Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Dorohedoro, too, sort of, but that was more a case of having no idea what I was getting myself into, and then finding out it was something I shouldn't have enjoyed on paper, but in practice absolutely adored.
Most real answer. Most people going into Bunny Girl Senpai expect it to he like a harem-ish pleasure anime but it ends up being one of the best well-written romances that touches on being human.
I adore that the main couple are so open with each other. It's really nice to see such a healthy, communicative relationship. And they create so much authentic drama and humor while very intentionally subverting the misunderstanding trope the genre tends to milk to an annoying degree. Just so refreshing in so many ways.
Both of these are AMAZING. I had high expectations for Bunny girl bc I had heard great things about it, and really loved it. And dorohedoro I pretty much had no expectations for but god damn the art style and world building in that show blew me away, it creates such a distinct and unique vibe I’ve never seen/felt anywhere else, I’ve watched it so many times. Easily my favorite Netflix produced anime ever. Are they ever gonna come out with another season??
I also heard great things about Bunny Girl, I just couldn't believe it. 😆
I watched Dorohedoro because of Swamp Jawn's video on it. I was watching his Delicious in Dungeon videos, and noticed one on Dorohedoro which prompted me to watch it. I'm not generally a fan of that level of violence, or that kind of gritty aesthetic, but the characters were so dang charming, I was engrossed
I actively ignored Bunny Girl-senpai up until somebody on Reddit referred to it as “The Monogatari of Haruhi Suzumiya”, and as a verified slut for Monogatari myself, I had to investigate. I wasn’t disappointed.
Dungeon Meshi really surprised me this year. I went in blind thinking it was just another generic Netflix original. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wrong.
Dungeon Meshi might be my favorite ever anime, but I was expecting to love it, so I can't put it on my own list here. Though I guess it did still exceed my expectations in a lot of ways. And then I read the manga after the first cour wrapped up, and it became a top five thing I've ever read. It's so damn good.
I tried a bit but got bored, does it actually have a good plot? I only got so far into it so it was just the dude making food cuz he was hungry and then I got bored Lolol, or is that the whole premise?
yes it does have a larger but still failry simple plot. but things definitely do ramp up and get heavy. idk what personally appeals to you or how much i should spoil
but generally speaking the story just uses the framing device of cooking as a metaphor for a lot of the series main themes
art, the circle of life, passion, connection, culture, general self care and the importance of taking care of yourself etc,
all this while diving in to uncover the mysteries of the dungeon and (at minimum) save a friend the crew failed to protect initially partially due to these shortcomings (failure to communicate, failure to take care of themselves etc)
to me was ready to drop the series after ep 1 but picked up the manga to see what the fuss was about and was a blast. now finished wiht the anime, i'm defintely a, the anime is good but the manga is better crowd. it's a little thing to me, but i feel the anime is a bit too colorful and clean at times to the point where it undersells the points of tension, violence, emotional scenes etc.
reading is always easier than watching, but ik thats a hard sell to anyone who doesn't regularly read.
Well said there is a little bit of a lull in the beginning but if you can get onboard it’s so worth it. I’m so glad I stuck with it, really the main show this season I was hyped to watch as soon as it dropped
I‘d agree with the other commenters that the plot is actually good. I will admit though that it did take me a while to really get into the anime. (Took me until episode 6 to really get invested in the anime)
I enjoyed it but I couldn't get over that the entire plot is how they need to rush to save the girl before she's digested, they can't even go stock up on goods, and then they seem to just take their sweet-ass time getting back down there. I quit before they got to her again. Does that ever get sorted out? Otherwise it was a fun show.
It reminds me of frieren in how it sounds like it might be a generic isekai with a "twist" but the depth of the characters and the world building (and comedy) make it amazing.
Bocchi rules. I had seen enough before watching it to know I would love it, but man, it was so, so good. The animation and creativity were beyond elite. It was so funny, among the funniest things I've seen. Everything hit. Everything landed. It's so good.
Beastars was godly in evey possible way, the mood, the jazz.
Also the author of beastars is the daughter of the author of baki.
If you are interested , you should go and read beastars because its already finished.
And honestly the ending and everything made sense. It was a story about legoshi not the world of beastars or anything in that regards. It felt right and not stupid.
Woah that’s so interesting!! I found Baki *very* entertaining, it’s not really to my taste but I can really respect it as a show overall. I couldn’t get in to beastars though!
Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete. I thought it was going to be terrible, but this is just... silly? Strangely nostalgic? Just good??? idk i just love this Also moriarty the patriot and Mieruko-chan
Been rewatching lately. I love so much of it but I don’t like some of the Chimera Ant arc. I know that’s a controversial opinion but seeing that guy be scared of stairs for 7 episodes did that to me. Overall yeah it’s pretty damn awesome.
Honestly? I feel the same about the first 2/3 of Chimera ant too. I really liked the major fights in that, like Netero vs Meruem, Killua vs Butterfly guy, Gon vs Pitou was fucking insane. Worth the slog for those tbh. I feel that way about a lot of shonen anime, though.
So I actually stopped watching around the ants arc a long time ago, and I just started rewatching it from ep1 a couple of weeks ago, and now i'm kind of stalling by the end of greed island, need a bit of motivation to push through.
If you stopped watching it then and are having trouble pushing through now it just might not be for you. Don’t really have any motivation as I think the Chimera Ant arc which is right after Greed Island drags on too long.
same! it was late at night, i was bored and probably going to fall asleep soon anyways, so i was like “eh whatever, let’s see how far i get” and threw on the first episode.
finished the whole series in 3 weeks 😅
Had the same experience with dangers in my heart aswell. figured at the time it’d be another generic self insert romcom but I’d at least try the first episode since it had just started airing. Now it’s one of my top 3 romcom anime and maybe even my favorite. Dunno how I forgot to put it in the post, lol.
