Discussion What's Your Favorite Anime That ISN'T Mainstream?

[nembutal]

welcome to the nhk, haibane renmei, alien nine

 

[mafuyu]

I live and die by steins gate.

"It feels like time is passing so quickly. Damn you, Einstein! Your science is crowding in on our kiss! He was right. The passage of time depends entirely on where you're standing.


Relativity Theory... it's so romantic. But it's just so tragic too."

 

[EraseMe]

Durarara!!, Attack on Titan, Medaka Box, and Mob Psycho are my top favorites. Medaka Box I am primarily taking the manga into account since the anime was cancelled/dropped.

 

[Kurushii]

I like lots of animes and picking a favourite isn't something I can do easily but one I loved a lot is Kamisama Kiss!

 

[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

I live and die by steins gate.

"It feels like time is passing so quickly. Damn you, Einstein! Your science is crowding in on our kiss! He was right. The passage of time depends entirely on where you're standing.


Relativity Theory... it's so romantic. But it's just so tragic too."

the VN (especially for 0) is even better in a lot of ways, more detail, more buildup to the ending, more side-stories and lore about the characters, but i think my username would probably tell you I'm a massive stan of this series

All around good shit

 

[HerculePoirot]

"The Hand" by Jiri Trnka (1965)

 

[mafuyu]

you get it

edit: idk how to quote apparently

 

[Depresso]

I really like hell girl, red garden, and rin:daughters of mynemosyyne. All very good hidden horror gems from the mid 2000's.

 

[MitakaAsa]

I guess Chainsaw Man is mainstream now, but I still highly recommend it - moreso the manga than the anime, but still. Outside of that, I really love Mob Psycho, Serial Experiments Lain, and Revolutionary Girl Utena, just to name a few.

 

[lofticries]

Recovery of an mmo junkie. And watamote. I can't believe how much I identify with the main leads.

 

[MidnightCat]

It's mainstream, but wanted to share nontheless.

Evangelion. It really gets me in the mood when I'm nostalgic/severely depressed.

Cowboy beebop, Karekano, Trigun, Sorcerous stabber Orphen, (The original ones)

Also, I really laughed with welcome to the NHK, I really like it. Call of the night feels kinda nostalgic too.

I should check Watamote.

 

[CringeNihilism]

Anime: Babylon
it discusses the concept of suicide and the right-to-die.
Manga: Oyasumi punpun

 

[Noisemaker]

Kino no Tabi (2003)

 

[Nervonia]

I'm not sure if it's mainstream or not I'm only just getting into watching it 'properly' but I saw one about 8 years ago called Deathman wonderworld or something, it was about these people in prison who had special powers with their blood and each one had a different thing they could do with there blood like one was swords coming out of their arms another was a tail I think but I cant remember much pass that

 

[Unsure and Useless]

I don't watch anime that much anymore since I choose to read manga, but Osomatsu-san is good. Record of Ragnarok (though I don't know if this is mainstream since it got its own anime) and Sengoku Komachi Kurou Tan are two non-mainstream manga that I read.

 

[mmoq13]

Tatami galaxy and paranoia agent

 

[charlotte_]

banana fish and happy sugar life. both talks abt insanely messed up topics, very well written characters and interesting plot. im going to try watching monster soon, heard its good

 

[Touhou]

Space Battleship Yamato & NGE.

 

[Danyyyyy]

I think I mentioned in another thread, but my fav is SHIMONETA, which is a world where Japan has taken measures on the internet and society to the max, with no porn AT ALL or even saying bad words and so some silly ppl say "NO WE LIKE PENIS AND STUF" so they do a bunch of stuff to sorta "rebel" and also find ANCIENT porn stashes LMAOO. It does get tense sometimes cuz it's just straight up creepy, but most of the show is rlly silly and funny asff :PP

 

[19runthepainaway]

i dont rly watch anime anymore (rip) but no. 6 is a very cute mlm anime and i got obsessed lmao

or if thats not ur thing sayonara zetsubou-sensei is fucking hilarious

 

[AloeGarten]

3 gatsu no lion, zankyou no terror and parasyte are very underrated. Usagi drop is also a wholesome one (the anime not the manga)

 

[ivzxkou]

serial experiments lain is mainstream depending who you ask
kyousougiga
a good movie is chirin no suzu

 

[yume]

Mushi-shi maybe? It plays out like a collection of folk tales about mysterious bug spirit things called Mushi, it has a pretty unique vibe to it.

