What's an anime that you thought you'd hate when you first heard about it, only to really like in when you sat down and watched it?

What's something that you figured you'd love when you first heard about it, but you wound up being really disapointed by?

I was pleasantly surprised by Initial D. I put off watching this series for a long time in spite of hearing loads of good things about it. I really didn't like the character design, and what I knew about the story didn't interest me at all.

But friends talked me into reading some of the manga and checking out the series, and while I still don't like the character design much, the rest of the show was extremely entertaining.

I haven't been super disapointed by much anime. Obviously, there's a lot of bad stuff out there, but I try and read up on stuff a lot before I watch it, and I can be pretty easy to please. All I can think of off the top of my head is Tenchi Muyo. They started showing it on Cartoon Network in the days of anime on vhs, so any new series was really exciting to me. I thought the first episode was fantastic, and I was thrilled to have something new and neat to watch. However, after that first one, I didn't enjoy any episodes. I remember being so sad and frusterated.

Before anyone yells at me, keep in mind that Cartoon Network hacked Tenchi to pieces when they aired it. I've seen some Tenchi (not the same Tenchi series, though) outside of that, and I really enjoyed it.

Wow. Your stories about those shows match mine pretty closely. I found Tenchi rather disappointing also. I enjoyed the first couple of episodes, but it got old really quick. Initial D was one that I wasn't enthused about since it was marketed to the Fast and the Furious fans in the US, but I rented it on a whim and absolutely fell in love with its original version, although the dub is an atrocity.

I usually read up on stuff too, so it's hard to disappoint me, but I do take chances occasionally. Just last week, I picked up a copy of Area 88, not expecting much out of it. It turned out to be something that instantly ranked high on my list of favorites. Gokudo is another show that really surprised me by being much more enjoyable than I ever would have thought.

I think the most disappointed I've ever been in a show was with Cosmo Warrior Zero. I mean, the show is about a guy assigned to hunt down Captain Harlock, one of my favorite characters of all time. It sounds like a perfect opportunity to show off just how badass the character is. Sadly, it featured a version of Harlock that just wasn't up to snuff. The show was decent enough, but I couldn't get over that one little thing.

Well alot of people i know said that hunterxhunter was rubbish and that it had no real storyline, but i caught a glimpse of 3-4 episodes and its pretty good i'm quite impressed with what i've seen.

EDIT:Yes Naruto is pretty good.....is it wrong that i have every single translated naruto movie and episode so far :S the wierd thing is every time i hit a new chapter in the anime i notice a flaw yet i still watch it.

i was recently surprised by TechTV/G4 when I saw Gungrave. Cause besides lain and betterman, the other anime shows sucked and i thought this was going to continue on like this. crappy anime. but then i saw gungrave and i was like, oh shit. now i plan to buy the entire collection of gungrave if i can ever find it.


also. a friend of mine kept telling me about naruto and i was like, man i bet its gonna suck. i'm not that much into brand spanking new anime. the quality sucks! damn half assed coloring jobs. so i wasn't interested at all. but he kept telling me and i trust him cause that guys the type of people that are always ahead of everyone else. (i don't know if you have a friend like that, whatever new thing you think you found, your friend knew about it years before? lol he's like that) so i said, fine, and i d/led only the first 4 eps, and was surprised at how i cried during that one scene on just the first 4 eps. i was like, oh shit, imagine the later eps!

i'm not ashamed to admit i cry during some anime. :p sailor moon made me cry. which is why i love it to death. why neflite!!! come back neflite!!!!! :cry:

i tried to hold them back when i saw X, its just damn sad. :( a true tragedy!

also. i was paranoid like its not even funny, that i would end up hating neon genese evangelion after ALL THE YEARS OF HYPE!! and i don't know if you guys know, but HYPE, can ruin even the very best movies!! even if the movie/anime itself was well done in every respect, casting, cinemotography, animation, color, voices, EVERYTHING, HYPE, will always manage to destroy it!!!! hype is a powerful enemy!

so anyway, after years of hype, i decided to buy the entire collection and watched it, and BAM!!! it blew my mind. i loved it. and i'm so glad i wasn't influenced by the millions of idiots on the net. i just pushed all the hype aside, and forgot about it. the only thing i kept was, "i heard it was really good". and left it at that. and still watched it as if expecting nothing. and boy was i surprised. :)

For me it would be bleach...I firtst thought, nah not my thing, but then I watched the first eo and thought, oh not bad...now I'm addicted ^___^

I watched one episode of Bleach and gave it up immediately for the same reason I gave up Flame of Recca. There was just too much recycled material. I had seen it all before in other shows, so my time would be better spent looking for new material.

