Obscure Anime You Should Watch

[Fauna]

I've been thinking for a while of making some threads to promote a handful of shows, but only now have I considered putting them all together with a rating system (K for kids, E for everyone, T for teen, M for mature). Hopefully this should lead to giving you all a look into anime from decades ago you may have missed, and maybe a bit of related discussion in here. Today, let's start with...


1. Giant Robo



Year: 1992-1998
Span: seven one-hour episodes
Rating: E, but T when you figure in the occasional harsh violence.

Summary: In the future, the Shizuma Drive has become the world's leading source of energy, cheap and completely pollution-free. However, when drives all over the world begin exploding when within range of a tremendous floating robot eye piloted by a new member of the dark BF Group, the International Police Organization must try to get to the bottom of the situation. But at the same time, the history of the Drive and its late researcher Franken von Vogler begin to emerge...

Review: This show sounds relatively simple, and sounds like it's mostly about giant robots, but you may be impressed (or disappointed) when you learn the robots are just a minor piece of the plot. I can't even describe episode three without worrying about spoiling something. It's an intriguing, tightly-woven show where each twist throws something new at you, changing everything you thought about the characters or plot an episode ago. Be prepared for moderate violence every now and then, a complicated plot to follow (for some people I pitch this to, it's a problem) and the soulcrushing feeling of watching characters you love be suddenly killed off.

Speaking of the characters, there's somebody for everyone, from the enigmatic and beautiful teenage agent Ginrei (pictured above), the bizarre and impressive Youshi the Blue Beast, to the stoic yet deeply powerful Chief Chujo the Silent. There's seriously nearly a hundred characters, common or otherwise, in the show.

Availability: The whole series is currently available on Youtube in English, but this is GR's strange old dub from the nineties that may take a bit of getting used to. The show is currently licensed from Media Blasters, but there's rumours they're nearing bankruptcy, so if you want the Japanese or the new English versions, look for the set whenever you can, as it's fairly affordable at some places.



(Next time: Android girls and scary old men, or Franco-Japanese master thieves!)

[Androids101]

Cool

[Astronomical girl]

Sounds interesting

ever heard of Nadia:Secret of Blue Water?

[Dr. Jerk]

I would suggest Time Bokan Series Yattaman and Gatchaman, although I guess with the recent release of Tatsunoko vs Capcom, I guess they're not quite as obscure as they used to be.

Good luck finding Yattaman episodes of the original 70's version. <_<

[Astronomical girl]

never head of those but then again Nadia is pretty obscure

[Fauna]

I actually tried to get into Yatterman around the start of my entry into general anime fandom, but got thrown off by how hard-to-find everything about it was. Plus, I kept getting thrown off by Doronjo's, er, "front-stationed heavy utility arsenal".

And Nadia...I had an opportunity to get the last DVD, but by that point it wasn't worthwhile. (Yay, the last four episodes!) It looks like something I'd be into, though.


There's something I followed as a young nerd, and that was to believe any old anime that was often talked-about was an important classic. I held things like Lupin III, Captain Harlock, the Dirty Pair, and Project A-Ko in high honour while my friend hated Akira because they "didn't like the style". I want more people to think like this, and it's this mentality that led me to purchase our next item, and like Akira, some of it is not for children...

2. Key The Metal Idol



Year: 1994-1997
Span: thirteen half-hour episodes, two 90-minute episodes
Rating: light M

Summary: Seventeen-year-old android girl Tokiko "Key" Mima is called home from school to discover her puppetmaker grandfather has passed away. On his recorded will, he promises Key can become human if she makes 30,000 friends before her batteries run out. Key goes to Tokyo and meets her old classmate Sakura, whom takes her in. At the same time, a twisted megalomaniac Jinsaku Ajo is attempting to collect "Gel" and market his brand of human-controlled droids...

Review: KTMI is dark. It's dark, sometimes incredibly unsettling, but contains some very good moments of creativity or beauty, often in scenes of Key edging towards becoming human and its gorgeous soundtrack. The plot twists are not afraid to come at you hard and throw you all over the place. I've met adults who have been disturbed by something in it, be it Ajo's obsession with his female droids or the sporadic carnality, but it's saved by Key - she's enigmatic, adorable and impossible not to like. Some people have a problem with the last two episodes, as one of them is mostly two characters talking (which reveals a massive plot twist), but I personally believe the show began and ended Key The Metal Idol. It's definitely worth a look if you're into robots or psychological anime, and are mentally-prepared. This show could be compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion...but better.

