Even someone like me who’s easy to please when it comes to anime, and can enjoy most series that I feel are at least mediocre, comes across a few that I see as overrated. It’s part of human nature that anything that becomes very popular will also invoke a lot of people to claim that it’s overrated, anime fandom being no different…
I’ve always tended to like the popular anime that the majority of fans also like. Evangelion, Code Geass, Cowboy Bebop, Angel Beats!, Lucky Star, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Naruto, Madoka…I like all of these anime very much and feel that they deserve the praise they get. Some might call my tastes “generic,” but I feel that I simply have tastes that match a typical anime fan, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as I’m enjoying anime. Or maybe I’m simply a “glass half full” kind of person who tries to focus on what I do like about my hobby rather than what I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be critical, and while I do take note of flaws in every anime I watch (being much more critical in the past several years than when I was a young, newbie fan who thought all anime could do no wrong), there are still few that I think are overrated.
So for a fan like me whose tastes almost always nicely match up with the popular anime of the times, it puzzles me when I do come across a popular anime I think is overrated. Gurren Lagann is one anime I think is overrated, not terribly so, but a bit. I say “a bit” because in my mind I can understand what people like about it, but I myself can’t love it the way I love the other popular anime I mentioned above. It’s too over-the-top and “masculine” for my tastes, and bad ass, hot-blooded action and guys like Kamina aren’t my cup of tea.
But do you necessarily have to dislike an anime you think is overrated? Certainly not. While I don’t regard Gurren Lagann as highly as other fans, that doesn’t mean I can’t like it and enjoy some things about it, which I do. I think it’s a good anime, just a bit overrated. In a similar way, I think K-ON is overrated, but I still like it. I don’t like it less for being overrated because I judge it for its entertainment value to me as a show and not because masses of otaku ogle it or because it’s marketed so vehemently. When I don’t like an anime, it’s because of something in its story, characters, writing, production values, and so on. Things that exist beyond my viewing experience are irrelevant to how I judge an anime.
Being an extremely popular anime is a double-edged sword. Some people will want to watch such a series to see what all the fuss is about, while others will steer clear of it for the same reason, persisting in their attitude of “if the masses like it, it can’t possibly be that good.” But if you’re going to say an anime is overrated, meaning you don’t think it deserves the praise it gets, you should give it a fair chance and actually watch it in its entirety (or as much as they can if it’s, like, 100+ episodes). I’ve known some fans who will watch just the first few episodes of a popular anime, not get that into it, and then use their negative attitude about popular anime to feel that they don’t need to watch it any further to determine that it’s overrated. Imagine if someone only watched the first two episodes of Madoka, determined it was just a slightly edgy but otherwise overrated magical girl anime, and didn’t bother to watch it any further? Or they watched just the first episode of Haruhi and thought it was just another school comedy anime with nothing distinct about it? Or that Evangelion was just a regular mecha anime after the first few episodes? Unless we’re talking about a virtually story-less slice-of-life anime where all the episodes are more or less the same, like Lucky Star perhaps, I think such a person will miss out on a lot. I know it can be annoying when ardent fans of a series you’re not sure you like tell you “It gets better later,” but sometimes that really is the case. You never know unless you give it that chance.
Of course, there will be cases where you’ll watch an anime in its entirety that you never got that attached to, but wanted to see what the fuss was about anyway. And in the end, you still feel like it’s overrated. Bleach is one such series for me. I watched just about all of its 366 episodes (minus some filler episodes) and never understood why it was as popular as Naruto and One Piece, two shonen series I love. I found a lot of the characters, especially the myriad of minor ones, unlikable and poorly written, and I found the battles uninteresting and often deus ex machina-ish. In a case like Bleach is for me, a Bleach fan would probably say “You should read the manga, it’s much better than the anime.” But like I said in my previous post, I’m mostly an anime-only fan and judge the anime in its own right. I can’t imagine that the characters and writing in the Bleach manga are so different from the anime version that they’d totally change my opinion of the series. But it is good to make sure that when you say something is overrated, to differentiate between the anime, manga, etc., if the two are significantly different.
