[Ashori]

(Since the original thread was archived, I decided to re-do the thread for the panel idea. So feel free to repost your thoughts and comments!)

I'm sure we all have them. A favorite anime or manga that very few people seem to love or even heard of, but yet we enjoy them to death for one reason or another. While every year, panels sprout up for popular favorites, like Naruto, Hetalia, Ouran High School Host Club, and Code Geass, but it seems that nothing is said for these lesser-known or lesser-loved "closet" favorites.

My Favorite Anime That No One's Heard Of is an open-mic discussion panel dedicated to these kinds of anime and manga. We'll discuss our favorite shows that seem to have no fanbase (despite our own love for them), make comparisons and contrasts to other well-known series in the same genre and type, run a short trivia game, and more, all with the main goal of showing our love for series that seem to get no love at all.

Now, while this is still in its planning stage, I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in a panel like this. Essentially it's a "let's talk about it" kind of fan panel, but instead of listening to myself (and possibly two others that will help me run it) blabber on, I'll open the mic to discussions with the audience so anyone who wants to speak can have their chance to do so on the many anime and manga that are bound to come up.

Please voice your comments here, and let me know what you think.

[rin1782]

My favorite anime nobody has heard of is Wiess Kreuz.

[Prayer Police]

http://25.media.tumb...iot0vo1_400.png
I used to like Gurren Lagann when it was underground.
<-hipster shades

[Spinner_enko]

Ga-Rei-Zero

[The Creeper]

I would totally love to see a panel like this, Hell, almost every anime I own is lesser known anime. That's pretty much all I watch (most of the time). I'd love to help out or participate in this panel. Favorite anime I like but NO ONE's heard of include:

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
Blue Seed
Needless
Scrapped Princess
Master of Mosquiton
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
Gokudo: Swordsman Extraordinaire

[Ashori]

As it sits right now, my friend Shannon and I will be running this panel. I'm still trying to convince my brother or another of my friends to help out, but at the moment it's just the two of us.

How the panel is working right now is this:

We will be hosts and moderators of the panel, enforcing peace and keeping the discussion going. A list of rules will be mentioned at the panel (such as keeping discussion to a PG-13 level, stopping any sort of flaming, bringing up popular topics other than in comparison topics, etc.). We'll be going around the room and someone who raise their hand to talk about their subject - we'll bring up our own points depending on the topic - and once a piece is said, allow others to comment or discuss further until we feel the subject was thoroughly discussed or no one else has anything to say. We're trying to get the panel to last at least an hour, but we may try to sign up for a two-hour panel.

We're still working out all the rest of the details, but that's the rundown of how the panel will work. We're also working on a list of what is appropriate and not appropriate for the panel.

Please make sure to keep voicing your thoughts - your feedback will help us run this as smoothly as possible.

[Bloo09]

Panels for this coming ACen aren't stuck with being 1, 2, 3+ hours. We're allowing you to increase by 15 minute increments. So 1 hour is minimum, 1:15, 1:30, 1:45, 2 hours etc. I could definitely see your panel lasting longer than an hour. I'm really looking forward to your application! I love discussion panels If you have any questions please feel free to email me at Panels@ACen.org and don't forget to sign up for our email list!

[Gwydion]

The Creeper, on 12 August 2011 - 02:00 PM, said:

Scrapped Princess

Just wanted to say that you took mine! lol So yeah, there's at least one other person who loves Scrapped Princess.

And this panel sounds interesting - it's always fun hearing about more obscure series.

[Stormy-chan]

devil hunter yohko
kaze no stigma
familiar no zero

I loved each of these but not to many know what I'm talking about sigh.....

[Ashori]

Bloo09, on 12 August 2011 - 05:04 PM, said:

Panels for this coming ACen aren't stuck with being 1, 2, 3+ hours. We're allowing you to increase by 15 minute increments. So 1 hour is minimum, 1:15, 1:30, 1:45, 2 hours etc. I could definitely see your panel lasting longer than an hour. I'm really looking forward to your application! I love discussion panels If you have any questions please feel free to email me at Panels@ACen.org and don't forget to sign up for our email list!

Yep, signed up for the email list. ^^
And cool - we'll likely go with an hour and a half or two hours. We'll figure it out by the time submissions open up. Thank you, and thank you for your support! ^^

[OtakuChica]

I love Zatch Bell, but it's not very popular, it HAS fans, but whenever I mention it, no one knows what I'm talking about. It's really cool too!