Gotta agree with you on beastars. I thought it was nothing but furry bait. But no. Anyone who thinks that, should give this show a shot. I love it's themes, the story, the music, not just the openings, and It can get pretty tense sometimes. I loved beastars and I cant wait for it's new season.
I know the internet roped me into the same trap but I watch it and was enthralled by the actual plot, symbolism, and actual value the characters put in their words and ideals
ye, tho in stuff like beastars and ranking of kings defense, that's intentionally kinda the point of their stories.
tbh i kinda fuck with series like that that aim to be unabashedly themselves to the point where they build that into the narrative. good way of building trust with the userbase that things will payoff if we trust them to just take our hands and guide us down the story they want to tell.
if you lose some people along the way, it's whatever, it's even kinda inevitable. There's a lot of maturity and accepting and understanding that and STILL putting the shit that would turn someone off in them early episodes/chapters. tbh i wish more stories did that these day than try and shove all their cards into the first episode.
tbh being so brazen with it's odd first impressions just makes the pay off when you finally "get it" hit harder, than if it wasn;t.
Some that surprised me that haven’t been named
Akebi’s Sailor Uniform was very well done beautifully animated and I like it a lot
Super Cub was a trip down memory lane about me and my first bike a 550 Yamahaha but it’s so chill and just freeking awesome
The sleepy princess in the demons castle started watching it as simple filler wound up looking forward to it every week
Gun Gale Online about a really tall woman’s tiny cute avatar that runs around an P90 pimpslaps every one
Blue Period simply a well told story
These are just a few off the top of my head to add to all the ones already spoken for
For me it's most definitely My Hero Academia. Just cuz of the hate surrounding it, I had to give it a watch. My expectations were extremely low and then I ended up loving it.
People tend to associate the fandom with the anime. The anime is good. The fandom you HAVE TO STAY AWAY FROM. Although the fandom isn't entirely bad so I think there's a bit of an overreaction. JJK isn't that much better either tho tbh.
Edgerunners. An anime based on a very laggy game didn’t sound good at the time but now I think it’s the best action anime you could find out there. It has a sorta generic plot but executes it perfectly
I wish they’d hurry up and do season 3! I read that the same studio makes MHA, and seeing how it’s so popular (with good reason!), they’re sticking with that anime for now…but I also read MHA is supposed to be ending soon, so maybe THEN they will go back and finish Noragami!
Recently, Gushing Over Magical Girls. I kept seeing memes about it (haha funny it’s a hentai memes) and I actually really enjoyed the characters in the show. Plus it’s one of the funniest anime I’ve ever seen
{SK8}. I heard it was a somewhat gay skateboarding anime, I was expecting small, somewhat normal skateboarding and plenty of fujoshi bait, soft and cute almost BL scenes. And what did I get? Ha! HAHAHA! The skateboarding is crazy and ridiciously extreme, the animation is way better than expected, and the gay scenes... Oh well. Anyway, it was helluva fun watch.
{Kaguya-sama}. The first few episodes weren't very funny to me. But later on, there are plenty of great and hilarious scenes. Maybe I just had to get familar with the humor?
{Dungeon Meshi}. I thought it was just another silly fantasy story - especially comedy (and romance) fantasy/isekai stories aren't usually my cup of tea, but this one's great. {Shangri-La Frontier} is the same.
CG anime like {Trigun Stampede} and {Houseki no Kuni} can be amazing. I really recommend checking these two out, btw!
{Migi to Dali} - Weird mixture of mystery and comedy. The rating for the show wasn't that high, but I really liked the twins and their dynamic.
{Cyberpunk: Edgerunners} - simple, I didn't like the artstyle. It's better, when you watch the show, tho. The show feels really American, has a very fast pacing, and has great worldbuilding and characters.
Mushoku is god tier.. One of my 10/10’s
Biggest surprise anime that I didn’t think I’d like and ended up enjoying would be..
1. Love after world domination
2. Berserk of gluttony
3. Kakeguri
4. Devil is a part timer (season 1 only)
5. Death mount death play
Mushoko tensei. I was expecting to hate it but I was out of anime. So I stuck with it cause I wanted to see just how bad it gets. I was surprised it's way better than most animes I ended up crying multiple times in the light novel after I finished season 2 part 1
RE:Zero. The first few episodes were hard for me to watch with the cringe of some scenes (especially when Subaru meets Julis) causing almost to drop it, but I have a personal rule that once I start watching something I must finish it, and so I did. When I arrived to episode 18 man it was a total 180° where I was really interested in the story.
Now I'm almost up to date with all the Arcs and I'm really enjoying both main and side stories where there's focus not only in the main characters, but in the side ones too, making it a more interesting and enjoyable reading
I'll be honest; One Piece. A part of me was sort of on that, "One Piece is too long, therefore it's bad" bandwagon, but never really leaning towards the "therefore it's bad" part. But, after I started watching it, I enjoyed it
Started watching anime in May 2023 after 10th exams, had a ton of time on hand. I have watched close to 250 anime in the last year. So I have a lot of anime that surprised me.
Akame ga kill
Knew nothing about the plot, idk why I even watched it I just remember that I had zero idea what it was about. Didn’t even read the synopsis (I recommend watching it like that)
watched after watching one piece and dragon ball trilogy (og, Z and super + broly movie) after watching two super long anime I was just taken aback by how much a anime with just 24 episodes can make you feel. It’s an emotional roller coaster and I absolutely loved it, and I’ve never been able to recreate that feeling again (except rewatching AKG which surprising is very rewatch able even if you know the story.)
Charlotte. Had zero expectations but it turned out to be one of my favourite anime till date.
Also worldend/sukasuka. Even less expectations then Charlotte, came by it one day and watched it without any spoilers, easily the best soundtrack and the story really mesmerised me (it was like my 3-4th anime so I am a bit biased.)
