Science fiction anime dominates the medium, leading to unique shows fading into obscurity.
Lost titles often mix sci-fi with romance, drama, comedy, and action genres.
Unforgettable sci-fi anime include Time of Eve, Den-Noh Coil, Level E, and more.
Despite the variety of anime choices when it comes to historical, drama, and fantasy categories, Science Fiction still dominates the medium. With so much science fiction anime out there, it’s not surprising that there are plenty of great shows that get lost in the pile and fade into obscurity.
These anime explore different themes involving medicine to enrich their storylines while giving viewers a unique viewing experience.
These lost anime titles aren’t just science fiction, but that does form the setting and backstory for each of them. They often overlap with other popular genres, with romance and drama being two of the most popular, but there are also titles that incorporate comedy, action, and even literary adaptations, into their stories.
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Time Of Eve
The Secret Life Of Androids
In Time of Eve, Rikuo Sakisaka is a teenager living in the near future, a time when androids and humans coexist in society. However, he takes for granted that androids have a lower place in society and must always display their identity. His mind starts to change when he discovers that Sammy, the android he and his family keep at home, has been acting on her own.
She’s not just doing random, unpredictable things that would indicate a malfunction or bad programming. Her primary activity is going to a mysterious cafe that doesn’t discriminate between humans and androids. Popular topics of discussion around the cafe are Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, and what the androids are free to do without breaking those laws.
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Den-Noh Coil
A World Of Augmented Reality
Release Date: May 12, 2007
Production Company: Madhouse
Creator: Mitsuo Iso
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 26
Also known as “Coil – A Circle of Children,” Den-noh Coil combines folklore, legend, and ancient iconography into a series that takes place in a world of augmented reality, or AR. The setting is modern daily life in Kanazawa City, a real place in Japan, renowned for its rich history. In the show’s lore, it’s also a city well-equipped with AR technology.
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The twist is that there are several layers of AR on virtually everything, and children have worn their AR glasses for their whole lives and don’t know how the world looks without them. The story begins as innocent, but the AR technology becomes increasingly alarming and sinister as the children using it start to lose their memories.
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Gankutsuou: The Count Of Monte Cristo
A Futuristic Literary Adaptation
The legacy of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a long one that begins with the adaptation of the famous novel by Alexander Dumas into a 24-episode anime series. It was then developed into a trilogy of novels and a manga, which is an interesting evolution for a science fiction anime.
The story is set in the distant future, the year 5053 to be exact, and the plot is the same as the novel, but it makes some changes to the characters. “Gankutsuou” is the name of the mysterious entity that aids the main character in escaping captivity and assuming the identity of the Count.
Space Brothers isn’t just science fiction; it’s also a comedy and a coming-of-age story, so it’s nice to have a lighter tale in a genre that’s often serious or terrifying. The saga of Mutta Nanba and his younger brother, Hibito, begins in 2006 when they both witness what appears to be a UFO.
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It inspires them to train to be astronauts when they grow up; Hibito chooses to shoot for the moon while Mutta wants to visit Mars. Flash forward 19 years, and Hibito has become a full-fledged astronaut for the JAXA space program, while Mutta has just been accepted after years of trying, and still has a lot to learn.
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Level E
Protecting The Alien Prince
Release Date: January 11, 2011
Production Company: Pierrot, David Production
Creator: Yoshihiro Togashi
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 13
Another entry from the comedy-crossover file, Level E follows the bizarre adventures of Prince Baka Ki El Dogra, an alien who crash-landed on Earth, his awkward yet sincere bodyguards, and a human roommate, Yukitaka Tsutsui, a basketball player and former punk. Prince Baka lost his memory in the crash, but that doesn’t harm his abrasive and snide character, nor his high IQ.
This is a future where aliens populate the Earth, and although it’s common knowledge throughout the galaxy, humans remain unaware of their presence, with a few exceptions. In a bit of modern irony, the original manga was written in the mid-1990s, and when the anime was adapted, the show’s environment was also updated to include upgraded household gadgets.
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Voices Of A Distant Star
An Adventure That Ends With Hope
Release Date: February 2, 2002
Production Company: CoMix Wave Inc.
Creator: Makoto Shinkai
Runtime: 25 minutes
The year is 2047, and the UN Space Army is engaged in a war against the Tarsians, an alien species. Childhood friends Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Terao are separated when Mikako is recruited into the army and has to travel to space. As the distance between them increases, the time it takes for her messages to reach Noboru increases.
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The show combines romance and science fiction, along with the popular sub-genre of mecha, because Mikako controls a giant robot called a Tracer when she’s fighting the Tarsians. The story goes on for several years, and when Noboru turns 25, he joins the UN himself to travel into space, fight the aliens, and rescue Mikako.
To be fair,Ergo Proxy had 15 minutes of fame when it was released, but it faded quickly and was lost in a sea of other cyberpunk media. It takes place in a dystopian future where androids are as common as everyday appliances, but then a virus starts making them commit grisly murders. The androids are called AutoReivs, and they have specific roles to fill in the domed cities that now house the human population.
The title of the show partly comes from a humanoid race called the Proxy, which is secretly being used for government experiments. It sounds derivative, but the storyline and plot are influenced by heavy philosophical ideas along with ancient beliefs like Gnosticism, which is why the series has aged well and deserves another look.
