15 Most Underrated Anime Of The Last 20 Years

15 Most Underrated Anime Of The Last 20 Years

Some animes garner a lot of popularity, but others tend to slip between the cracks. These are some underrated animes worth checking out.

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There seems to be an almost constant stream of highly acclaimed anime being produced, more than anyone interested in the art form will have enough time to consume. Some find their way to almost universal popularity. The pop culture saturation of Naruto, the classic status held by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Neon Genesis Evangelion, or the current widespread appreciation of My Hero Academia are some examples that have engaged a huge population of fans.

But not every good anime gets its time in the sun. With so many being produced and broadcast all the time, competing for viewers, there will be some gems that slip through the cracks. If you’re looking for some underappreciated titles to dive into, why not give something on this list a try.

Updated by Ericka Blye on June 20th, 2020: The 2000s saw a great number of anime titles released for Western audiences, soon after, and even simultaneously to a title’s release in Japan. Entertainment companies old and new rushed to buy licenses and distribute them to the US, not just on TV and DVDs, but online as well.

With more people getting into anime, there grew a wider selection of genres to choose from that fell outside of the action-packed and male protagonist dominated series. It saw the rise of female protagonists and other genres like horror, music, drama, and more.

15 Hell Girl

Hell Girl is a supernatural/horror anime full of self-contained episodes of characters suffering at the hands of those around them. After reaching their limit they use a website to summon the mysterious Hell Girl, Enma Ai. Enma Ai offers to send their tormentors to Hell if they enter into a contract with her, though the price is steep, as they also condemn their own souls to Hell once they die.

Hell Girl is an amazing series that shows the hold vengeance can have on a person. There’s some dark satisfaction seeing some genuinely evil people getting “what they deserve,” but it also question’s one morality and the nature of revenge.

14 AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day

After the tragic death of their friend Menma when they were just kids, Jinta Yadomi and his friends have grown apart. Jinta himself has become a recluse until the ghost of an older Menma comes to him one summer day, asking for his help in granting her “wish.”

AnoHana is a touching coming of age story that deals with grief and growing up. Jinta, Menma, and the rest of the “Super Peace Busters” are all well-written characters whose individual experiences of grief are just as heartwrenching as their collective experience. It’s a sad but beautiful story that no anime fan should miss.

13 Hikaru No Go

Anime series based on trading card games and vice-versa are pretty common with series like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, but there are few based on things like board games. Hikaru no Go is one of those few and is based on the ancient Chinese board game of Go.

This series puts an interesting and entertaining spin on the game as it follows middle schooler Hikaru as he enters the world of professional Go players under the guidance of a ghost from the Heian era. This series that’s all about the (surprisingly) competitive nature of professional Go players is illustrated by the artist of Death Note, Takeshi Obata.

12 The 12 Kingdoms

Inuyasha is certainly the most popular anime in the fantasy/historical genre, but it’s far from the only one. The 12 Kingdoms is an underappreciated gem that’s based on the manga with the same name. While the manga follows various characters, the anime focuses on Yoko Nakajima, a red-haired girl who finds herself transported from Japan to another world, and discovers she’s an empress!

Inspired by Chinese mythology, this series is a bit on the eccentric side for your average anime fan but it’s great for fans of high fantasy. Yoko is an admirably strong female protagonist who perseveres to earn her title of Emperess of the Kingdom of Kei.

11 Kaleido Star

Everyone has a dream and Sora Naegino, a teen from Japan, dreams of being a top performer at the world-famous Kaleido Stage. Though she dreams big, she finds that achieving her dreams of making a name for herself in the world-renowned circus will take all her blood, sweat, and tears to claim her place with the other performers.

While Kaleido Star has the vibrance of a typical shoujo anime it has a fairly down to earth story that really makes you empathize with all the trials and tribulations Sora and the other characters go through.

10 Mushi-shi

Mushi-shi is a slow paced anthology series following the travels of a man named Ginko. The world is inhabited by a kind of ethereal spirit called Mushi that interact with the humans just trying to go about their daily lives. Ginko can see these Mushi and made it his occupation to help people besieged by their negative effects. There isn’t much of an overarching plot and instead it focuses on the lives of the people Ginko helps. It trades action and suspense for beautiful animation and small-scale storytelling, and proceeds at a unhurried pace that lets you soak in the atmosphere.

9 School Rumble

This is a two season romance comedy starring the two main protagonists, Tenma and Kenji, and a love triangle involving their enigmatic classmate Oji. It’s told in a series of shorter scenes, kind of like sketches, and follows not only the main characters but also a variety of more minor characters and their ridiculous exploits as well.

