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Five Amazing Anime You Probably Didn't Know Existed |
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by Noah Archer, Apr 5, 2008 |
Sometimes anime are just amazing, but sometimes it takes a bit of digging to find particular jewels in a sea of mediocrity. Here are five that I have found that are rather good, but that don't get the publicity they deserve. |
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
The story circulates about a man who very well may be the most pessimistic teacher known to man, Nozomu Itoshiki and the class he teaches, which is probably the most dynamic group of people I've seen in an anime. This is easily the best example of dark comedy I've seen in quite awhile. While this branch normally generates a very distasteful feeling, Good bye, Despair Teacher was able to use it gracefully enough to keep me laughing long enough to get past my conscience yelling at me.
Shigofumi
Imagine, if you will, dying, Taking your last breaths as you slowly fade out of existence. However, what if you needed that breath to say one last word before you died? Tell a loved one good bye, curse someone's name, or perhaps settle a dispute that had been going on for far too long. This is where Shigofumi comes in, the last miracle granted to human upon death. People don't die immediately, there are several stages they go through before actually dying, and some can even walk and eat until the very last stages. In this period of pre-death, everyone is allowed to send one thing through a special mail service, a Shigofumi, to someone who is still alive. This anime was able to enthrall me within the first two episodes and kept a very exciting air up to the end. That past, I will say that the ending does not hold up to the very fast paced body of the rest of it, but on the whole it is a very good anime.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
An amazing example of horror and violence, though caution to those with weak wills, this thing gets VERY gory. The story is about a small town called Hinamizawa and how every year a festival is held, in which one person is found murdered and another vanishes completely. It focuses mostly on a boy named Maebara Keiichi and his group of friends at school and how the ‘Curse of Oyashiro' has been affecting them and how the murders and disappearances are being carried out. The whole series is a wonder contrast of a light hearted slice-of-life series and a gruesome horror, made with a very cartoony style that can quickly turn very dark. It has very original stories, characters, and moods which do nothing but help with the experience which will already have you debating on whether to turn a cringe or continue to stare in amazement.
Now, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is only the first season of the series, so at the end it feels a little cut off, however Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai has finished concluding the story and a third installment is coming out this summer.
5CM per Second
This has just recently come out in the states, but is already one of the best movies that I have seen. It is actually a collection of three episode length segments put together to describe the distance between two school friends and how much of an impact it has put on their life. The animation throughout the entire movie is simply beautiful, detail having been put into every possible aspect of the world it takes place in. The story is deeply moving and will bring a tear to many an eye before the year is up. A must watch to anyone who even has a minor interest in sad movies.
Kanon (2006)
This is probably the biggest surprise success I have seen yet. Actually a remake of another anime by the same name, Kanon is one of the greatest anime made to date and the fact that almost no one outside of fairly closed rings baffles me. The story is about one Aizawa Yuuichi, returning to a town he used to frequent when he was a child to live with his aunt and cousin. It has been seven years since he had last visited the town, though he can't remember anything about the times he used to come. The story is a masterful work full of incredibly thought out irony and marvelously placed plot-twists, along with a large amount of well thought out comedy, suspense, and drama making it a must watch for anyone who isn't absolutely appalled at the thought of a Romance Anime. Easily my favorite of this bunch and any other I've seen for that matter.
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