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Nov 27, 2020 1:29 AM
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I'm really interested on what animes slowly gained a "cult following" over the years. When it aired in its season, it wasn't that hot of an anime that many people talked about. What it got instead is a fanbase that is small, sometimes unnoticeable but deeply dedicated into the anime material it holds dear.

What are those animes that got its cult following?
raiderublazeNov 27, 2020 7:25 AM
Nov 27, 2020 1:32 AM
#2

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Agree.

But I'm not very sure witch anime in particular.
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Nov 27, 2020 1:46 AM
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Texhnolyze I guess. I only watched whatever was on tv when it came out so I don't know how popular it actually was though.
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Nov 27, 2020 1:55 AM
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kaguya-sama has vicious cultists, now they have a s3 which of course, will be better than the other seasons but they'll use the same excuse to other people: s4 will be better. rinse and repeat
Nov 27, 2020 1:58 AM
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When I hear "anime with cult following", for some reason I immediately think of Serial Experiments Lain. Then again maybe it's not so weird considering the story.
Nov 27, 2020 2:00 AM
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Legend of the Galactic Heroes maybe?
Nov 27, 2020 2:04 AM
#7

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I'd consider Jojo the best example of this considering it really became popular 30 years after it's original manga release.
Nov 27, 2020 2:13 AM
#8

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*Anime first of all

second and last of all, I agree with jojos




バンの一味
Nov 27, 2020 2:17 AM
#9
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Easily Attack on Titan, you can't even criticize it without people calling you wrong.
Nov 27, 2020 2:39 AM

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Punkuin said:
Catalano said:
kaguya-sama has vicious cultists, now they have a s3 which of course, will be better than the other seasons but they'll use the same excuse to other people: s4 will be better. rinse and repeat
that’s not what a cult following is. Kaguya was an instant hit and widely popular within the community, it was never small.

even when the s1 anime aired? I thought for sure it was so so in terms of popularity that time
Nov 27, 2020 3:14 AM
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Shinsekai Yori wasn't noticed much when it first aired
Nov 27, 2020 3:18 AM
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Patlabor? Not sure if its a cult following, but due to how the rights of the show is distributed. Fans like me are still waiting for a full reboot of the world.
Nov 27, 2020 4:59 AM

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I know Kemono no Souja Erin is getting more recognition in recent years but I don't think it's reached cult status.

Also I never realised how popular Initial D and GTO were. They've been around for ages but I've not heard much of them until recently either.
Nov 27, 2020 7:11 AM

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Every kids and CGDCT anime
Most of the sports anime
And Happy Sugar Life
Nov 27, 2020 7:12 AM
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Crazy Cat Lady

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I don't know if "slowly" is the right word, but Hetalia.
Nov 27, 2020 7:32 AM

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The works of Satoshi kon for sure. They are not mainstream but they have their own audience.
Nov 27, 2020 7:50 AM
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I'd probably say Serial Experiments Lain.
Nov 27, 2020 7:55 AM

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In terms of anime, probably Monster. I wasn't around when it aired, but considering the following it has now amongst seinen despite it never getting a full release in a lot of places is quite impressive for the series legacy.
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Nov 27, 2020 8:53 AM

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The Toaru Series has a pretty cult following since I wouldn't really say there is such a thing as casual fan of Toaru. The series is pretty difficult to get into and once you are into it you get INTO it.
Nov 27, 2020 9:16 AM

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Baccano probably because no one watched when it came out
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Nov 27, 2020 9:44 AM

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Ouran High School Host Club maybe? Banana Fish? LoGH?
Nov 27, 2020 9:49 AM

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Attack on Titan when it first came out nobody thought nothing about it then it gained a cult and a following then becoming extremely popular over the years.
Nov 27, 2020 9:49 AM
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dead leaves and serial expirment lain are some i could think about but theres alot more too.

