Anime you may not have heard of.

[jjws999]

POst your own if you think nobody watches them but you,

Welcome to the NHK



Welcome to the N.H.K. (N・H・Kにようこそ!, NHK ni Yōkoso!?)The novel was first published in English by Tokyopop on October 9, 2007. The story centers around a twenty-two-year-old hikikomori who gets aid from a strange girl who seems to know a lot about him, despite never meeting him before. A common theme throughout the story deals with the hardships of life and how people must deal with them in their own way.

In Japan, "NHK" refers to the public broadcaster Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, but within the series, the main character believes it stands for Nihon Hikikomori Kyōkai (日本引きこもり協会?, "The Japanese Hikikomori Association"), which is a reference to the protagonist's claim of a subversive conspiracy led by NHK (the real-life broadcaster) to create hikikomori. While it mainly deals with the reclusive phenomenon of hikikomori, the plot also explores many other Japanese subcultures—for example: otaku, lolicon, and internet suicide. Despite the show's name, Welcome to the N.H.K. was not broadcast on the NHK television channels, but it was syndicated throughout Japan, from July 9, 2006 to December 23, 2006, with Chiba TV (July 9 - December 17, 2006, every Sunday) as a flagship station. It aired mostly on Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations stations, and Hiroshima Home TV (July 16 - December 23, 2006, every Saturday), a local All-Nippon News Network station in Hiroshima.

[Macross-Junkie]

I could go on and on with old Anime that todays generation just doesn't bother watching because the animation isn't all new and flashy, or the characters aren't moe enough, regardless of how good the story is. But considering I don't feel like making a 10 page post, I'll limit it to just a few...

Kimagure Orange Road (1987)

Teenage romance meets fantasy in this series as a love triangle develops between the main character, an indecisive esper named Kyōsuke Kasuga, Madoka Ayukawa, a mercurial and enigmatic girl with a tough past, and Hikaru Hiyama, Madoka's ditzy and energetic best friend. Kyōsuke falls in love with Madoka, and Madoka wants to return those feelings, but can not because of Hikaru's involvement with Kyōsuke.

Super Dimensional Fortress Macross (1982)

In 1999, an alien spaceship crashes on South Ataria Island and makes the human race aware of other life in space. Ten years later, the ship is reconstructed and christened as the SDF-1 Macross. However, on the day of its maiden voyage, an alien race called the Zentradi make their appearance on Earth—thus beginning Space War I, a UN Spacy/Zentradi war that would change the history of both races forever.

Genesis Climber Mospeada (1983)

Without warning in the year 2050, an alien race known only as the Inbit arrive, invade and successfully conquer the Earth. Years later and despite brutal past failures, the inhabitants of Mars Colony send out yet another desperate Liberation Force to try and reclaim their lost home world. The fleet is all but destroyed. However, a lone survivor, Stig Bernard, finds himself on Earth. Gathering a mere handful of resistance fighters, Stig journeys on towards the Inbit's headquarters at Reflex Point in an attempt to gather intelligence and, possibly, discover a way to beat them.

You're Under Arrest (1996)

Natsumi and Miyuki are policewomen at the Bokuto Police Station. This story recounts the exploits and adventures they have in dealing with the strange characters they are forced to deal with 'all in a day's work'.

Maison Ikkoku (1986)

Godai is a ronin (someone who has failed university entrance exams) living in a run down apartment house called Maison Ikkoku. Among the other residents are the nosy Ichinose, the sexy Akemi Roppongi, and the mysterious Yotsuya. The others are given to having wild parties which makes it difficult for Godai to study. Into this mayhem comes the recently widowed Kyoko as the new live-in manager. Godai falls for her, but doesn't have the nerve to tell her. As time passes, their relationship slowly develops amid life at Maison Ikkoku, despite all sorts of romantic hurdles.

Slayers (1995)

Lina Inverse, a wandering sorceress and bandit-killer, joins forces with roving swordsman Gourry Gabriev in what's supposed to be a quick union of convenience. Instead, an artifact Lina "liberated" from a gang of thieves turns out to be the key to the resurrection of the demon lord Shabranigdo. Urged on by the mysterious Red Priest Rezo, the pair has no choice but to fight the dark lord and his servants, accumulating new allies and enemies along the way.

Mahō Tsukai Tai! Magic Users Club (1996)

One sunny day invaders came from space. They weren't little green men or funny girls wearing school uniforms, though. They were ugly robots which defeated the UN forces in seconds. After that the invaders (known as "eyeballs") roamed around and observed human society. In fact, they were peaceful unless attacked. They were polite and followed all the traffic laws, too. Still, they were aliens and the people of Earth wanted them to go home. The Kitanohashi High School Magic Club took it on themselves to defeat these foul robots and free the world.

