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[merylsilverburg]

I don't think something like this has been done before. Anyway, post here which series/movies/OVAs you think are very overrated. This could apply to the ones you love, the ones you hate (or feel so-so about), the ones you haven't seen, stuff you have heard waay too much about that it makes you not want to see it, etc. You can name as much as you like or you can make a "Top 5" list and you can include reasons why you chose those.

Oh and please no flaming or anything like that if someone names a series you really love but they feel is overrated.

I'll mention mine later...I've got to think about it some more.

[happy_doughnut]

Nice thread, meryl.

There are quite a handful of animes that are just way too overrated. However, what you said is true: some of the most overrated anime are ones that we may in fact "love," but have unfortunately been "ruined" by over-exposure. Some anime, like ones showed on Adult Swim, for example, have taken out that ingenous spark in them; now all that's left is a repetitive show with exploited everything. To me, an anime becomes extremely overrated when they start selling massive amounts of merchandise promoting it. The chief example of this would be anime such as Dragon Ball (namely, Dragon Ball Z), Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Surely these are still anime, I suppose, but with all of the gimmicks, these anime are simply renowned for their popularity; popularity that has been gained through over-exposure.

These three animes, I think, we can all agree on. I mean, everywhere you turn, there's something related to these three, whether it be shirts, cards, plushies, movies, action figures or other apparel, it is just everywhere!

But now then, I'll just post a list of 5 anime titles that just... *sigh*:

• Cowboy Bebop: Wonderful anime - an anime that I can bet was very popular in Japan. However, how long has it been? Since 1998-1999, I believe. That's about 5 to 6 years already, and this show is still being viewed and praised. Now, inherently, there's nothing really wrong with this. The problem, imo, is that with the launch of it in Adult Swim, many people are now familiarized with it and furthermore, have made it so popular just because Spike is "cool" and/or because Faye is "hott." I honestly believe that this anime has a very good plot - a very deep and saddening one at that. I know it made me sad, and I'm 17. But now, there are children as young as 7 watching this and thinking this is the greatest anime ever. Why is this? I highly doubt that they give it this title because of what Cowboy Bebop really is; I think this is so because this anime can be found anywhere and everywhere. Like I said, I find this to be a great anime, and I do in fact like it very much, but it's sad that so many people have exploited this and turned into a better Pokemon formula.
  
• Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon/ Sailormoon: Admitedly, I'm a fan of this serie. I know, I know - "It's dumb," lemme alone. :p Sailormoon has to indubitably be one of the most overrated anime series I've watched in my entire life. Being the first actual anime I watched, I have a special place for it, as I'm sure most do for whatever anime it was that they first saw. But you see, I think that the original Japanese version of Sailormoon, which revolved around the themes of love, justice and friendship explored this along with more mature (and unconventional, as some would say) sexual themes. However, upon being deemed unacceptible here in the states, these stronger themes were dropped, and so was the grace of it, because what was then left? An animated Power Ranger show. Really. When asked to name a mahou shoujo (magic girl) anime, the first name that comes up is Sailormoon. By far the most popular of the genre, this anime has an enormous fan base worldwide. With a group of girls running around in little uniforms combating against the "monster of the week" in attempt to save the world, this anime has rightfully earned it's place among one of the most renowned anime in the world. And trust me, not in a good way.
  
• Ranma Nibunnoichi/ Ranma 1/2: Like Sailormoon, Ranma 1/2 is an anime that I like quite a lot. Personally, I find the story to be witty and entertaining, although not persistent in the least. Ranma 1/2 could quite possibly be one of the most popular anime of all times. However, I can understand why it'd be such a hit, with such diverse characters: you want a 300 year-old man who filches woman's underwear? How about a guy with no sense of direction that turns into a pig? Oh, and how about an overly self-absorbed guy that recites Shakespeare? Surely, with such a wacky character line up along with an equally wacky (and fitting!) story, Ranma is just something everyone has either heard about or seen. Unfortunately, as is the seeming trend of lengthy anime, this one just a lesson too long and overrated to the max.
  
• Card Captor Sakura: I've never really been a fan, but I needn't be, as fans for this anime are a million too many. Yes, this anime is cute and has a much stronger plot than Pokemon, but well, that's all I see in it. Albeit Sakura, the elementary school heorine, is much more likeable and reasonable than most other crybaby female leads that plague the shoujo genre, Sakura could have had success as an anime that let action take a backseat and let it's main focus rely on the ralationships between friends and family, instead of letting it thrive due to its ... art. Just about every girl (and guy, too) will think Sakura and Li to be the cutest characters "ever," myself included . Cute show, but much of the possible potential was lost due to crazy kids that thought this show was about nothing more about thatn cute characters inevitably catching cute cards, thus making its popularity rise sky high due to shallow reasons. A real shame.
  
