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Every so often, I will watch a show on whim based off art or the back of the box (so to speak). The results are typically great. Plastic Nee-san had me crying in laughter many times and Rec was a very welcome surprise, especially seeing it came from Shaft.

What anime have you seen that have surprised you? It can be a good or bad surprise.

As I mentioned, I watched Plastic Nee-san because I saw it had short episodes. I wasn't expecting a show that would make me beg for more and more and more. The offbeat humor was perfectly fitting with my style and the character interactions were hilarious for a 24 minute show.

Rec was also a neat little surprise. I'm making it a mission to watch every single Shaft show out there (I'm dreading a couple of them) but Rec really was enjoyable with a fun, realistic (sort of) romance. Again, the short episodes helped it as it never overstayed its welcome and always ended on the right note.

A late expansion of this thread. Which shows were disappointing due to the hype they received?

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I'd have to make 1000000000 posts to completely answer that man. Im going to have to think about that........

I'd have to say Panty & Stocking and Garterbelt. I went into it thinking it was going to be stupid Cartoon Network type show, but what I got was a crude, vulgar, funny and utterly epic show that I actually own on both DVD and Blu Ray.

As far as disappointing hmmm....

I'm probably going to make some people mad but Code Geass really disappointed me! I was really excited about it when it came out but it fell flat. (My opinion of course)

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Puella Magi Madoka Magica definitely surprised the hell out of me. I was forced to watch that, looked like another cruddy magical girl show. But that episode...pulled the rug from under my feet. Was completely blown away. And i must say, I am eager for the coming movie. And yes, this was before i was familiar with Shaft's works.

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Puella Magi Madoka Magica definitely surprised the hell out of me. I was forced to watch that, looked like another cruddy magical girl show. But that episode...pulled the rug from under my feet. Was completely blown away. And i must say, I am eager for the coming movie. And yes, this was before i was familiar with Shaft's works.

Never doubt my anime suggestions again Vibrantblade. Madoka surprised me as well though certain trollish AMVs on youtube misled me heavily, so the entire show was one big surprise.

I forgot a disappointing one, but Sasami-san@Ganbaranai surprised me in a bad way. It was entertaining, but no where near the level of work I've come to expect from Shaft and Akiyuki Shinbo. It was way too rushed and lacked a very coherent plot without having an intense background knowledge of Japanese mythology. Of course, that show had some incredible plot twists along the way that got me in a good way.

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Puella Magi Madoka Magica definitely surprised the hell out of me. I was forced to watch that, looked like another cruddy magical girl show. But that episode...pulled the rug from under my feet. Was completely blown away. And i must say, I am eager for the coming movie. And yes, this was before i was familiar with Shaft's works.

Ok.... More hate coming my way. I HATED Puella Magi Madoka Magica!!!!

Soooooo over-hyped. I was so disappointed I actually gave away the copy I bought. Maybe I had too high expectations, but man that was horrible! (Again my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions)

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Ok.... More hate coming my way. I HATED Puella Magi Madoka Magica!!!!

Soooooo over-hyped. I was so disappointed I actually gave away the copy I bought. Maybe I had too high expectations, but man that was horrible! (Again my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions)

"Not Today"

What didn't you like about it exactly, if you dont mind? For me, it was the total shock factor in that one episode. Left me dumbfounded enough to make me watch the rest of the show on the edge of my seat. One thing I didn't like though is the way the witches are portrayed, way too cartoony for me. As well as the ending...the last episode was meh at best. But heck, the rest was amazing, in my opinion. And if i go back to watching the show, my opinion of it may go down a bit, for as I said, that shock factor really got me hooked to it.

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"Not Today"

What didn't you like about it exactly, if you dont mind? For me, it was the total shock factor in that one episode. Left me dumbfounded enough to make me watch the rest of the show on the edge of my seat. One thing I didn't like though is the way the witches are portrayed, way too cartoony for me. As well as the ending...the last episode was meh at best. But heck, the rest was amazing, in my opinion. And if i go back to watching the show, my opinion of it may go down a bit, for as I said, that shock factor really got me hooked to it.

