for ALL the Cures, and not much filler at all. It was like the complete opposite of Smile, which seemed content to do whatever week-by-week. But then Regina - who drove the entire narrative forward - got replaced by Madoka Aguri...I swear, Madoka is a cursed name. Aguri just hijacked the entire show and absolutely nothing she ever said or did justified Regina, who was by far a more interesting character, being sidelined. She basically turned the show into Smile. Dokidoki's second half is the worst Precure has been since HeartCatch. I was expecting them to stick the landing with this show after such a strong start, and they definitely didn't. I suppose expecting anything from a show whose target audience is very young Japanese girls and is primarily used to sell merchandise is a bit silly, but when it starts off so well, one does hope.

There are more, but those are the ones that stick out to me the most right now.

I have quite a few of these, but the one I want to start with for now is 7 Seeds. I just finished Season 2 on Netflix and it left me genuinely wanting more. The thing is, I went into the beginning with pretty low expectations and for the first several expectations, they weren't really proved wrong. Even now the series can struggle to manage its huge cast and at the beginning it was at its worst with this and there was little growth, development or excitement since the early episodes had to be spent establishing a lot of the key players.

However it recovered really well by about a third of the way through and they could start exploring the history of the world, introducing mysteries and developing characters further. Then season two came along and blew the first out of the water with a much more cohesive narrative and great character growth. I have high hopes for a potential third season and intend to read the manga as it's apparently even better because it lacks the time constraints of the anime.

I was expecting a very meh anime and thought I was going to get one and had the interesting viewing experience of watching a series grow from exactly that into something much better of the course of its run so far.

Sword Art Online.

Such a brilliant concept, such stunning animation. However, the plot is a mess. The execution of this anime is poor. It's such a shame with such a brilliant premise. However, the fact that characters were continually killed off mere minutes after being introduced was quite irritating. It really cheapened the entire show for me. Moreover, I just felt it became all too predictable and in the worst way possible. I wouldn't say predictability is necessarily a bad thing, but in combination with a lacklustre plot overall, it certainly is. This show just failed to deliver. I made it to the beginning of the second season before I threw in the towel and abandoned it, finally fed up with the direction it was going in. I haven't seen SAO in a few years now so I can't quite articulate every detail about it that I was disappointed with. However, as a whole, I was less than impressed with this series.

Science fell in love so I tried to prove it.

This anime, however, exceeded my expectations quite significantly. I recall seeing advertisements for it on Crunchyroll and gaining a genuine interest. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I think this anime is criminally underrated. It is informative, heavily comedic, with romantic elements as well. The way in which science is approached is refreshing, it's very intriguing, they truly examine love from a scientific and biological standpoint in such a creative fashion. I think it balances itself out very well and made for an enjoyable watching experience. It is a bit of a brief series, being only twelve episodes in length, though. I have recommended to many and continue to do so. It's a lovely slice of life that is sort of easy and comforting to watch. The characters are also quite interesting and they have excellent chemistry with one another. It just is a phenomenal anime that certainly subverted my expectations.

The good ones:

I already mentioned WataTen in the other thread. tl;dr I thought it was super creepy at first, but I ended up really enjoying Miya-nee's development and was rooting for her.
Joshikousei No Mudazukai - at first it was just a light-hearted school slice of life. Then episode 11 came and I found it so impactful it completely overshadowed the rest of the show.
Parasyte: The Maxim - went in expecting a creepy, gory action, a bit of edge. But it completely exceeded my expectations with its character building and sheer suspense. None of the shock-value scenes felt cheap. It ended up being one of my favorites of all time.
Tsuki ga Kirei - I thought it was going to be yet another school romance which is going to make me feel warm inside and then I'll move on. But damn... the ending... it got 3 tears out of me. The way relationship development is portrayed also looked incredibly real, something you don't see that often.

The bad one:

March Comes in Like a Lion - everyone was praising it, so I decided to see what the fuss is all about. For whatever reason, it was so incredibly boring to me. And it's not like I don't enjoy character/dialogue driven shows. I still don't know why I found it so boring, but I never picked it up again after dropping it about half way through.

Roaming Emboar said:

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is not just an anime. It is a masterpiece. It is comedy gold (to me at least). It is tear-jerking and I'm a person who rarely cries. I went into this anime thinking that it was just another bland harem anime with characters that rely on tropes (Like Myriad Colors Phantom World. <-- Avoid this show.) and the first few episodes really set up for that but it completed shifted into one of the most emotional show I've ever watched (This shows sort of like a more light hearted version of Clannad). This show is easily my favorite anime of all time, right next to Hunter x Hunter.