 

[Mismagius_.]

Monogatari series, i just like the word play and general tone of it

 

[hungry_ghost]

i will always reccomend the claymore manga - my library has it so i dont know how ""obscure"" it is, but whatever lol.

its basically about a bunch of girls mixed with monster flesh that go around killing monsters, focused on the weakest girl. i will warn that the young kid the protag picks up becomes her love interest by the end of the series??? its rlly fucking weird.

its already completed, long enough to enjoy but short enough to finish (27 volumes if i remember correctly), and the monster designs are really fucking cool.

i thinkkk you can probably find a translation on mangadex? ill have to go check and reread it while im there LOL (edit: first 5 chapters then a skip to chapter 50 of 200... maybe go find a diff website lol)

I watched Claymore because someone said it was the female version of Berserk, almost. I did enjoy it.

I swear anime in general has some very interesting concepts.

 

[5417807]

I've been into anime since the early 2000s because my parents watched it so a lot of the "none mainstream" anime's I saw when they were a bit more mainstream at least within the weeb culture. I haven't watched anime actively in like 5 years so it's hard to say for anime but my fave manga of all time are:

Bloom into you
Yuri is my job
The girl from the other side
Oyasumi punpun (I have a tattoo of this one)
dead demons dededede destruction
A silent voice

 

[borderline-feline]

I think I mentioned in another thread, but my fav is SHIMONETA, which is a world where Japan has taken measures on the internet and society to the max, with no porn AT ALL or even saying bad words and so some silly ppl say "NO WE LIKE PENIS AND STUF" so they do a bunch of stuff to sorta "rebel" and also find ANCIENT porn stashes LMAOO. It does get tense sometimes cuz it's just straight up creepy, but most of the show is rlly silly and funny asff :PP

That's the anime where the one girl makes cookies filled with her... um, love, right?

i dont rly watch anime anymore (rip) but no. 6 is a very cute mlm anime and i got obsessed lmao

or if thats not ur thing sayonara zetsubou-sensei is fucking hilarious

Sayouara, Zetsubou-Sensei just hits different when you're suicidal. Good taste.

 

[leloyon]

I'm not sure, because to be honest I don't know what is and isn't mainstream nowadays… I'm tempted to say Serial Experiments Lain, but that's been gaining popularity…

 

[NoLoveNoHope]

Great Teacher Onizuka and Watamote.

Watamote has been explained already so I'll skip over that.

Great Teacher Onizuka is about a high school teacher who is rude, perverted and an ex gang member transitioning into a high school teacher since he has passion for it. He wants to be the greatest teacher of all time since his teachers mistreated him.

He cares for every single one of his students despite their attempts to frame him, bully and harass him. Over the story he helps every student achieve their dreams and is a positive role model. He is an absolute flawed idiot but he is an amazing person. Despite everything he is and has done he has proved himself where it matters. He has a heart of gold even if it is a little perverted and criminal.

He is a flawed person trying to make the best of himself. I highly recommend it, the manga is a lot more crude than the anime. It's not scared to have themes of depression, suicide, bullying, harassment, stalking and violence.

 

[ireallylikemangoes]

My all time favourite anime is Houseki no Kuni/Land of the Lustrous, anime only has 1 season and in the manga, everything goes from 0 to 100 where the anime left off. It's a good read but it's really sad

It's probably more mainstream after its anime adaptation got announced but I recently started reading Oshi no Ko and it's pretty good, I'm a sucker for revenge stories cause I know I'll never be able to have one of my own so I live vicariously through these characters