| I mean like no other in your favorites, no other anime that you've seen in general, and in extreme cases maybe even going so far as to say like very few to no other media in general (like live action, cartoons, books, video games, visual novels, etc.). Or maybe in certain cases like no other anime you've seen or can think of, but the only thing you can think to compare it to is some old and/or obscure novel you read one time. Something like that. And if there are any you'd name for this, what is it that sets it apart and makes it feel so different from everything else you've seen previously (or mostly everything else)? Is it the premise alone? The aesthetics of the art style? The combination of different genres? Something about the pacing, direction, sound design, dialogue, etc., which really gives it a different specific tone? I'm interested in anyone's answers in and of themselves for the answers' sake, but also am not above keeping a keen eye on anything I happen to see mentioned to potentially snatch up for a trial run of viewing pleasure in the future, as a kind of roundabout way of stealth farming recommendations. Basically, I'd really like to hear anyone sell any of their favorites they don't think have many, if any, anime analogues. |
WatchTillTandavaMar 8, 11:04 AM
| gurren lagann since its over the top mecha show i say its also like a battle shonen in steroids with extreme power of belief and friendships |
| JJK S2, as in the plot elevates itself from any other shounen. Plus the Shibuya arc which uses a real setting is just genius. Many anime tried to use real places, but none of them which Iv seen is as close as Shibuya arc. |
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| Queen's Blade and Bikini Warriors. |
| Star Twinkle Pretty Cure. Even compared to the other PreCure seasons it just feels so unique. |
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Reply to gh0ul69
@Zimmu JJK's plot is generic as hell, it just has good fights and kills off characters purely for shock factor. It's above average for a battle shounen and I very much enjoyed it, but it's nothing special.
| @gh0ul69 I do agree with what you say, because it applies to JJK manga in Culling Game arc and later, where characters are introduced and quickly killed off. You might argue S1 is also generic and I somewhat agree. But JJK S2 isn't generic, in fact its more unique than anything else Iv seen. The characters dying also serves its own purposes in this arc and feels realistic as in no one has the plot armor in the incident. Every cast is facing the same dangers. |
ZimmuMar 8, 7:48 AM
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| Gushing over Magical Girls, the combo of Mahou Shoujo + Yuri + Ecchi feels truly unique. |
This dance is the pinnacle of human achievement. |
| there are exactly 0 anime like death note and no one will ever accomplish to create something as good as it |
    |
Zarutaku said: Gushing over Magical Girls, the combo of Mahou Shoujo + Yuri + Ecchi feels truly unique. I feel like I hear random anime fans comment about gay magical girls and desired gay relationships between different magical girls fairly frequently, but since I haven't watched and don't regularly watch a lot of mahou shoujo to be able to judge, that might just be fandoms creating non-canonical gay "ships" from essentially thin air (fanfiction, basically). |
| Fune wo Amu. Yet to find another anime about dictionaries and/or words. |
| 777 |
| Bakemonogatari - wraps many of my favorite things in media into one beautiful present box. Although it's not perfect, it is a series I go back to many times & is essentially the show that redefined my taste in anime. I love everything about it. The dialogue, Characters, themes, but I especially love the Directing, Cinematography, Art, Colors, Backgrounds, Music. It's a jack of all trades that blends many genres into one. It's a compelling romance yet its an interesting mystery. It can be Funny & light yet also intense & dark. The characters are multi-dementional & the dialogue never ceases to amaze me. There are many hidden layers to everything & is more rewarding when you rewatch it. It's a unique artistic experience & is stylish in every sense. It's also the series that got me into many other series. It ignited me to explore & find other unique experiences. which soon allowed to discover many interesting shows. Shows that became one of my favorites to this day. (Serial Experiments Lain, Mononoke, FLCL, Haruhi, Perfect Blue, Evangelion, Sangatsu no Lion, Tatami Galaxy to name a few) It made me appreciate anime as an art form & showed me the capabilities of animation as a way to convey unique emotional experiences. I've been searching to this day for an anime that made me feel the same way I felt as I first laid my eyes on it & I have yet to find any that surpass it. Though some shows do come close (Lain, FLCL, Evangelion) but they only fulfill one or two aspects instead of the wide variety of emotions I felt while watching this series. I am well aware that not many will have the same experience I did with this show & that is fine since this is uniquely my experience & my taste. |
-Kugeki-Mar 8, 9:18 AM
Reply to Zimmu
@gh0ul69
I do agree with what you say, because it applies to JJK manga in Culling Game arc and later, where characters are introduced and quickly killed off. You might argue S1 is also generic and I somewhat agree. But JJK S2 isn't generic, in fact its more unique than anything else Iv seen. The characters dying also serves its own purposes in this arc and feels realistic as in no one has the plot armor in the incident. Every cast is facing the same dangers.
