this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2026
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So recently I had an anime watch party and we were browsing anime to watch and I came across Pluto. Admittedly I’m only 2 episodes in but so far it’s SO solid. And I’m just surprised I had never heard of it and it came out 3 years ago. Especially since it’s a reimagining of Astroboy and everyone’s heard of that…

Another one I had surprisingly never heard of but so far seems solid is Level E written by Yoshihiro Togashi. My favorite anime is YYH and I loved HxH so how come I hadn’t heard of Level E until now? Again, only 2 episodes in but seems legitimately good and it’s by a wildly successful creator.

What’s an anime you didn’t expect much of because it seems lesser known, but turns out to be very good? I mean like, not only do u like it but ur surprised the general public - casual anime fans aren’t aware of it.

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[–] toxicbubble@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] catalyst@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

It’s showtime!

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I used to make fun of Big O for being bad when it was on adult swim (I literally never watched it). Maybe I should finally give it a shot.

[–] toxicbubble@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

the ending was rushed but make sure to watch all two seasons. the show is inspired heavily by Batman the animated series

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[–] shittydwarf@piefed.ca 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I read Pluto and really enjoyed it, will try to watch it in the near future for sure. It's kind of stupid but "I parry everything" was excellent if you can get past the gag that the MC is just clueless.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 4 points 2 weeks ago

I do hate when MC’s are clueless but I suppose it CAN be funny if done right.

[–] ComfortableRaspberry@feddit.org 10 points 3 weeks ago

Pluto was great! Have fun watching it and enjoy the plot unfolding and twisting :)

[–] severalkittens@ani.social 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)
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[–] scytale@piefed.zip 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I thought YuYu Hakusho was way more popular than it actually was.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

It WAS super popular when it came out as well as when it was on Toonami around 2003. I’d consider it mainstream. But lately, aside from the live action hype, it’s overshadowed more than it should be.

[–] scytale@piefed.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, like if you ask most people about the best OG shows of that era, it’s usually Dragonball, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, and Gundam. Even Hunter x Hunter ended up becoming more well known.

[–] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

FWIW, its getting the TFS abridged treatment, so maybe that'll boost its popularity a little bit.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

Oh that’s right. I hope it helps it out a bit. Honestly it would be amazing if YYH got the HxH treatment

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[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 weeks ago

Shoutout for Pluto!

[–] Meron35@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Dennoh Coil (2007), it's basically if Studio Ghibli did Sci-Fi. Won a bunch of awards in Japan, but never got mainstream.

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[–] bort@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

This and Pluto are the best scifi anime we had in recent years.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 3 points 2 weeks ago

Nice, This is actually on my anilist “plan to watch” already. So I’ll get to it eventually!

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[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Angel Beats was great but apparently not good enough to go mainstream. Only single season of like 13 episodes. I've watched it a few times. It's funny and I recommend.

[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It was mainstream for its time. But yeah, great stuff!

[–] Anivia@feddit.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, Angel Beats was very popular for a while when it aired. Previous commenter probably watched it much later

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[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

planetes... enjoyed the heck out of it. I've only met one other person irl who's watched it... :|

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[–] rozodru@piefed.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

Fire Force. I got god damn hooked on that show a few years ago. And I'm someone who general just watches anime films, ovas, or limited series. favourites being Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex and Second Gig, FLCL, Cowboy Bebop, etc. so generally nothing that has multiple seasons.

So Fire Force really isn't the type of anime I'm into. I'm not huge on the goofy fan service type of stuff that takes place over multiple seasons. hell I've never watched One Piece. But this show for whatever reason just hooked me. I had reminders set for when new episodes would come out. I can't quite put my finger on why I liked it but I just did. It's fun.

Other than that I don't know how popular it is but Psycho Pass. that one is more up my ally. I enjoyed that and the theme song is a real banger.

[–] Vespair@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Warning, these are titty animes, so feel free to judge me if you want.

I have literally never heard anyone else talk about Sin: Nanatsu no Taiza/Seven Mortal Sins (this is NOT the Seven Deadly Sins show from Netflix), but I think it's incredible and incredibly deep. It doesn't totally beat you over the head with the themes, but it's an excellent take on the message of automony, free will, and determinism, with Lucifer the falling angel taking center stage.

Beyond that, I think Sekirei is probably one of my overall top favorite anime, with some truly fascinating world-building. It's Pokemon but big tiddy babes instead of little pocket monsters! That being said, there is one character that almost ruins the show with weird pedo bait and god I wish so very very much that character and her storyline just fully did not exist (Kuu).

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Titty anime definitely used to be offputting for me tbh. But the older and lonelier I get, the more I can deal with it. So I’ll add them to my watchlist.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It wasn't completely ignored, but I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder that Apocalypse Hotel didn't get way more recognition than it got. Should've won all the awards.