Venus Wars (1989)

War breaks out between 2 nations on a terraformed Venus, catching a teenage motorized unicycle team unaware. At the same time, a reporter from Earth is trying to keep up with the team to document the story.

Ranma 1/2 (1989)

Saotome Ranma, a teenage martial artist, and his father Genma travel to the 'cursed training ground' of Jusenkyo in China. There, despite the warnings of the Chinese guard, they fall into the cursed springs. From now on, whenever Ranma is doused in cold water, he turns in to a girl, and a cute, well-built red-head at that. Hot water changes him back into a man again, but only until the next time. To make matters worse, his father engages him to Tendo Akane, a girl who hates boys.

Patlabor The Mobile Police (1989)

In the future, advanced robotics has created heavy robots ("labors") for use in a variety of functions: construction, fire-fighting, military, and more. However, though the robots are only machines, their operators are also only human - and humans sometimes turn to crime. Since a heavy labor unit can be a dangerous weapon, the police of the future are set to fight fire with fire, using advanced patrol labor units, "patlabors". This is the story of the Second Special Vehicles Division, a motley crew of patlabor policemen and -women doing their best to fight crime and live a normal life.

[MinaUchiha2]

I actually like a lot of the ones Macross posted.

[PuppetQueen]

XD I actually like a lot of the ones Macross posted.

yea me too >.>;;

[Dimmuburger]

You're Under Arrest (1996)

Natsumi and Miyuki are policewomen at the Bokuto Police Station. This story recounts the exploits and adventures they have in dealing with the strange characters they are forced to deal with 'all in a day's work'.

Watched almost all of it including the LAPD one, the IRL-action one, Full throttle and the one that was composed of smaller five minute episodes. My teacher had a picture of them on a power point one time but she didn't even know what anime was. she just googled "friends mad at one another"

I havent seen a single bit of Macross, I just now saw an episode of mobile suit gundam

[BobD]

Yep, Macross knows his old school and I gladly second, third, fourth all his recommendations.

[Nathan Cross]

It appears Macross will have to eat his words thrice over 'bout that opinion of the younger generation. xD

As for my contribution to the thread, I second Slayers and add one 90s title:

Ghost Sweeper Mikami! (1993-1994)

I'll keep it brief, but it's a comedy/horror about a team of private exorcists, called Ghost Sweepers, who are hired to take care of indigenous spirits kicked from their home by overpopulation in Japan and begin causing mischief and trouble. They're sort of like mercenaries specializing in ghost busting and the best is led by a girl named Reiko Mikami. There's, of course, a manga, a 45 episode series and a movie, seen above.

[blaquekatxx]

POst your own if you think nobody watches them but you,

Welcome to the NHK



Welcome to the N.H.K. (N・H・Kにようこそ!, NHK ni Yōkoso!?)The novel was first published in English by Tokyopop on October 9, 2007. The story centers around a twenty-two-year-old hikikomori who gets aid from a strange girl who seems to know a lot about him, despite never meeting him before. A common theme throughout the story deals with the hardships of life and how people must deal with them in their own way.

In Japan, "NHK" refers to the public broadcaster Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, but within the series, the main character believes it stands for Nihon Hikikomori Kyōkai (日本引きこもり協会?, "The Japanese Hikikomori Association"), which is a reference to the protagonist's claim of a subversive conspiracy led by NHK (the real-life broadcaster) to create hikikomori. While it mainly deals with the reclusive phenomenon of hikikomori, the plot also explores many other Japanese subcultures—for example: otaku, lolicon, and internet suicide. Despite the show's name, Welcome to the N.H.K. was not broadcast on the NHK television channels, but it was syndicated throughout Japan, from July 9, 2006 to December 23, 2006, with Chiba TV (July 9 - December 17, 2006, every Sunday) as a flagship station. It aired mostly on Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations stations, and Hiroshima Home TV (July 16 - December 23, 2006, every Saturday), a local All-Nippon News Network station in Hiroshima.

Lol I absolutely LOVE Welcome to the N.H.K. Hmm I think the only two anime's I have that not many people know about are:



Yuji Sakai, a high school student, expected his very normal life to last forever. However, this expectation is quickly shattered one day while on his way home.

The world suddenly freezes in time, leaving Yuji to watch in horror as blue flames engulf the people around him. Soon a monster resembling a large doll appears and begins sucking the flames into its mouth, until it notices Yuji. Surprised with Yuji's insusceptibility to the time-stop (fuzetsu), it jumps with glee.