Nov 27, 2020 9:53 AM
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I don't know why I immediately thought of Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san
Nov 27, 2020 9:56 AM

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- Air
- AnoHana
- Attack on Titan
- Baccano
- Bakemonogatari (and the entire Monogatari series! This is the biggest and most obvious example of a cult series)
- Boku no Pico
- Children of the Sea
- Cowboy Bebop (arguably, though it was pretty popular when it aired)
- Death Note (same as Cowboy Bebop)
- Death Parade
- Domestic na Kanojo
- Eden of the East
- Ergo Proxy
- FLCL
- Ghost in the Shell
- Hametsu no Mars
- I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
- K
- Kaiba
- Kanon
- KonoSuba
- Kyoukai no Kanata
- Legend of the Galactic Heroes
- Madoka Magica
- Maquia
- Mirai Nikki
- Mononoke
- Mushishi (Big time!)
- Paprika
- Re Zero (same as Cowboy bebop and Death Note)
- School Days
- Serial Experiments Lain
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (the movie especially, good god)
- Tiger and Bunny (especially in Japan.)
- Trigun (same as Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, and Re Zero)
Nov 27, 2020 9:57 AM

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Flip Flappers, Kyoukai no Kanata, etc. I'm not so sure though.
Nov 27, 2020 10:00 AM

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Texhnolyze, Haibane Renmei, Ergo Proxy and some. Pretty much the edgy, grimdark, psychological anime. But those anime are actually good.
Nov 27, 2020 10:01 AM
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Most of the anime Konaka Chiaki worked on I guess
Nov 27, 2020 10:01 AM
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Maybe it's just me but I'm seeing more people talking about Mawaru Penguindrum recently. Also probably Lain and Shinsekai Yori though ive only seen Lain
Nov 27, 2020 10:44 AM
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Zeruk said:
Shinsekai Yori wasn't noticed much when it first aired


Yes I totally agree.
Shinsekai yori wasn't very popular when it aired probably because of AOT.
But it has a very cult following now.
Nov 27, 2020 10:54 AM

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That's a great question, though I'm not knowledgeable enough to properly answer it, I think "Noir" is one that certainly fits this criteria.
Nov 27, 2020 10:59 AM

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Hunter x Hunter, AoT, Jojo all gained a cult following
Nov 27, 2020 11:06 AM

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Viewed said:
Attack on Titan when it first came out nobody thought nothing about it then it gained a cult and a following then becoming extremely popular over the years.


It was hyped by manga readers before it came out and got a massive amount of hype after episode one. It reached mainstream outside of anime fan circles in the same year it aired in japan.

What was slow about that?
Nov 27, 2020 11:10 AM
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SoldierDream said:
Legend of the Galactic Heroes maybe?


Yes I completely agree with you on that.
Nov 27, 2020 11:12 AM

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i see a lot of people mentioning attack on titans, but just going to say.
attack on titans not a cult flowing it was 2nd most watched anime and 1st most talked about anime when it first aired along with Kill la kill.

i would say Mushishi, bakemongatari(most people didn't even know about it till Monogatari came around.)

jojo had a cult following before the anime remake came out.

@Adimus_prime

if you mean in the west maybe , but in japan? oh hell no that is currently still best seller in japan. (please not when it says toaru and then toaru no majutsu no index for the latter it's talking about the first novel set. for toaru series it means both the first novel series and NT.)
GrimAtramentNov 27, 2020 11:15 AM
"among monsters and humans, there are only two types.
Those who undergo suffering and spread it to others. And those who undergo suffering and avoid giving it to others." -Alice
“Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.” David Hume
“Evil is created when someone gives up on someone else. It appears when everyone gives up on someone as a lost cause and removes their path to salvation. Once they are cut off from everyone else, they become evil.” -Othinus

Nov 27, 2020 11:15 AM

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Demon Slayer. There were quite a lot of manga chapters published and no one (not even japan) cared until Ufotable made the anime. Now have the biggest selling movie of all time over there (and a lot of people following it like a cult).

Most of the big "Psychological" series like Lain, Ergo Proxy, Texhnolyze and Dennou Coil have their little groups that always talk about how interesting their series are, which is fair, they are. Same stuff with Blame, but that´s manga.

