X Densha de Ikou

The new anime release format that appeared in the mid-80s brought new opportunities for studios and various works began to be released on videotapes. Some of them were frankly terrible, but some became classics with a recognizable style and aesthetics. I bring to your attention works worth viewing.

The weirdest and cringe anime.

This list includes very unique and artsy anime that are around one episode in length, so anything between 20 to 50 minutes. So movies and really short stuff are excluded. Also compilations of multiple unrelated anime (ex: Genius Party) would also be here is each episode is in that timeframe.

The criteria here is simple: Anime released in any year, with under 15,000 MAL Members, and which I've rated a 6 or higher.

Now that I'm including anime from any year, I've lowered the MAL member threshold. The rating threshold remains at a 6, because sixes are still pretty good.

It is perhaps worth noting that I rate things entirely on gut feeling. It's just, "I like that, that was good, it gets a 7.", that's the whole process. I can also find enjoyment in just about anything and there's very little that bothers me.

Ascend: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9615
Descend: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/13938

Tags: Old, Obscure, Oldtaku, Retro, Underrated, Hidden Gems

Do you like trains? Yes? Then here's the perfect list to satisfy your Tetsu needs!
Recaps, shorts, and music videos are accepted! Not adding any Hentai, literally George Orw─

(Since there was much more content left to add I made a part 2, enjoy! if an entry repeats please tell me my brain is becoming mush with all the things I need to first skim to see if there are trains. Station Idol Latch is supposed to have an anime sometime in the future according to ANN: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-05-20/station-idol-latch-project-turns-tokyo-yamanote-train-stations-into-idols-with-anime/.173004, but it's been just the voice dramas on Youtube as of now.)

Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/18067

These are films that may appeal to an otaku with an ENFJ or INFJ-type personality.

Not including films. The seasons added are subjectively the best to me. These are not in order.

Featuring little to no dialogue and/or characters and the experience is carried by the music and/or visual atmosphere.

Part 1 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/311
Part 2 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/5128
Part 3 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/8036
Part 4 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/8173
Part 5 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9135
Part 6 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9240
Part 7 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9448
Part 8 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9461
Part 9 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/20874

As the title says, I created a stack called "Avant Garde and the Weirdest Box", and some weird Anime was not listed in it, so they will be listed here. Of course, there will also be Avant Garde anime that are not popular or not known by many people.
Well it seems like the real weirdness never ends...

Before the likes of Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon conquering the kids in the west, it was actually Akira that opened the door and made people realize that the cartoons coming from Japan weren't what you would expect from Disney or your TV channels.
A huge flood of VHS tapes came showing animations with mature themes, absurd plots, and enough graphic sex and violence to make parents freak out... what a glorious time!
They don't make cartoons like this anymore.

This is a comprehensive list with stuff from very good to very trashy, but all in the same spirit.
Some early 00's also included.

ps: I also recommend, but can't include here, Kage (OVA).

Glorious 80's and 90's (Sci-Fi, Neo-Noir and Crime Drama)
https://myanimelist.net/stacks/30604

Every cinema or direct to video anime film that came out in 1987.

Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34036

1986: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34034
https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34035
1988: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34043

Standalone Avant Garde anime films with a duration of 45 minutes or more.

Counting summaries (Re:Cycle of the Penguindrum, Maroko), alternative versions (Shoujo Kakumei Utena Adolescence Mokushiroku, Alexander Senki), multi episode compilations (Genius Party) and long OVAs (Tenshi no Tamago).

Anime with "out-there" concepts. Part two!

Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/47011

Part 3: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/51198

Rintaro is the pseudonym of Shigeyuki Hayashi, a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse (which he co-founded), though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working in the animation industry—at age 17—as an in-between animator on the 1958 film Hakujaden. His works have won and been nominated for multiple awards, including a nomination for Best Film (Metropolis) at the 2001 Festival de Cine de Sitges.

Rintaro is a fan of science fiction, and has been influenced by American westerns, gangster films, film noir, and French films. Additionally, he was influenced by Osamu Tezuka, and worked with him on Kimba the White Lion and Astro Boy. He said that when he was making Metropolis, which was based on Tezuka's manga of the same name, he "wanted to communicate Tezuka's spirit". Rintaro personally introduced the film at the Big Apple Anime Fest in 2001, where it was screened before its theatrical release by TriStar Pictures.

Experimental Anime for paranoid people. Themes of technology, escapism, trans-humanism or digital spirituality. Deconstructions or Reconstructions of Otaku Culture. Or, simply, heavy Y2K/Akihabara aesthetics.