I also like Dog Days and it was one of the Spring 2011 animes, but I haven't seen it get as popular as Ao no Exorcist.

[Ashori]

Well, the panel was officially submitted two days ago, so here's to crossing our fingers and getting in!

In the meantime, I'd love it if, for anyone interested in this panel or not, to list their favorite lesser-known or unpopular anime and manga. My friends and I are wanting to compile a larger list of series to brush up our knowledge on for the panel. As can be imagined, there's TONS of series that go under the radar, too many to really know off the top of anyone's head. So we'd love any sort of help in this. ^^

[OtakuAngelD]

Herlock Saga, Galaxy Railways, and Cosmo Warrior Zero.

[The Fujoshi]

Funny I heard or used to be a fan of all of these. I thin WK was just forgotten, since it used to be popular with Gravitation in the 90s.

My vote is Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san. Its up there with No Index in terms of popularity...in Japan. Nobody has heard of it here in the USA. The anime is new but the manga has been out since 2006 in Japan. No plans of localization yet.

Considering that Hetalia was popular when it was Japan only shows that Azazel-san is just unknown.

[Kitsu-chan]

I doubt many have watched my new fave anime despite it having a crossover with One Piece... Toriko

[Defyplums]

Project A-Ko (both Blue and Grey wars)
Record of Lodoss Wars (*slight cringe*)
Those Who Hunt Elves

Really glad someone mentioned Bubblegum Crisis!

[Nathan Treicel]

Defyplums, on 20 October 2011 - 03:01 PM, said:

Project A-Ko (both Blue and Grey wars)
Record of Lodoss Wars (*slight cringe*)
Those Who Hunt Elves

Really glad someone mentioned Bubblegum Crisis!

Tantei gakuen q
Kindaichi case files
Agatha Christie
Beast player erin
skip beat
umineko
yakiatte japan
saikano
karekano
gosick
flash speed night raid
I'll probably add more later

[The Creeper]

Well if you're looking for more titles to brush up on, let's see. The main ones I'm interested in I mentioned before:

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
Blue Seed
Needless
Scrapped Princess
Master of Mosquiton
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
Gokudo: Swordsman Extraordinaire

But if you want other never heard of anime before besides my favorites, I still know and have seen plenty others like:

Xamd Lost Memories
801 TTS Airbats
Linebarrels of Iron
Ruin Explorers
Zenki
Lost Universe

[Ashori]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions - we are definitely looking into these. Some of these I've heard of and have a vague idea of what they are, and I'm actually glad someone mentioned Skip Beat!.

And the panel has officially been approved! Yay! ^^ Of course, more information on schedule and stuff will be listed later when we get it. Please keep listing your suggestions for us, as well - we love doing the research to make sure this is a properly ran panel for you guys!

[dorkatlarge]

Some people hunt down obscure shows. The drive to find rare and forgotten series is what drives them. Some people like finding out-of-print releases, even ones which are often considered inferior (such as Warriors of the Wind, an infamous edit/dub of Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind).

If you want to determine the relatively obscurity of a show, then look at what TVTropes is currently saying at their sliding scale of anime obscurity page.

And if you don't see your favorite there, then check the Buried Treasure column archives at http://www.animenews...buried-treasure for a few largely forgotten series.

[TeenyDratini]

I've heard of about three fourths of the anime mentioned in this post, but I haven't seen many of them. :\
I like a lot of anime that are pretty popular in the people-who-watch-the-newest-anime-straight-out-of-japan-all-the-time group of anime fans, but if you ask pretty much anyone outside of that group, they've never heard of it. Would those count?

[jsieczkar]

Some titles that haven't been mentioned yet:
Pale Cocoon
Neo Tokyo
Night On The Galactic Railroad
Armored Trooper Votoms -- loved in Japan nothing in America
Patlabor the Mobile Police
Those Obnoxious Aliens -- movie number 2 was very good
Memories
Genius Party
Mind Game

[applekidjosh]

This topic is hilarious, I'm shocked some of you think these shows have no fanbases. Umineko? Needless??

Anyway, I'd totally love to do this for truly underappreciated shows like Binchou-tan and the Cosprayers/Smash Hit/Love Love trilogy

[Ashori]

applekidjosh, on 20 December 2011 - 07:54 PM, said:

This topic is hilarious, I'm shocked some of you think these shows have no fanbases. Umineko? Needless??