Just as the monster prepares to consume Yuji, a sword-wielding girl in black attire with flaming red eyes and hair appears, swiftly and confidently destroys the monster, before noticing Yuji moving freely. The girl calls herself a "Flame Haze" who hunts the "Denizens of the Crimson Realm" and the "Rinne" they send to do their bidding. When Yuji notices a blue flame in his chest, the Flame Haze tells him that the "real" Yuji died some time ago, and that he is a "Torch", a temporary replacement for erased humans. Torches take on the forms of those erased persons, but after a period of time, they will vanish from existence and the memories of the living. Unfazed by his apparent death, Yuji befriends the strange girl and names her "Shana" after her sword. The reason Yuji was able to move in the fuzetsu is that he is not a normal Torch, but instead a special kind called a "Mystes": he has a treasure inside him, known as a "Hougu", a device possessing special abilities of sorts, and an extremely powerful and valuable one at that. The hougu inside Yuji allows him to remain in existence rather than fading away like other torches. Shana resolves to protect Yuji from the Denizens, who would use the treasure to disrupt the balance of the world, and Yuji decides to join Shana in her fight.

Shana's fight is actually a long-standing struggle between the Lords and Denizens of Guze. The Denizens steal Power of Existence, the energy that forms the basis of the world, from living people and utilize it for their own selfish ambitions. Some Lords inhabit humans creating Flame Hazes in an attempt to retain balance by hunting renegades from Guze. Flame Hazes create Torches in place of the consumed to save the world from the disruption of many existences being lost at once, allowing the Torches to gradually burn out over the course of time.



Ghost Stories (学校の怪談, Gakkō no Kaidan?, literally School Ghost Stories), also known as Ghosts at School, is a twenty episode anime series created in 2000 by animation studio Pierrot and Aniplex for Fuji Television, based on a book series by Toru Tsunemitsu.

The series is licensed for the North American market by ADV Films whose English dub replaces the original script with a comedic one. It was also aired in Latin America by Cartoon Network, which had broadcast the entire series unedited on October 1, 2005. The series was also translated and dubbed into English by the anime television network, Animax, who has broadcast the series unedited and uncensored under the title Ghosts at School within its respective networks across the world in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and other regions.

Ghost Stories tells the tale of Satsuki Miyanoshita, who moves with her family to the hometown of her deceased mother. On her first day of school, Satsuki; her brother Keiichirou, a first-grader; their neighbor Hajime Aoyama; Momoko Koigakubo, an older schoolmate; and Reo Kakinoki, a classmate and friend of Hajime's with a penchant for the paranormal visit the abandoned school building adjacent the current school complex and discover that the building is haunted.

It is soon after revealed that Satsuki's mother was responsible for sealing several ghosts who haunted not only the school but also the town, and now they are released due to the urbanization taking place in the surrounding area. Satsuki's mother left behind a book detailing how to exorcize the ghosts once and for all. In her first confront, Satsuki faces a demon called Amanojaku, but in the process Amanojaku is sealed within Satsuki's pet cat, Kaya. Although Amanojaku does not want to help Satsuki at first, the danger soon threatens to envelop the town and it is left up to Satsuki, her friends and Amanojaku to stop the ghosts.

[MinaUchiha2]

Ghost Stories! Watch the Dub for that one.

[Dimmuburger]

There was a preview for ghost stories on my Azumanga Daioh DVD but I was too scared to look into it because I was eleven or something

[BobD]

Just a heads up for you old school lovers...

Animeigo has lost the license to the Oh! My Goddess OVAs as of February 28th. RightStuf has already sold out of the Collector's Edition and Animeigo is selling out their inventory at $14.99.

Both RightStuf and Animeigo still have the single editions of the title.

If you don't have this in your collection I would suggest you pick it up before it's gone. While another company may rescue this there is no gaurentee. Once it's gone it could go the way of KOR, Maison Ikkoku and Cardcaptor which all cost an arm and a leg to get.

[BobD]

And speaking of Animeigo, if you haven't picked up Yawara! for your anime collection you should be drawn and quartered.

Now if they would only announce when more will be released!

[Blitzkrieg]

I feel quite proud of myself. Not only have I heard about pretty much everything on this list, but I've seen (and even own) a number of 'em! Anyway, my favorite anime that no one else seems to have heard of is probably Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars.



Despite technically being about giant robo-thing fighting each other and elaborate interstellar politics, the show's main focus is mostly easy going, day to day activities of a small town in not-too-distant-future Japan. It's a LOT of fun, despite the fact that it sort of takes forever for things to actually happen.