Hope you dont mind me butting in here. Im Ryoji's wife and I think I can answer that. I remember when this anime was announced. Neither one of us were to excited and didnt watch it untill after it had aired. There was sooo much hype behind the show and "that one episode" that Ryoji was very excited to see it. His best friend is a HUGE anime fan and really bragged about its greatness. They have very similar tastes in Anime so my husband was sure he was going to like it. From the very beginning it was just silly. I think he overstated his dislike for it. I dont think he really hated it more then he was extremely disappointed in it. Hell he even called what happened before it happened. Yes, im talking about "that"

Did he hate it? No, but the hype definitely ruined it for him. Anyway, hope that clears it up :)

(Hey Batman thanks for the WB)

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Ok.... More hate coming my way. I HATED Puella Magi Madoka Magica!!!!

Soooooo over-hyped. I was so disappointed I actually gave away the copy I bought. Maybe I had too high expectations, but man that was horrible! (Again my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions)

I...I adore you Ryoji. You are the only other person I met who felt the same exact way about Madoka Magica as I do. Because of the hype it received, I managed to successfully predict a lot of plot twists, which thus detracted A LOT from the overall enjoyment of watching the show.

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Should I rename this the "Piss on Modoka Magica Thread"?

Let me actually expand the thread a little more too.

Which shows were disappointing solely because of hype?

To answer my newly expanded topic, Attack on Titan and FLCL. Attack on Titan isn't over yet, but the early hype it received seems to be undeserved, and I feel into that hype train sadly.

FLCL is insanely hyped, and for what I will never fathom. It's an incoherent mess with sloppy symbolism and is in your face just to be noticed (wait, did I just describe Evangelion also?)

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Should I rename this the "Piss on Modoka Magica Thread"?

Let me actually expand the thread a little more too.

Which shows were disappointing solely because of hype?

For me, there are 2 that fit that criteria.

OreImo: The hype ruined it for me. While I enjoyed it, and the ongoing 2nd season, it just wasnt all it was made out to be,

Sword Art Online: Wow what a disaster that was. Started out good but by episode 14-15 I was disgusted. Im a fan on the LN's so I knew the material going in!!

EDIT: Sorry Tay, Ryoji just told me how much you loved SAO!!

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I'm new to anime, and am currently under the tutelage of Ryoji-sensei. Every show he suggests is completely amazing, and so I've come to expect greatness from his suggestions. Here are two surprises which came from outside his suggestions:

Good Surprise - Aku no Hana (Flowers of Evil). Yes, that rotoscoped one currently airing. It's largely dropped its early efforts to give off a horror vibe, and instead has turned into an interesting exploration of characters. The show is very polarizing, yes, but that probably means it's trying new things and pushing some boundaries. In an industry as long-lived as anime, I'd imagine that's a good thing to do, from time to time.

Bad Surprise - OreShura. Man... That show had so much going for it: engaging characters, a great first 2/3rds of a season... and then it seemed the writers could never decide what to do with the narrative. The ending felt dishonest and out of place, and left so much promise hanging. (The surprise was -- for the first time in my experience -- a show with a mostly-great season and great characters tripped at the finish line)

EDIT: It's okay, Kotomi. We can still be friends : ).

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Because I keep my expectations low and I download anime per season rather than wait for weekly updates, I don't have many disappointments regarding anime, and I have a lot of good surprises.

For disappointing ones:

1. SAO 2nd season (ALO arc) - Fell flat from the expectations coming from th epic 1st season.

2. Kampfer - Started watching it on a whim, but too disgusted to finish it. The concept was good and it could've turned into a good action anime, but rather it became a yuri/harem shit that was too disappointing. And the protag was just so stupid.

For good surprises:

1. Kotoura-san - I was just totally blown away by this one. Seeing the cover, I though I'd be much more of a moe anime, but I didn't expect the story to be so dramatic.

2. Madoka Magica (again) - Lot of talks about Madoka Magica in this thread. Here are my thoughts. At first, I wanted to drop it because it just looks like a girly mahou shoujo anime intended for young girls. But as I progress, the story became dark and made quite an impression on me. I never expected it to turn that way.