It’s been described by reviewers as both shounen and shojo, so it appeals to a wide variety of audiences with its content. Overall, it’s just trying to make you laugh, and most agree that its fast and fun energy and its slightly surreal brand of humor succeed at that. Plus, it has a killer soundtrack.

8 Tsuritama

Ostensibly a sports anime, Tsuritama focuses on a pretty underutilized sport—fishing. It also deviates from the norm of the genre in several other ways, since it doesn’t really focus on the bombastic drama and action sequences other sports anime favor. Instead, the mains story is very small and personal. It follows high school student Yuki who has been moved around all his life and has a terrible time making friends. When he and his grandmother settle in Enoshima, a transfer student named Haru shows up claiming to be an alien and insists on living in their house. The zany set up gives way to a heartfelt series about friendship and dealing with anxiety.

7 Yakitate!! Japan

A food-based comedy series from 2004, Yakitate!! Japan has fallen by the wayside compared to other culinary anime titles like Food Wars! The main character Kazuma is pursuing his dream to make the national bread of Japan and secure a spot at the most prestigious bread bakery in the country. Kazuma also has a special power called “Solar Hands” which…makes his hands slightly hotter than a normal person. Which helps his bread dough ferment faster! It’s a sweet, funny series all about making and enjoying food, and features tons of over-the-top food tasting reactions for your viewing pleasure.

6 Monster

A highly critically acclaimed series that still many people haven’t heard of, Monster is a dark and realistic thriller about brain surgeon Dr. Kenzo Tenma following his decision to save the lives of two young twins instead of the mayor of his town in Germany.

Nine years after this fateful decision, Tenma discovers one of the twins, Johan, has grown up to be a monstrous serial killer, while the other lives an oblivious life with her foster parents. The plot chronicles Tenma’s attempts to undo the mistake he made when saving Johan’s life. The anime is committed to reproducing the highly praised manga it’s based on in every way, from its dark cinematic art to its sophisticated storyline.

5 Samurai Flamenco

Samurai Flamenco follows the journey of male model Masayoshi Hazama as he undertakes his lifelong goal of being a superhero. Unfortunately for Masayoshi, he doesn’t have any super power or any special abilities at all. Instead he runs afoul of both the city’s rougher elements and the police over and over again, until a young officer named Hidenori Goto gets involved and ends up supporting his cause. It starts as a light-hearted superhero themed comedy before it abruptly pivots genre halfway through, ramping up in intensity with each new episode until you can’t look away.

4 Hamatora

Hamatora also touches on aspects of the superhero genre. The two seasons of its anime take place after the events of the manga of the same name, but you don’t necessarily have to read the latter to enjoy the former. The two main characters, Nice and Mursaki, run a private investigative agency and the two of them use special powers, called Minimums, to solve their cases. Primarily a supernatural mystery series, it keeps the tension high through many unseen twists and turns. It’s easy to get swept up into the plot, but the series never loses sight of the likable characters that draw you in in the first place.

3 Eden of the East

An unusual blend of survival, politics, and psychological suspense, Eden of the East defies easy classification. The premise is that twelve individuals, called Selecao, have been given access to 10 billion yen in order to save Japan from a future missile strike.

If the Selecao run out of money or spend it selfishly, they are “eliminated” by a mysterious person known only as the Supporter. Nothing else is off limits in the game, including killing the other participants. The protagonist Takizawa Akira is one of these Selecao, with the added difficulty of suffering from amnesia. This is an anime that sucks you into its slick, unusual plot and leaves you hungry to know how it ends, so don’t forget to watch the movies that take place after the series’ end!

2 Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere is a difficult series to define. It’s primarily a science fiction anime following humanity’s failed attempts to travel into space to flee the dying Earth. An unknown force prevents them from leaving and they’re forced to return despite Japan being the only hospitable place left on the planet. Most of the human population is relegated to pocket dimensions, but after a time those people invade and conquer Japan, forcing the inhabitants to live on a city ship, forever circling their country. As rumors of an apocalypse draw closer, protagonist Tori Aoi devises a way to take back their homeland.

1 Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Occupying the tragically sparse landscape of a female-led fantasy adventure series, Moribito stars the wandering, spear-wielding warrior Balsa as she attempts to atone for the deaths of her past by saving an equal number of lives. She encounters Prince Chagum during her journey and becomes his bodyguard, attempting to protect him from an assassination order given by his own father. The series has beautiful animation and a lovingly crafted fantasy world, as well as compelling characters who have their troubled pasts revealed piecemeal throughout the series as they grow closer. You should give this one a look for sheer artistry alone.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/most-underrated-anime/

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