To say that there are a lot of anime out there would be the understatement of the century. The anime world is a very vast one and as a result it is very easy for us to miss out on a great series, or make a premature judgement on a series just because we saw some promotional art and assumed it was one thing only to find out it is something else when you watch it. This list is about anime we felt are very deceptive in regards to their art style or promotional material. The choices here reflect both my own experiences along with the ones from some of the staff here at Operation Rainfall. I have also included Crunchyroll links to any of the shows that happen to be available there. To kick off this list we have:

Excel Saga

“One look at this series and you think it’s a fairly lighthearted comedy anime. I’m just going to say, nothing will prepare you for the amount of insanity that will occur on screen! They even made an episode that was too ridiculous to be aired on TV.”

-Justin Guillou

Humanity Has Declined

“The bubbly visuals didn’t prepare me for a loaf of bread committing suicide.”

-Tyler Trosper

Neon Genesis Evangelion

“Cool Robots, great opening music and amazing art! I Assumed Evangelion was going to be a nice fun mecha anime that will make you feel good at the end of every episode. I was wrong. OH BOY was I wrong.”

-Justin Guillou

Vividread Operation

“I thought it might be a weird magical girl show, and while there are elements of that, it’s also a well done action anime with some slice-of-life elements and a sci-fi twist. It also does not take itself too seriously all the time, something I feel happens a lot in action anime. There are some dark elements to it, but it never feels overbearing to the overall tone of the show.”

-Andrew Mathieu

Maid Sama

“It looks like an ecchi show with no plot until it totally goes full shojo with character development.”

-Quentin

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 

“I’ll admit the first time I saw promotional artwork for this show, I was not interested. It did not look like something I would like. My friends insisted that I give it a chance so I did. It started off to be exactly what I thought it would be, then episode 3 happened…”

-Justin Guillou

Case Closed

“This is the modern day equivalent to Scooby Doo and Sherlock Holmes if there ever was one. On its surface it seems like this silly anime with a grown up turned into a kid and he has to solve mysteries with gadgets that seem out of Inspector Gadget. But once you get into the series you get one of the most satisfying detective shows you may ever watch, animated or otherwise. This show just nails drama, tone and suspense easily and is able to build these things off the backbone of a silly yet interesting premise that never fully escapes focus of the show. It deals a lot with murder, which is what landed it on Adult Swim, which was not great for it in my opinion. I understand it may have been too dark for kids, but again not so dark that it should be considered an adults only show. It definitely isn’t as adult-oriented as something like Law and Order. Either way, an awesome show that may come off as juvenile, but is a really good, mystery solving drama at its core.”

-Andrew Mathieu

Anime is such an interesting medium in that they can totally get away with being deceptive. In many cases, it actually enhances the show and turns what would have otherwise been a cliche forgettable series into one that really sticks with you after the final episode aired. I am sure there are many great examples of series that could fall under this category so let us know what are some anime you saw that turned out to be completely different from what you expected it to be?