Biggest surprise that I liked: Neon Genesis Evangelion. Mainly because I was thinking "Shit, another anime about teenagers piloting badass mechs." The comedy in the early parts of it kept me watching it, and later the actual story had me wondering how it would turn out.

Still wanting an actual resolution instead of an ending that's so ambiguous, even with the movies.

Biggest disappointment would have to go to Gundam Wing. After having seen the old school original Gundam series, and hearing people say that series was so much better, I thought it would be pretty good.

Boy was I disappointed! Eye candy but no substance whatsoever!

I would like to put Hellsing in here somewhere, but I pretty much got what I expected from that one! Pretty cool, even in spite of the hellaciously spoiler filled AMV that got me interested in it.

Dr. Slump - though it would bestupid but, hell that anime was so fun towatch - kicks butt!! ^_^

My biggest surprise was actually Mobile Suit Gundam, I thought I wouldn't like it at first, but then I watched an episode and it was awesome. My biggest dissapointment was Gundam Wing cause I expected it to be great, but then it wasn't so fun to watch.

Did you see Gundam Wing first?



Biggest disappointment would have to go to Gundam Wing. After having seen the old school original Gundam series, and hearing people say that series was so much better, I thought it would be pretty good.

They probably said it was better because they had a thing for the pilots or something stupid like that. =\ Gundam Wing was so terrible

Gundam Wing was hilarious, but not one to be enjoyed as a serious anime.

I mean, a given Gundam does one thing and obliterates every single enemy on the field.

Ridiculous firepower.

Also, no skill is required when all you have to do is push a button and everyone opposing you dies.

Amuro Ray would kick Heero Yui's butt any day, even if Heero was piloting that blasted Wing Zero (Amuro had the God Gundam by the end of the series, iirc).

haha,"God Gundam". That's from G(for god! They changed the name of the gundam and its "God Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinger!!!!" special attack when it came to america) Gundam.

Amuro had the nuGundam.

Tokyo Godfathers. Probably. I didn't expect much, and had heard nothing about it, but it was really cool. ^^

I thought that Fruits Basket would suck at first. When my uncle first gave it to me I thought that it would be like one of those little kiddy animes. After I saw the first episode I flipped for the series. I mean, the depth of all the characters really surprised me, and I fell in love with the personality of the main character Tohru Honda. Hehe, I also became a huge Yuki fan. lol.
It was a really good story. ^^

Did you see Gundam Wing first?
No, actually I thought it was gonna be a Macross ripoff. I saw Macross before I saw Gundam.

man. i must be the only guy in the whole world that loves gundam wing. i don't get it. i saw all the other ones, and they blow my mind just as well. (turnA, X,) but wing was still awesome! its my favorite! i collect all the models and am looking for a good price on the 1/60 scale wing zero. yes i'll admit, g:wing was my first gundam series, but even after seeing a couple of other ones, its still my favorite! imo, niehter of the other series is better or worse than the other. imo, they are all great. i simply say wing is my FAVORITE. not the BETTER ONE. theres a diffrence between (fav and better). so please, save yourself a discussion!













ps. robotech owns them all anyway!

Tokyo Godfathers. Probably. I didn't expect much, and had heard nothing about it, but it was really cool. ^^

Toyko Godfathers is still the best thing I've seen in ages. ^^

naruto. i know its terrible but i enjoy watching it anyway

One Piece. I've always thought it was the most dumbest anime I've ever heard of. I even saw the drawing and I was like, "what a load of junk." Well I was completely wrong. One Piece is actually a pretty good anime if you give it a chance.

haha,"God Gundam". That's from G(for god! They changed the name of the gundam and its "God Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinger!!!!" special attack when it came to america) Gundam.

Amuro had the nuGundam.

It's been so long since I watched those other Gundam anime, wasn't Amuro in G Gundam also? Or was it another character with a similar name or something?

Also, not a stickler hardcore anime fan, I just think Gundam Wing blows in comparison to the other Gundam anime.

It's been so long since I watched those other Gundam anime, wasn't Amuro in G Gundam also? Or was it another character with a similar name or something?

