Some weird hidden gems with under <10k~ members
i made this list for ppl who wanna watch something weird and awesome and cool. hopefully stuff you won't see on many other lists. this is my 3rd time remaking this list, hopefully the mal mods will accept it lmfao
i'll keep editing this list as i watch more stuff
The anime takes place on the screw-shaped island country of Nejigajima and follows the two "Bokyabots" Hebot and the Yurui Prince Nejiru as they collect different "Bokya Neji" screws. When the Bokyabots wear the Bokya Neji screws on their heads, they're able to compete in "Bokya Battles," battles for who can think up and tell the best jokes. (Source: ANN)
In a peaceful, disarmed world where small robots are utilized as housekeepers, villains act with huge robots instead of weapons. Dr. Keewee converts Michael’s robot into a transformable one in order to teach them a lesson. This is the birth of Galatt, the town hero. (Source: ANN)
The Daichis are a family in danger of tearing itself apart. Dissatisfied and money obsessed mom Seiko has served wimpy and otaku dad Mamoru with divorce papers. Daughter Nozomi who has always been saddled with all the housework, feels pained that everyone is using her. The youngest albeit most foul mouthed, Dai is forced to watch all this as everything is going to pieces. However when the Galaxy Federation recruits the Daichis to combat alien threats to the wellbeing of the Earth, it will be a chance for the family to save the world and maybe themselves. (Source: ANN)
Somewhere in the desert lies the Wolf Zirkus: a strange circus where Popee, a clown in a pink rabbit jumpsuit, shares the stage with Kedamono, a purple creature who wears a mask. Together, they juggle the whims of performing, practicing their acts, and poking fun at each other. In a world where anything seems possible, there is no telling what will happen next during this eccentric spectacle. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
In the year 2010, practically one hundred percent of Cat Earth's GDP comes from the megacorporation Catty & Co., which is rapidly spreading across the rest of the galaxy. Here lives Tamala, a beautiful yet foul-mouthed cat, who decides to travel to the planet of her birth, Orion. After an unfortunate crash landing on the planet Q, Tamala meets Michaelangelo, a fellow cat, whom Tamala refers to as "MoiMoi." As Tamala and Michaelangelo explore the planet's capital, Hate City—which is under martial law to separate the feuding cat and dog populations—they pass by graffiti and museum exhibits about the ancient cult of Minerva that speak of something dark and sinister. After Tamala catches the eye of the extremely violent motorcycle-riding Kentauros, she and Michaelangelo flee, but mysteries about Tamala's identity continue to surface. Why did Tamala originally leave Orion, and what exactly is her connection to Catty & Co.? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
A series of 9 animated shorts based on the Frank comics by Jim Woodring, featuring computer/CGI, traditional cel, stop-motion, and even sand painting techniques. Contributing animators and musicians include COCOA, Eri Yoshimura, Naomi Nagata, TAMAPRO/DROP, Taruto Fuyama, Masaki Maito, Kanako Kawagushi, Masaya Sakaue, Bill Frisell, Dame Darcy, and Woodring himself.
Medabots—powerful robots granted artificial intelligence through special "medals"—serve at the whims of their owner. They are more commonly used in "Robbatling," a popular combat sport where two medabots face off against one another. In its professional form, Medafighters use their Medabots to qualify for the World Tournament and fight amongst the elite to gain the title of champion. Elementary schooler Ikki Tenryou has just gained his first Medabot: Metabee, an outdated model with no medal. Fortunately, however, Ikki manages to find a medal in the nearby river; but when Ikki places it into Metabee's head, the latter starts to exhibit strange behaviour. Short-tempered and rebellious, he refuses to obey Ikki's orders. However, to climb the ranks to the World Tournament, Ikki and Metabee must first learn to work together, no matter how difficult the prospect may seem… [Written by MAL Rewrite]
The first series is a set of 25 stories about a male businessman arriving at the hotel after taking a train home from work. He encounters the mysterious owner of the hotel, an old mouse known as Gregory, who suggests that he stay a while. Soon, the man becomes drawn into a bizarre series of events taking place within Gregory House as he tries desperately to escape from this bizarre purgatory. (Source: Wikipedia)
Hayato Hayasugi (his last name is a pun on the words for "too fast") and other children will serve as conductors to pilot the Shinkalion. The Shinkalion robots are various models of real-life Japanese bullet trains (shinkansen) that transform into robots to fight an unknown evil to protect the safety and peace of Japan. The children must work together with the adults of the Shinkansen Ultra Evolution Institute (SUEI) to defeat a monster that looks like a jet black bullet train. (Source: TBS Global Business)
One of the must-see gems making its premiere at our festival, Midori-Ko is adored Japanese animator Kurosaka Keita's whimsically nightmarish vision of 21st-century Tokyo on the brink of apocalypse. Ten years in the making and entirely, single-handedly rendered in colored pencil, Kurosaka's fantastical labor of love is a marvel to behold. Emerging from the staggering detail and craft flooding every frame is the story of a young woman who sets out to engineer a dream-food that can put an end to the world's famine. Synthesizing Frederic Back's subtle, haptic textures with Bill Plympton's frenetic mutations and David Lynch's haunting wormholes, Kurosaka’s work still retains its own singular, luminous potency. (Source: Los Angeles Animation Festival summary)