Feeling that an anime is overrated isn’t a sentiment that always lasts forever. Sometimes rewatching a series that you were only okay with at first may turn into a favorite upon a second viewing. That actually happened with me when I watched Haruhi a second time, a year after I had first watched it. Your personal growth, knowledge about anime, taste in anime, and other things could change over time and thus change your opinion of an anime you first thought was overrated. If I ever get the motivation to watch Gurren Lagann again (I watched it in 2008), perhaps I’ll like it more the second time around because something about me has changed since then (actually, I borrowed the Gurren Lagann movie DVDs from a friend, so I’ll be watching those soon). Or sometimes an anime is overrated when it’s first coming out only to fade into obscurity later on. Sakamichi no Apollon is currently being both praised and bemoaned as overrated, but will it have the staying power for people to still say such things about it a year or two from now? Only time will tell.
*Side note*: Thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Aniblog Tourney that I posted about on the 13th. I won that match though I’m doubtful I’ll get much further in the tourney. Regardless, my next match is coming up in a couple of days, on the 22nd. So if you want to support me again, please check back on the blog that day, or check the tourney site directly. I’ll also post about it on my Twitter. Thanks!
Rest assured, the Bleach manga is not better than the anime.
Nice post. Usually talking about what one finds overrated devolves into hateful bashing, but you’ve been quite understanding and respectful. Well done.
Thanks, I’m glad you liked the post.
And glad to know that about Bleach XD I just can’t imagine it being much different than the anime other than not having the filler stories.
Kids on the Slope is overrated? I remember it being overrated when it first came out, but nowadays, it’s about even.
That could be true, I don’t see it hailed quite as much in the past few weeks than when it first came out. But I still see it getting a lot of praise nonetheless.
Quote the insightful post. For me simply seeing the word “K-ON” anywhere is enough to make me cringe.
Thanks…and sorry I made you cringe by having K-ON mentioned a few times =P
Overrated and like:
Suzumiya Haruhi, Steins;Gate, Fate/Zero (sort of…), Clannad, Ano Hana (like it far less so than before)
Overrated and extremely dislike:
K-ON, Angel Beats, the Girl Who Leapt Through Time, 5cm Per Second
As for Bleach, I don’t think that just because it’s immensely popular necessarily means it’s overrated. Look at the rankings for it on MAL: the anime is 423, and the manga is at 781. (Although, most people have rated it a 7 or 8…. That should be rectified, haha.)
You’re right, just because a lot of people like something (like Bleach) doesn’t mean that they all think it’s good quality; it’s like the head versus heart score thing I’ve talked about. But usually something’s popular because people think there’s something really good about it.
Or in School Days” case, it’s popular because of how notorious it is. :P
“Overrated” anime, to me, are the ones you can no longer comment negatively on without a bunch of people telling you you suck for not just waxing idiotic about them. Likewise, “underrated” ones are the ones you can no longer say something positive about without everyone just going “meh, it’s not popular enough to care about” or “are you nuts? that’s unpopular.”
But you’re right – anyone who dismisses anime out of hand simply because they’re popular or unpopular needs to remember their age. If they’re over 15, then they should probably know better than to care about popularity or being closed-minded about their foreign cartoons.
That’s a good way of describing overrated anime. For underrated however, from my experience at least, whenever you say something positive about one of those, the response is either “I don’t know, I haven’t seen it” or “I agree, it’s so underrated.” But there are exceptions of course ;)
Yeah, that kind of ignorance is something that people should wise up to once they get past the teenager age of judging things based on the group mentality rather than formulating their own, individual opinion based on experience…but unfortunately many people don’t =/
I remember reading once someone rail about how using “overhyped” or “overrated” as a criticism was useless because it says nothing about the work itself, but is only criticising other people’s opinions about the work — it’s like a critique of society rather than an honest look at the product in question, and it provides less value to the third-party who is reading your critique than just an honest look at what the work is and why you didn’t enjoy it. But I think the issue is that people feel a bit defensive and uncomfortable when their opinion seems to clash with the majority (“the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” as they say). So, calling something “overhyped” or “overrated” can be almost more of a way of dismissing/downplaying the opinions of those who disagree with you. I guess it’s not unlike how you might call the opposite the “vocal minority”, insinuating that the work isn’t as bad as some people say, they just speak louder than the majority who like it. I suppose part of it could also just be bitterness speaking if you watched a show because of its popularity, pedigree, or promises you heard that “it’d get better”, only to find yourself disappointed to the end and feeling that you wasted your time (that your trust was betrayed).