I do agree with what you say, because it applies to JJK manga in Culling Game arc and later, where characters are introduced and quickly killed off. You might argue S1 is also generic and I somewhat agree. But JJK S2 isn't generic, in fact its more unique than anything else Iv seen. The characters dying also serves its own purposes in this arc and feels realistic as in no one has the plot armor in the incident. Every cast is facing the same dangers.
| @Zimmu JJK S2 isnt generic but its def not unique, ive seen something similar, even a better one id say, the only unique thing about it is the fact that no one hates their own main character more than JJK author. |
 |
Reply to Muzan2020
@Zimmu JJK S2 isnt generic but its def not unique, ive seen something similar, even a better one id say, the only unique thing about it is the fact that no one hates their own main character more than JJK author.
| @Muzan2020 Yeah, but I did say its unique to myself. Also which better ones have you seen? Cuz I do want to see something similar to JJK S2 or ones that are even better. But to my knowledge there aren't any anime arcs that is as surreal as Shibuya. |
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| clannad had such a profound effect on me that I feel like it changed How i view love and family forever, I hate how cliche that is but its genuinely how clannad after story made me feel. |
 |
| Nah I don't think so, something always resembles some other thing as you watch more stuff. |
Reply to Zimmu
@Muzan2020
Yeah, but I did say its unique to myself. Also which better ones have you seen? Cuz I do want to see something similar to JJK S2 or ones that are even better. But to my knowledge there aren't any anime arcs that is as surreal as Shibuya.
Yeah, but I did say its unique to myself. Also which better ones have you seen? Cuz I do want to see something similar to JJK S2 or ones that are even better. But to my knowledge there aren't any anime arcs that is as surreal as Shibuya.
| @Zimmu Better or not i think its just preference so im not gonna argue about that. If i have to say the similar one, i think the phantom troupe arc of HxH is close to similar, and maybe Law of ueki also have one. I know there's something else, i just can't remember much about it, if i search through my watched list i know i can find more, but its a long list, its quite a hassle to go search through it. |
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Reply to gh0ul69
@Zimmu Most Hunter x Hunter arcs are at least on par with Shibuya.
| @gh0ul69 Yeah I heard many people and my friend praising HxH. But I just prefer anime with (very) realistic settings like the Shibuya arc, so even if hxh arcs have better plot I would still say Shibuya arc is the most unique I saw. Cuz we are talking about uniqueness afterall, not how good the arc itself is. |
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Reply to Muzan2020
@Zimmu Better or not i think its just preference so im not gonna argue about that. If i have to say the similar one, i think the phantom troupe arc of HxH is close to similar, and maybe Law of ueki also have one. I know there's something else, i just can't remember much about it, if i search through my watched list i know i can find more, but its a long list, its quite a hassle to go search through it.
