This is a topic to post non-mainstream anime, be it movies, series or OVAs, which you thought was good and think others might like. Wanted to put up this thread for a while to see what treasures people have found or at least seen.

I've got 2 here from last year:

Eden of the East: An 11 episode series which will have the wierdest synopsis you could read but is essentially a very good mystery as you try to figure out mainly the why behind what is going on or has happenned. Very entertaining and quite original. Has 2 or 3 movies coming out over the next few years.

Denpa Teki na Kanojo: This currently has 2 45mins OVAs and is one of the best things I saw last year. NO JOKE. The synopsis of the main characters will sound like a comedy but the story is incredibly dark with some not very predictable outcomes and deep philisophical issues brought up. May possibly have more sequels to come.

If anyone have got some from last year or even from the depths of the past I wanna hear.

Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu - compelete and utter acid trip of anime...but absolutely adorable

Seto no Hanayome - i pimp this out at every opportunity. Musical Mermaid Mafia......'nuf said

Spice and Wolf - the most relaxign anime you'll ever watch :3 and Horo is adorable

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki - Translates as "Diary of a Crazed family"..................thats pretty much the synopsis
Kyouka and Oka are given the job of playing Mother and father to 5 adopted children; each of them a descendant of the God of Destruction, Enka, who propehesised thousands of years ago one of his children would bring the destruction of the world........

An amazing series if only for the absolutely batshit crazy kids;
Ginka; 23 year old cross-dresser.
Yuka; 9 year old abused child with a bit of an Electra complex but completely adorable
Teika; he's a lion.....that's all i can say really
Hyouka; a biomecha battle droid XD
Gekka; a jellyfishy

Not like me to post.

I have only recently started watching anime again after about a 5 year break so I dunno how popular this series actually is but i just finished watching Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.

I thought it was great series about a teenager going through his adolesence discovering music. I'm not usually a fan of Japanese music (My opinion was if it was in English most anime fans would dismiss it) but the soundtrack was superb. With many hidden reference to different bands and musicians. I think the series was a labour of love for the director.

It was made on a shoe string budget but the story telling, the soundtrack and most of all the emotional investment you have in the characters, more than makes up for it.

My tastes are leaning more towards realistic anime these days, none of this ninja- magical catgirl-alchemy poo. So here are my faves

Monster - Very, very dark and sinister mystery series. Quite simply the best story ever told in animated form in my opinion.

Nodame Cantabile - Sickeningly sweet series about the titular Nodame, the man she's obsessed with and their ambitions to become classical musicians at a top music school in Japan. The second series 'Paris Chapter' follows them as their education progresses and the current series, just titled 'Finale', is quite self-explanitary. By watching this you'll not only fall in love with the characters (Chiaki is the coolest anime character ever bar-none) but you'll also discover a new love for classical music that you never knew you had.

Nana - Another musical based series except this time it follows a Japanese Punk band. The name comes from both the lead characters being called Nana who meet on a train then through complete coincidence end up becoming unlikely flatmates. The story follows the development of their friendship and deal with a lot more mature issues than most anime such as the emotional impact of falling and love and being hurt and let down by those you care most about.

This post is ment for obscure anime which many fans won't know about. Almost every anime fan knows of ones such as Monster and Nana, although they are brilliant they don't belong on this thread.

A few other lesser known anime: Ai Yori Aoshi (+ Enishi), Air (the TV series), Ef: A tale of memories/melodies. These are all drama based ones which are all very good and many people don't know about.

More people I know have seen Eden of the East than Monster.

I second Ai yori aoshi!! ^^ Would like to add Aquarion to list as it was fecking hilarious so watch the dub at D-con, what with the orgasmic sounds made during macha transformation. Looooooool.XD

am going say Buso Renkin and its about well..

ill just say what Jack said about it "the gay version of bleach", but still rather watch this than sailor moon.

To Penfy: I was at anime meet for another group with about 20 people and everyone had heard of monster, only 3 of us had seen it but everyone new about it. None bar myself had even heard of eden of the east let alone seen it. This was a good few months ago (before I joined GA) but the show had finished airing for 3 months and nobody had even heard about it, while everyone had heard of monster, it is just much more well known, although I do think not many people have actually seen it. Also considering watching the dub for monster as I'm hearing very good things about it.

I think it's probably harder to suggest something that's really unknown now that the internet is king, but it's certainly not impossible.

Personally I would recommend Scramble Wars. An early '90s one-shot comedy oav in which the stars of all the major AIC series at the time take part in a Wacky Races style endurance motor rally. It helps to have seen at least one of the series the characters are coming from (particularly Bubblegum Crisis, if possible), but it's so daft and fluffy that it's still well worth checking out even if you haven't.

I think this thread has reignited my interest in obscure oavs - thinking about Scramble Wars again has prompted me to produce another review video:

Scramble Wars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp8wBHft66A

If anyone has a copy of the liner notes that came with the VHS release of this, any chance they could hook a man up with a scan? Someone lost mine many moons ago

whos to say whats obscure and what isn't?

I know plenty of people who've only just recently heard of titles like Monster and Nana.
We have an advantage over some people as we attend anime societies but there are many members here who don't have that luxury and only find out about some of these obscure, ie not mainstream, via forums and topics like this.....

Obscure anime to me doesn't mean not heard of by the mass population; i tend to take it as non-mainstream stuff that isn't on the cover of every anime related magazine eg. Soul Eater/Macross/Naruto/Eden of the East

Firstly, I don't read anime/manga magazines. Secondly, I have to agree with you Debs and admit that I was wrong.

Some more anime:

Higurashi, both seasons and ova.

Gambling Apocolypse Kaiji.

Ef, both tale of memories and melodies. (Check this one out Penfy if you haven't)

Consider your post edited

Another series which i keep meaning to mention......Gilgamesh

Can honestly say I've never heard of Gilgamesh, but, if the description on ANN is anything to go by, it does sound intriguing.