AoT was popular since before the anime was published, but nowadays it is like a cult where you have to confess AoT is the best piece of media ever made and if you see fault on it you will be burned as a herectic or something who can´t understand the absolute genius of Isayama. You can´t say "It´s very good" you have to say "It´s perfect". If not, you are either stupid or a hater.
Nov 27, 2020 11:27 AM

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hazarddex said:
i see a lot of people mentioning attack on titans, but just going to say.
attack on titans not a cult flowing it was 2nd most watched anime and 1st most talked about anime when it first aired along with Kill la kill.

i would say Mushishi, bakemongatari(most people didn't even know about it till Monogatari came around.)

jojo had a cult following before the anime remake came out.

@Adimus_prime

if you mean in the west maybe , but in japan? oh hell no that is currently still best seller in japan. (please not when it says toaru and then toaru no majutsu no index for the latter it's talking about the first novel set. for toaru series it means both the first novel series and NT.)
I meant more so here in the west. I knew it was popular in Japan but goddamn I didn't know it was that popular in Japan.
Nov 27, 2020 11:36 AM
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chiaki j konaka/yoshitoshi abe stuff and ikuhara stuff definitely
Nov 27, 2020 11:50 AM

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raiderublaze said:
I'm really interested on what animes slowly gained a "cult following" over the years. When it aired in its season, it wasn't that hot of an anime that many people talked about. What it got instead is a fanbase that is small, sometimes unnoticeable but deeply dedicated into the anime material it holds dear.

What are those animes that got its cult following?


The two that comes to mind, is Elfen Lied or Haibane Renmei. Ergo Proxy is my personally cult classic!
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Nov 27, 2020 11:53 AM
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No-one talks about the elephant in the room. Naruto. It was nowhere near as big as One Piece or Dragon Ball when it came out.

But nowadays? If you go to fanfiction.net you will see over 800,000 fan fiction stories on this anime and probably another 200,000 stories of Naruto x other series crossovers.

Over the past decade it had truly become no different than a religion lol
Nov 27, 2020 12:07 PM

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- LotGH came to the orbit when fansubs finally completed it in late 2000s.
- Monster, GTO, Ouran were adaptations from very popular manga, I believe they were popular since the day 1. But for AoT and and Kaguya-sama I am a witness that they were popular since the day 1 (AoT especially, not sure why people mentioned it).
- Hetalia was more popular in the late 00s and early 10s, I practically never heard people talking about it anymore.
- And no, Penguindrum is not more popular now than in 2011. It was not really popular all right, but it was certainly not obscure title either when airing.
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But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !"
Nov 27, 2020 12:18 PM

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Flip Flappers is the one I'm most familiar with (and can actually comment on how popular it was when it was airing vs now). While it was airing, it was less popular than other shows like Haikyuu season 3, Drifters, Yuri on Ice, or March Comes in Like a Lion (which I could also argue as a show that gained a cult following), but despite being one of the less popular shows of the season, it still ends up coming up pretty regularly. Just kinda a series that refuses to get forgotten
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Nov 27, 2020 1:13 PM

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Adimus_prime said:
The Toaru Series has a pretty cult following since I wouldn't really say there is such a thing as casual fan of Toaru. The series is pretty difficult to get into and once you are into it you get INTO it.

I'm a casual fan and I think it's a problem that there aren't more of us. Getting into it is as easy as watching episode 1 of Index or reading the novel.
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Nov 27, 2020 1:27 PM

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Lucifrost said:
Adimus_prime said:
The Toaru Series has a pretty cult following since I wouldn't really say there is such a thing as casual fan of Toaru. The series is pretty difficult to get into and once you are into it you get INTO it.

