The Four Most Overrated Anime
Not all anime are created equal. What one fan considers to be a masterpiece, another may consider to be utter trash. Here are three well-known anime series (and one movie) which all have devoted fan-followings, but which simply don't hold up under pressure.
CAUTION: This list will probably step on quite a few toes. If one of your favorite series or movies made this list, please keep in mind that it's based on opinion. If you feel you really must, you may use the comments section below to inform me of my errors in judgment, but please refrain from using obscenities.
With that said, here we go:
This 1995 film by Mamoru Oshii is still seen as a landmark of the industry. For technical merits, this may well be true... It was one of the first anime to blend digital effects with traditional cel animation. It was a huge cross-over influence on the American fandom, with a multitude of fans including the Wachowski brothers, who claimed that Ghost in the Shell was one of the influences for The Matrix.
That's all well and good, but the movie itself is borderline-incomprehensible. I know that a lot of great films don't make much sense on the first viewing, but for that to principle to apply I think the film in question has to at least make some sense in the first place. The main character Kusanagi assassinates a guy, goes after a rogue AI called "The Puppet Master", goes on a car chase, fights a tank, and gets shot to pieces before somehow being reborn in the end. Sounds simple enough, but the simple information that Kusanagi is a robot is conspicuously absent from the dialogue, which as you might imagine is a rather important element of the plot! So from a technical standpoint, yes, GotS deserves its acclaim. From a storytelling standpoint? Not so much.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Haruhi gave us great things... the tremendous vocal talents of Aya Hirano, the "Hare Hare Yukai" dance, and a good deal of the humor in the anime version of my beloved Lucky Star. It's a good show, I'm not disputing that. But is it really one of the best anime series of all time, as its rabid fans claim?
I know, I know, the series is much deeper than it appears to be at first glance. Many of the best anime are like that... but Haruhi perhaps belongs on this list more than any of the other entries due to just how vociferously the fans defend it. Not a whole lot of anime have their own associated religion, after all! And for all the good things that Haruhi produced, it's responsible for some pretty awful stuff, too: the proliferation of useless, whimpering, walking-moe girls a la Mikuru, a truly staggering number of wretched parodies of the aforementioned dance, and quite possibly the most insignificant character trait to ever be inflated into completely obnoxious levels of stardom: "Nyoron!"
Everyone's favorite loud, orange-clad ninja had a really entertaining shonen series in the beginning. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had a great team dynamic, the fight scenes were cool to watch, and the story remained for the most part fairly well balanced between action, drama, and humor. And then Sasuke got tattooed by the Big Bad, Orochimaru, and the fun pretty much stopped. The "power trio" got split up, and what followed was a sequence of nothing but fight scenes, punctuated by angst and melodrama whenever Sasuke decided to come back and take over the plot for a few dozen episodes. Naruto ran out its share of goodwill well before the infamous two seasons of filler ticked off its loyal fans. And things got worse when the anime finally made it to America... a new legion of 12-year-old fans started crawling out of the woodwork, quickly earning the derisive nickname "Narutards" for their obnoxious behavior on the Internet. For them, a ninja wasn't a ninja without a loud and boisterous manner and a brightly-colored jumpsuit. Basically, this series has simply gone on way too long.
I'll admit it: Bleach is on this list purely out of personal spite. I was one of the first to start watching the anime back in early 2006, and it seemed to me that the show had just about everything: a likeable cast, supernatural thrills, and a nicely creepy Monster-of-the-Week dynamic. "Finally!" I remember thinking, "a shonen anime that isn't all about training, fighting, tournaments, and one-upsmanship!" Then, of course, the infamous Soul Society arc started. As that storyline dragged on and on and on and on, I came to the crushing realization that Bleach's first fifteen episodes were nothing but bait-and-switch for an incredibly generic larger plot. Making matters worse are the dozens upon dozens of new characters that the Soul Society arc throws at us, none of which are anywhere near as interesting as the core group that pulls most people in in the first place!
And yet Bleach is still a hugely popular show, despite the fact that the problems with it have only gotten worse as the series has gone on. It has degenated into an endless series of swordfights that drag on until one opponent suddenly pulls a new superpower out of his behind, and for falling so far from such a promising opening, Bleach well deserves its spot on this list.