Also, not a stickler hardcore anime fan, I just think Gundam Wing blows in comparison to the other Gundam anime.


as a non-stickler hardcore anime fan, for some reason, i found your opinion more valuable than every other opinion made in this forum combined. :p


makes me think twice about the other gundams i've seen. i just saw them but never got as involved. (emotionally). i just saw them for the sake of seeing them, got blown away at the cool scenes and that was it. but only in wing was i like "omg hurry! you can make it heero!" and "no quatre!! don't give up damn joo!!!"

i actually got into it. :p


that's why its my fav. :)

[saw the others]...(turnA, X,)

Try watching the series from the original timeline instead of the random alternate universe gundam series.



And I was reminded of Nausicaa.

I was looking forward to it because I'm a fan of the comic and a pretty critical friend of mine said it was his favorite Miyazaki film, but the movie was so bad =\ They took the story and just chopped it down and then filled it with cliches to round out the retelling. It reminded me kind of what happened with CG Appleseed, except I wasn't dissapointed with that one since I was expecting it to not be any good =\

After I saw it the friend explained to me that he saw it a long time ago and was high and mostly just liked the art direction.

The english version of ceres suck from what I heard...but not really sure. I only have the japanese one.

You heard right jiro, the english version of Ayashi no Ceres does suck.

I can enjoy almost any anime that has giant robots in it. If the story sucks, I just ignore it and stare at the robots.

Also: I'm so picky about anime that I can't remember any collossal disappointments. I'm only a casual fan. Also: I can't think of anything I expected to dislike and then liked. All the anime I'm actually a fan of was stuff that I heard about and thought would be cool (and was!) or stuff that I'd never heard of until I happened to see it. So basically: I'm boring. ;_;

naruto. i know its terrible but i enjoy watching it anyway

:O!! Naruto aint terrible

I would have to say.....Final Fantasy Unlimited...

cuz all my friends said it would suck cuz they have seen it. but we were at the local anime store in reno and i couldnt find any good animes. well I dont ever wanna waste a chance to get a anime so i had to pick one. i chose Gunmarch Parade....but at the corner of my eye i saw FFU and i picked it up and took it and watched it ...i have to say its a ok anime not as good as berserk of course.

Ghost in a Shell. Gave me reason to try and be less prejudice :D

Mindgame
friend o mine just basicly gave me the disc saying i should check it out if i got the time without a description wich is always a great way to discover new anime
i'm into experimental stuff anyways and its just visually the most brilliant thing in years

Steamboy
bein one of the biggest Akira fans out there i knew from the start i couldnt expect anything that would surpass it or even compare it to eachother seeing as the setting was totally different and just enjoy the ride for what it was wich i did and loved

I'm opposite of you on Steamboy. I thought I'd probably like it, but I found it to be really mediocre. I can't say I regret watching it, but I'll never have any desire to see it again.

One that I've been very pleasantly surprised with has been Madlax. At a glance, it looked like nothing more than a Noir clone and the first episode was almost enough to make me give up on it. Thankfully, I stuck with it and have now seen twelve episodes. The slow pacing would probably turn a lot of people off, but the way the two main characters are affecting each others' lives without ever meeting is really neat to me.

i thought HARLOCK SAGA would be rubbish becuase of my freinds veiws but it was and still is very entertaining.

Naruto - Japenses version. I thought the first episodes were really bad but when they started doing missions it wasn't bad. Now I love to watch it.

Well... I'll forever be mortified by my love of Sailor Moon, but some things are more important than having friends. ^^''

Fushigi Yuugi is one of those series where I still can't figure out why I had to buy the whole thing. (Including the 2 stupid OVAs...) Who knows.

I agree with Ndi about Initial D. Before I watched it about 4 or so years ago, I was never very enthusiastic about cars and couldn't imagine watching an anime purely dedicated to driving (I didn't know about Fast & Furious at the time). After watching just 2 episodes of it, I was addicted to it and it became one of my favourites, not to mention the fact that it got me addicted to cars in general.

The biggest surprise for me though was One Piece. When I first saw an episode of it way back in 2000 when it was unknown to the anime community, I thought it was some old anime since the animation was so simplistic. I continued watching it several years later and to my surprise I was addicted to it by the time I got to episode 10 and would continue watching it upto episode 70-something in just a few days!

As for a few other anime that really surprised me:
Full Moon wo Sagashite, which looked like some kiddie show at the start but then became really fun and entertaining and eventually a heart-wrenching drama I always remember. I finished it in a few days.

Gantz, which I had absolutely zero expectations and especially since I wasn't really into the "very dark" kind of anime at the time but little did I know that it would became one of the best anime I've seen. It was surprisingly much deeper and more complex and thought-provoking than it seemed at first. Although the anime has ended, the manga is still continuing.

