A conversation arose between two nerds. One looks to another and asks, “What’s your favorite anime?”
He hesitates to respond. Should I answer truthfully, the man thinks. His head knew the outcome, but his heart desired positivity. He proceeds to tell the truth.
A mistake. The other responds, “What? You like that one? But that show is so TRAAASSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH. You should watch [insert obscure anime here].”
Great. An anime elitist.
Anime elitist: A person who thinks themselves superior to other anime watchers, thinking others useless scum on earth for liking mainstream anime. They usually watch obscure shows nobody has ever heard of, therefore thinking that they have a quality taste in anime.
Essentially, an anime elitist is the anime community’s equivalent of the Internet troll. This may seem unbelievable at first; I mean, do people like this actually exist? The term, however, derives from a significant amount of truth, as it’s pretty common to run into an anime elitist. They’ll take any show rising in popularity, and negatively crush it with their nitpicking attitude. Shows like Fairy Tail and Sword Art Online are huge in popularity, so it’s only natural they’d garner a lot of hatred from elitists. One has to question the lifestyle of those who make a hobby out of degrading others based off of their television preferences. Watch what you love, don’t watch things that are a waste of time. How hard is that? I’m being contradictory to previous posts by saying this, but anime is still JUST a cartoon.
The proper reaction when meeting an elitist.
With that being said, the casual watcher and REBELLION to all things elitism I am here’s a list of anime disliked by elitists that I ACTUALLY enjoy!
ERASED: The Town Where Only I Am Missing
I don’t necessarily understand the hatred revolving around this show. Personally, it’s one of my favorites of all time, and I believe it’ll become a classic that’ll stand the testament of time. Airing in the winter of 2016, ERASED follows Satoru Fujimura, a struggling manga artist and pizza delivery guy, who harbors a secret that allows him to turn back time for mere seconds, which he uses to reverse people’s deaths. However, when his mother gets murdered by a serial killer, a turn of events take place and he finds himself ten years in the past.
This anime was AMAZING. Being a psychological thriller-mystery, this show surely brought the emotions and suspense out of myself. I eagerly anticipated what happened next, and they’d always leave us on a cliffhanger. When people ask me for anime recommendations, who aren’t Weebs, I usually turn them to this show.
So, why is it hated on? Well . . . it’s because the main characters didn’t end up getting together. Yeah. This show is trashed on, called mediocre and average, and disregarded by the anime community, all because a ship didn’t sail? It’s upsetting, but not a dealbreaker. I guess don’t go into a show expecting a romance. But either way, that shouldn’t matter, because it’s just so captivating!
Story: 10
Art/Animation: 9
Sound: 10
Characters: 9
Personal Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 10
Charlotte
The creator of Charlotte is well-known for producing touching tragedies, so the reasoning behind the hatred for this anime mostly had to do with high-expectations in this regard. Alongside the rushed and inconsistent pacing, its tendency to reverse events and overall poor execution to a great premise, Charlotte has good reason to garner negativity; but is it all that bad?
The premise follows a group of adolescents, whom upon inhaling the dust of the comet Charlotte, gain supernatural abilities. These powers disappear post-adolescence, so the teenagers wreak havoc before its disappearance. With such a vague premise, there are a lot of directions and layers this show could go, so the complaint that Charlotte could’ve been so much more is indeed valid, but to judge the show simply based on its own merits would be nonsensical. It was intriguing, fun, and quite an emotional rollercoaster. The main character, Yuu, has the ability to possess another person for seconds, which he initially uses for selfish purposes, but his antics make him the target of Nao Tomori, who, with her team, attempt to hunt down those who use their powers for wrongdoing. In a turn of events, Yuu eventually joins the team, and the series becomes a hunt for those with powers.
This only scratches the surface of the anime, however, as you’ll have to watch it yourself to see where this show goes, and trust me when I say that there’s nothing like this. I loved the world, premise, characters, and animation of the anime, for these things outweigh some of the negatives of the storyline.
Story: 8
Art/Animation: 9
Soundtrack: 8
Characters: 8
Personal Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 8
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
An apocalyptic anime revolving around zombies, half-zombies, trains, and swords? Who wouldn’t initially be on board with this anime, except for maybe elitists? Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was made by the same studio as Attack On Titan, a beloved anime that has traveled beyond the community itself, and has even become mainstream. The negative comparisons between the two shows are unprecedented, as they’re two entirely different stories. This show is thrilling, action-packed, and stunning to look at; the art/animation within this anime are amongst the crispest in the industry. The soundtrack has electronic beats that are astounding to listen to, and can emotionally incapsulate you based on a certain scenario. People like to complain that the show took a heinous turn halfway through, suddenly introducing a villain and having a good-versus-evil storyline, rather than it being pure survival, to which I say, look at The Walking Dead and The Governor.
Story: 9
Art/Animation: 9
Soundtrack: 10
Characters: 7
Personal Enjoyment: 10