Honorable Mention: The Dragonball franchise. The only reason I'm not writing a full entry about it is because I've only seen bits and pieces of it. I don't want to be accused of taking shots at one of anime's mainstays unless I'm personally familiar with its flaws, and considering how little I could stand of Dragonball in its 90's heyday, I doubt I'll ever bother to see if I'm wrong.
Previous Article: Anime Review: Ramen Fighter Miki
Comments
I think it's good for everyone's favorite show to be taken down a peg now and then because nothing's perfect. You could also easily write about Akira (pretty much copy-paste the problems from GitS plus crappy adaptation), Gurren Lagann and Evangelion. I'd mention more, but I'm not sure what qualifies as "overrated" anymore.
I'd be happy to tackle Akira or Eva, but I'm afraid I can honestly find nothing but love for Gurren Lagann... even a mean-spirited, cynical bastard like myself can recognize that that series is pure, unadulterated awesome. :P
Brian, I'm pretty disappointed in this article. Here's your formula: 1) list anime 2) briefly describe anime 3) mention one thing that you hated/disliked 4) condemn anime based on that one dislike. Maybe next time you can get some substance into why these anime are overrated instead of using this site as just a means to vent your hatred of mainstream shounen.
Hate it break it to ya Brian, but andy sort of has a point, and reiterates pretty much everything I've told you yesterday. Only in a more...unethical approach.
You really do sort of judge things by their covers. I just hope my experiments is proven a success. >:3
Okay, let me go on the record and make this clear:
I HAVE seen Ghost in the Shell, all of Haruhi (all of Melancholy, anyway), and about 60 episodes apiece of Naruto and Bleach, so I'm reasonably confident that my opinions are well-informed. Besides that, they're my OPINIONS, as I said in the disclaimer.
And sure, I could have gone more into the reasons why I chose these particular four, but I was trying to be concise and fair, and to avoid my reviewer's tendency to indulge in cheap shots.
And finally, let me clarify something: I don't *hate* any of these anime, I don't even really dislike them. I think they're overrated, yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad.
In any case, I'll shut up and try to write something less controversial for my next article.
- BHS
My #1 overrated anime is Cowboy Bebop. I've watched it all, and it falls into the "OK" range for me, but it's nowhere near the almost cult status it seems to have. I find the animation itself to be mediocre, there's a lack compelling story except for a little more near the end, and while the characters are interesting enough, there seems to be a lack of "growth" that makes a good story great.
I wouldn't really put Naruto and Bleach into this list, simply because aside from filler, they're just extremely faithful adaptations of the manga involved. And no one considers the filler on those to be anything but crap.
But aside from that, there's a major difference between the two series as I see it. Bleach is as you say, a series of fights where each time the good guy pulls more powerful flying monkeys of his rear to win. It's pointless. Naruto however, has always had heart and purpose and progress behind it. And with Shippudan the story is falling to its dark conclusion. I think it will become by its end one of the greats, at least in the manga. The anime has that darned filler...
Gurren Lagen does go on my list of overrated. I found it painful to watch, as in headache inducing. I'd also include GITS and Akira and Evangelion. One Piece I think is overrated by the Japanese. Americans seem to get it's harmless fluff.
I wouldn't really put Naruto and Bleach into this list, simply because aside from filler, they're just extremely faithful adaptations of the manga involved. And no one considers the filler on those to be anything but crap.
But aside from that, there's a major difference between the two series as I see it. Bleach is as you say, a series of fights where each time the good guy pulls more powerful flying monkeys of his rear to win. It's pointless. Naruto however, has always had heart and purpose and progress behind it. And with Shippudan the story is falling to its dark conclusion. I think it will become by its end one of the greats, at least in the manga. The anime has that darned filler...
Gurren Lagen does go on my list of overrated. I found it painful to watch, as in headache inducing. I'd also include GITS and Akira and Evangelion. One Piece I think is overrated by the Japanese. Americans seem to get it's harmless fluff.
I think your knock against Ghost in the Shell for its lack of proper story telling to be unfair. Being based on Masamune's novels, the vast amount of plot and information in it are a little hard to cram into a single movie.
Also, the whole Kusanagi is a robot thing is very apparent and I though easily explained by the fact that nearly all people in the time frame that GitS takes place have cybernetics installed. Not to mention that, if you read the books it was 'very' well explained.
Also, please don't knock it if you haven't read the original material.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!