I think the overrated/overhyped term applies a bit better to movies (particularly Hollywood movies) because there you have a marketing machine spending all sorts of money to promote the work with the goal of bringing you to the theatre for a single event. With anime series, though, it’s spread over many episodes, so unless it’s a case of “it gets better” or “the ending saves it”, you usually get a sense fairly quickly if the series is going to interest you. The people who are thus most prone to this would be completionists and people who marathon an entire show after the fact just to “keep up with the Joneses”. If your motivation is primarily internal, you may still think that a show is a bit overrated/overhyped, but you’re a lot less likely to feel the associated “sting”.
I agree with what you said about how judging something based on other people’s opinions (saying it’s overrated) does nothing to show why the work itself is bad or why you personally don’t like it. But as you mentioned, I can also understand why people do so – developing a snobbish attitude towards the masses, and in turn whatever they like, because you can’t understand what all the fuss is about.
Also good point about movies versus anime series on this topic. It takes more time and motivation to watch a whole series rather than a single movie, so in a way it makes more sense for people to feel more “betrayed” if they get through many episode of an anime only to be disappointed.
It’s like the hate on the “cool” or “popular” kid on school, just because they are popular :P. K-on may be a bit overrated to me (I like it though), but Haruhi deserves every bit of praise (in my opinion). So does Madoka, and Oreimo. I’m sure not everyone thinks the same way though… I can’t say the same for the shonen trio. They are just so long (366 episodes!! wow!!) that I cannot get into them. So I cannot say if it is overrated or not. I know a lot of people like them.
Popular anime are just more visible I guess, so it’s easier for people to label them like that. I tend to also watch anime, and judge it for what it is and what it tries to do. Not by its popularity. No need to hate on a popular anime simply because I do not like it either… I know not everything is tailor made to my taste :)
Yeah, it is similar to the “hate on the popular kid” kind of thing (but there’s plenty of hate for the unpopular kids too =P) Anything that draws a lot of attention is going to also draw a lot of resentment for whatever reason.
It’s good that you’re not putting down the shonen trio because you haven’t watched/read them. A lot of people do diss shows like Naruto just because they’re so long and because their fans are annoying, despite having little knowledge of the series itself. It you’re going to diss something, at least make the distinction that you’re dissing Naruto fans and not the series itself XP
“Overrated” is one phrase that I try to avoid to use, because that attitude you described, dismissing popular shows just because they are famous, is so common nowadays, that pretty much any well-known show tends to instantly grow a hatedom as big as it’s fandom, and a reputation of being overrated.
Open a thread asking which is the most overrated anime, and it will be filled with all the most well known series, like the Three Shonen, everything from Gainax, everything from KyoAni, plus Madoka, Code Geass, etc. Even if I wouldn’t like one of them, how could I call it “overrated”, if that would just make me join a chorus of people who think the same?
Maybe Cowboy Bebop is the only one that’s quality no one is still universally taken for granted, but that’s because it’s being turned into the “The Citizen Kane of Anime”, a synonym for “quality” that everyone is just expected to accept, even if you personally haven’t seen it, or didn’t like it.
I try not to call shows overrated often (which is why I only have three personal examples – Gurren Lagann, K-ON, and Bleach). But unfortunately too many do feel a need to use the term =/ I wouldn’t want to group myself in with haters, but if I’m going to call something overrated, I’d make sure I’ve actually seen the show and have reasons to back up my opinion.
I think I’ve only met one person who thought Cowboy Bebop was just “okay.” There was someone else who may have watched just the first episode or two and didn’t like it, only because he doesn’t like the “serious-style” anime and prefers light, cute, and funny shows. But I don’t know anyone who’s watched all of Bebop and didn’t like it. But there is a danger in making a single anime so highly-regarded; especially for Cowboy Bebop amongst Western fans, it makes them look at every anime that comes out in terms of Bebop quality, and the farther it is from it, the worse the show is even if it has a completely different goal and style (like the many “moe” shows for example).
It’s good to be cautious, I feel, about conflating ‘over-rated’ with ‘popular’. I don’t consider shows like Lucky Star or Naruto overrated because even a lot of the fans don’t think they represent something that high-quality, but still like them anyway.
