My Top 10 Anime That Surprised Me

[thegarrison]

Putting made in Abyss was the right move for the thumbnail

[thatsmahlon]

Princess Tutu is one of the best magical girl series. The effort they put into characters in the first season pays off SO highly in the second season. It’s written off as sweet fluff, but that second season is so deep and emotional. So glad to see it on your list!

[Devourer]

0:39 Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta: Mr. Stain on Junk Alley
1:46 Hinamatsuri
2:54 Golden Boy
4:09 Made in Abyss
5:49 Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
6:49 Love Live
9:00 Space Dandy
10:31 Prison School
11:33 Princess Tutu
13:05 A Lull in the Sea

[mrrd]

Real talk, Princess Tutu is one of the greatest anime of all time for me, alongside Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. It's something where the first half of the anime feels okay but nothing special, but the second half ties it together so perfectly. I think it has the greatest second half of an anime ever written, but you can't just skip to it. You *need* to watch the first half to appreciate the journey. It's a short anime so you don't have to wait that long, but still. It *feels* like a classic.

It makes a bit of sense when you learn the creator of Princess Tutu worked on Sailor Moon, one of the most if not the most iconic anime of all time.

[chronicallychic]

One of the most surprising for me was Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. All I saw was this picture of a girl dressed in a racy sort of bunny costume and figured it would be kind of shallow, but I was so wrong. It's way different than expected.

[LunarEleven]

Hinamatsuri is wonderful. Princess Jellyfish is my favorite that was not what I expected, though I didn't know what to expect anyway. Positive, compassionate portrayals of marginalized people. Hope folks will see this and check it out

[Megami]

Omg I A Lull in the Sea. Now I wanna rewatch it again. So happy you mentioned it. One show I love to recommened that I feel is underrated and wished we dubbed is, The Aquatope on White Sand. Slice of life, learning to take your time to find your purpose in life and a love for the sea. It's also a beautiful looking show too. Anyway, great list, dude! 💖

[trilobiteterror]

I thought Beastars wouldn't be a show for me, but I managed to get over the initial *judging a book by its cover* impressions and gave it is shot (mostly due to seeing how much effort was put into the stop motion opening). It blew me away, Beastars is fantastic!

The characters writing is some of the most complex and compelling I've ever seen, the immersive world building is highly detailed and well thought out, the plot is gripping and well paced, and the many overarching themes are thought-provoking and explored in a refreshingly nuanced and mature manner.

Studio Orange also outdid themselves on the anime adaption. The innovative blend of different types of animation (from 3D to 2D to hand drawn on paper) breathes so much life into the characters and makes the show looks like nothing else while still being very aesthetically pleasing (IMO), the soundtrack is beautiful and makes excellent use of leitmotifs, the opening and ending tracks are incredible, the voice acting is some of the best in the field, and production/direction is so creative in how it incorporates manga elements.

It's clear that so much careful consideration, effort, and passion went into the adaption.

(I thought you might mention Beastars in this video since you've mentioned really liking it before, but maybe you had expected to like it, lol.)

[Purplemann]

Soon we’re gonna have my top 10 Prozd Top 10 videos

[LunarEleven]

Princess Tutu also surprised me, not as light-hearted as fluffy as expected.

[TetraKarma]

Dude I jumped up when I saw lull in the sea. This show is so underrated, literally one of the most emotional drama anime. I wish I could forget the twists so I could watch it again

[rahulkuriakose]

Orb:The movements of the earth on netflix was a big surprise for me. Went in expecting a boring show about astrology and came out with what's probably gonna be top 5 anime of this year.

[CurmudgeonMedia]

I DEFINITELY had that same experience with Dragon Maid s1, and Space Dandy. What I found most unexpected in Space Dandy is the late-stage existentialism--it REALLY gets into the weeds of the human condition, while still being incredibly funny and bizarre

[deadindogyears]

Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū wowed me. I was at a point where I think I was weaning off of the "I need to watch every anime as it's coming out to make my crunchyroll subscription worthwhile" into more of a "I'll give most shows 1 episode". I knew nothing of rakugo, and when it gets to the first major performance in the first episode I was blown away. and then the show goes back in time haha. it was a real treat of a series for me.

[Tatersalad]

March Comes in Like a Lion is an anime that surprised me. I didn't really have any idea what it was about or have any expectations going in, but it just kept getting better and better. At a certain point in the show I realized that it had become one of my all time favorites. I can't recommend it enough especially the second season which has two of I think the best arcs in anime. The writing, the characters, the music, the voice acting, the visuals, it all comes together in a way that is just perfection.

[mint_marigold]

Princess Tutu is one of those shows where the tiniest oddities happen and you kind of shake them off, but then something really weird happens and you realize you kind of can't. Without spoiling anything, the early episodes are more interesting on a rewatch. And I highly recommend the English dub too- Luci Christian does a fantastic job as Ahiru/Duck.

[DrReverendJ]

Ah, Made in Abyss, the best description I've heard for that was, "What if studio Ghibli produced the 'Saw' movie?"

[Katt]

Princess Tutu and Lull in the Sea were definitely two shows that came to mind when thinking of shows that really surprised me as well.

Some others that come to mind would be Maria the Virgin Witch, Trigun Stampede, Higurashi Gou (more so considering the marketing beforehand), and most recently Orb: On the Movements of Earth

[TheDriedfrogpills]

Space Dandy! I'll always have a fond spot for it in my heart and the opening and ending songs live rent-free in my head

[lhn]

Honestly, Love is War surprised me and now it’s one of my favorite anime of all time. I thought it would be a pretty surface level episodic comedy with a romance that goes nowhere but like you said about a lot of these it surprisingly has a lot of depth, I’ve read the entire manga and I’m super happy with how the whole story goes. Highly recommend to anyone who likes romcoms it’s so good!