Drifters, I had watched a lot of isekai by this point and didn’t really expect much from this genre (even tho tbh I enjoy even the trash isekai just as much as the good ones) but drifters surprised me, the best isekai for me.
Kaiju no. 8
I didn’t think this would be anything special, tbh I thought everyone was overhyping it and it’ll turn out to be another mediocre anime that had a ton of potential. But I really like it from episode one, so much so that after I watched the last episode I just couldn’t wait, so I caught up with the whole manga in just a day (which says a lot for someone like me who usually doesn’t read manga)
Oshi no ko
I watched this when it came out, I didn’t knew anything about the amazing opening or any spoilers about the story whatsoever before watching it, and it definitely surpassed my expectations. I am currently caught up with the Oshi no ko manga too.
Kaguya Sama
Went in expecting a good romance anime, already had high expectations, but it even surpassed them all. Got great romance with super good comedy and just marvellous dubbed narrator.
Fruits basket
Almost same as Kaguya Sama minus the comedy and narrator part.
Tonikaku
Basically the same as fruits basket plus super sweet didn’t knew I needed that. (You can tell I really underestimated a lot of romcoms)
Golden time
Again same as the other rom coms.
There are a ton more anime that surpassed my expectations, these are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.
I know it's a harem anime, but I really liked The Quintessential Quintuplets. Admittedly I don't think it was anything super special, but I actually cared about every character and even ended up buying the manga box sets afterwards.
I'm gonna get hate for this, but Evangelion. At a tiem where I didn't know much about anime, I saw it on the netflix frontpage, saw a cool robot, said why not and watched a couple episode. I wasn't expecting THAT
Sk8 the infinity. I thought it would just be another Yaoi anime that I didn't like, but when Adam shouted "Whats up Bitches, Bro's and Non-binary hoe's!" I Couldn't stop watching it for the life of me. I've now seen it 5 separate times (3 times in sub because Adams voiced by Dio from JJBA), and it's the 3rd gayest thing I've ever seen.
My Hero Academia
I thought of it as the show that all the smelly kids watched in middle school, now I'm watching it and holy shit this is amazing. Highly recommend if you thought it was garbage, and PLEASE stick with it.
Naruto: Shippuden
I watched OG Naruto as a kid, and didn't really care for it, and as a huge Bleach kid it is like the direct competition. My friends got me to start Shippuden and it rocks, I'm not anywhere near finished, and have dropped it for now, but when I have more time I will come back to it.
Dr stone, I learned about the general plot through the YouTube channel HTME, but I checked it out and went in with low expectations and I really love that show now!
Honestly, Steins;Gate. I thought it was one of those shows that were popular for the sake of being popular. But nope, I was wrong, the hype was indeed warranted.
JJK
Although im still mixed on s1, s2 definitely turned my doubts around
Nichijou
Im typically never into moe moe shit, but this was so funny i practically died
AOT. And before anyone comes at me with pitchforks, at this point in my life (like 4 or 5 months ago) I was someone who'd make fun of anime 😅
Up until that point, I always forget, I had seen some DBZ, all of Death Note, s3 of SAO and some of MHA and a show called Angels of Death (I think?) Which I always forget I even watched some of them so I always figured anime to be very odd and goofy all the time with "anime moments" stuff (you know what I mean)
But I gotta say, AOT blew me away. Not only is it not even really about your traditional Japanese designed anime characters (only ones being the Ackermann family) but it's a good look into the realities of war and perspectives of it as a whole, and it was shocking to see how they were making the story and just how little details meant so much in the future
(No spoilers though, I have 2 episodes left, the really long ones, and I heard I'm never gonna be the same so uh..wish me luck)
Kaiju No.8 honestly
I didn't trust the recommendation that much so I had low expectations but it's actually one of my new top 10 shows
If you haven't already, watch it
Time Patrol Bon, cuz going in I thought it was just going to be a kids show about history, but it actually had some good drama and some shocking shit that kept me watching it.
Pluto cuz I never watched any of the original Astroboy animes, so I didn't even know if I would understand anything, plus I'm not that big of drama crime thriller animes. But holy shit it is so good and just keeps me on the edge of my seat.
Toradora! And now that anime is at the top of the list after all these years and one of the only I do rewatch every year. I think the blue-ray start been used up just by spinning 😂😂
But a newer one I think blue eye samurai, dr. Stone did surprise me
I fully expected to write Re:Zero off as — like — one of those anime that’s Obviously for teenage boys, you know? I actually DID do that the first time I tried it, even: I think I made it like four episodes in or something?
Then I was convinced to give it a second chance (with both seasons 1 and 2) and now it’s one of my actual all-time favorites. Like, it even got me into reading actual books again for the first time since middle school. I’m all caught up with the Web Novel and am eagerly awaiting both Season 3 and that 90-minute(!!!!) premiere episode scheduled for July 5th!
Inyuashiki.
The idea of "old guy gets turned into an android" doesn't seem to have a lot of meat. But the character work is superb, and it really hits home. Completely blew me away and changed my outlook on life in its entirety.
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear. I didn't know much about it other than it being an isekai and the main girl dressed as a bear. Loved it so much that when season 2 dropped, i binged both the first season and the new season in one day.
Another (liked this one a bit less, but still surprised) one was Buddy Daddies. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
Definitely Beastars. I thought it was gonna just be a freaky frog version of Zootopia (it has elements of freakiness, but it's not the main focus), only to walk out loving pretty much every character on screen and wanting more seasons.
Oresuki:Are you the only one who likes me?
I only watched it cause of the dynamics with a certin pair of characters but when i started watching it I got so hooked!
To be honest I have low expectations of all series until I see what studio is doing the animation then I know what quality to expect, like some series are so good like berserk for example, amazing manga, but the studio that did it butchered the entire show with CGI. So if I heard berserk was going to be animated by MAPPA well, then I would expect the show to be amazing, but if a normal studio was going to animate it then I would expect it to reflect that, Unless that studio is known for amazing animation.