Anyway, I'd totally love to do this for truly underappreciated shows like Binchou-tan and the Cosprayers/Smash Hit/Love Love trilogy

Hmm...I suppose it could be debated on how popular a series in an American fanbase compared to the Japanese fanbase. Such as in the case of Umineko, where Higarashi no Naku Koro ni was licensed but then Funimation let the rights expire a few years later without much of a chance currently of it, the sequel, and then Umineko, being licensed by another company, quoting low sales for the first season. However, I believe the When They Cry series is popular in Japan, and hence it continues to sell well and gain a fanbase. Of course, this is just basing on the sales, which only one factor as to why a series is or isn't popular.

Debate like this is more than encouraged at the panel, so please feel free to bring up these factors as well!

[applekidjosh]

Well in the case of Umineko, sales are going to suffer because it was a horrible adaption :3

But yeah definitely going to come to this so my friends and I can seem like elitists!

[sakurakenji]

Let's see some of mine already got put down. But Gunbuster and Diebuster both amazing series even if they're only 6 episodes each. I also loved Air, such a good anime.

This post has been edited by sakurakenji: 21 January 2012 - 04:37 AM

[Ashori]

Well, with the schedule out, at least there's an idea of when and where the panel will take place. Of course, I'm sure this is subject to change between now and the con.

However, times are as followed:

Time: 11:15am-1:30pm
Day: Saturday
Room: LAX A-B

Likely, we'll start the panel right away at 11:30am, barring any trouble we have trying to set up and such.

[zuka_versailles]

Bara no Versailles or The Rose of Versailles is one that I adore and I haven't met many people who know of it.

[Ashori]

Well, the panel room has definitely changed, along with the time (referring to the latest Panelist Update post), so I can't say definitely now when the panel will be. However, with the con a little over a month away, I wanted to post how this panel will work and get feedback on it so my co-panelists and I can fix anything that will make this go smoothly.

This is for the lesser known series, why we love them, and why and how we figure they go unnoticed against other shows with similar themes, genres, etc. Since this is an all-ages panel, discussion will be kept at around a PG-13 level, and no discussions of hentai will be permitted.

Discussion can pertain to some of the following ideas, but aren't limited to:

-A series being more popular in Japan, but fares poorly in other countries and visa-verse
-A form of a series being more popular compared to another source (i.e. the anime form being more popular than the manga/light novel form)
-A series with the same topics, themes, genres, etc. as a popular series, but doesn't get the recognition it deserves; can be combined with discussion theme #1
-Factors such as sales, release format, etc. that affect a series' availability and popularity

We're definitely looking for some friendly and positive debate among the audience. As hosts, my co-panelists and I will place in our own opinions on series mentioned, as well as moderate discussion so we don't spend our entire time (the panel will be two hours long, with 15 minutes for set-up and clean-up) on one subject.

We'll be covering the rules and procedures again at the panel, but for those curious about this in advanced, here is the list of how the panel will work:

Rules:
Discussion must be at a PG to PG-13 level
No discussion is permitted for hentai, yaoi, and/or yuri series or popular series (although if making a comparison/contrast or debate argument, popular series can be mentioned alongside the series in question)
No being rude, derogatory, etc. because a person or people may disagree with you
Follow all of A-Cen's rules

Panel Procedure:
One of the co-hosts or myself will start discussion on a series we enjoy, give our reasons for liking the show, and why we feel that it doesn't get much recognition
We'll allow the audience to raise their hands and pick one to continue the discussion, and so on as people finish their statements

We'll stop discussion if we spend ten minutes on a subject (we set this time limit so we can fit in more topics), feel that it's been discussed to death, or the discussion starts to get out of hand (breaking the rules). At that point:

We'll ask for anyone who wishes to start up a new topic to raise their hands.
The person we pick will be able to start discussion in the same way we started off the panel

We would love any critique on making this panel awesome, considering for two of us this is our very first panel (and as far as I know, this is the first time A-Cen has ever had a panel devoted to the lesser-known series). Please let me know via the board, as well as continue listing shows for us to review so we have the best understanding of all shows that could be discussed. I'll also list the time and room for the panel when they are available.

This post has been edited by Ashori: 20 April 2012 - 01:04 PM

[Ashori]

All right, with the schedule update, the panel is now set for 11am to 1:15pm at the Mister Lincoln room at the Double Tree, still on Saturday.

Also, just for the fun of it, I created a Facebook event for the panel. Feel free to join and then post your feedback and such on it:
http://www.facebook....60646314056285/

Of course, you don't have to; I just wanted to have the fun of creating a Facebook event for the first time. XD