| @Muzan2020 Well, I will eventually give hxh a try cuz I heard many good things about it. However for now I couldn't be motivated to watch anything long after binging one piece lol |
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| All of my favorites feels unique to me. But i guess the one who stand the most out for me has to be Ergo Proxy. |
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| The Monogatari Series is a mind altering experience for me. From the French New Wave visual style that makes the characters seem both more realistic and personal yet also more cartoon-y with the bizarre reactions and poses to the masterful wordplay at work. When you think you have the series figured out with the first season you get the rug pulled out from under you and each character you got to know flips, contorts and complexes to a point of human. It's a shame people drop it for it's off hand humor or visuals as when you reach the final episodes, you still feel like you know about 30% of what happened, you feel the full weight of that 30% and you want to instantly dive back in repeatedly to grasp at more understanding each time. It's the most beautiful experience I've had in a work of fiction and it called me stupid right to my face. |
| Don't stay in the bubble, the mind demands to learn |
| Date A Live. Peak Harem right there. It is everything what a Harem should strive to be. |
 -Tohka is better than Kurumi. You can't change my mind. |
| Fantasy epics like Pygmalio are pretty rare in anime and manga. I grew up reading a lot of stuff like Prydain and Deltora Quest, but CLAMP is about the only other Japanese writer to satisfy me with the genre. Nahoko Uehashi has potential, if only they would make more of her books into movies rather than filler-riddled TV anime. Legend of the Forest is a movie similar to Fantasia. I can't think of anything else I've seen like Fantasia. There have been times I found anime similar to my favorites only after I stopped searching. I have yet to find anything like Haibane Renmei, however. |
| その目だれの目？ |
Reply to Serafos
Star Twinkle Pretty Cure. Even compared to the other PreCure seasons it just feels so unique.
| @Serafos Singing while transforming a unique touch I appreciate. Aside from that, I feel Star Twinkle is little more than Maho Girls in Space with an additional 2 girls tacked on. It's admittedly funnier than Maho Girls, but it's far from the only funny Precure. |
| その目だれの目？ |
Reply to Zimmu
@Muzan2020
Well, I will eventually give hxh a try cuz I heard many good things about it. However for now I couldn't be motivated to watch anything long after binging one piece lol
Well, I will eventually give hxh a try cuz I heard many good things about it. However for now I couldn't be motivated to watch anything long after binging one piece lol
| @Zimmu Yeah, i understand. Glad i finished it a long time ago, if i started now i probably wont manage to watch that many filler on the series and stick with the manga. You def should watch it tho, there should be no boring episode due to the lack of filler but instead it would make you wanting more and more episode to watch. |
|
| Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story is like no other anime I have seen. It made me feel some type of way and I've been chasing that feeling ever since. Oshi No Ko is also wildly unlike any other anime I have seen. Then of course Frieren, the most creative and thought provoking anime possibly ever! |
 |
Lucifrost said: I have yet to find anything like Haibane Renmei, however. I haven't seen a single minute of this series to date and so can't meaningfully render a judgment on it, but you often hear Angel Beats mentioned in the same breath whenever Haibane Renmei is brought up, but again, without having watched it, suffice it to say, I still remain entirely unconvinced that anything would be that similar about it beyond part of the premise itself on a superficial level. |
| Strange Dawn. Don't think I'll ever come across another anime like it, let alone another isekai like it. The proceedings of the plot are substantially different from the usual on-rails track you'd expect of a hero's journey, but it subverts it more unconsciously than modern "meta" isekai, which tend to have more lampshading and self-referential aspects. The sense of immersion and adventure is palpable throughout the watch, and the environments of the other world strike a beautiful balance between alien and familiar in geography. |
  ｲ乇刀乇乃尺ﾑ乇 ㊎   ㊰☽ Shaded Horizon ☾ |
| When Marnie Was There is one of Studio Ghibli's forgotten children, but I understand that the average fan prefers fantasy from them. |
| Nomad: Megalo Box has unique themes and its artstyle and direction are based off retro anime. Really great show. If we’re talking about manga as well, Houseki no Kuni and Umineko are BY FAR the most unique Japanese media i’ve ever seen. |
Archean-Return said: Strange Dawn. Don't think I'll ever come across another anime like it, let alone another isekai like it. The proceedings of the plot are substantially different from the usual on-rails track you'd expect of a hero's journey, but it subverts it more unconsciously than modern "meta" isekai, which tend to have more lampshading and self-referential aspects. The sense of immersion and adventure is palpable throughout the watch, and the environments of the other world strike a beautiful balance between alien and familiar in geography. This thread topic would have been worth it even if just for this answer and my learning about this series' existence for the very first time as a result of said answer. Over seven years into the anime-verse, I don't know why I still wrongly expect I should somehow just know about the existence of all series like these automatically. |