Fubuki Sakuragasaki is a powerful gamer who, with the power of her Passion Panties, climbs up the ranks of the BAG (Best of Arcade Gamer) tournament to become the greatest Arcade Gamer in the world. However, the evil Gulasic Group is out to conquer the world through said tournament, and their gaming skills will prove to be a challenge. Fubuki must team up with the legendary Mr. Mystery to combat the four Gods of Gaming and make the world of arcade gaming safe for all. (Source: ANN)
Mito isn't just another space pirate, she's a three foot tall childlike alien with enough guts to outshine a supernova. She's known as the galaxy's most dangerous pirate, a wanted criminal who destroys a dozen police space cruisers every day before breakfast. But all she really wants is to be called "Mom." (Source: ANN)
Sakura Momoko's teacher assigns the third grade to draw an image based on their favorite song to enter a contest. Momoko loves a song she recently learned during her music class and is anxious to make a good drawing based on it. On her way to meet her relatives in Shizuoka, she meets Shouko Kimura, a university student who occasionally draws portraits at the local train station and plans to also participate in an art contest. Fascinated by her illustrations, Sakura meets Kimura once again. Shouko is enchanted by Momoko's sympathy and honesty. They quickly become friends and end up inspiring each other in their own way. (Source: ANN)
In these jokey short films, many of them crudely animated, Kago's sick sense of humor reaches its full heights of absurdity. There's a playful surrealist sensibility to Kago's work, as well as a tendency to revel in the ridiculous, the crude and the disturbing. His work straddles a weird boundary between avant-garde experimentation and low-brow fart jokes—the punchline of one of these films is literally an oozing torrent of shit—although, admittedly, his videos seem to lean a bit more heavily towards the fart jokes than his comics. But hey, who doesn't appreciate a good fart joke once in a while? (Source: Only the Cinema blog)
A trip on a chartered plane with a number of other thrill-seekers (most of whom are anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables) and hop from island to island, each of which offer their own unique visual delights. (Source: IMDB)
Marika is a gothic lolita who somehow ends up in the mysterious town of Galihabara. There she meets different famous scientists like Galileo Galilei, Marie Skłodowska Curie and Sir Isaac Newton.
One day, an ordinal high school girl, Ma$%^&* (her name is left to your imagination), met Cheko, who was a maid came from a village of maids. She could melt, fly, and pull her head off... Anyway, strange people began to come, for example, a snow fairy who disliked cold, a large squid that could speak, scary persons, and the like. Pugyuru is a world of absurdity drawn by a hope of comedy. (Source: AnimeNfo)
A 9-year-old boy named Wataru Ikusabe is magically transported to a magical realm of the gods called Soukaizan which he is supposed to save. In his quest to save the realm, he manages to transform a clay sculpture into a somewhat autonomous (small) Super Robot. (Source: Wikipedia)
Kitarou is a youkai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe. He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and youkai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter. This version of the Kitarou story is based on the original Hakaba Kitarou manga, the manga which inspired the popular Gegege no Kitarou series in the late 60's. (Source: Wikipedia)
Mihira Sanpei talks with a Tohou accent and is a down-to-earth boy with a cheerful and optimistic personality. However, when it comes to fishing, he becomes very serious and is a youth who enjoys fishing more than anything else. The village where he lives in is a natural environment which provides different kinds of fishing challenges. Despite his lack of experience, Sanpei has a first-rate sense with regards to fishing and decides to maxmise his potential by entering into different fishing contests. As he faces various challenges, he learns to solve difficult problems and learn from his mistakes to the extent that he is able to fish anything out of the waters. Along the way, he encounters all kinds of rivals and companions who increase his experience points and help him in his growth. (Source: ANN)
Moments before Naruto Uzumaki's birth, a huge demon known as the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village, and wreaked havoc. In order to put an end to the demon's rampage, the leader of the village, the Fourth Hokage, sacrificed his life and sealed the monstrous beast inside the newborn Naruto. In the present, Naruto is a hyperactive and knuckle-headed ninja growing up within Konohagakure. Shunned because of the demon inside him, Naruto struggles to find his place in the village. His one burning desire to become the Hokage and be acknowledged by the villagers who despite him. However, while his goal leads him to unbreakable bonds with lifelong friends, it also lands him in the crosshairs of many deadly foes. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Unusual things have been happening in Moominvalley. Moomin, Sniff and Mee leave for the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains to confirm the Muskrat's words: a comet is about to hit Moominvalley and destroy everything. On the way they meet Snufkin, the Hemulen and the Snorks and experience many adventures. (Source: ANN)
The show starts with the tale of Chitose Fujinomiya, a girl who goes from riches to rags and back and remains a snob despite it all. When her wealthy father dies, remaining debts leave Chitose almost broke, and she is kicked out of the affluent Tokai no Gakuen, or City Academy. She is left with nothing in the world but the clothes on her back and one pink goldfish named Gyopi-chan, the only memento she has of her father. Wandering lost, she collapses on the grounds of the poor-but-happy Inaka no Chugakko (Country Jr. High School), where the students are rough if friendly, and farm animals regularly roam the school grounds and even attend class. Recovering, she enters into the school but is repelled by its air of poverty, to which she is unaccustomed. (Source: AnimeNfo)
Mikan Seijin is about an tangerine-like alien on earth.
