Hello, people. This thread is dedicated to all of those hidden gems in anime that are actually somewhat elusive to very elusive when it comes to searching for them, but great anime stuff, thus earning the title of: Hidden Gem. If you find one, post it on this thread and tell everyone about the hidden gem you found and why it deserves more attention and why it is good (great story with character depth and development, smooth animations, great detail, etc).

What is considered a hidden gem in anime?
- Any good show/manga or movie that is related to anime that has probably been long forgotten or kicked aside by mainstream series. Stuff that's "collecting dust" metaphorically speaking. Or something an average otaku does not know.

What is not considered a hidden gem?
- Anything that is mainstream, and an average otaku knows.
- Examples: Dragon Ball, Gundam, Naruto, Kill La Kill, etc.

Kaiba for sure, it's childish art style makes it seem like it belongs in a children shows but its themes of agency and amazing story telling makes it such a pity that its not well known. Also check out its opening song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3gc6Uc7y0

Aku no Hana. If you cam get passed the unsettling animation (by the way it's not 3D its general animation just taken to another level) then the series has a rather compelling storyline and is a great example of the psychological genre. XD

White Album 2. I don't know if this series is considered a hidden gem but I guess it's still worth a watch if you haven't done so yet. This is a great example of a good VN adaptation into an anime. You don't have to watch the first season as their completely separate series and if anything WA2 only has minimal reference to the album which was released by Yuki in its first series, it's not really important if you ask me.

The story is a SoL with slightly complexed relationship between the trio of the series(Namely Touma, Setsuna and Haruki). It handles emotional development in each character very well and the overall pacing of the series is just right. The ending made a pretty fitting conclusion to the series and the show as a whole was entertaining to watch.

If you're looking for a good romance SoL, watch this.

I've watched a few more obscure/artsy things but while stuff like Mononoke or Tatami Galaxy are pretty talked about in certain circles, something I really liked but almost never hear about is Saraiya Goyou/House of Five Leaves.

I've heart it called uneventful or forgettable but I disagree completely. If you're not going into it thinking it'll be a samurai epic, you'll get a very interesting, subtle drama with a unique and artful atmosphere. It's one of my favorite Samurai shows alongside Samurai Champloo (they're completely different in tone though).

Air Gear is one of those shows that really could've benefited from better art and animation, but nonetheless is still awesome.

It's a shonen sport-ish show that revolves around electric rollerblades - Air Trecks - riders nicknamed "Storm Riders" that starts with doing tricks around the streets and escalates into massive, amazing battle, still using the rollerblades as weapons.

The anime is incompletely adapted from a manga, so it ends with kind of a cliffhanger, and probably not even a third of the content was adapted. It's also been so long that probably all hopes of continuation of the show can be thrown into the gutter, so if you're interested you'd need access to that in order to finish the story.

"Mouryou no Hako" is an anime about a really cool murder mystery. After the first episode it follows some private detectives as try to piece together what happened. This anime goes into super natural elements so I really don't think you'll figure out until near the end. Plus this anime is beautiful.

"Golden Time" is an anime about collage romance. Due to an accident the main character lost his memories but still tries to find his way in life. If you've ever though about what you want to do with your life I think you'll love Golden Time.

In the blink of the mind's eye, Ryouta Sakamoto suddenly finds himself transported from playing the hit Btoom! video game to being stranded on a mysterious island, equipped with a day's worth of provisions, a bag of bombs, a strange crystal embedded in his left hand and a huge gaping hole in his memory. But it doesn't take long to figure out what's going on, especially after the first person Ryouta meets tries to kill him. Someone is attempting to recreate the ultra-violent Btoom! game in real life, and the island has been filled with an army of other unwilling players, each armed with one of the multiple variants of explosive weapons called BIM. Fortunately, Ryouta's an ace Btoom! player, but this insane version of the game has no reset switch or second lives, and there's only one way off the island: kill seven other people before they can kill you! Can Ryouta repurpose his game based skills fast enough to survive?

BTW the manga is still ongoing and i can say that it is really good

>>6 Sorry to say Air Gear does not full under what the OP was asking for, heck I know for a fact Air gear even got a live roller blade Musical show made.

copy & past link -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0mo9FggIJ0

Also if you where thinking Air gear falls under long an forgotten think again, as it did get a few OVA
Episodes made.

copy & past
http://cc-anime.com/airgearova/

They need to make another season.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is one of my all time favorites.
Sorata is a boy who has moved into the Arts building in his high school. He isn't quite sure where he wants to go in life, but knows he wants to go far. After moving in, he suddenly becomes surrounded by great artistic weirdos.
After learning his path in life, he struggles on in the world of a common person surrounded by prodigies who rarely fail in life.

A terrible description, but it really changes views on work, school, and the people you call friends.

That sounds interesting. As an art major, I am sure I will enjoy. Thank you for the recommendation

There's not that many mafia-type anime out there. And if there is, they just don't do it right. This one, however, does do it right: Gungrave. The series was based off of an underrated video game. But in the game, there were some very giant plot holes with the main character's background. So the anime answers those questions. If you like mafia-type stuff like The Godfather, this is the right anime for you.

As a forewarning: the first episode may catch you off guard because it doesn't have any relevance until later on in the series.