It’s a term I would use only when I consider something to be both very popular AND critically acclaimed, yet that I subjectively feel was not very good – in ways I think I can qualify. There are a few shows I think this about – Code Geass, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop – but they have to be respected as well as liked for me to even think about applying the term. Something like Hetalia, on the other hand, I wouldn’t think of calling ‘overrated’ because it’s not very highly-acclaimed and a good deal of its fans know it’s a bit rubbish but still like it.
I’m always trying to stop people dismissing things just because they’re popular, as I’m all for making your own mind up, but people can use their time however they like!
You’re right that just because something’s popular doesn’t necessarily mean those who like it think it’s great quality. It’s kind of like the “head versus heart score” thing I talked about in a past post. But like I said to Myna above, usually if so many people like something, it’s implying that it has some kind of good, unique quality to it or else so many people wouldn’t like it. It’s when people can’t see that quality that they start calling something overrated.
I totally agree that people can use their time how they like. I just think it’s right that if you’re going to criticize something, you should have first hand knowledge of what you’re criticizing ;)
“Evangelion, Code Geass, Cowboy Bebop, Angel Beats!, Lucky Star, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Naruto, Madoka.”
Naruto does not belong in a list of brilliant, somewhat divisive anime (Okay, maybe Lucky Star, Code Geass and Death Note aren’t exactly brilliant, but that’s just getting picky). I never see positive professional reviews of Naruto, and the criticisms I’ve heard sound much less subjective and draw attention to more quantifiable things like animation quality, predictability and filler. I like Naruto quite a lot, but I didn’t think ‘the majority’ of anime fans liked it, and certainly not the majority of discerning ones.
Anyway, I’m hypocritical; I like to cite professional reviews that support my opinions, and claim anything they say differently is just a matter of opinion. I tend to agree more often than not, though, so hopefully I have a rough handle on what’s genuinely good. Regarding being overrated, I think it’s when qualities get ascribed to a series or their flaws are ignored. One of the series I think is overrated is one I deeply, deeply hate: Clannad.
I could easily write a whole post about what bugs me, but apart from some of the better aspects in the second season, Clannad seems to be to be a totally standard yet above average bishoujo fantasy romance anime, distinguishable by nothing except being “really quite good”. I see several flaws in the series, which I never see discussed. On Anime News Network, it’s the highest rated series, which I deeply disagree with. I consider the series overrated.
There are series I think are better than Clannad, and ones that I enjoy more, that I would still deem overrated, for example anohana (one of my very favourites) and Madoka (not one of my personal favourites, but I think it’s bloody excellent). In the case of anohana, Menma is somewhat bland and the other characters aren’t brilliant, and there are a few missteps (melodrama, if you like) which only come up in negative critiques, and in Madoka I think people vastly overestimate the quality of character development and originality, plus the conflict between Sayaka and Kyouko seemed really weird and forced to me.
When it comes to shows that aren’t critically that highly-regarded (the shounen three, Elfen Lied, K-On!, etc.) I don’t think overrated is an apt term. It’s like kicking someone when they’re down. For me, an anime becomes overrated when it is largely regarded as better than it really is or its flaws are ignored in favour of its more obvious better aspects.
PS, if you can’t handle incredible manliness and epic fight scenes, the last half hour of the second Gurren Lagann movie might be a bit much for you ;)
You have a point about Naruto. I was just grouping it together with the others to show anime people think are overrated, regardless of quality (a lot of less informed fans say the shonen trio). But you’re right that the people who tend to like anime like Madoka and Angel Beats! aren’t usually the type to like a mainstreamed one like Naruto.
I haven’t watched Clannad in a few years, but from what I remember, the first series wasn’t anything special to me other than having good KyoAni animation. It wasn’t until the latter half of After Story that I thought it was really good. So yeah, I can agree that the first season is overrated at least. But most people only look at how emotionally impacting After Story was to them, which is, like you said, glorifying the good qualities and ignoring the flaws. I also agree with what you said about AnoHana and Madoka; both are excellent but not without flaws. The angst in AnoHana did go overboard and Sayaka and Kyouko’s relationship in Madoka was one of the few things that didn’t quite click with me in the series.
Heh, if the second Gurren Lagann movie is similar to the second half of the TV series (which I’ve seen) I know what to expect XD But if the manliness is cranked up, I’ll brace myself!