Fifteen-year-old Ranze Etou lives a normal life for any girl her age—except for the fact that she resides in a castle with a vampire father and a werewolf mother who constantly worry about her lack of powers. On her first day at a new school, Ranze meets the beautiful Shun Makabe and falls head over heels for him. While he remains oblivious, this does not stop Yoko Kamiya, the daughter of a yakuza boss, from becoming jealous. Furthermore, Ranze's parents despise the idea of her dating a human. On top of all that, Ranze has to cope with the manifestation of a new power—the ability to shapeshift into anything she bites! [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Two brothers are in the spotlight: one a movie star making a football movie, the other a musician who occasionally goes to school (to cover for his sibling). What will destiny bring them?
Based on the gag manga by Fujio A Fujiko.
Malice, a sex robot living in an abandoned human city, is assaulted and violated by a mysterious creature. Upon awakening, Malice finds out that she has become human and can pass on her humanity to her fellow machines. However, her gift soon becomes a curse when her fellow robots rage out of control after being exposed to the pleasures of life. (Source: ANN)
Alice is summoned by the White Rabbit to save Wonderland from spreading Darkness. However, she knows Alice in Wonderland is a story and that this must be a dream. And so it proves, but at the end, the now grown-up Alice sees the events of her dream begin to unfold for real. (Source: thestreamable)
Prince Pietro is the half-human, half-dragon prince of the kingdom of Popolocrois. After the evil GamiGami tries (unsuccessfuly, as ever) to take over the Kingdom, a mysterious girl named Hyuu appears in the forest near Popolocrois Castle, which is the beginning of an adventure for Pietro, his witch friend Narcia, and all their friends. Set following the events of the first Popolocrois game.
Mr. Stain, an artist/inventor, and his cat friend, Palvan, have numerous adventures concerning art supplies and junk found in Junk Alley. (Source: ANN)
One day an armada of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) came out of nowhere under the full moon. One of them mistakenly fell to the Earth. The two Extra-Terrestrials, Crescent and Corona, who were on board the falling UFO, happened to be saved and picked up by an Earth girl Funny. In reality Crescent and Corona were forced to live as pet with that selfish and moody girl Funny... (Source: AniDB)
On the last Valentine's Day before her high school entrance exams, Nana Suzuki tries to build up the courage to confess to her longtime crush. However, when her chocolates are accidentally ruined, she rushes back to her house to make more—not realizing that the microwave has been turned into a strange invention by her grandfather. Suddenly, six additional copies of Nana appear, each possessing their own extreme personality and a crystal that grants them magic powers! With her plans ruined, Nana vows to confess to her crush in her first year of high school. The only problem is that her crush is top student Yuuichi Kamichika, and following him to his elite high school will mean that she has to hit the books. With six new allies to help her, Nana begins to prepare for anything that the exam season might throw at her. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Remake of old superhero show of the same name.
In the year 2999: humanity is split into two factions, Terra and Ness, in a war fought by starships. One of the foremost of the pilots is the cocky teenager Yamamoto Yohko, and during one of her missions, she and her crew are sucked into a temporal anomaly (a la Star Trek) that sends her back to our time. Amnesiac, she only thinks of herself as a typical high school student - until a course of events sends her back to her ship the TA-29, with her newfound friends fighting at her side in a war that looks suspiciously like an arcade game (complete with 100 yen ignition costs!). (Source: AniDB)
An older woman wears a small spoon around her neck but every now and then, she shrinks to the size of a mouse because of the spoon. She sees the world then from a completely different perspective and has all kind of strange adventures together with Wendy, the mouse and many others. (Source: ANN)
Sumikko Gurashi debuted in 2012 as slightly negative characters who like to stay in the corner of a room. The characters include "Shirokuma," a polar bear who is sensitive to cold; "Penguin?" (with a question mark in its name), a penguin who is unsure if it is actually a penguin; "Tonkatsu," a piece of pork cutlet that was left uneaten; "Neko," a shy cat; and "Tokage," who hides his nature as one of the last dinosaurs. The franchise has inspired toys, books, stationery material, video games--and now a feature film. (Source: ANN)