Groove Adventure Rave and Wild Arms TV, both seemed like sterotypical RPG-style fantasy anime in the first few episodes so I quite watching them but after watching them again after a few years and giving them another chance, I thought they were great!

As for dissapointments, the most recent one was Elfen Lied. After reading reviews by people saying its one of the best "darker" anime they've seen, I had my hopes up for it but was dissapointed since it just turned out to be a harem anime but with gore and violence. It didn't really have anything new to offer nor did it have anything deep, complex or meaningful about it and most of the characters were quite shallow and stereotypical, which isn't what I'd expect from a top anime... but it was still enjoyable despite those things.

I was also dissapointed by Spirited Away because I loved some of Miyazaki's other anime like Laputa and Mononoke Hime but was expecting Spirited Away to live upto those standards. Although it had quite a few boring parts that made me feel sleepy, it was still enjoyable overall, since it's still better than most of Disney's efforts.

Another anime I was dissapointed by was Noir. It had many good reviews but after watching it, it was really boring with just some nice action scenes here and there. I tried to give it a chance but eventually quit watching it before getting to episode 10 as I didn't really see the story going anywhere.

Jagged, please don't compare a decent show like Initial D to a shit movie like The Fast and the Furious. :(

what else is there? gone in 60 seconds? and if so. which version? :p

Naruto is the best, japanese version, of course....but i dislike....none, yet

Pani Poni Dash! is actually quite good. Im about 2 eps into it and loving it. If you like Excel Saga you will like this.

Jagged, please don't compare a decent show like Initial D to a shit movie like The Fast and the Furious. :(

I wasn't comparing shit! But I got to admit, Fast & Furious is rubbish.

I wasn't comparing shit! But I got to admit, Fast & Furious is rubbish.

Amen to that.

Kiki's Delivery service suprised me as i had slated it to be to childish - but i really enjoyed it.

I was quite pleasantly surprised by Godannar. I bought the first disc thinking it would be a fairly decent, although brainless, way to pass a couple hours. Nothing but neat retro mecha action and fanservice, I figured. Turns out it's surprisingly good!

I was quite pleasantly surprised by Godannar. I bought the first disc thinking it would be a fairly decent, although brainless, way to pass a couple hours. Nothing but neat retro mecha action and fanservice, I figured. Turns out it's surprisingly good!


oh damn dude. i was just at best buy today buying a dvd burner, and i saw godanar. damn i wanted to get it real bad. seeing as how i love fanservice and all. i was reading the box set thing. (where its the box and the first dvd) it was funny. but i'm afraid of buying anime i wouldn't like. you can't return any media anymore for any reason at any store. some new bullshit law where they presume that everyone and their grandma copies and burns everything and returns it for the money back. (aka free stuff). i'm so pissed at that bullshit law. i baught my sister 2 cd's and she dind't like em, and i'm stuck with them cause best buy has the no return on that shit. fuck!


so anyway. yah. if i dind't care about money, i would have walked out with godanar, saiyuki 1, slayers movies (a box set with all the slayers movies ever), and the entire complete collection of those who hunt elves. but i realized... i should prolly d/l a few eps first, and if i love it, i go buy. :p

Full Moon wo Sagashite, which looked like some kiddie show at the start but then became really fun and entertaining and eventually a heart-wrenching drama I always remember. I finished it in a few days.

I feel the opposite way about this show. I downloaded the first 13 episodes expecting to completely fall in love with the show, because it really looked like something that would appeal to me.

But I didn't enjoy the episodes I've seen at all, and though I'm determined to watch all of it that I've downloaded, I've had a hard time bringing myself to do it. I wouldn't have been too surprised if I'd only thought it was ok, but it shocked me that I disliked it so much.

I actually thought I was going to hate NGE, however it ended up being my all time favourite anime, so much so, I wrote a 4000 word essay on it in my old school.

An anime that I thought I was really going to love was Noir, dont get me wrong it was an ok anime but it was not as good (to me) as A.D.V made it sound. Too overated, not much of a story and reviews I read made it sound as if it were gold.

I was really into stuff like Yu-Gi-Oh and watched it. I liked it for a bit, then I watched Dragonball Z and Pokemon and that really put me off it, but I've read loads of Anime and Manga stuff like Angel Sanctuary and Rurouni Kenshin and its reall good, so I might go back to watching it on the telly

AKIRA was a big surprise to me. I never expected such a huge plot and something so complex from animation.
Plus, the night scenes had such stunning colours.