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I had a similar experience! Such a fantastic show.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Zexal's my favorite and technically it fits that bill but with Zexal it was more consistent. The first arc of the show introduces the big bads of the second the story of it tends to go places towards the end of said arc but like...you kind of know because it's building up to that point. Granted it does get really dark by the end.

GX is different in that once it hits season 3 it changes. A lot. And this is important, because GX a lot of the time really isn't good, like, I'd say the first season of the show is bearable and the second is slightly more bearable, but the third season is really where it takes off. And it's not that unusual for shows to get dark arcs or anything, I mean this is YGO we're talking about but like...holy shit. A lot of the time this arc isn't happy in the slightest, like there's no real chilling out in the schoolyard going on. Just a bunch of losses and dealing with those losses and even the victories end up being losses, and it's not good just because it's dark, though I think that it realizes it can be what it is so effectively because of where the show was beforehand is a real strength. It's a really fun watch and the conclusion is surprising as hell.

Then there's the fourth season which is the best season. Of Yugioh. Period. Because while there is a big bad, he doesn't come until near the even despite that it's clear that the point of the season is to be a sendoff. So you get all these really just...nice character focused episodes that would contain all of these characters peaking in their character arcs and seeing how far they've come and it's just really, really nice. Especially in the case of Manjoume Sanda/Chazz Princeton who I'd write about but he deserves an entire book. Of the Kaiba expies he's the best by far and definitely the best character in GX.

So yeah it's one of the only cases I've seen of a show being only decently watchable, arguably not watchable for a good deal of it's run time and then just having this upward slope of really, really fucking good.

Honestly, Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen were more enjoyable than I expected them to be.

Because I've spent so many years not getting into all those typical shonen series, but those two are just... very well done. With animation, and fights, and pacing. It just kept me watching. Maybe it's also because I love demons and lore, too, but yeah. I went in expecting to only watch one episode and then stop. lol

Drew said:

Honestly, Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen were more enjoyable than I expected them to be.

Because I've spent so many years not getting into all those typical shonen series, but those two are just... very well done. With animation, and fights, and pacing. It just kept me watching. Maybe it's also because I love demons and lore, too, but yeah. I went in expecting to only watch one episode and then stop. lol

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Agreed. Jujutsu Kaisen is incredible. There's a show/manga called Kemono Jihen which is quite similar to Jujutsu Kaisen. Kemono Jihen only has 5 episodes at the moment though. Check it out.

for recent series I enjoyed more than I thought, bunny girl sempai and rent-a-girlfriend.

For just straight up subverting expectations I'd say anohana, and gleipner a little bit.

But its' an odd comparison because one happens in the beginning while the other is near the end.

machomuu said:

Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

GX is different in that once it hits season 3 it changes. A lot. And this is important, because GX a lot of the time really isn't good, like, I'd say the first season of the show is bearable and the second is slightly more bearable, but the third season is really where it takes off. And it's not that unusual for shows to get dark arcs or anything, I mean this is YGO we're talking about but like...holy shit. A lot of the time this arc isn't happy in the slightest, like there's no real chilling out in the schoolyard going on. Just a bunch of losses and dealing with those losses and even the victories end up being losses, and it's not good just because it's dark, though I think that it realizes it can be what it is so effectively because of where the show was beforehand is a real strength. It's a really fun watch and the conclusion is surprising as hell.

Then there's the fourth season which is the best season. Of Yugioh. Period. Because while there is a big bad, he doesn't come until near the even despite that it's clear that the point of the season is to be a sendoff. So you get all these really just...nice character focused episodes that would contain all of these characters peaking in their character arcs and seeing how far they've come and it's just really, really nice. Especially in the case of Manjoume Sanda/Chazz Princeton who I'd write about but he deserves an entire book. Of the Kaiba expies he's the best by far and definitely the best character in GX.

So yeah it's one of the only cases I've seen of a show being only decently watchable, arguably not watchable for a good deal of it's run time and then just having this upward slope of really, really fucking good.

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Facts, that show was a sleeper, but it got Really good by the end. And I agree the contrasting goofiness of the early seasons, somewhat made the rest standout even better, just because it made for good character development.

And I love Chazz too, but my guy was the little blue haired dude, he grew so much and became a badass in his own right.
It's easy to forget but that show may possibly be one the best examples of quality character development I have ever seen.

Even the side character grew as people, and went through moral or ethical reevaluations it was crazy.
I'd find myself rooting for characters I previously hated. But there were just multiple good "cartoon" shows airing around that time

There was that, Code Lyoko, Oban Star Racers. All extremely solid shows with great character development/change. Oban is my absolute favorite though.

Oh, Mairimashita! Iruma-kun. I never thought I'd enjoy that show, but damn if I didn't love every character, and wish there was a season 2.