To be considered an "over the top" or "underground" anime,
a series has to have a few things from this list:
+Ridiculous amounts of action without have to be a shounen series
+A plot so up there you don't really need an explination for it
+Sometimes an animation style that doesn't follow the norms
+One most people would skip because it isn't a "popular" series
I would love to have Kill la Kill, Panty and Stocking plus a couple other series on this list
but I'm tying to stick to series I don't think a casual or American anime fan may have
seen because they're too busy watching the hype anime.
((Please excuse my weird grammer and wording in this post >.<
I just felt like posting a list of anime I felt like reccomeding
but am not really spending the time to make this post perfect.
Also, I'll be posting another one of these later.))
Kemonozume
Finding a suitable screen shot that was work safe was really hard for this anime; most of the good quality screen shots I found were either of boobs being groped, people with chopped off limbs or straight up clips from sex scenes (which all are good chunks of what this series is about). Kemonozume is an anime my friend recommended to be almost 5 years ago because he happened to be a really big fan of it despite the really odd style. I find this anime most weird not because of the animation, but because it's suppose to be a love story mixed with a violent, guro plot line:
Since ancient times there has existed a race of flesh eating monsters called shokujinki (lit. "Man-Eating Ogres") that can assume human form or otherwise live in the shadows while feeding on humans. The Kifūken ("Ogre-Sealing Sword")
martial arts style school was created to hunt down those creatures and
its teachings have been passed down through the generations to the
Momota family. The story revolves around the forbidden romance between
Toshihiko, the latest heir of the Kifūken school and Yuka, a young woman who is also a shokujinki.
This series is hard to watch for a few reasons beyond just the weird animation style, but if you can stomach the first few episodes and get into the plot you're in for a really unique experience. While you're at it, why not check out a few other anime made by this director such as Mind Game, Kaiba and most recently the anime that was made because of a kick starter Kickheart.
Rin -Daughters of Darkness-
This one is based loosely on some Greek mythology,but only really in concept rather than execution. I may have put this anime on this list but while short and to the point, it also felt like somewhat of a waste of time to watch. It's pretty well animated and the op/ed themes are really good but the story doesn't really get going until towards the end. Most of the series was just used to be violent because it felt like it. I used to be a big fan of shows like this (Elfen Lied is a good example, but at least that one spent some more time on somewhat of a plot than just "oh lets say this is plot so we can show lots of blood and guts!") but since I've grown older in my anime watching days, series like this just aren't as appealing anymore. Anyways, here's a synopsis:
Rin Asogi is an immortal private detective
with a thirst for vodka and a talent for attracting things that go bump
in the night. In a series of nightmarish vignettes spanning sixty-five
years, Rin's lush body is sadistically pierced, blown up, and mulched to
a bloody pulp. The fiend behind her tortured existence is Apos, an
eternal being obsessed with sacrificing Rin to Yggdrasil, the tree of
all life. While Rin struggles to unravel the secrets of her endless
agony, Apos lurks in the shadows, eager to tear into her ripe body and
devour the memories of her countless lives. Rin's no stranger to the
realm of the dead, but her next visit could last forever.
Ergo Proxy
I love this series so much that I ended up buying a collection of it when one came out for a cheaper price (I don't exactly "roll in the dough"). It had the feel of Ghost in the Shell combined with Serial Experiments Lain, which were two of my favorite anime at the time that I first watched this anime. A lot of people that I asked who ended up dropping this series said they did so because it was too slow for their taste, which seems to be the case with a lot of the series I'd consider 'under-ground' anime. This one is easy to reccomend to people who have the patience to watch it, but for the most part I don't really go around reccomending it because I know people are looking for something that has more action or plot early on. Anyways, here's a synopsis:
The world is bigger than you think...
After the explosion of the methane hydrate layer, the remaining members
of mankind are forced to live in isolated domed cities scattered across
the arid and inhospitable planet. They live in a controlled society and
are assisted in daily life by autonomous robots called AutoReivs. In one
of these cities, Romdo, Inspector Re-l Mayer, granddaughter of the
regent, leads an investigation concerning AutoReivs that have gone mad
after being infected by the Cogito virus. In the process, she comes in
contact with a monster called Proxy. Elsewhere in the city, immigrant
Vincent Law is on the run after being framed for involvement in several
Cogito cases. Together, along with the adorable child-AutoReiv Pino,
they set out on a journey to the dome city Mosk in order to unravel the
mystery of the Proxies.
By the way, this anime has the most interesting take on what I call the "Jesus Christ Syndrome" that I have EVER seen. I really do recommend this series if you have enough patience to watch an anime that is more than 13 episodes that spends more time seemingly wasting time than getting anywhere. The ending is well worth the watch.
Kurozuka
I really dislike this way the anime adaptation was animated; especially the character redesigns. I haven't finished reading the manga because honestly at the time I watched this I was reading and watching so many things, a lot had to be dropped. I'm surprised I even finished this anime at the time! Other than the bad character animation, this series still had an interesting enough plot that I ended up finishing it. Please check out this comparison review I did of the first few episodes and chapters. Also, here's a synopsis:
Kurou flees into the mountains after
losing to his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Shogun to rule all
of Japan. History records that he committed suicide, but instead, Kurou
meets a strange, beautiful woman named Kuromitsu in her mountain
hermitage. Eventually, Kurou falls in love with Kuromitsu, but then
realizes she conceals a dark secret. He learns that he is unable to die
and continues to live for a thousand years as Japan evolves into a
future society.