Availability: Very, very low. Is available on Youtube in english, with some parts removed from being reported for content issues. The DVDs are available on eBay in phases...one month, the first DVD will be common, and then another day the third DVD will appear. The whole show was last rereleased in 2004, and ViZ has abandoned the license.

[Astronomical girl]

There's something I followed as a young nerd, and that was to believe any old anime that was often talked-about was an important classic. I held things like Lupin III, Captain Harlock, the Dirty Pair, and Project A-Ko in high honour while my friend hated Akira because they "didn't like the style". I want more people to think like this, and it's this mentality that led me to purchase our next item, and like Akira, some of it is not for children...

2. Key The Metal Idol



Year: 1994-1997
Span: thirteen half-hour episodes, two 90-minute episodes
Rating: light M

Summary: Seventeen-year-old android girl Tokiko "Key" Mima is called home from school to discover her puppetmaker grandfather has passed away. On his recorded will, he promises Key can become human if she makes 30,000 friends before her batteries run out. Key goes to Tokyo and meets her old classmate Sakura, whom takes her in. At the same time, a twisted megalomaniac Jinsaku Ajo is attempting to collect "Gel" and market his brand of human-controlled droids...

Review: KTMI is dark. It's dark, sometimes incredibly unsettling, but contains some very good moments of creativity or beauty, often in scenes of Key edging towards becoming human and its gorgeous soundtrack. The plot twists are not afraid to come at you hard and throw you all over the place. I've met adults who have been disturbed by something in it, be it Ajo's obsession with his female droids or the sporadic carnality, but it's saved by Key - she's enigmatic, adorable and impossible not to like. Some people have a problem with the last two episodes, as one of them is mostly two characters talking (which reveals a massive plot twist), but I personally believe the show began and ended Key The Metal Idol. It's definitely worth a look if you're into robots or psychological anime, and are mentally-prepared. This show could be compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion...but better.

Availability: Very, very low. Is available on Youtube in english, with some parts removed from being reported for content issues. The DVDs are available on eBay in phases...one month, the first DVD will be common, and then another day the third DVD will appear. The whole show was last rereleased in 2004, and ViZ has abandoned the license.

Sounds cool,I'll wiki it and check it out. Detective Conan anyone?

[jeffbert]

I watched & enjoyed Nadia:Secret of Blue Water very much. It is very loosely based upon Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I also enjoyed reading. Yet, Nadia involves two young barely adolescent kids who are brought together out of necessity. The bulk of the episodes involve them being pursued by a female villain & her two henchmen, though once she changes her goals, she befriends the kids. They eventually meet Capt. Nemo, who turns out to be the girl's papa.

It turns out that the true villain runs a secret organization bent upon world conquest, & the jewel that the girl wears & as I recall was the female ex-villain's objective, is key to world conquest; but that is an oversimplification.

The thing is like a roller coaster in that it is action oriented, & padded with comedy; up, down, & around. I will watch it again sometime soon. One of the best features is that it is set in the late 19th early 20th centuries, & the boy is a mechanical genius, who builds many interesting & often funny steam-powered contraptions. If you have ever watched documentaries about the history of flight, you may have seen similar goofy devices whose inventors really hoped would fly.

For those in the USA, it should be available from Netflix.

I also watched KEY, but that was so long ago, I do not remember anything about it.

[Astronomical girl]

I watched it too when i was younger but i didn't remember the name of show only the names of the boy Louis and Captain Nemo which was about it

[F-Man]

Other than Tezuka, all my anime are pretty mainstream. Satoshi Kon, Studio Ghibli, Gainax...

So about Tezuka: I give my heaviest recommendation for the Phoenix trilogy made in 86-87. The Houou, Yamato and Space chapters. These are the definitive holy grail of Tezuka anime, and I'm glad to see the opinion is shared, as the three titles are the highest rated on Tezuka's AniDB page. While the last two chapters were direct-to-video, the Houou chapter was a theatrical feature, and a true classic on the level of Akira Kurosawa. In fact, it's better than the Kurosawa films I've seen in my humble opinion.

There is a great review on Anime News Network, but please don't read it before watching, as it includes spoilers without warning.

As for availability, you have to find subs for it on the internet. It was released in Japanese-only in Japan.