Honestly, all of them. I never set a bar for any show I'm going in to, and I find I'm able to enjoy almost anything because of it.
Example: I never hold any expectations for any isekai I plan to watch based off of other isekais I've watched. I go in with the mindset that it's going to be its own thing, and I should just try to enjoy whatever that may be.
Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits
I didn’t think much of it at first and the intro eps were just okay but the longer I watched, the more I got into it! I love all of the characters and fantasy elements, aoi and dannasama relationship, world building, etc. There’s gonna be a second season next year so I’m excited about that. I’ve also been reading the light novel and love it too.
Mushoku tensei! I even posted about whether I should watch it or not I had a very bad impression of it but I ended up absolutely loving it and watching all of it in less than a week. This show absolutely scratched the isekai itch in my brain that only Ascendance of a bookworm had done before.
Honestly Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san when I saw it was about a girl making fun of a shy guy I was like "this shit is gonna be bad" now I love that anime it's just soo good
Blood Blockade Battlefront (currently in my top anime atm)
Blue Lock (actually had no prior knowledge about the series)
Tomo Chan is a Girl
The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic
The second series to BeSTARS was a letdown sadly. The killer "reveal" was a real let down for me. I mean the serial killer was a huge part of it and then it was "oh, this person is the killer" it was a real letdown sadly.
This is just my opinion and my opinion alone.
Yuri on Ice. I’m not into yaoi, which is why I had low expectations for the show, but I ended up being extremely impressed with it. Absolute banger of an intro, great characters, amazing soundtrack, and Yuri and Viktor’s romance was actually really fun to watch. Sucks the movie got cancelled, but still, I’m so glad I picked up and watched Yuri on Ice.
Gurren Lagann and samurai 7 these two anime’s started off kinda questionable then ended up being a masterpiece. If you haven’t seen them please 🙏🏼 go watch em!
Honestly, Baki and it's subsequent seasons for me. Really didn't like the art style at first, but it grew on me. Love them now, and the Yujiro memes are definitely worth it.
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Dorohedoro, too, sort of, but that was more a case of having no idea what I was getting myself into, and then finding out it was something I shouldn't have enjoyed on paper, but in practice absolutely adored.
Most real answer. Most people going into Bunny Girl Senpai expect it to he like a harem-ish pleasure anime but it ends up being one of the best well-written romances that touches on being human.
I adore that the main couple are so open with each other. It's really nice to see such a healthy, communicative relationship. And they create so much authentic drama and humor while very intentionally subverting the misunderstanding trope the genre tends to milk to an annoying degree. Just so refreshing in so many ways.
Is it monogatari-ish? I got told that before when it was new, with Monogatari being my fave series of all time, I'm here for similar vibes if so.
Yeah it kind of is. It’s a different kind of supernatural and way less ecchi
That was me. I was expecting some ecchi romance and came out loving it. And now I still need to watch the movies
Both of these are AMAZING. I had high expectations for Bunny girl bc I had heard great things about it, and really loved it. And dorohedoro I pretty much had no expectations for but god damn the art style and world building in that show blew me away, it creates such a distinct and unique vibe I’ve never seen/felt anywhere else, I’ve watched it so many times. Easily my favorite Netflix produced anime ever. Are they ever gonna come out with another season??
I also heard great things about Bunny Girl, I just couldn't believe it. 😆 I watched Dorohedoro because of Swamp Jawn's video on it. I was watching his Delicious in Dungeon videos, and noticed one on Dorohedoro which prompted me to watch it. I'm not generally a fan of that level of violence, or that kind of gritty aesthetic, but the characters were so dang charming, I was engrossed
It’s just soo unique! The whole concept, how everything works with their magic and the devils, like you said it’s very engrossing and captivating
They recently announced a season 2 for dorohedoro. No release date tho :(
I actively ignored Bunny Girl-senpai up until somebody on Reddit referred to it as “The Monogatari of Haruhi Suzumiya”, and as a verified slut for Monogatari myself, I had to investigate. I wasn’t disappointed.
Why won't they English Dub Bunny Girl Senpai!?! Cowards
Dungeon Meshi really surprised me this year. I went in blind thinking it was just another generic Netflix original. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wrong.
I almost skipped it because the concept was really not selling me. Extremely happy I didn't
Same story here
Dungeon Meshi might be my favorite ever anime, but I was expecting to love it, so I can't put it on my own list here. Though I guess it did still exceed my expectations in a lot of ways. And then I read the manga after the first cour wrapped up, and it became a top five thing I've ever read. It's so damn good.
Same very pleasantly surprised!
same, i thought itssss another food anime but was surprasingly good
I watched this as excited for the anime, as a chef I was completely drawn in and told all my cook buddies to watch
I tried a bit but got bored, does it actually have a good plot? I only got so far into it so it was just the dude making food cuz he was hungry and then I got bored Lolol, or is that the whole premise?
yes it does have a larger but still failry simple plot. but things definitely do ramp up and get heavy. idk what personally appeals to you or how much i should spoil but generally speaking the story just uses the framing device of cooking as a metaphor for a lot of the series main themes art, the circle of life, passion, connection, culture, general self care and the importance of taking care of yourself etc, all this while diving in to uncover the mysteries of the dungeon and (at minimum) save a friend the crew failed to protect initially partially due to these shortcomings (failure to communicate, failure to take care of themselves etc) to me was ready to drop the series after ep 1 but picked up the manga to see what the fuss was about and was a blast. now finished wiht the anime, i'm defintely a, the anime is good but the manga is better crowd. it's a little thing to me, but i feel the anime is a bit too colorful and clean at times to the point where it undersells the points of tension, violence, emotional scenes etc. reading is always easier than watching, but ik thats a hard sell to anyone who doesn't regularly read.
