Crunchyroll boasts one of the biggest streaming libraries for anime around, and that includes some truly underrated gems. Over the past decade, Crunchyroll has quickly risen to become one of the biggest anime streaming services. In addition to typically getting the rights to the vast majority of anime that release each season, not to mention occasionally financing their own shows, they have an incredibly massive catalog of older anime, so if someone wants to watch either a recent hit or an old favorite, they’ll likely have to look to Crunchyroll.
That being said, there are many anime on Crunchyroll that people don’t pay attention to. Some of the anime listed here are underrated for never making an impact despite their high quality, and others are listed here for being big at one point, but ultimately not having the staying power to retain relevancy in the years following their conclusion. Whatever the circumstances, every anime listed here is well worth watching, even if their popularity, or lack thereof, might not suggest that. Here are 10 anime that stand out as among the most underrated on Crunchyroll.
10 Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie
The first underrated Crunchyroll anime being discussed, which is also one of the more recent entries on this list, is Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie. As is common with slice-of-life anime, Shikimori was light on plot, but the cast was incredibly entertaining, and it is a rare story where the main characters are introduced as a couple, giving it something over other romcoms. Unfortunately, the spring 2022 season was already packed with major hits like Spy X Family and Kaguya-sama: Love is War, so it makes sense that a show like Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie, which lacked any sort of big hook, would fall to the wayside.
9 Back Arrow
Another good anime that never truly managed to get off the ground is Back Arrow. Back Arrow was one of the latest anime from Goro Taniguchi of Code Geass fame, and much like Code Geass, the series was filled to the brim with quirky characters and stellar mecha action. Unfortunately, the mecha genre of anime has been in a very notable decline over the past several years, so despite being a largely solid story from start to finish, Back Arrow received very little attention due to its commitment to a genre many people had gotten tired of by the time it premiered.
8 Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Speaking of underrated mecha anime, very few are as worth mentioning as Mobile Fighter G Gundam. G Gundam has all the classic Gundam themes of war and political intrigue, but oddly enough, it expresses them through a martial arts tournament starring a goofy ensemble of humans and Gundams that strives to make everything as over-the-top as possible. It’s significantly removed from what the Gundam franchise is known for, so it’s common for it to be ignored, but that weirdness allows it to stand out, especially with how much it’s played straight, so Mobile Fighter G Gundam is just as worth watching as its sister shows, if not more.
7 Cyborg 009: The Cyber Soldier
Age is a big part of why some anime end up ignored, and an anime that greatly exemplifies that is Cyborg 009: The Cyber Soldier. In addition to being over 20 years old at the time of writing, the Cyborg 009 franchise dates back to 1964, so it makes sense that people would find it too old to be worth their time. That being said, as another story by legendary Kamen Rider and Super Sentai creator Shotaro Ishinomori, Cyborg 009 has everything that made them successful, and Cyber Soldier, especially, excels for its modernization of the series and wonderful new stories, including the very first adaptation of the unfinished conclusion.
6 Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
It’s all too common for anime to become underrated because of a lack of an ending, and an unfortunately perfect example of that is Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. With an endearing cast, a unique power system, and an excellent portrayal of multiculturalism and politics, Magi became a breakout hit in the 2010s, and the manga, especially, is still held in high regard. Unfortunately, the anime only ran for two seasons and ended at a point where most of the plot was still unresolved, so despite the great story and visuals, there hasn’t been much reason for people to watch it over the years.
5 Dragon Quest: The Adventure Of Dai
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai stands out as one of the most popular manga to have been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, and the 2020 anime was of similar high quality. With some of the best animation to come out of Toei Animation in recent years, combined with an impeccable score, the 2020 adaptation of The Adventure of Dai was one that perfectly showcased the manga’s brilliant execution of medieval fantasy and classic shonen tropes. Unfortunately, that classic storytelling gave it the wrong impression of being too basic of a story, and with a very late air time of episodes, it was largely ignored during its run.
4 Nichijou
Kyoto Animation is known for producing anime that bounce on a wide spectrum of heartfelt drama and goofball antics, and the latter is best exemplified with Nichijou. Every episode of Nichijou is filled to the brim with surrealist humor and irreverent gags, and with the always stellar animation and direction of Kyoto Animation, the impact of every joke is nothing but incredible. If there’s any reason for Nichijou to be underrated, it would be because of how many hits Kyoto Animation is already known for, but it’s more than worth anyone’s time.
3 Kanon
Key is a studio famous for its romance visual novels and the anime that they’re adapted into, and one of the most underrated of them is their debut work, Kanon. Like with its contemporaries, Kanon does its best to work the diverging routes of the original game into a singular narrative, and it more than succeeds in doing so, resulting in an excellent character-driven story with a great romantic arc for its two leads. That being said, Clannad, also by Key and also animated by Kyoto Animation, essentially improved on everything that made Kanon work, so it’s understandable that it would stop receiving attention.
2 Lucky Star
One of the telltale signs of a great anime adaptation is the anime greatly expanding on the source material, and one underrated anime that brilliantly encapsulates that is Lucky Star. The anime took what was a basic four-panel gag manga and made it into an over-the-top comedy with incredible animation filled to the brim with anime parodies. That aspect, however, is likely part of why Lucky Star is so underrated; the anime it parodied were mostly relevant at the time it aired, so most modern fans won’t understand a lot of the jokes, thus giving them little reason to watch, despite its overall quality.
1 The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
The last underrated Crunchyroll anime being discussed is the biggest anime to come out of Kyoto Animation, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. With a genre-bending story, creative directing, and impeccable voice acting in English and Japanese, Haruhi Suzumiya was quick to blow up all around the world, and at its peak, it was arguably one of the biggest anime franchises in the world. Unfortunately, the series lost a lot of goodwill for its controversial season 2, which was further compounded by it never receiving a season 3. Combined with the light novels ending with so many loose ends, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has unfortunately become tragically underrated.
Whether it’s from too much time passing since their debut or being overshadowed by competition from the very start, there are many anime that end up being underrated, even if their overall quality doesn’t warrant it. None of the anime listed here are likely to become popular anytime soon, but that doesn’t make them any less worth watching. Even if they don’t get as much attention as other anime on Crunchyroll, every entry on this list is more than worth someone’s time, and the anime community would be worse off without any one of them.