Gurren Lagann never did it for me either. I watched it in its heyday when everyone raved about how amazing it was, but 26 episodes of unfathomable mecha battles later, I was left disappointed. On the other hand I did like Kamina, haha. Another one you mentioned is Angel Beats! – I can see why people liked it, but I felt that it certainly didn’t measure up to the other popular anime you mentioned in terms of plot depth, character development and all that jazz.
I guess the issue of ‘overrated’ anime still comes down to personal taste. It might be that the anime in question happens to strike a happy chord in most people but not you, so you’re left wondering why everyone likes it so much. Or perhaps it’s not even a highly praised series – it just gets a lot of attention because everyone who watched it had an opinion and as a result it’s become more talked about and ‘popular’. For instance, the anime Hakuoki is full of pretty boys and beautiful art on top of what I hear is a mediocre plot, and yet it’s popular enough to be getting several seasons. Sengoku Basara is another similar example. There are mountains of fanart for those series. Anyone who isn’t into bishies would complain that they’re overrated, but for the fans it’s exactly what they want.
I watched Gurren Lagann with a bunch of male fans (who loved it) at my university’s anime club. Watching it was more of an “experience” that way, as they always hollered and laughed at everything that happened. We had a moment of silence at the club for Kamina too XD But yeah, watching it that way was fun, but as a series to watch, it’s not one of my favorites.
Angel Beats! is one series where I’m certainly able to see the flaws in it, but at the same time, can understand why people love it (since I’m one of them =P)
What you said in your second paragraph goes back to the idea that popularity doesn’t necessarily equal quality, even to the people who like the series in question. But yeah, when something gets talked about a lot and people like it, regardless of why, it’ll usually get labeled as overrated by those who aren’t into that genre (like your example with Hakuouki).
I always enjoy what I watch, be it hated by everyone else, or loved. The only shows I’m going out of my way to watch that don’t have a dub is Kurokos basketball, and Naruto which I’ve followed for years, and next season I’ll follow Yuru Yuri exclusively probably. And most people probably don’t give two shits for those shows haha.
I just enjoy the experience for what it is, if I like it I like it, if I don’t I don’t, however, I don’t decide if I hate or like something based off of how popular it is or how popular it isn’t. Sometimes the people are with me, like my Love of Evangelion or Berserk,and other times against me like my love of Blood-C or Tamayura Hitotose haha. Speaking of Blood-C and Evangelion, I CAN’T WAIT for those movies to come out! I prefer movies over series, ANY day.
YuruYuri is quite popular in the circles I frequent, /a/ and the Facebook anime page community.
Yeah, just like what you like and don’t like what you don’t like ^^ And like you said, don’t judge based solely on how popular or unpopular something is.
Instead of saying “overrated”, I like to observe that sometimes, “I don’t see what all the fuss is about”. Since this leaves open the possibility that there is actually something worth making a fuss about, but I’m just not seeing it.
Particularly since much of the experience of watching television is drawn from the interpretations and perspectives of the viewer, it can often make the most sense to think of two people who are watching the same show to actually be watching two completely different shows, each formed when the combination of all the pictures, dialogue etc. of the production are given meaning in the unique understanding of the world that the viewer has. From a certain perspective, the show I’m watching won’t actually have anything special to it, but another person can watch the same show, and suddenly it will be there!
So, in general, overly masculine, badass, hot-blooded action shows are not my cup of tea either. But I find it all changes when GAINAX are at the helm. Sort of — if Kamina was a character in an ordinary show, he’d be a boring old action hero, but because he’s in a GAINAX show, he’s a bit of a comedy buffoon who can play the action hero because of the weirdness of the world he lives in. Which to me feels like the reality of the show, but it’s actually just a reading. Someone making a different reading of it is likely to see a different reality altogether, like watching a different show.
As for anime for which I personally don’t see what all the fuss is about; well, actually the two most obvious ones are actually quite different. I don’t like Cowboy Bebop (and a few related things) for reasons I understand reasonably well, the characters and situations just aren’t things I’m predisposed to care about, so it just feels like everything is unimportant to me, and I get bored. But with Miyazaki films, I do generally like and appreciate them, just only to a relatively mild degree. They’re nice and well-made and make correct choices, but I’m not sure why you’d expect them to produce the very strong feelings and reactions which I associate with descriptions of greatness. They just seem rather modest to me.