After seeing Madoka Magica, I don't think any young girl would want to be a Mahou Shoujo

3. Chihayafuru - Seeing the characters, I though I'd be more of a romantic anime (Chihaya looks really gorgeous), but it turns out that it was much more different that I have imagined. And I never thought karuta is palyed that intensely.

Bad Surprise - OreShura. Man... That show had so much going for it: engaging characters, a great first 2/3rds of a season... and then it seemed the writers could never decide what to do with the narrative. The ending felt dishonest and out of place, and left so much promise hanging. (The surprise was -- for the first time in my experience -- a show with a mostly-great season and great characters tripped at the finish line)

I think there are quite a lot of anime that fall into that category, like Dantalian no Shoka. I don't know about the LN version of OreShura, but for anime adaptations to turn that way, I think the most common problem is the airing time. They may have been forced to diverge from the original story to create an ending that would fit the required episodes. This really turns good concepts into trash.

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A good surprise for me was Tegngen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I was expecting the usual mech anime (which I don't really like) and I ended up watching the whole anime in a couple of days, and rewatching it 3 more times (not right after I finished). It is a great anime, I still don't know why people don't talk much about it, but I got goosebumps in almost every chapter.

Bad surprise would be Arcana Famiglia, I couldn't handle it, I watched the first chapters but I just couldn't keep on watching it. Oreshura's ending would also be a bad surprise, though the rest of the anime was decent.

Since everyone is talking about Madoka I should say something as well. "Meh". That's pretty much my thoughts about Madoka, it is interesting, and compared to other Mahou Shoujo animes is really brutal, but even with that, it didn't leave much of an impression on me

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The greatest surprise for me had to have been either Gosick or Seitokai Yakuindomo. I had never heard of either, and I simply randomly found them on MAL after searching through its list. These two proved to be some of the most entertaining animes I've watched. Gosick at first seemed a bit dull, but it slowly drew me in with its mysteries. Seitokai Yakuindomo is one of my most favorite comedy series. It doesn't have good artwork or animation, but the puns, punchlines and gags are just golden.

The most disappointing for me has to be Guilty Crown. It looks amazing, and the episodes slowly built up the suspense and thrill. However, somewhere along the line I just started expecting/anticipating so much that by the time the anime reached its conclusion I thought "That's it?". I expected much more from the anime, but whether it was the plot progression, development or character development something just didn't work and I was left disappointed. It could have been amazing, but alas... something just did not work.

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Let's see, as far as good surprises I will go with Kaiba for one that really I did not expect. I went into this simply because I had read a bit about it. What I did not expect was how deep the show was and how much it tugged with my emotions. Another one I was pleasantly surprised with was Planetes, while i heard good things about it I was still utterly impressed at how good a show I thought it was.

Now, for negative ones I was absolutely not impressed with Paprika, I dunno, just didn't resonate with me for whatever reason. Princess Mononoke is another that I found to honestly be a tad boring.

I'm sure there are more but those jump straight into my mind when I read the topic

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Puella Magi Madoka Magica definitely surprised the hell out of me. I was forced to watch that, looked like another cruddy magical girl show. But that episode...pulled the rug from under my feet. Was completely blown away. And i must say, I am eager for the coming movie. And yes, this was before i was familiar with Shaft's works.

That makes two of us :). I too was really impressed by Madoka. Sola was another one that really surprised me. I assumed it'd just be another anime, but I ended up really loving it.

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I'm going off topic and not mention Madoka hahaha

surprised me.. will have to mention 2 here, first Fairy Tail. i thought it was going to be a cheap rip off working on the Naruto / Bleach theme with epic fights etc and I think too many people hyped it. But fook me when I watched it it was amazingly epic, beats both Naruto and Bleach hands down imo it has me literally crying with laughter.

2nd - Strawberry Panic - I sort of avoided it as I wasn't particularly interested in girl x girl anime. But over the years I've grown fond of Romance Anime and felt i needed to expand my field and decided to watch SP as my 1st Girl x Girl anime. I was wrong, this was a truly amazing anime and the love stories within is just as great.