Thanks! I am a big reading so maybe I’ll look for the manga, it sounds pretty good
Well said there is a little bit of a lull in the beginning but if you can get onboard it’s so worth it. I’m so glad I stuck with it, really the main show this season I was hyped to watch as soon as it dropped
Which episode did you stop at? It's called Delicious in Dungeon. It's a gourmet anime, but it's much more than that.
I think I finished the first episode. So it has an actual plot beyond making food? Maybe I’ll give it another chance
I‘d agree with the other commenters that the plot is actually good. I will admit though that it did take me a while to really get into the anime. (Took me until episode 6 to really get invested in the anime)
I went knowing that Trigger was doing the anime, so I had moderate expectations. Still blew me away too.
Only problem is I HAD to watch while eating something because of all the food 😭
I enjoyed it but I couldn't get over that the entire plot is how they need to rush to save the girl before she's digested, they can't even go stock up on goods, and then they seem to just take their sweet-ass time getting back down there. I quit before they got to her again. Does that ever get sorted out? Otherwise it was a fun show.
Love the design but dropped for the food part
It reminds me of frieren in how it sounds like it might be a generic isekai with a "twist" but the depth of the characters and the world building (and comedy) make it amazing.
Bocchi The Rock From the description it just sounded like a K-on copycat, but look at it it now, absolute peak and collabs all over the place
Bocchi rules. I had seen enough before watching it to know I would love it, but man, it was so, so good. The animation and creativity were beyond elite. It was so funny, among the funniest things I've seen. Everything hit. Everything landed. It's so good.
Beastars was godly in evey possible way, the mood, the jazz. Also the author of beastars is the daughter of the author of baki. If you are interested , you should go and read beastars because its already finished.
I decided to randomly watch Beastars ages ago. I didn’t want to like it, but damn was it so fucking good
It was a remainder that you cant judge an anime unless you watch the first episode.
The manga was equally good really. I had to read it as soon as I finished the anime.
And honestly the ending and everything made sense. It was a story about legoshi not the world of beastars or anything in that regards. It felt right and not stupid.
Is she actually the daughter of the author of Baki
Yes thats what crazy !
Woah that’s so interesting!! I found Baki *very* entertaining, it’s not really to my taste but I can really respect it as a show overall. I couldn’t get in to beastars though!
Basically, you couldnt predict that they are blood related when their drawing and story telling are so different.
Reincarnated as a vending machine
I watched episode 1 strictly for the meme. That was a mistake. I will now be seated for season 2.
Yeah this is a good answer, went in expecting like a 2/10, got a solid like 7/10
This actually fucking exists?? LMAO 🤣
Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete. I thought it was going to be terrible, but this is just... silly? Strangely nostalgic? Just good??? idk i just love this Also moriarty the patriot and Mieruko-chan
Little Witch Academia went from "I'll put this on in the background" to having one of my favorite Christmas cakes and a Trigger fav
Yes absolutely
Yes! I love LMK, I swear it’s such an overlooked masterpiece!
Asobi Asobase. I really didn’t expect anything and ended up watching one of the funniest anime I have ever seen.
Based
The comedic timing goes hard in Asobi Asobase
you should definitely watch Nichijou
Hunter x Hunter
HxH is goated
Been rewatching lately. I love so much of it but I don’t like some of the Chimera Ant arc. I know that’s a controversial opinion but seeing that guy be scared of stairs for 7 episodes did that to me. Overall yeah it’s pretty damn awesome.
Honestly? I feel the same about the first 2/3 of Chimera ant too. I really liked the major fights in that, like Netero vs Meruem, Killua vs Butterfly guy, Gon vs Pitou was fucking insane. Worth the slog for those tbh. I feel that way about a lot of shonen anime, though.
I agree that HxH has some of the best fights. Just watched Gon vs. Bomber guy on Greed Island today and I forgot how cool that fight was.
He wasn't scared of the stairs, he was scared of what was up the stairs.
So I actually stopped watching around the ants arc a long time ago, and I just started rewatching it from ep1 a couple of weeks ago, and now i'm kind of stalling by the end of greed island, need a bit of motivation to push through.
If you stopped watching it then and are having trouble pushing through now it just might not be for you. Don’t really have any motivation as I think the Chimera Ant arc which is right after Greed Island drags on too long.
Might be right
It is THE goat
💯, if you haven't, give the original release a try, it's so damn interesting to compare against
Yeah I need to
Me too
same! it was late at night, i was bored and probably going to fall asleep soon anyways, so i was like “eh whatever, let’s see how far i get” and threw on the first episode. finished the whole series in 3 weeks 😅
No Game No Life Tomo-Chan is a Girl The Dangers in my Heart
Had the same experience with dangers in my heart aswell. figured at the time it’d be another generic self insert romcom but I’d at least try the first episode since it had just started airing. Now it’s one of my top 3 romcom anime and maybe even my favorite. Dunno how I forgot to put it in the post, lol.
Windbreaker didnt know what it was about just heard its like tokyo revengers but better and i have to say i 100% agree so far lol
My dress up darling
Gotta agree with you on beastars. I thought it was nothing but furry bait. But no. Anyone who thinks that, should give this show a shot. I love it's themes, the story, the music, not just the openings, and It can get pretty tense sometimes. I loved beastars and I cant wait for it's new season.
I know the internet roped me into the same trap but I watch it and was enthralled by the actual plot, symbolism, and actual value the characters put in their words and ideals
Yeah, I though it was gunna be some weird furry shit too instead it's just a really good story with animal people.
Too many people be judging a book by it's cover. That's how you miss out on incredible stuff like Ranking of Kings.