Also another STRONG suggestion is that you watch this show in English Dub. It is the best choice in my opinion. And if English is your native language, English Dub is the way to go. Take my word for it, it is one of the best voice acting I've ever heard.

How about Aoi Bungaku (Blue Literature)? The series is divided into 6 stories based from six modern classics of Japanese literature: No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku); Run, Melos! (Hashire, Melos!), Kokoro, Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen), The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito), and In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita).
I think its a really great watch!

Hanasaku Iroha (English: The Colors of Blooming)

This is quite popular in Japan, but not outside of it. Its a slice-of-life anime that centers around being a worker from an inn (Kissuisou).

It deals with the struggles and dreams of Ohana, a normal student, who became a waitress at the inn of her grandmother because of her mother's sudden elopement with her boyfriend. Feeling discouraged and wanting to go back, she uses her newfound experience to change herself into a better person.

Bump. Because I'm very interested in what hidden gems are out there. I don't know if the about to be mentioned were once considered popular, but I certainly didn't hear much about them when I had come across them. There's a short one (Six episodes I think) called "Time of Eve." For a few episodes, it's one of those anime that places the viewer in a state of mind where you wonder what the boundaries are between relationships between humans and what humans perceive as something that isn't even worth placing personal affections upon. For example: Treating a pebble from somewhere as I it's a human worth giving affection to. Anyways, you'll just have to see for yourself on whether or not it's a good show. I can appreciate it because it doesn't need to be 20-100 episodes to get its theme down. Aside from my blabbering of a short anime that some may call utterly worthless and not "exciting", there's another anime I personally place in one of my top favorites called "Ef: Tale of Memories" and its second season "Ef: Tale of Melodies." The first season is about a boy struggling to befriend a girl with a slight problem that would intervene with normal friendships and may utterly end up in the unfavorable in real life. However, you can see for yourself whether the show is up to your standards. I personally have high standards, so for me to even bother posting and mentioning anything at all should give you an idea of what I think are hidden gems. And also, the second season "Ef: A Tale of Melodies" I should note that It's an amazing show that can artistically place the viewer under the mental state of one who is suffering from extreme negativity, depression, e.t.c. and that we can relate to such feelings and thoughts at some pont (or several points) in our livesIt has those amazingly little nifty scenes that makes you go "...holy fuck... This is how I felt at one point....and how I thought at one point...." So yeah. Enough of my blabbering, I'll just mention these two. I'll update with more if the thread will get some new replies.

>>12 I just finished binge watching this. Simply amazing and took me on an emotional roller coaster.

>>18 "This thread is dedicated to all of those hidden gems in anime that are actually somewhat elusive to very elusive when it comes to searching for them, but great anime stuff, thus earning the title of: Hidden Gem."
FMA/FMABH is known worldwide.
Not a "hidden gem".

>>19 The guy post Edward giving a thumbs up fir the anime >>12 recommended. Not really saying FMA/FMABH at all. If he has, he would had said it, no?
Not to mention he made the thread.

>>Not really saying FMA/FMABH at all. If he has, he would had said it, no?
Since it was FMA he wouldn't of had to say it.

But that makes better sense though.

>>22 Lol sorry for the misunderstanding. I should probably be more clear in my statements.

>>23 Nah, nah. I probably shouldn't be posting shit before dawn.

Shiki for horror genre. I never knew it was so good till just now.

Katanagatari? Im not sure if this is a hiden gem or not i found it while refreshing main page of kisKibasanime. And this is one of my favorite anime. Plot is the best part of this anime (and graphic) so it's hard to say anything. Maybe just one thing. You will never ever see more epic batle than the one between Yasuri Schichika and Hakuhei Habi. Never. And that was one of few fight batles in anime i can't say bad word (and thats means a lot)
Kiba I didn't like it as much as the one before but i liked the windmils. I know this sounds strange but for me the windmils where the best part of it and i watched it whole. My first time seeing vertikal axis windmill ;)
Kekkaischi but ther is problem witch this one it ended befor the story line got really serious. Just read the manga Shichirou Ougi is one of my few favorite haracters togeder with Griffith, Nameless Monster a.k.a Johan and Kamina. sadly he don'appear in anime. I just don't know what to say. It was great I really don't know what ther os more to say (but it ended to early)
Im not sure if these are "hiden gems" If not sorry.

Karneval is a great anime; just don't watch the dub

Hajime no Ippo is one of my all time favorite anime series. Even if you don't like boxing or sports type anime, you'll find that this is something worth watching for the characters and their development. And the fights are the usual punch-punch stuff in boxing, but the animation and sound effects creates a very intense atmosphere and all of a sudden each punch sounds like it really hurts and it gets your blood pumping. It makes you want the MC to win, but there are some fights where you are torn between wanting the MC to win or the opponent because the characters are all unique. I won't say anymore or I'll spoil it. But give this series a try :)

X

love this!! some hidden gems i love/reccommend are silver spoon(super funny and slice of life, guy moves from prep school to an agricultural high school), arakawa under the bridge(random happenings of oddballs that live under a bridge, funny and has some romance), and otome youkai zakuro(rom-com with youkai, set in japan as its getting westernized)!! hope you like em.

Is this only limited to japanese animation?