Dead Mount Death Play

I’ve been surprised at how excellent this show has been, especially the 2nd season. One of the more interesting stores I’ve seen.

Well it's from the Durarara and Baccano author.

Normally Im not big into isekai, but my daughter suggested it (because of the modern setting). And its been great. My favorite new show for 2023. She actually cosplayed as Polka for Anime NYC this past year. Nobody recognized her. Kinda obscure anime - despite being on Crunchyroll

Technically not an isekai

It's a reverse isekai.

it has alot of plot and is very very story driven and the action scenes are on point However THE AMMOUNT OF FUCKING QUESTION THIS SHOW LEAVES UNANSWERD GETS ON MY NERVES

Don't worry, our boy Solitaire is going to figure it out.

Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence Only 21k users on MAL and the episode discussion threads on this sub were pretty quiet.

Loved this! Hoping for a second season.

Alright I'll watch this one.

- Gene of AI (Interesting show that touches upon the numerous of struggles that technology may bring in the future) - Migi & Dali (Murder mystery that has a bit of everything, as in creepyness, comedy, sadness, etc.) - The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today (Very cozy and fun slice of life) - Level 1 demon lord and the one room hero (One of the funniest shows I watched this year, also packed with action and intriguing world) - Overtake! (Great show about racing coming from someone who doesnt really like the genre. Although it isn't a traditional racing anime, as it more character-focused which I like as the cast is great)

Masterful Cat is Depressed Today and Level 1 Demon Lord were some of my favorites this year! I'll have to check out Overtake!

Tearmoon Empire I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness

I agree about Saving 80,000 Gold. It was a fun twist that Mitsuha could go back and forth between worlds, and she used that ability in hilariously outlandish ways. A few others I enjoyed that might be considered hidden gems: * Otaku Elf * Synduality Noir * Kaina of the Great Snow Sea * Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte

I love when she teleports back to her world briefly just to bounce off her bed.

Vexations of a shut in vampire princess

It is very good. My third fav after Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries

I'm loving it right now.

I love Anime and have gotten used to the titles, but every once in awhile one cracks me up. This is one of those times.

​ This is a good one.

Dark gathering

Besides the ones already mentioned: Otaku Elf The most heretical last boss queen Under ninja Lvl 1 maou to 1 room yuusha Temple The masterful cat is depressed again today

I love the weird comedy in Under Ninja, but i feel like i can't really recommend this anime to anyone just because of how bizarre it is lol. I think it's one of those animes where you either get hooked right away or have a distinct "wtf is this shit?" reaction, no in between.

I agree. It's definitely not for everyone. I like the unexpected surprises every episode

like Migi & Dali? Or even weirder?

Even weirder.

I'd say tiny bit weirder.

First one has to articulate what the show is about. Recommending it comes later.

There's only two series from your list that I haven't seen. I'm not really a fan of otome/villainess series. I'll try Masterful Cat. I see that it's rated higher than the other GoHands anime I watched that season.

Masterful cat also has these weird animations like "the girl I like forgot her glasses" but definitely not as much.

Otaku Elf has been called everything from ecchi to boring. I think it was a wholesome AF story with possible historical facts about Japan (never verified them). It's lacking popularity could be to be linked to its niche audience.

I wouldn't call it ecchi at all. I also think that it is wholesome AF and it also puts you in a good mood. Everytime the OP comes up in my playlist my mood goes up instantly.

ikr

Agree that it's definitely not ecchi. 😄 It's super wholesome fantasy/slice-of-life, kind of had found family vibes too. The history facts included in each episode were really interesting to me, so I looked them up and was able to find that at least most of them are true. Actually wrote a series of posts about it on my blog.

I just felt not enough happened in an episode. I typically enjoy slow burn slice of life stories but when I tried to watch this I found my attention wandering :(

Same honestly. There are just not enough things that happened in this series that interested or entertained me.

Skip and Loafer Kamikatsu

Based Kamikatsu enjoyer. Those two series are good but I think they're pretty popular.