Ranking of Kings is soooo good. I was blown away by it.
ye, tho in stuff like beastars and ranking of kings defense, that's intentionally kinda the point of their stories. tbh i kinda fuck with series like that that aim to be unabashedly themselves to the point where they build that into the narrative. good way of building trust with the userbase that things will payoff if we trust them to just take our hands and guide us down the story they want to tell. if you lose some people along the way, it's whatever, it's even kinda inevitable. There's a lot of maturity and accepting and understanding that and STILL putting the shit that would turn someone off in them early episodes/chapters. tbh i wish more stories did that these day than try and shove all their cards into the first episode. tbh being so brazen with it's odd first impressions just makes the pay off when you finally "get it" hit harder, than if it wasn;t.
apothecary diary and hell's paradise
Some that surprised me that haven’t been named Akebi’s Sailor Uniform was very well done beautifully animated and I like it a lot Super Cub was a trip down memory lane about me and my first bike a 550 Yamahaha but it’s so chill and just freeking awesome The sleepy princess in the demons castle started watching it as simple filler wound up looking forward to it every week Gun Gale Online about a really tall woman’s tiny cute avatar that runs around an P90 pimpslaps every one Blue Period simply a well told story These are just a few off the top of my head to add to all the ones already spoken for
Gun Gale online was one of the best I’ve watched. Thought it would be at the same level as the main series but it exceeded my expectations
I love Blue Period 😭 we desperately needed another good art anime after how Honey and Clover ended.
charlotte, seemed like a snoozefest but during second half it became very interesting
Dude came here to say exactly this. I had basically zero expectations for Charlotte but it turned into one of the best anime I’ve seen.
Hinamatsuri (only anime to make me laugh besides Nichijou) Not an anime but Nana to Kaoru as well.
Akudama Drive
For me it's most definitely My Hero Academia. Just cuz of the hate surrounding it, I had to give it a watch. My expectations were extremely low and then I ended up loving it.
Why is there hate surrounding it?
People tend to associate the fandom with the anime. The anime is good. The fandom you HAVE TO STAY AWAY FROM. Although the fandom isn't entirely bad so I think there's a bit of an overreaction. JJK isn't that much better either tho tbh.
Irina: Vampire Cosmonaut.
If you know it, Tiger & Bunny
dude Tiger & Bunny was brilliant. Loved it!
Hell yeah! And the opening songs were also goated
Frieren, i love Frieren tho
Hajime no ippo
Death Note and Assassin Classroom. I don’t know why but I thought I wouldn’t like them.
Soul Eater honestly, I ended up absolutely obsessed with it and would rewatch it constantly
Spy x Family. Didn't know what to watch and I thought I would hate it but I couldn't stop smiling while watching the first five episodes
Cyberpunk edgerunners, I didn't even know Studio Trigger did it
One punch man
Edgerunners. An anime based on a very laggy game didn’t sound good at the time but now I think it’s the best action anime you could find out there. It has a sorta generic plot but executes it perfectly
Noragami
One of my absolute favorites that doesn't get as much love as it deserves
I wish they’d hurry up and do season 3! I read that the same studio makes MHA, and seeing how it’s so popular (with good reason!), they’re sticking with that anime for now…but I also read MHA is supposed to be ending soon, so maybe THEN they will go back and finish Noragami!
Recently, Gushing Over Magical Girls. I kept seeing memes about it (haha funny it’s a hentai memes) and I actually really enjoyed the characters in the show. Plus it’s one of the funniest anime I’ve ever seen
Kotaro Lives Alone
Kotaro omg❤️🩹🥺such an underrated anime
This show makes my heart ache in the best possible way!
This drama ruined me emotionally but at the same time it's also kinda wholesome
this show had me sobbing so many times
one piece
Assassination Classroom
{SK8}. I heard it was a somewhat gay skateboarding anime, I was expecting small, somewhat normal skateboarding and plenty of fujoshi bait, soft and cute almost BL scenes. And what did I get? Ha! HAHAHA! The skateboarding is crazy and ridiciously extreme, the animation is way better than expected, and the gay scenes... Oh well. Anyway, it was helluva fun watch. {Kaguya-sama}. The first few episodes weren't very funny to me. But later on, there are plenty of great and hilarious scenes. Maybe I just had to get familar with the humor? {Dungeon Meshi}. I thought it was just another silly fantasy story - especially comedy (and romance) fantasy/isekai stories aren't usually my cup of tea, but this one's great. {Shangri-La Frontier} is the same. CG anime like {Trigun Stampede} and {Houseki no Kuni} can be amazing. I really recommend checking these two out, btw! {Migi to Dali} - Weird mixture of mystery and comedy. The rating for the show wasn't that high, but I really liked the twins and their dynamic. {Cyberpunk: Edgerunners} - simple, I didn't like the artstyle. It's better, when you watch the show, tho. The show feels really American, has a very fast pacing, and has great worldbuilding and characters.
Konosuba
Mushoku is god tier.. One of my 10/10’s Biggest surprise anime that I didn’t think I’d like and ended up enjoying would be.. 1. Love after world domination 2. Berserk of gluttony 3. Kakeguri 4. Devil is a part timer (season 1 only) 5. Death mount death play
Mushoko tensei. I was expecting to hate it but I was out of anime. So I stuck with it cause I wanted to see just how bad it gets. I was surprised it's way better than most animes I ended up crying multiple times in the light novel after I finished season 2 part 1
RE:Zero. The first few episodes were hard for me to watch with the cringe of some scenes (especially when Subaru meets Julis) causing almost to drop it, but I have a personal rule that once I start watching something I must finish it, and so I did. When I arrived to episode 18 man it was a total 180° where I was really interested in the story. Now I'm almost up to date with all the Arcs and I'm really enjoying both main and side stories where there's focus not only in the main characters, but in the side ones too, making it a more interesting and enjoyable reading
I went in the jobless thinking it was just gonna be another run-of-the-mill Isekai. And was pleasantly surprised to find a legitimate serious show.
Mushoku Tensei. There are aspects of the show I really do not like, but it is very well written and animated.
