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 failure in terms of viewership. Check out the following animes that were critically acclaimed but went unnoticed by the otakus.
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1. Shin Sekai Yori
Shin Sekai Yori is hailed as a modern masterpiece. The dystopian tale brings an intriguing mystery and social commentary, but it failed to reach an audience.
A-1 Pictures chose a hybrid of 2D and cel-shading for the art, which may have scared off 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 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 illnesses? Is the series very relatable for some fans? Like most controversial works, most critics applaud Watamote for at least sparking a debate about social anxiety.
In any case, Watamote was a major failure with Japanese fans, but it was a success among American fans. The mangaka even stated that the manga continues due to its popularity outside Japan.
3. Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain is in the underground within the international community, but it was a failure in Japan. The tale of a girl being dragged into a world full of conspiracies was, according to producer Yasuki Ueda, created as part of a “cultural war against American culture and the American values we adopted after World War II.”
Its goal was to criticize American imperialism and its global 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 made specifically about this anime in question (which you can read here). Ghost Stories is an underground anime, even in Brazil, despite having premiered on the Toonami block.
The anime became popular in the United States due to the American dubbing that satirized the anime and took away the more serious vibe of the Japanese dubbing. However, the anime flopped in Japan as it had no commercial appeal and failed to reach an audience.
5. Any moe anime these days
Let’s be honest, the anime and manga market is already SATURATED with moe style animes/mangas. After the success of K-On, what was most commonly seen in trending animes was moe after moe.
Fortunately, this trend is currently declining, and otakus are somewhat fed up with only finding moe animes/mangas.
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