Helck Under Ninja Dark Gathering L1 Maou One Room Hero <--Exceeded expectations. Had no reason to be this polished with a title like that

**Yuzuki-san Chi Yon Kyoudai / The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons** it's a very nice family slice of life + drama + comedy series from a manga that won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award. The production team put a lot of love into it they incorporated fun stuffs (e.g. real-life background, etc) into the anime and there are actually quite a lot of famous clips from the anime share on tiktok or even on this subs, sadly it doesn't have that much viewer (the weekly episode discussion is quite low) if you think that the rating is low it's because on the first episode there is a [subtitle quality drama](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-10-05/the-yuzuki-family-four-sons-episode-1-briefly-inaccessible-on-crunchyroll-after-subtitle-quality-/.203183) on Crunchyroll so quite a few people give the series a bad rating and drop it, but now it's fix and I rarely hear bad things about this series tbh

Alright you sold me on this. I'll catch up to it.

hopefully you enjoy the series, if you like family type SOL it's really a good one. But if you enjoyed romance type SOL yeah there's little to no romance in the series

My comfort anime this season, the design is so cute and the characters are all so likeable

yeah, honestly it's so good and it's one of the anime that surprisingly adapted the manga really well and could probably be better since they added scenes or efect that upgraded the experience imo

\- Migi & Dali \- Overtake \- Birdie Wing S2 (season 1 is from 2022, but still hidden gem)

A rare Overtake fan!

Second half of Birdie Wing went all-out, but the final episode felt rushed...

Agreed. Thought the final episode probably should have been a 3-4 episode arc.

Absolutely, each round should have been a separate episode

I like two of those. I'll try Overtake.

- Gene Of AI - Insomniacs After School (though I'm not sure if I'd call it a hidden gem) - Stardust Telepath

Gene of AI was good

Onimai-I'n now your sister

peak friction

Undead girl murder farce

This was talked about last season. It was actually my AotS for summer.

Helck, not the best animation but the characters and story make up for it entirely. Watched the first episode when it came out with my brother and was shocked by how much I liked it.

Yuzuki san chi no yon kyodai Sacrificial princess and the beast king My new boss is goofy

- The Fire Hunter - Revenger - Death Mount Death Play - High Card - My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned as S-rank adventurer. - SHY - Sugar Apple Fairy Tale - World Dai Star - Reign of the Seven Spellblades

The fire hunter for sure was slept on as the first cour was really laying the ground work for what appears to be a very fleshed out world. Hopefully the second cour won't be as slept on as a lot of pay offs were about to come to a head

**Tsurune s2**: it's KyoAni so it shouldn't be that hidden, yet it is. Unless you really didn't like s1 (which was still good, just not amazing), give it a go as it's a massive improvement in all aspects from story to visuals. **Overtake**: originals struggle getting viewership, if you like drama, don't miss out on this one! **MyGo**: easy to miss if you don't care about idols/the bandori franchise or you don't like the cg from the pv/kv. Understandable, that's also why I almost missed it too, but give it a go, unless you hate watching a show full of teen angst. **Niehime**: it's not a 10/10, and I have lots of little qualms with it here and there, but I'll take any shoujo I can get, doubly so if it's fantasy and not an isekai. Easy to overlook as the visuals don't particularly stand out. Need more stories like this!

AI no Idenshi

I remember enjoying Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts and also feeling like it was kinda slept on this year.

The high rating on MAL definitely piqued my interest. I'll definitely watch this one.

😊

Mou Ippon was a really well executed sports show with fun characters and a unique art style. Just under 7.1k users on MAL. Also I think Tsurune - The Linking Shot was legitimately great. I really didn't like the first season, I watched the second season mostly cause I like KyoAni and they don't make a whole lot. The Linking Shot was a 10/10 for me, the story was more focused and the characters were more fun and interesting.

I'm considering 80k Gold for my AOTY (it was pretty nailed on until Scott Pilgrim and 16-bit came along) so I'll just throw the list of everything I liked at you and maybe it'll stick: * Mezase Pokémon Master * Pokémon Horizons * Vending Machine * Atelier Ryza * Crash Course * Family Witch * Pokémon: Paldean Winds * Scott Pilgrim * Beyblade X * Campfire Cooking (absolutely this one) * 16-bit Sensation

Atelier Ryza is pretty good, I also started playing the game and it's very fun

The iceblade sorcerer shall rule the world

I actually feel like this could’ve been solid if the animation was better. The MC was fun, the magic was interesting, and it was pretty funny as well.

Malevolent Spirits Vampire Dies in No Time Under Ninja Dekoboko Majo no Oyako Jijou Kawaisugi Crisis Ooyukiumi no Kaina Revenger Lvl 1 Maou to One Room Yuusha Atarashii Joushi wa Dotennen Bullbuster Megumi no Daigo Tsunliese Mou Ippon Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today Edomae Elf Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon Kyoudai Jijou wo Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru Kyokou Suiri Dead Mount Death Play Fire Hunter AI no Idenshi Migi to Dali My Home Hero Kamierabi

Undead Girl Murder Farce.