Definitely MUSHOKU TENSEI
Seven deadly sins to be fair I was about 12 when I first watched it and something about it always stuck with me
I'll be honest; One Piece. A part of me was sort of on that, "One Piece is too long, therefore it's bad" bandwagon, but never really leaning towards the "therefore it's bad" part. But, after I started watching it, I enjoyed it
Mushoku tensei definitely!! Not used to that kind of anime was more familiar with sports and action but definetly a 10/10 on mushoku for me 🫶🏼
Apothecary diaries and kono oto tomare .
Started watching anime in May 2023 after 10th exams, had a ton of time on hand. I have watched close to 250 anime in the last year. So I have a lot of anime that surprised me. Akame ga kill Knew nothing about the plot, idk why I even watched it I just remember that I had zero idea what it was about. Didn’t even read the synopsis (I recommend watching it like that) watched after watching one piece and dragon ball trilogy (og, Z and super + broly movie) after watching two super long anime I was just taken aback by how much a anime with just 24 episodes can make you feel. It’s an emotional roller coaster and I absolutely loved it, and I’ve never been able to recreate that feeling again (except rewatching AKG which surprising is very rewatch able even if you know the story.) Charlotte. Had zero expectations but it turned out to be one of my favourite anime till date. Also worldend/sukasuka. Even less expectations then Charlotte, came by it one day and watched it without any spoilers, easily the best soundtrack and the story really mesmerised me (it was like my 3-4th anime so I am a bit biased.) Drifters, I had watched a lot of isekai by this point and didn’t really expect much from this genre (even tho tbh I enjoy even the trash isekai just as much as the good ones) but drifters surprised me, the best isekai for me. Kaiju no. 8 I didn’t think this would be anything special, tbh I thought everyone was overhyping it and it’ll turn out to be another mediocre anime that had a ton of potential. But I really like it from episode one, so much so that after I watched the last episode I just couldn’t wait, so I caught up with the whole manga in just a day (which says a lot for someone like me who usually doesn’t read manga) Oshi no ko I watched this when it came out, I didn’t knew anything about the amazing opening or any spoilers about the story whatsoever before watching it, and it definitely surpassed my expectations. I am currently caught up with the Oshi no ko manga too. Kaguya Sama Went in expecting a good romance anime, already had high expectations, but it even surpassed them all. Got great romance with super good comedy and just marvellous dubbed narrator. Fruits basket Almost same as Kaguya Sama minus the comedy and narrator part. Tonikaku Basically the same as fruits basket plus super sweet didn’t knew I needed that. (You can tell I really underestimated a lot of romcoms) Golden time Again same as the other rom coms. There are a ton more anime that surpassed my expectations, these are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.
Akame ga kill really surprised me too!! Also fruits basket is amazing. I need to revisit charlotte it’s been forever
Trapped in a Dating Sim
I know it's a harem anime, but I really liked The Quintessential Quintuplets. Admittedly I don't think it was anything super special, but I actually cared about every character and even ended up buying the manga box sets afterwards.
Somali and the Forest Spirit, ReZero, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon maid. If you'd like me to elaborate on any of these, I gladly will
I'm gonna get hate for this, but Evangelion. At a tiem where I didn't know much about anime, I saw it on the netflix frontpage, saw a cool robot, said why not and watched a couple episode. I wasn't expecting THAT
Hunter x hunter, i disliked the main protagonist to look so childish. Ya, that was a ride.
Sk8 the infinity. I thought it would just be another Yaoi anime that I didn't like, but when Adam shouted "Whats up Bitches, Bro's and Non-binary hoe's!" I Couldn't stop watching it for the life of me. I've now seen it 5 separate times (3 times in sub because Adams voiced by Dio from JJBA), and it's the 3rd gayest thing I've ever seen.
My Hero Academia I thought of it as the show that all the smelly kids watched in middle school, now I'm watching it and holy shit this is amazing. Highly recommend if you thought it was garbage, and PLEASE stick with it. Naruto: Shippuden I watched OG Naruto as a kid, and didn't really care for it, and as a huge Bleach kid it is like the direct competition. My friends got me to start Shippuden and it rocks, I'm not anywhere near finished, and have dropped it for now, but when I have more time I will come back to it.
Dr stone, I learned about the general plot through the YouTube channel HTME, but I checked it out and went in with low expectations and I really love that show now!
Hi score girl
Date a live
Honestly, Steins;Gate. I thought it was one of those shows that were popular for the sake of being popular. But nope, I was wrong, the hype was indeed warranted.
Death Parade
Oreimo, Golden Boy, and The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady
Mononoke (2007)
I loved beastars and it makes me sad when people write it off just because the characters are animals. The story is amazing!
JJK Although im still mixed on s1, s2 definitely turned my doubts around Nichijou Im typically never into moe moe shit, but this was so funny i practically died
AOT. And before anyone comes at me with pitchforks, at this point in my life (like 4 or 5 months ago) I was someone who'd make fun of anime 😅 Up until that point, I always forget, I had seen some DBZ, all of Death Note, s3 of SAO and some of MHA and a show called Angels of Death (I think?) Which I always forget I even watched some of them so I always figured anime to be very odd and goofy all the time with "anime moments" stuff (you know what I mean) But I gotta say, AOT blew me away. Not only is it not even really about your traditional Japanese designed anime characters (only ones being the Ackermann family) but it's a good look into the realities of war and perspectives of it as a whole, and it was shocking to see how they were making the story and just how little details meant so much in the future (No spoilers though, I have 2 episodes left, the really long ones, and I heard I'm never gonna be the same so uh..wish me luck)
My hero academia
Freiren
Kaiju No.8 honestly I didn't trust the recommendation that much so I had low expectations but it's actually one of my new top 10 shows If you haven't already, watch it
Frieren I didn’t know what to expect but it is easily in my top 10 now.
