The 35 Most Underrated & Unique Anime Series and Films
For noticeable departures from traditional animation styles and formats of the Japanese to more narrative cinematic structures or non-linear approaches. Here's 35 of the weirdest hidden gems from my avant-garde anime viewing.
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- CreatorMasaaki YuasaStarsKen UoTomoyuki ShimuraMasahito YabeShokujinki can take a human form while feeding on humans. Kifuken hunt them down. Toshihiko, latest heir of the Kifuuken, is in love with Yuka, a shokujinki.
- StarsBlake ShepardAlice FulksAndrew LoveSet in a future where the sky has been changed into a giant mirror, two teenage children are caught in a struggle between a group of super-powered beings and a mysterious woman's team of children aiming to stop them.
- CreatorKazuya TsurumakiStarsJun MizukiMayumi ShintaniIzumi KasagiMysterious things start happening when 12-year-old Naota meets a strange woman on a Vespa wielding a big guitar.
- CreatorMahiro MaedaStarsJôji NakataJohnny Yong BoschBeau BillingsleaTrying to escape his uneventful life, Albert, the son of a renowned general from Paris, makes a journey with his friend Franz. During his travels, he meets an immensely wealthy nobleman named The Count of Monte Cristo. Living in luxurious hotels, surrounded by beautiful women and strong bodyguards, the charming but enigmatic count fascinates Albert. Albert invites the count to join the high society of Paris. However, unknown to Albert, his father had once framed the count and took the Count's fiancée as his own.
- CreatorSatoshi KonStarsShôzô ÎzukaToshihiko SekiMamiko NotoSeemingly unconnected citizens of Tokyo are targeted for bludgeoning by a boy with a golden baseball bat. As detectives try to link the victims, they discover that following the assaults, the victims' lives have improved in some way.
- CreatorYasuyuki UedaStarsMichael ForestLiam O'BrienPatrick SeitzIn a man-made underground society, descendants of a banished generation vie for control of the crumbling city of Lux. Ichise, an orphan turned prize fighter, loses a leg and an arm to satisfy an enraged fight promoter.
- CreatorYasuyuki UedaStarsKaori ShimizuBridget HoffmanDan LorgeStrange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as "The Wired".
- CreatorHideaki AnnoStarsMegumi OgataMegumi HayashibaraKotono MitsuishiA teenage boy finds himself recruited as a member of an elite team of pilots by his father.
- StarsMariya IsePatrick MöllekenYôko HikasaTakao finds Nanako's gym clothes, but Sawa blackmails him, creating an unusual connection between them.
- DirectorMichael AriasHiroaki AndôStarsKazunari NinomiyaYû AoiYûsuke IseyaTwo boys defend Treasure Town and Yakuza try to take over and clear it for new development.First American directed anime!
- DirectorMasaaki YuasaKôji MorimotoStarsKôji ImadaSayaka MaedaTakashi FujiiAfter a deadly encounter with two yakuza, a loser with a crush on his childhood girlfriend goes to heaven and back, embarking on a psychedelic self-discovery experience with her and his friends.
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsYang Ik-joonOh Jung-seKim Hye-naJong-suk and Kyung-min meet up to talk about their high school past, it's been 15 years since they last talked. It brings up all kinds of memories.
- DirectorTakeshi KoikeStarsTakuya KimuraYû AoiTadanobu AsanoA story about the most popular racing event in the galaxy, the Redline, and the various racers who compete in it.
- CreatorShûkô MuraseStarsKôji YusaAkiko YajimaLiam O'BrienIn a post-apocalyptic future humans live in peace with androids in a domed city. However, a strange series of murders has intruded into bored inspector Re-l Mayer's life.
- DirectorTakayuki HiraoStarsMirai KataokaTakuma NegishiAmi TaniguchiThe friends Kaori, Erika and Aki are on a vacation to celebrate their upcoming graduation, when suddenly an infestation of mysterious walking fish forces them to reevaluate everything they care about in order to stay alive.
- StarsYûto NakanoTravis WillinghamKôjun ItôGinko is an expert travelling around to investigate a primeval life-form, the "Mushi," and helping people with Mushi-related supernatural problems.
- CreatorMasaaki YuasaStarsRomi ParkMamiko NotoHouko KuwashimaIn a futuristic dystopian world where memories are literally stored, bought and sold and rich have all the privileges, a young amnesiac is trying to find out who he is.
- DirectorTatsuo SatôMasaaki YuasaA young anthropomorphic cat goes on a psychedelic journey with his sister in order to save her soul.
- StarsKaori ShimizuCrispin FreemanRachael LillisA light in the sky, followed by a strange aura and grisly murders. Each character tells their own connection to the event and to a similar murder spree 5 years ago. All of the different stories are slowly tied together by seemingly minute similarities and the story of Boogiepop is unraveled.