• Love Hina: Now this anime I don't like. ^__^; We've seen this before. A hapless male youth stumbles upon a situation where he is surrounded by beautiful women, and chaos ensues. It's called shounen anime, and it's a genre that has been done to death. Seriously, Aa! Megami-sama (Ah! My Goddess), Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi (Bluer than Indigo), and Chobits, anyone? Too much! However, out of these four clones, by far, Love Hina has got to be the most popular one. Around here, it is one of the anime that everyone talks about. Love Hina this, Love Hina that. Goodness, they even have a Christmas special! And it's the same thing, only in Santa suits! I mean, really guys, there's is such a thing as too much, and Love Hina certainly is too much. Watching the same thing over and over with a bunch of filler episodes and unoriginal plot makes me want to perform seppuku. >__<

I know there are anime that are plentily more overrated than these, like the obvious Pokemon and DBZ hazards (and even Rorouni Kenshin *gasp*), but these shows in particular are overly popularized too, and are shows that people don't often assiocate when thinking of overrated anime. But they are, really. I like most of these, but I also admit they are just way too much.

Everyone knows these... They're just all the mediore-self-proclaimed anime otaku know and talk about.

[merylsilverburg]

*nods in full agreement to Mena's post* Yes, yes how true. Especially with the Cowboy Bebop, Ranma 1/2, and Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. Basically, those are pretty much way too overrated with makes it tiring to hear someone constantly mention those series over and over and over again.

Well, here's my "Top 5": (no particular order)

1) Cowboy Bebop: Yes, as doughnut already mentioned, this series is so very incredibly good, but the fact that the entire nation titles it as "The Best Series Ever...Period can get really irritating. There was even this one guy I met that said he refuses to watch any other action series only because he highly doubts it can live up to Cowboy Bebop. Now, I won't doubt that, but I mean, c'mon! There are other great series that might not live up to Bebop, but they're not so bad that you cannot say you refuse to watch them! And as doughnut also mentioned, a lot of younger people watch this series and really worship it without really understanding the full extent of the meaning of this series. Also, one more thing, the soundtrack...yes....it's fantastic...but, it's not the only soundtrack in the entire world. It's really annoying to hear people say "Yeah, I love Yoko Kanno....she's the best, she rocks...she can do no wrong, she's my favorite composer" and when you ask them what other music of hers that they listen to, their reply is "What? Cowboy Bebop of course!" *faints*

2) Shin Seiki Evangelion: Alright, maybe this series isn't mentioned too much in other places, but it sure as hell is mentioned a lot around here...and would probably take over along with Bebop, if they air it on "Adult Swim". I don't deny or argue that this is a revolutionary series, that combines mecha with the complex human emotions/relations, but it's getting to the point where I would hear people say "Omigawd, I LOVE Asuka! She's so funny and cute!" or "This series is so good...it's so dramatic and realistic and there aren't any other series like it" (wanna bet? Try Rahxephon -_-;;. And besides this, there's also comments on "The series is so good, but the drawings are UGLY"...sure, it's overrated but some of it isn't all positive comments!

3) Trigun: Admittedly, I don't hear much of this series; a few people have mentioned it here and there and considered it cool...but I do *see* it a lot...especially when I go up to the Japanese bookstore 2 hours away from my place. I would see people carry those Trigun messenger bags that you can get from AnimeNation, I would see people buy the manga (scrambling to get their needed volume), I would see posters/wallscrolls around the Toy Hobby shop, and I would see it on the banners of online anime/manga stores. An annoying thing is the references I would hear...whenever someone...anyone...sees a black cat, it's immediately "It's Kuroneko-samaaaaaaaa!" Somehow, every black cat on the planet is now "Kuroneko-samaaaaaaa!" regardless what series that cat is from.

4) Ranma 1/2: I don't think I need to explain much. Whenever someone thinks "comedy anime", it's immediately Ranma 1/2. Nope, don't even try to suggest others, it's just Ranma 1/2. That's that. When I was in high school, I couldn't even get by without someone mentioning "Omigawd, Ranma 1/2 is soo funny and Ranma is sooo cute and Ryouga is soo funny and sooo cute and Happosai is, like, my favorite character, well not really my favorite since Ranma is my favorite, but Happosai makes me laugh soo much and he's so perverted and so funny and...." *meryl explodes* Alright, so you like the series, I GET IT. People have tried to lend me their graphic novels, have tried to get me to join their Ranma 1/2 conversations (I mean, as if there were anything to talk about...this series ain't so deep...it's not philosophy or something), have made me draw it, etc. Very overrated, not to mention that people in the States have NO idea that the series have been changed drastically to suit the Western audience (c'mon, like the Japanese would really have the title "Pretty Womanhood" )

5) Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon: Alright, I admit: I was once a crazy little anime newbie, who loved this series to death (being my first true anime series). And I'm not denying that this series isn't something to watch; it's an amusing series that really took the whole "transformation/magical girls" genre to a new level. But, because of this series, people who draw *any* female...that female is immediately, "That's Sailormoon!" Hoo boy. There are so much merchandise on it and now, goddammit, there are those 2003/2004 recorded live-action musical series on DVD (Japan only...for now). I mean, okay, I've heard people say "The US butchered it! It's not all that stupid!"...I agree with that. But somehow, I get the feeling that the Japanese version isn't *too* far off...since Usagi is still loud and whiny in the Japanese version, I can't honestly think that the whole series is completely different from the US.

*EXTRA* 6) Meitantei Conan (Detective Boy Conan...or as Adult Swim so retardedly titled it "Case Closed"): This series isn't too overrated..yet. Being aired on Adult Swim now, I'm thinking there might be many young fans who will start going crazy over it (just like YuGiOh or something). Though it's not a card game based series, it's about mysteries, detective work, the whole bit. This series is highly popular in Japan and I was surprised they decided to release it in the US since it seems many people are bored at the thought of seeing detective-based stuff. But, since they probably changed certain things around, it might fair well with some people. I've recently heard a young girl tell me how much she enjoyed "Case Closed", so I'm thinking, "Okay, here we go".

Well, those are my "Top 5". Again, these are all series that I once enjoyed (and for certain ones, still do), but man, I have got to stop hearing about them so much because it turns my liking for them to extreme hate and disgust.

[Reid]

Hmm . . .

Just offhand I'd have to say;

Naruto: Before I get attacked, I have to say that it's not really bad or anything, it's just that with all the fuss about it and the huge fanboy factor involved . . . it's really not as good as the hype about it. I just have a hard time watching fighting anime period because the pacing of it is often too slow for me. I read quite a bit of the manga though and I preferred that a lot. Just as with the Dragonball manga, it seemed to move better than the anime counterparts.

Love Hina: Again, not a terrible show but I can't stand a lot of the shounen harem style shows where the main character has tons of sterotypical girls after him and he can't control the situation at all. Nose bleeds ensue, annoying yelling and arm flailing . . . ugh. Hina does it better than most of them but I'm just saying -- the praise that I've heard for this show when it's really a whole lot more of the same.

That's all I've got off the top of my head but I'm sure there's a whole lot more I just didn't think of.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Reid

Hmm . . .

Just offhand I'd have to say;

Naruto: Before I get attacked, I have to say that it's not really bad or anything, it's just that with all the fuss about it and the huge fanboy factor involved . . . it's really not as good as the hype about it. I just have a hard time watching fighting anime period because the pacing of it is often too slow for me. I read quite a bit of the manga though and I preferred that a lot. Just as with the Dragonball manga, it seemed to move better than the anime counterparts.

Yeah, sometimes the manga is better than the anime and vice-versa. It just depends.

[Uchiha Sasuke]

Originally Posted by Reid

Hmm . . .

Just offhand I'd have to say;

Naruto: Before I get attacked, I have to say that it's not really bad or anything, it's just that with all the fuss about it and the huge fanboy factor involved . . . it's really not as good as the hype about it. I just have a hard time watching fighting anime period because the pacing of it is often too slow for me. I read quite a bit of the manga though and I preferred that a lot. Just as with the Dragonball manga, it seemed to move better than the anime counterparts.

Sorry I disagree strongly. And yes it is as good as the hype. It just your opinion that states otherwise. Reason people give it points off is mainly due to the length, but with the amount of hardcore character development and emotions they must portrait for every character, it is needed. Plus unlike DragonBall, Naruto does not get redundant. We do not see fights lasting more than 5 episodes between two characters. And as for the manga, are you kidding me. Did you even read Viz's crap ass translations. Most horrid translations ever! Making the series seem lame and childish. I hope to god you are not reading them but rather the translated ones by internet subbers such as Inane.

Anywoo enough of the rant. Your welcome to your opinion but I just had to point out what I thought of it reguardless. Anyways have a nice day.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Uchiha Sasuke

And as for the manga, are you kidding me. Did you even read Viz's crap ass translations. Most horrid translations ever! Making the series seem lame and childish. I hope to god you are not reading them but rather the translated ones by internet subbers such as Inane.

Uh, well...since Reid knows Japanese, I don't think he would even read much English translated stuff. I'm thinking when he was referring that the manga is better, he meant the authentic Japanese versions. Or internet translations, whichever.