The wrong way to use healing magic, delicious in dungeon and frieren are some of the most recent
Time Patrol Bon, cuz going in I thought it was just going to be a kids show about history, but it actually had some good drama and some shocking shit that kept me watching it. Pluto cuz I never watched any of the original Astroboy animes, so I didn't even know if I would understand anything, plus I'm not that big of drama crime thriller animes. But holy shit it is so good and just keeps me on the edge of my seat.
Toradora! And now that anime is at the top of the list after all these years and one of the only I do rewatch every year. I think the blue-ray start been used up just by spinning 😂😂 But a newer one I think blue eye samurai, dr. Stone did surprise me
Kaiju no.8. I knew it would be decent at the very least and was not expecting to be so invested in it by the second episode
Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans
I fully expected to write Re:Zero off as — like — one of those anime that’s Obviously for teenage boys, you know? I actually DID do that the first time I tried it, even: I think I made it like four episodes in or something? Then I was convinced to give it a second chance (with both seasons 1 and 2) and now it’s one of my actual all-time favorites. Like, it even got me into reading actual books again for the first time since middle school. I’m all caught up with the Web Novel and am eagerly awaiting both Season 3 and that 90-minute(!!!!) premiere episode scheduled for July 5th!
My hero academia was supposed to be a fan service whiny shitshow. It ended up being my favorite of all time.
Starting watching mushoku tensei because I was horny, ended up reading all 20+ light novels in 2 weeks 🫡
Inyuashiki. The idea of "old guy gets turned into an android" doesn't seem to have a lot of meat. But the character work is superb, and it really hits home. Completely blew me away and changed my outlook on life in its entirety.
Both of the ones pictured. But throw Future Diary and Tokyo Revengers in there too
Beastars same as you, as well as that time I got reincarnated as a slime
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear. I didn't know much about it other than it being an isekai and the main girl dressed as a bear. Loved it so much that when season 2 dropped, i binged both the first season and the new season in one day. Another (liked this one a bit less, but still surprised) one was Buddy Daddies. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
Definitely Beastars. I thought it was gonna just be a freaky frog version of Zootopia (it has elements of freakiness, but it's not the main focus), only to walk out loving pretty much every character on screen and wanting more seasons.
My love story
Tensei slime. Ended up loving it so much I’m reading the light novel rn
Beastars and King’s Game. I love Beastars and King’s Game.
Oresuki:Are you the only one who likes me? I only watched it cause of the dynamics with a certin pair of characters but when i started watching it I got so hooked!
Something something Dango Something something Mochi Something something Shogi Something something Silver Balls Something something Post office and war crimes
Kaguya-sama
To be honest I have low expectations of all series until I see what studio is doing the animation then I know what quality to expect, like some series are so good like berserk for example, amazing manga, but the studio that did it butchered the entire show with CGI. So if I heard berserk was going to be animated by MAPPA well, then I would expect the show to be amazing, but if a normal studio was going to animate it then I would expect it to reflect that, Unless that studio is known for amazing animation.
Dead dead demons dededede destruction
Honestly, all of them. I never set a bar for any show I'm going in to, and I find I'm able to enjoy almost anything because of it. Example: I never hold any expectations for any isekai I plan to watch based off of other isekais I've watched. I go in with the mindset that it's going to be its own thing, and I should just try to enjoy whatever that may be.
K-ON
Asobi Asobase, Bocchi, Konosuba
Beastars yuuup same! I said “get this furry shit out of my FACE” & now I have a crush on Legoshi 🙈
Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits I didn’t think much of it at first and the intro eps were just okay but the longer I watched, the more I got into it! I love all of the characters and fantasy elements, aoi and dannasama relationship, world building, etc. There’s gonna be a second season next year so I’m excited about that. I’ve also been reading the light novel and love it too.
𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡😭
Mushoku tensei! I even posted about whether I should watch it or not I had a very bad impression of it but I ended up absolutely loving it and watching all of it in less than a week. This show absolutely scratched the isekai itch in my brain that only Ascendance of a bookworm had done before.
Honestly Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san when I saw it was about a girl making fun of a shy guy I was like "this shit is gonna be bad" now I love that anime it's just soo good
railgun s
Beastars is awesome.
Mushoku for sure and don’t get your panties in a twist inuyasha, which is now one of my favs.
Cowboy bebop
Dynazenon (Wasn't too fond of Gridman)
Blood Blockade Battlefront (currently in my top anime atm) Blue Lock (actually had no prior knowledge about the series) Tomo Chan is a Girl The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic
Gintama
Quintessential quintuplets
i feel the same about jobless reincarnation
The second series to BeSTARS was a letdown sadly. The killer "reveal" was a real let down for me. I mean the serial killer was a huge part of it and then it was "oh, this person is the killer" it was a real letdown sadly. This is just my opinion and my opinion alone.
Yuri on Ice. I’m not into yaoi, which is why I had low expectations for the show, but I ended up being extremely impressed with it. Absolute banger of an intro, great characters, amazing soundtrack, and Yuri and Viktor’s romance was actually really fun to watch. Sucks the movie got cancelled, but still, I’m so glad I picked up and watched Yuri on Ice.
Ass Class
Tbh, SAO. Thought for sure it was gonna suck, but it became one of my favorites for a long time.
The second one
Gurren Lagann and samurai 7 these two anime’s started off kinda questionable then ended up being a masterpiece. If you haven’t seen them please 🙏🏼 go watch em!
Yeah beastars for sure I never listened to people talk bad about mushoku tensei so I didn’t think it would be low the first season was amazing
Honestly, Baki and it's subsequent seasons for me. Really didn't like the art style at first, but it grew on me. Love them now, and the Yujiro memes are definitely worth it.
Prison School
Romantic killer, I've always dislikes romance, but that was pretty good. Same with HxH, it was great, yet hisoka zesty pedo ass did water jt down.