As for disappointing anime hmmmmmmmm. 2nd Season of Kimi no Todoke and Although I absolutely Love Toradora! ( my close 2nd fav anime off all time ) the final episode, it frustrates me it could have ended a thousand times better.

Most over Hyped anime I would say was definitely Full Metal Alchemist ( Signed my Death Warrant Here ) try as much as I want i cant enjoy this anime, Dislike the Storyline and I constantly find myself disliking the the Characters.

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A late expansion of this thread. Which shows were disappointing due to the hype they received?

I think that I would have enjoyed Haruhi a lot more if it hadn't been for the hype and annoying fans. It was a good show but some of the fans... just... ugh...

Also the anime Shuffle! gave my innocent sixth-grade self a huge shock. It started out as a cute romance comedy anime but then

Kaede went crazy and it got all violent

and I was just sitting there shocked.

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I think that I would have enjoyed Haruhi a lot more if it hadn't been for the hype and annoying fans. It was a good show but some of the fans... just... ugh...

Luckily I didn't know about the fanbase, but the show is way over hyped. I will admit that the movie is pretty damn good though and makes the show look bad.

Happy 700th Post to meeeee!

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Happy 700th Post to meeeee!

Its about time, you slacker!! Congrats Batman!!

I think that I would have enjoyed Haruhi a lot more if it hadn't been for the hype and annoying fans. It was a good show but some of the fans... just... ugh...

Also the anime Shuffle! gave my innocent sixth-grade self a huge shock. It started out as a cute romance comedy anime but then

Kaede went crazy and it got all violent

and I was just sitting there shocked.

Adjusted your spoiler tags just a bit to hide everything. :)/>

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Now, for negative ones I was absolutely not impressed with Paprika, I dunno, just didn't resonate with me for whatever reason. Princess Mononoke is another that I found to honestly be a tad boring.

I'm sure there are more but those jump straight into my mind when I read the topic

Paprika is amazing and worth all the hype. Granted, it does have some plot holes but is such a surreal experience.

TL;DR You're wrong ;)

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There is a fine line between surreal and nonsensical :P ....luckily different opinions and likes/dislikes are what adds variety, imagine what a boring world it would be if we all liked/disliked the same things. One of my favorite sayings is "I never learn anything from someone I agree with all the time". ;)

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Now, for negative ones I was absolutely not impressed with Paprika, I dunno, just didn't resonate with me for whatever reason. Princess Mononoke is another that I found to honestly be a tad boring.

Princess Mononoke was definitely overhyped. I also found it to be a bit boring at times. I don't think that it's nearly as creative as some of Miyazaki's other titles.

Luckily I didn't know about the fanbase, but the show is way over hyped. I will admit that the movie is pretty damn good though and makes the show look bad.

I know right? It is fairly unique, but definitely nowhere near as deep and mindblowing as the hardcore fans claim. I've never seen the movie, but I have heard pretty good things about it.

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Good surprises... I have a lot of stuff I thought were 'good surprises' but usually I pick up anime based on recommendations, so those are small surprises.

Kino no Tabi was really more awesome then I thought it would be. Chihayafuru ended up being my favorite competition anime ever. Recently I discovered the joy of mahou shoujos, and guess what? Heartcatch Precure is an amazing series.

Oh, and first time I tried it, I didn't like Mawaru Penguindrum much. Then I picked it up again and watched it through, and it was freaking great. One of my favorites.

Bad surprises, not that much either. Well, this season I had some bad surprises, with the two shows I hyped (Suisei and SnK) ending up being a tad disappointing.

Yeah, well, actually there's one. Now I'm going to get beaten to death and Ryoji's going to take out his guns, but I'm watching K-On and I don't like it. I find it funny a third of the time at best, I can't seem to get myself to like characters like Yui or Ritsu: it didn't hook me. The concept of making a music band and ending up doing nothing instead kinda irritates me. I can totally like anime where pretty much nothing happens but girls fooling around (I love Lucky Star). But, K-On? I can't.

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