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Every anime fan has heard of “The Big Three”: Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. When talking about classics, you’ve likely heard about Gundam, Evangelion, and obviously DBZ. If you’ve scratched the surface layer, then you’ve bumped into stuff like Death Note, Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, and some others. But if you kept digging and digging, then you’ve surely found other shows that you enjoyed and wondered why people overlooked them so easily — the hidden gems of anime.
This is about those series that seem to go unnoticed by many — just a small sample of them that are, in my opinion, worthy of being under the spotlight. If you’re interested in something a little less conventional, then this list might be just the thing for you.
Princess Tutu
- 26 episodes
- First aired: 2002
Following the presentation of fairy tales, it tells the story of a little duck who, in love with a prince, wishes to be a girl to aid him and be by his side. Then a strange and eerie voice asks if she truly does care for him, and just like that she’s now a 13-year-old girl enrolled in an art school. But is that really what happened, or is there something more sinister behind?
With such a simple premise it explores topics of fate, free will, and the fantasy of reality through dance and music. Today we’re used to shows that present an idea with a formula we’re familiar with, and either follow it to a tee, or subvert it to get something different. A comparably recent example is Puella Magi Madoka Magica, that played with the Magical Girl formula by adding the question “What if Magical Girls were real?”
Years earlier Princess Tutu brought together fairy tales and ballet into the magical girl genre, and similar to Madoka Magica added the question “what if these stories aren’t just stories?” Wrapped in layers of mystery and riddles, the story grows naturally from what initially seems like a common boy-meets-girl love story with magic involved, into a more somber struggle between captivity and liberty.
Revolutionary in its time, it more than holds its own against shows of today, and deserves to be watched by anyone remotely interested in being told a good story.
Otona Joshi no Anime Time
- 4 episodes
- First aired: 2011
This is perhaps the most complicated recommendation in this list. Outside of Usagi Drop, the Josei genre is not one that garners a lot of attention from the industry. Each episode is not only entirely self-contained, the topic and how it’s addressed can also vary wildly from episode to episode; and this lack of cohesion is made evident by each episode’s different art styles. But in truth, this is not a bad thing, or a new concept for that matter. Much like shows like The Twilight Zone, Otona Joshi no Anime Time is an anthology of short stories, but in this case each installment centers around a woman near her 30s or 40s who’s facing some sort of trouble in her life, be it family or love related (or a mix of both).
Some of you may be recoiling, thinking “but I don’t like soap operas~!”, and to that I reply by pointing at all the shounen anime with romantic undertones, or the shoujo shows and the irksome melodrama Jun Maeda (writer of Clannad, Angel Beats, and others) have put out throughout the years that you likely have watched. But, unlike those, this is a more realistic take and a much better written one.
Beast Player Erin
- 50 episodes
- First aired: 2009
When I covered Akagami no Shirayuki-hime I mentioned Seirei no Moribito and this title as examples of what Shriayuki-hime could’ve been. Based on a novel by Nahoko Uehashi, Beast Player Erin is set in a fantasy world rich with culture and imagination. It follows the life of a young, bright girl named Erin, who lives in a small village whose duty is to raise giant lizards used for war. Events force her out of this place and, as she grows up, finds herself stuck in the tussle between the two provinces where a civil war has been brewing for years.
The reason this might be a tricky pitch is because the overly simplistic art style can be deceptive, and when paired with a few characters and situations that are clearly meant for much younger audiences, it could push away potential viewers.
Despite those details, it is an anime that, if given the chance, is likely to blow your expectations away.
Akage no Anne
- 50 episodes
- First aired: 1979
Part of the World Masterpiece Theater, a series dedicated to adapting various classic stories, Akage no Anne is based on the novel Anne of Green Gables, penned by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It starts when an 11-year-old orphan girl, Anne Shirley, is adopted by the Cuthbert siblings, who originally expected to adopt a boy to help at their farm. Falling in the bildungsroman genre of literature, this is a tale about the growth of Anne from childhood to young adulthood in the care of the Cuthberts, and the relationships she forms and nurtures with the other members of the community.
There’s not a lot that can be said about the plot without getting too specific, since this is the kind of story without a central topic or main goal, other than seeing Anne’s daily life. But unlike recent slice-of-life anime, which seems obsessed with nothing but young girls frolicking and being cute, Akage no Anne presents the audience with the sweet, the mundane, and the bitter sides of her life through her years in Avonlea.
Although the 1979 animation could put some people off, the series is well worth your time if you’re into character driven stories. And if you’re interested in a little bit of anime history, this is kind of a Ghibli production before Ghibli was a thing, since both Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki worked on this title before founding their famous studio years later.
Mokke
- 24 episodes
- First aired: 2007
This is another slice-of-life, though somewhat closer to what the average anime fan is more accustomed to. It follows two sisters who live with their grandparents: Shizuru, the older one, can see creatures from the spiritual world; and Mizuki, the younger one, who is easily possessed by these. Thanks to their grandfather, who is well versed in the supernatural, they’re able to lead a somewhat ordinary life in their small town while growing up and learning how to cope with their condition.
In a similar vein to shows like Natsume Yuujinchou (aka Natsume’s Book of Friends) and Mushishi, it’s an episodic series where the normal and the paranormal coexist, without an overarching storyline. While this to some may be seen as a detractor, Mokke manages to engage its audience through the sisters’ stories, which often mix ingredients from mystery, horror, and drama, producing a heartwarming experience for the viewer.
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