I'm a casual fan and I think it's a problem that there aren't more of us. Getting into it is as easy as watching episode 1 of Index or reading the novel.


no the main problem is it has a mediocre to bad (third season.) adaptation. and most on the forums act like they are illiterate and refuse to read a single volume.


if JC staff actually got the director who had has experience with adapting light novels (the director for railgun who actually didn't butcher touma's character or cut a ton of stuff out.)
we would be having a much different conversation right now.
"among monsters and humans, there are only two types.
Those who undergo suffering and spread it to others. And those who undergo suffering and avoid giving it to others." -Alice
“Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.” David Hume
“Evil is created when someone gives up on someone else. It appears when everyone gives up on someone as a lost cause and removes their path to salvation. Once they are cut off from everyone else, they become evil.” -Othinus

Nov 27, 2020 2:18 PM

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hazarddex said:
Lucifrost said:

I'm a casual fan and I think it's a problem that there aren't more of us. Getting into it is as easy as watching episode 1 of Index or reading the novel.


no the main problem is it has a mediocre to bad (third season.) adaptation. and most on the forums act like they are illiterate and refuse to read a single volume.


if JC staff actually got the director who had has experience with adapting light novels (the director for railgun who actually didn't butcher touma's character or cut a ton of stuff out.)
we would be having a much different conversation right now.

Most people can read the novels if they want to; I was responding to a claim that it's "difficult." Even illiterate people can easily jump in through the Railgun anime, which you admit is competently directed.
その目だれの目?
Nov 27, 2020 2:42 PM
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Princess Tutu is known as a cult classic among fans of the magical girl genre. This show deserves all the praise it gets imho.

Nov 27, 2020 3:40 PM

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Lucifrost said:
hazarddex said:


no the main problem is it has a mediocre to bad (third season.) adaptation. and most on the forums act like they are illiterate and refuse to read a single volume.


if JC staff actually got the director who had has experience with adapting light novels (the director for railgun who actually didn't butcher touma's character or cut a ton of stuff out.)
we would be having a much different conversation right now.

Most people can read the novels if they want to; I was responding to a claim that it's "difficult." Even illiterate people can easily jump in through the Railgun anime, which you admit is competently directed.


I agree 100% the books aren't difficult at all. The problem is there are so many. I have read all of them. I like the Railgun anime more than Index. It is all fripSides' fault I got sucked into this to begin with. Youtube clip of only my railgun.
KamijouToumaIBNov 27, 2020 3:44 PM
Nov 28, 2020 5:57 PM

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Looks like every anime

-FMAB , HxH has cult that troll MAL Ratings
-Eva, Oregairu and Fate has a cult who talk about 'philosophy' so much
-CGDCT has cult that think their taste is superior and they are very matured
- AoT,Naruto, and other popular shounen has cult of Normies who think their stuffs are the best and they often ship same sex characters
-Harem and Ecchi has Waifu cult that fight like Proddy vs Catholic in renaissance era (same interest , different view)
-Gintama has that kind of cult who think their anime jokes is too superior compared to other anime
- Konosuba has that kind of cult who praises lord Kazuma just because he stole panties
-Monogatari has a cult that praise their waifus are the only well written ones
- Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso and Violet Evergarden has the cult who proudly 'cried'
on watching anime
- Akame ga Kill has a cult that praise their anime kills the most

Add more
Хайде, хайде, хайде, това е първата зона, брато, първа зона, първа зона, добре, добре, добре, това става тук горе, отива тук горе, само спокойно, само спокойно... Ха, отдясно е, навсякъде отдясно отдясно къде е дясното ти о да добре добре добре тихо мълчаливо не успях да се съсредоточа върху това ЕХ ТЪПАК КОГАТО СИ БАВНО БАВНО ... ой е путката на моето момиче прасе куче, аз Чувствам се добре, о, мамо, *шамар*, какво е това госпожице татко-
Nov 28, 2020 6:11 PM

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Houseki no kuni feels like the most recent one imo, I remember very few people watching it when it aired because of the CGI stigma until we realized it was actually a damn good looking one but even then it still lacked behind the likes of ancient Magus bride and inuyashiki with which it started. Now 3 years after the anime aired with little chance of a sequel, there is still a lot of people eating up those monthly chapters.

Edit: AoT is literally the second most popular anime on this website and one the most in the world, how is it any close to obscure?
JoyBoy_316Nov 28, 2020 6:21 PM
Nov 28, 2020 6:25 PM

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The first anime that came to my mind was Little Witch Academia

I'm pretty sure there's a lot of passionate Aria fans too


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