The anime and manga industry is something unpredictable. No matter how well an anime is received by media critics, it doesn't mean it won't be a ratings disaster. Check out the following anime that were critically acclaimed but went unnoticed by otakus.
Table of Content
1. Shin Sekai Yori
Shin Sekai Yori is hailed as a modern masterpiece. The dystopian tale brings intriguing mystery and social commentary, but failed to reach an audience.
A-1 Pictures chose a hybrid of 2D and cel-shading for art, which may have stunned fans looking for something beautiful to watch. Others blamed the homosexual theme, which is not something found in mainstream anime.
Shin Sekai Yori has a cult following in the international community, but even so, few people have watched the anime.
2. Watamote
Watamote is always a topic of debate. Is it a study on social anxiety and depression? Is it a mocking comedy? Does the series belittle mental illness? Is the series very understandable for some fans? Like most controversial works, most critics applaud Watamote for at least creating a debate about social anxiety.
In any case, Watamote was a big failure with Japanese fans, but it was a success among American fans. The mangaka even said that the manga is being continued due to its popularity outside of Japan.
3. Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain it's in the underground within the international community, but it was a failure in Japan. The tale about a girl being dragged into the world full of conspiracies was, according to the producer Yasuki Ueda, created as part of a “culture war against American culture and the American sense of values we adopted after World War II”.
His aim was to criticize American imperialism and its worldwide influence. The irony is that the series is more popular in the United States than in Japan.
4. Ghost Stories
An article has already been written specifically about this anime in question (which you can read here). Histórias de Fantasmas is an underground anime, even in Brazil, despite having premiered in the Toonami block.
The anime became popular in the United States due to the American dubbing that satirized the anime and took away the vibe of the more serious Japanese dubbing. However, the anime flopou in Japan as it had no commercial appeal and failed to reach an audience.
5. Any anime moe nowadays
Let’s be frank, the anime and manga market is already SATURATED with moe style anime/mangas. After the success of K-On, what was most commonly seen in trending anime was moe after moe.
Fortunately, this trend is currently declining and otakus are somewhat fed up with only finding moe anime/mangas.