- DirectorHiroshi NagahamaStarsDaisuke KishioAi KobayashiTakashi MatsuyamaThe life of a split personality man who secretly sings for death metal.
- CreatorYôji EnokidoShin'ya HasegawaKunihiko IkuharaStarsTomoko KawakamiYuriko FuchizakiRachael LillisA tomboyish schoolgirl finds herself forced into repeated duels for another girl who has a role in a world revolution.
- StarsJessie James GrelleClint BickhamCorey HartzogThe experiences of three boys who have had traumatic experiences in childhood from which they have learned to transfer their souls to a parallel world known as the "Unseen World".
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsMako HyôdôJinpachi NezuKeiichi NodaA mysterious young girl wanders a desolate, otherworldly landscape, carrying a large egg.
- StarsJamie MarchiArisa OgasawaraMariya IseTwo Angels, Panty and Stocking, are kicked out of Heaven for bad behaviour and sent Ghost hunting by Garterbelt, a Priest of Daten City.
- StarsKôki UchiyamaAaron DismukeMicah SolusodFive ping pong prodigies learn to navigate the harsh climate of competitive sport and the even more frightening realm of self realization.
- StarsJim ForondaAdditional VoicesAmber Lee ConnorsLucius, a Roman architect, is transported through time to modern-day Japan, where he learns about Japanese bathhouses and uses this to his gain back home.
- StarsTakahiro SakuraiMichael C. PizzutoEiji TakemotoA mysterious man called the Medicine Seller travels along feudal Japan, uncovering and slaying evil spirits called "Mononoke".
- DirectorEiichi YamamotoStarsAiko NagayamaChinatsu NakayamaMasaya TakahashiAfter being raped by an evil feudal lord and subsequently getting banished from her village, a peasant girl makes a pact with the Devil to gain magical powers and take her revenge.
- StarsRomi ParkYumi SugimotoYûji MitsuyaMany patients with different problems visit the psychiatric ward of Irabu General Hospital; a trapeze artist suffering from insomnia after suddenly failing his jumps, a gangster afraid of knives and sharp objects and a business man who has an erection 24 hours a day. They undergo counseling by Dr. Ichiro Irabu, who is the child-like son of the hospital director. His assistant is the sullen faced sexy nurse Mayumi. With his mysterious injections, and advice that does not make sense, Dr. Irabu confuses his patients. But at the end of his unique treatments, the patients are lead to digging further into their souls to find peace of mind.
- StarsBryn ApprillMikaela KrantzShunsuke ItakuraTwo high school girls, the short and exceptionally quick to anger Popuko, and the tall and much more calm Pipimi, do insane things and swear like sailors in this absurdist comedy filled with references and meta humor.
- DirectorHiroshi HaradaStarsMinako NakaNorihiko MorishitaKeinosuke OkamotoThe story based off of the controversial manga by Suehiro Maruo takes place where a little orphaned girl joins a freak-show circus troupe whose members rape and abuse her. She then finds a glimmer of hope in the enigmatic magician who joins the group.
- CreatorUme AokiAtsuhiro IwakamiAkiyuki ShinbôStarsAoi YûkiChiwa SaitôEmiri KatoA creature named Kyubey offers Madoka and Sayaka a wish if they agree to become 'magical girls' and fight abstract beings called 'witches'. However, a magical girl named Homura is, for uncertain reasons, determined to stop this agreement.
- StarsEmily NevesGreg AyresDavid WaldIn a post-apocalyptic world set a thousand years after our era, the remaining humans, now with telekinesis, live in a seemingly peaceful society, but dark secrets of the past will soon be discovered by a small group of friends.
- StarsTakahiro SakuraiDaisuke NamikawaYûya UchidaTimid samurai Akitsu Masanosuke becomes involved with the group "Five Leaves" after becoming the bodyguard for their mysterious, yet charismatic leader Yaichi.
- StarsKôki UchiyamaAyumu MuraseKyle McCarleyWith demons reawakened and humanity in turmoil, a sensitive demon-boy is led into a brutal, degenerate war against evil by his mysterious friend, Ryo.
- CreatorShingo NatsumeStarsAoi YûkiChristopher WehkampSiddhartha MinhasA group of students on summer vacation find themselves transported to another dimension and granted superpowers to survive there.
- StarsYuuki TaiAkihiko IshizumiBlake McMahonIt's 1742 in Paris, France. Louis XV is still king of France. A woman was found dead in a coffin floating in the Seine River. The brother of the deceased woman is D'Eon, who is determined to find the murderer of his sister: Lia. But as D'Eon investigates and tracks down the killer. He soon discovers that strange and supernatural things are involved with this series of killings. And only he can avenge Lia's death. As evil lurks in the palaces of the royal and the dark side of Europe.
- StarsUki SatakeShin'ichirô MikiMariya IseA town of people slowly go insane over increasing obsessions with spiral shapes: patterns in the clouds, everyday objects, hair, insects, skin.