Going back a little deeper, I can't pretend to be surprised that Akagi isn't mainstream, but Kaiji by the same mangaka deserves more popularity. It's a tragedy that the anime ends at part 2 when part 3 was the peak.

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[–] sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Maybe it's just because it hit me the right way at the right time, but besides the deau meme, rozen maiden's first season hit me so hard I'm surprised it wasn't way more popular

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[–] kowanatsi@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Freedom (2006)

Wave, Listen to Me! (2020)

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[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Terminator Anime. It is surprisingly good but it had been cancelled because it wasn't popular enough.

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[–] USSEthernet@startrek.website 4 points 2 weeks ago

Outlaw Star

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

There's quite a few that I'm surprised I've never seen anyone talk about outside of dedicated forums.

Akudama Drive ruled start to finish. It's worth watching for the animation alone.

Xam'd: Lost Memories feels like it's only a few years old, but it came out less than a year after Gurren Lagann. In 2008. Bones makes real pretty shows.

Speaking of Bones, Carole and Tuesday was solid. My only issue was that it didn't take a hard enough stance against AI, but also it came out before ChatGPT and long before AI generated music was a real issue so I can't really blame them.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

inuyasha seems wierdly geared towards night audiences,. evangelion. its not as popular as bleach, naruto, onepiece, brotherhood/or og alchemist.(im guessing the latter 2 are too short of a series and the time between final season, or series is staggeringly long. rather than having season by season each year. inuyasha had a horrendous amount of time between the official last season to final act which showed signs it was clearly rushed for just one final season, like 4-5years, AOT level of ridiculousness.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Inuyasha was one of the most popular shows back when I was in middle school. Around when anime first started becoming more accessible in the US via Toonami and Adult Swim. I watched a little bit but didn’t stay up late enough to watch it continuously. I’ve been meaning to finish it.

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[–] maxalmonte14@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

The Fable, for sure, especially since people loved Sakamoto Days which is basically the same anime — except for the comedy.

[–] Juice@midwest.social 3 points 2 weeks ago

I just watched Pluto in the last few months, one of the best Anime I've ever seen.

[–] Lupo@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

These are my submissions

Katanagatari (Bumping OST and cool fights with Nisio Isin writing)

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (vibing isekai too busy surviving to care)

Ben-to (Stupid premise combat anime that lives rent free in my head)

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

BLUE gender, an odd show at late night, shows a bunch of bugs suddenly show up on earth out of nowhere after they did some experiments with DNA(sounds very familiar to evangelion if not the same story/premise).

the fun thing about the bugs was thier ability to evolve against human machinery, and consume both organic and inorganic matter like metal and concrete for energy, which made them the perfect weapon against humans. very evangelion like. by the end of the series the earth sent a signal to cause the bugs to go extinct, and the ones on the space station too. but left the scattered survivors. they were very obscure as to the origin of the bugs, and the strange guinan origin of bugs and the structure energy beam.

the OG full metal alchemist, i dont think it has much viewership as brotherhood. because it was on late night.

also Ghost in the shell, convoluted and hard to follow but i did get the jist of it by the end.

[–] sefra1@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

Now and Then, Here and There, a very heavy anime, I guess it's heaviness is the reason why it never became super popular, but still, I think it still had what it takes to become an anime of cult.

Shiki, also deserves more recognition than what it has.

Kemono no Souja Erin, I didn't finish this one, but the first half is amazing, unless the second half looses quality this one should have been popular too.

Also, it's worth to mention Gunslinger Girl.

All these shows are kinda dark, so maybe that's why they never got the recognition they deserve.

[–] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm watching Hell's Paradise right now. It's clearly done on a decent budget, but the animators are pretty good at knowing where they need to focus that cash. Meanwhile, the story is actually pretty good. For something like a Shonen-style power-system story, there's a lot more going on than just flashy martial arts. I'm enjoying this one, and am surprised I haven't heard of it before last month.

[–] catalyst@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I second Hell’s Paradise! Season 2 was fantastic.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

Great show. I finished that a few months ago. Definitely underrated. I’ve seen it recommended on Reddit a few times so not underground at all, but definitely a bit under appreciated. Animation is gorgeous for most of it and the whole thing is so eerie.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yu Yu Hakusho, maybe? I got into it originally because I confused it for Bleach, which was super popular at the time. Loved it more than Bleach. Though I do see it brought up a lot more now a days than back when it originally aired, which I chalk up to being overshadowed a bit by Bleach. They're very similar.

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[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 2 points 2 weeks ago

Saving... I'm going to try Pluto.

[–] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Deadman Wonderland

What the hell happened? They even had an original OST for the intro in English. Studio Manglobe wanted this to go places....and It just. Failed.

[–] JakenVeina@midwest.social 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Children of the Whales, also on Netflix. Pretty sure it flopped, cause it was years ago, and I haven't seen a second season.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah not sure I heard of this one. Netflix is weird with its anime marketing.

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