| The entire main Fate series is an unforgettable experience for me. Its so beautiful. Zero has the best plot and characters while HF has the best animation. |
If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.  |
| Among my favourites, I believe Monogatari, Kino’s journey and shoujo kageki revue starlight stands out as being unique. Since Monogatari is already mentioned, I am going to focus on the other two. Kino’s journey is truly special as it embodies an adventure anime with a protagonist as an “observer”, rather than be the hero that goes into different cities and saves the people. Kino observes the myriad of interesting worlds through an objective, open and thoughtful lens (or at least, the show keeps each episode open to thought and interpretation) “The world isn’t beautiful, therefore it is.” (Girl’s last tour is also a unique adventure story, but instead of observing worlds built by humans, we get to observe the remains of humans, but at its core, it also ponders about the values and culture humans believe it, in a slightly more simple, yet equally profound, way) Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight movie is something I believe might only be replicated through physical stage plays, and even so, the seamless transitions between scenes and constant use of symbolism, thought provoking dialogue combined with an amazing soundtrack I have not seen been replicated yet. I think it embodies everything to love about performing arts in every aspect |
GentleDragoniteMar 9, 7:06 AM
| “Since when was this world so beautiful?” ~Yuuri (girl's last tour) |
Reply to FZREMAKE
The entire main Fate series is an unforgettable experience for me. Its so beautiful. Zero has the best plot and characters while HF has the best animation.
| @FZREMAKE Definitely, Fate/zero has the best character writing and development, and its premise is interesting and unique too. I have not seen a premise quite like Fate that tries to incorporate the characteristics of historical figures into present characters |
| “Since when was this world so beautiful?” ~Yuuri (girl's last tour) |
| Kaiba, it has some very unique and interesting combinations, the reason you may not herd of it is because the whole show is unmarketable Angel's Egg has some very strange worldbuilding and eerie vibes with mysterious characters with a lot of extremely uncommon tropes, its something similar to blame in a way. |
| School Days (yes, really), not necessarily because of its ending but because it treads a very fine line between trash and masterpiece. It embraces all the trashy conventions of harem dating sim anime and pushes them to absurd levels to the point that it almost becomes brilliant, I honestly have no idea if it's a clever subversion of anime tropes or pure incompetence or both but it sure is something. |
| Probably Gera Gera Boes Monogatari I suppose? Can't really exactly describe what's it's like even... maybe slice of life with Tom & Jerry-esque slapstick violence and humour? Also all the entire cast are Animals also - which isn't very common too. |
 |
| Shinsekai Yori: After a rather difficult beginning, a fantastic story develops. The anime has a unique worldbuilding, good and believable character development. No unnecessary scenes, everything builds on each other. In the first episodes I really wanted to break off, but what developed then I have never been able to discover anywhere else. |
| Girls Und Panzer: A sports anime featuring tanks, let alone an all female cast. Princess Principal: Serious spy anime that's not set in the modern era or future. Wixoss: Another rarity in it's genre, predominantly all female cast in a card battle anime. |
| "Well, she's flatter than a pancake" -Mimi Alpacas "Woof" -Tobiichi Origami "Are you trying to turn the dormitory into a strip club!?! -Atena Saotome |
| So, this technically isn't in my favorites, but it is one of the more unique shows I've seen, in that in my quest for an ecchi to watch, I stumbled upon this, and it took me completely by surprise in a fun and entertaining way. Chou Henshin Cosprayers On the surface, this is a very mediocre magical girl anime, and that's being generous. It terribly paced, the structure is all over the place, things aren't explained very well, stuff seems to happen for no reason at all, it's just not a very well written magical girl show. It feels like they were just making it up as they went. But then come along the two spin off shows... and this is where things get interesting Hit wo Nerae! and Love♥Love? I've never quite seen spin offs like these, and I honestly found them to be quite entertaining, and really made the first series worth watching, because you cannot appreciate these two shows if you don't watch the first one, as bad as it is. WatchTillTandava said: I feel like I hear random anime fans comment about gay magical girls and desired gay relationships between different magical girls fairly frequently Ah, but what all those other gay magical girl anime don't have is soft core porn, which Gushing has in spades. |
Reply to GentleDragonite
Among my favourites, I believe Monogatari, Kino’s journey and shoujo kageki revue starlight stands out as being unique.