Good points. I recall you saying something similar to your second paragraph in another of my posts. That is what it boils down to though; that each of us observes something different in a show based on our own unique knowledge about and personal experience in the world. Some show might fulfill something to a lot of people, but not for us because of who we are as an individual. But even if I can’t like a popular series myself, I try hard to understand why others like it so much. With Bleach for example, even though I can’t “see what the fuss is about,” I can identify some things about it that may draw people to it, like the cool character designs.
Ah, now that you mentioned Miyazaki films, I forgot to mention one that I feel is overrated – Totoro. I do agree with you that Miyazaki movies in general are great but a bit overrated, especially a certain few like Totoro, Ponyo, and Spirited Away, which I think are good movies, but are as you described. Especially Totoro and Ponyo, which are very cute and nicely made, but I don’t think there’s anything that brilliant about them. I think the fact that these movies have been mainstreamed to the general American audience is one reason; the people who watch and praise them are often not familiar with other anime, and thus compare them to Western works (in other words, the critics don’t know how good anime in general can be in comparison). I think the two most deserving ones are Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa, which don’t seem to get as much attention as the others.
What I most dislike about overrated anime it’s not the anime itself, but their fans! Some of them are too damn obsessed with X o Y anime that just gets annoying :/
I can certainly agree that the fans of certain anime can be annoying, mostly because they’re very vocal in an obnoxious way. Because they’re so vocal, it seems like so many people like this anime they’re talking about, which leads people to believe it’s overrated. But you have every right to criticize obnoxious fans if you make the distinction that it’s the fans you’re criticizing and not the series.
“Overrated” tends to be a controversial word, as it causes people who like a certain series to rush to its defense. Every anime that gains a certain degree of popularity or status gets called overrated by sections of the anime fanbase. Everyone has different tastes though, so its very understandable when an anime that is generally considered high quality doesn’t click with someone.
Too many times however I see people who dislike a popular series develop a massive beef with the series and proceed to hate on it as much as possible. As with music, I find it extremely annoying when people dislike something that is popular and use that dislike to draw as much attention to themselves as possible. I’d far rather listen to an over-eager fan than put up with somebody screaming “OVERRATED MAINSTREAM CRAP”.
You’re right that any anime that gets popular (or any movie, TV show, etc., for that matter) is going to develop a following of haters too. And like relentlessflame said above, it is understandable that people get frustrated when they put time into watching a hyped anime only to find that it doesn’t click with them.
I agree with what you said in your second paragraph. Anime is something to enjoy, so I’d rather hear fans rave about their favorite anime even if I don’t share that love, than someone nagging about anime they don’t like.
The whole time I was reading your article, I was thinking “Sakamichi no Apollon”, glad to see you mentioned it at the end. When it first came out I said some negative things about it and pretty much got told off by everyone. Upon the suggestion of the majority of my readers, I continued watching. Episode 3 was good, but I haven’t seen much worthy of praise since then.
I think there are different degrees to how an anime (or media in general) can be overrated. For example, I adore Madoka, but I think that the fans who claim that the series has massive amounts of depth are kidding themselves. It has good writing, a good concept, and is pretty disturbing at times, but it doesn’t have as much depth as something, like say, Evangelion or Serial Experiments Lain. Doesn’t make it terrible, in fact Madoka deserves every award it gets, but the series simply doesn’t have that level of depth that the fans believe it does, and rating that aspect as high as possible is what makes it overrated, in terms of the fanbase. At the same time, Neon Genesis Evangelion isn’t overrated because a good number of people, even the fans, rate it based on what’s presented to them and don’t create praises of depth from exaggerations. There are certainly fans that do, but they aren’t as loud about it as Madoka.
Kind of a samey example, but people ranting and raving that their favorite series is a anime masterpiece simply because it has a lot of gore and violence also means that they are overrating that series. Either it does have that level of violence (which would mean it’s overrated by the fact that gore and violence =/= good) or they’re giving the wrong impression. Unless it’s like, a slasher horror genre or something.
I believe some people take the term overrated with too much offense, though. A bad anime can get too much praise than it deserves, but the same goes for a good anime too. Same goes for the people that use the word too (I’ve seen way too many people call mainstream stuff overrated. Just because it’s mainstream doesn’t mean its overrated, it’s just high-profile).