[Macross-Junkie]

It appears Macross will have to eat his words thrice over 'bout that opinion of the younger generation. xD

As for my contribution to the thread, I second Slayers and add one 90s title:

Ghost Sweeper Mikami! (1993-1994)

I'll keep it brief, but it's a comedy/horror about a team of private exorcists, called Ghost Sweepers, who are hired to take care of indigenous spirits kicked from their home by overpopulation in Japan and begin causing mischief and trouble. They're sort of like mercenaries specializing in ghost busting and the best is led by a girl named Reiko Mikami. There's, of course, a manga, a 45 episode series and a movie, seen above.

Actually the "Animazement Forum" crowd is a small demographic and tends to be more open to watching older Anime as well as newer Anime. The "New Generation" I speak of is more of the typical Anime fan that watches Adult Swims Anime block, and shops for only specific titles based on the Animation style and what's "IN" at the time they go to the store, or steal it from online. I have a friend that works at Saturday Matinee (owned by Suncoast) and two friends that work at Best Buy, and all three have shown evidence that newer Anime flies off the shelf, while older titles, that are less relevant in the industry, tend to just sit and collect dust.

Oh My Goddess is a great example of what I'm talking about. Ever since the newer Ah My Goddess remake came out in 2005, the older OAV from the early 90's has seen little to no sales. Which may be one of the reasons Animeigo decided not to renew the license.

In a nut shell, I don't think I'll be eating my words, because only a small percentage of the Animazement Forum crowd, which is in turn is a VERY small percentage of the picky Anime fans of the US has said that they have watched these titles. Although I hate to admit it, it's just part of the hideous evolution of Anime in the U.S.

[wandering-dreamer]

I feel quite proud of myself. Not only have I heard about pretty much everything on this list, but I've seen (and even own) a number of 'em! Anyway, my favorite anime that no one else seems to have heard of is probably Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars.

Ah, I have the first disc of this and I rather liked it. Need to finish sometime, I described it to my anime club as "slice-of-life, 20 minutes into the future, with mechas."

[Dimmuburger]

My coach and teammates think I'm so gay.
lol

I don't know why I loved it.

[PuppetQueen]

My coach and teammates think I'm so gay.
lol

I don't know why I loved it.

I really want to go watch that now xD

[L]

Shinesman


Shinesman is a must see. Its dubbed by Coastal Studios in NC by director Scott Houle.
Shinesman ANN Review

[DrGonzo369]

A ton of great recommendations. Can't recommend the stuff that Mac said enough.

Other recommendations:

Bubblegum Crisis 2032 (the original ovas)
Record of Loddoss War (OVA over TV)
Crusher Joe (another great Coastal Dub and the first anime appearance of the Dirty Pair)

Speaking of those 2: Original Dirty Pair (none of that Flash crap)
Captain Harlock (anyhing)
Galaxy Express 999
Urusei Yatsura (the original perverted boy meets crazy alien girl anime)

[aderyn]

Old School is great. I like some new school too. Here are some of my favorite titles that are fairly recent in Japan:

Shangri-la
If you want the true solution to Global Warning, this anime gives you an interesting option the world could take


The story of a young woman fighting for her survival in a real "urban jungle." Only 18 years old, Kuniko Hojo finds herself at the heart of the battle for humanity's future when she discovers that the government which rules Atlas intends to continue marginalising the less-privileged masses outside the tower - by force, if necessary.

Asura Cryin'
I'm not a huge fan of mecha but it's starting to grow on me, and I have to say that this is one of the few mechas that I like.


Tomo was a school kid with just one problem: he had a ghost friend for a while. One day, his life is turned upside down as his world changes into a new one, one which he couldn't imagine before.

K-ON!
Slice of lifes are always fun to watch, and this isn't all about the sailor fuku


It's Yui Hirasawa's first year in high school, and she's eagerly searching for a club to join. At the same time, Ritsu Tainaka, a drummer, and her friend Mio Akiyama, a bassist, are desperately trying to save the school's light music club, which is about to be disbanded due to lack of members. They manage to recruit Tsumugi Kotobuki to play the keyboard, meaning they only need one more member to get the club running again. Yui joins, thinking it will be an easy experience for her to play the castanets, the only instrument she knows. However, the other members think their new addition is actually a guitar prodigy...

Umineko no Naku Koro ni
If you're a Higurashi fan, then you should watch this. Granted, I never like Higurashi, but I'm in love with Umineko. It's a nice balance of gore, suspense, and mystery. :3


Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place in the year 1986, during the time frame of October 4 and October 5 on a secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島, Rokkenjima). The head of a wealthy family named Kinzo Ushiromiya, who lives on and owns Rokkenjima, is near death, and eight of his family members arrive on the island to discuss how Kinzo's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are three family members who live there, five of Kinzo's servants, and his personal physician. After the eight family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island and shortly after people start to get mysteriously murdered.