Since Monogatari is already mentioned, I am going to focus on the other two.
Kino’s journey is truly special as it embodies an adventure anime with a protagonist as an “observer”, rather than be the hero that goes into different cities and saves the people. Kino observes the myriad of interesting worlds through an objective, open and thoughtful lens (or at least, the show keeps each episode open to thought and interpretation)
“The world isn’t beautiful, therefore it is.”
(Girl’s last tour is also a unique adventure story, but instead of observing worlds built by humans, we get to observe the remains of humans, but at its core, it also ponders about the values and culture humans believe it, in a slightly more simple, yet equally profound, way)
Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight movie is something I believe might only be replicated through physical stage plays, and even so, the seamless transitions between scenes and constant use of symbolism, thought provoking dialogue combined with an amazing soundtrack I have not seen been replicated yet. I think it embodies everything to love about performing arts in every aspect
Since Monogatari is already mentioned, I am going to focus on the other two.
Kino’s journey is truly special as it embodies an adventure anime with a protagonist as an “observer”, rather than be the hero that goes into different cities and saves the people. Kino observes the myriad of interesting worlds through an objective, open and thoughtful lens (or at least, the show keeps each episode open to thought and interpretation)
“The world isn’t beautiful, therefore it is.”
(Girl’s last tour is also a unique adventure story, but instead of observing worlds built by humans, we get to observe the remains of humans, but at its core, it also ponders about the values and culture humans believe it, in a slightly more simple, yet equally profound, way)
Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight movie is something I believe might only be replicated through physical stage plays, and even so, the seamless transitions between scenes and constant use of symbolism, thought provoking dialogue combined with an amazing soundtrack I have not seen been replicated yet. I think it embodies everything to love about performing arts in every aspect
| @GentleDragonite Your list is missing a couple of titles that bear obvious similarities to Revue Starlight. https://myanimelist.net/anime/440/Shoujo_Kakumei_Utena https://myanimelist.net/anime/43691/Kageki_Shoujo I also recommend the video game "Jack Jeanne." |
| その目だれの目？ |
| School Days: say what you will about it, but it's utterly unique. That's part of why I like it so much. What makes it so unique, I think, is how viciously mean-spirited it is, there's no happy ending, characters to root for or positive message to glean from it, it's just nasty. |
| The most underwatched in my case are Humanity Has Declined and Ojamajo Doremi. Need more recognition for sure |
 |
| Monster: making a philosophy out of its own title which is detailed via its writing throughout including and especially the dialogues OPM: giving the sense of a large-scale state of emergency |
| I'd say so yes. I think some of the anime my favorite list are pretty unique in their premise and/or combination of genres and/or atmosphere: Saekano, Machikado Mazoku, Maoujou de Oyasumi, Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin, Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu. At least I haven't personally seen many, if any, anime that felt really similar to those. |
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