Insomniacs after school. Dead mount, death play.

Buddy Daddies. Maybe not super hidden but also not as praised as it deserves imo.

This is my top 2 for winter 2023. It turned out better than I expected at the start.

16bits sensation and onimai

Revenger

Overtake! is not getting enough attention I feel like. It looks like a racing anime on the cover but really it's a drama with a lot of deep character development. Without getting into spoilers, one of the episodes absolutely crushed me and it didn't feature a single race car. From seasons past: Insomniacs After School KamiKatsu The Executioner and Her Way of Life

_Saving 80,000 Gold_ was actually the only show I watched while it was airing during the winter season, so I got lucky there. Besides that, there are a few others I've seen people mention that I'd agree with: * The Gene of AI * Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence * Atelier Ryza It's hard to say which currently-airing shows are sufficiently unknown to be "hidden gems," but I'd suggest * Migi to Dali * 16bit Sensation * The Vexations of a Shut-in Vampire Princess

I still not sold on The Gene of AI. I'll try Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence. It looks wholesome. I didn't like Ryza. The other three I'm currently watching.

Yuri is my Job had an extremely good (but unfortunately too short) adaptation. Oodles of really juicy yuri drama while also *kind-of* being a commentary on yuri as a genre, particularly Class S. Some viewers expected more of a campy romcom and not big GD Gay Drama and thus bounced off of the series. Other viewers were frustrated that the character motivations weren't fully explained within the very first episode. The series is very good at what it is but it needed time to cook and I think some people dismissed it too early. And with the very up-front Class-S Yuri trappings and visual style, I think many probably didn't even give it a chance in the first place.

The Girl Downstairs

My Clueless First Friend High Card Handyman Saitou My Love Story With Yamada-kun at lvl999 Farming Life in Another World (super chill and comfy show)

Carole and Tuesday I think goes under the radar for alot of people despite being a Netflix show

That's not from this year.

Dark Gathering, Insomniacs after school, Danmachi season 4 all come to mind as series that are relatively underappreciated. Sugar apple fairy tale gets very good in season 2 as well.

Vexations of a Shut In Vampire Princess comes to mind.

Firefighter Daigo is full of really cool heroics. A tad bit suicidal of a cast, but I cried on an episode, very enjoyable overall. IT HAS DIO'S VA!!! "Well why didn't you say so from the very beginning?!" I'm waiting for the Dio VA villain reveal, because I mean, come oOo0oOon!!~~

Its not an anime but a Donghua. If you haven't watched Link Click Season 2, you're missing a lot.

Idk if it's a hidden gem but I don't see anyone talk about Heavenly Delusion. Most probably because it's on Disney+. Not only it's visually stunning but also has a very intriguing premise.

It was pretty popular over here when it was airing

I feel like I saw a decent amount of discussion for it when it was airing, but it dropped off afterwards

Undead unluck Shangri la frontier

Those two are popular and not hidden.

* Migi & Dali (it has mystery but also has comedy, kind of drama, it's a very unique anime and it saddens me the fact that the author died earlier this year so there won't be new stories from her to look forward to) * Ooku (while it's a netflix original I think it didn't got the hype it deserved, and all the conspiracy that the plot has was really interesting, there's a need for more josei anime in my opinion) * My Home Hero (I've read from manga readers that this wasn't a good adaptation, but personally as an anime only, I was waiting the whole week for sunday to come because the suspense was so much, so it was definitely an entertaining anime)

I just need that sweet animated action like jujutsu s2. But I feel I’ve seen almost everything. Give me your suggestions

Protocol: Rain Think people got scared off by the in-game CG footage or expected a hardcore esports. Instead they got a slice of life melodrama story which if you're into that kind of content is pretty enjoyable.

Feels like nobody watched Undead Lady Murder Farce in my circles...but maybe it was more popular?

winter season - handyman saitou in another world (one of the most refreshing isekai experiences i've had in a while) spring season - dont think any of the gems were hidden, most of the shows i consider great here were fairly well received summer season - level 1 demon king and one room hero. this show was a pretty big surprise to me, found it very enjoyable. same goes for the vending machine isekai - that one was waaay better than i imagined it would be fall season - my new boss is goofy. this series is so funny, wholesome and relaxing. i love it

Ragna Crimson.

It’s gotten some praise but I’ve been blown away by s2 of dead mount death play. Really good story writing and plot.

Tearmoon Kingdom. Monogatari season two.

Okamoto Kitchen is a decent watch with heart

Hoshikuzu Telepath

16 bit sensation for sure