Obscurity, much?/Anime and Manga

With anime as big as it is today, you'd be hard-pressed to hear that even anime has its moments...

A few restrictions for this page (and related subpages):

* Just because it was pulled from streaming (be it Amazon, Funimation, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Netflix, etc.) doesn't make a show an automatic candidate for this trope. There needs to be evidence that the series garnered low viewership during its time on the service.
* With the exception of legacy examples (documented before January 1st, 2023) and anime that haven't been exported (in which they can be documented 3 months after their Japanese premieres), only ended/cancelled anime and manga can be documented.
	+ If an anime without much of an audience ends before the manga it's based on, the example should almost exclusively be about the anime until the manga itself comes to an end.
* This list is meant for anime that were initially created with either global interest or foreign markets in mind. If an anime is developed solely for the Japanese market unless it A.) gets a North American simulcast, B.) inverts this outside of Japan regardless of whether or not it was exported, or C.) becomes completely obscure in all regions (*including* its native Japan), it won't be placed within this list.

Pokémon, Akira Toriyama, the Weekly Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Sanrio, Toei Animation (not including Akira Toriyama or TV Tokyo examples), and Jewelpet have their own pages.

## Honorable mentions

The following series have technically not met the requirements provided above and thus would be a part of this list until they end their first-run. These are:

* *Beyblade: Burst QuadStrike*: Even though it apparently won't air in Japan, the season just got announced; thus, it's not exactly fair to call it obscure before it even premiered.
* *Chiikawa*: Never got a dub, was licensed by Sentai Filmworks three months in (pretty late for a 2020s anime that's been licensed in North America), and wasn't really big news to HiDive otherwise. The only reason it's not an example yet is because the anime's still airing in Japan.
* *Idol Land PriPara*: Only *three* episodes (not counting a prologue episode) were released as of this writing, on top of the game it's based on being delayed multiple times from its original 2021 launch. Hard to call an anime obscure when it hasn't even seen a wide release yet.
* The anime adaptation of *Pokémon Scarlet and Violet*: With the departure of longtime *Pokémon* protagonist Ash Ketchum, Tropes Fanon will wait and see if the new series will see the same success that previous entries had with Ash as protagonist. If the new anime qualifies following the end of its run, then it can be added to Pokémon's own page.

## General

* Virtually many anime series that haven't been dubbed in English can be prone to being subject to this in the US. With very few exceptions, most anime without dubs (or with partial dubs) tend to be semi-obscure at best or completely obscure at worst.
* Almost anything from Kyoto Animation would be semi-obscure at best, unless it happens to be part of a major franchise. The studio itself averts this; in the wake of a tragedy that is their main building burning down (we won't discuss any specific details here, for obvious reasons), multiple animation companies, including Studio Trigger itself, have expressed support for Kyoto Animation.
	+ *Nichijou* (another KyoAni anime) inverts this in the West. Completely obscure in Japan as of 2019 (though that might not be the case anymore as of 2023 given lots of memes cropping up since then), yet high sales of the sub-only release in North America led Funimation to greenlight an English dub that was released in July of that year. On Blu-ray, to boot. Likely because Kadokawa saw the risks of an international Blu-ray release minimal due to the obscurity of the anime on the Japanese side.
* Pick an Animax dub. Any dub. Pretty Rhythm, Azumanga Daioh, Cardcaptor Sakura, etc. Chances are you picked a completely-obscure (or at least a not-as-well-known) dub. Averted with the Animax dub of *Cardcaptor Sakura*, thanks to no other than NIS America picking it up for the English track on its DVDs.
* This is why only the older anime (such as Discotek's releases) or the titles that are least likely to get subject to reverse-imports (such as *Servamp* and *Nichijou*; see above for the latter's case) get to see the Blu in North America unless the Japanese track is removed or allowed with forced English subtitles- more popular titles get subject to reverse-imports, something the Japanese does not want in order to protect domestic DVD sales. On the other hand, the risks of reverse-importing older series (such as Full Metal Panic!) are minimal, for obvious reasons.
* Funimation as a whole is well-known throughout the US and Canada and used to be one of *the* biggest anime distributors in the United States prior to being absorbed into Crunchyroll in 2022. However, this success came with some hiccups:
	+ Any attempts by them to distribute *anything* other than anime was met with low sales, unless it was anime-inspired. In the case of *Pelswick*, the DVDs never came out because the show was deemed *too niche*.
	+ The company acquired some pretty obscure titles, mostly from the now-defunct ADV and Geneon USA; it'd take an entire page to list the examples.
	+ The Funimation Channel itself fell into obscurity (getting rebranded in the process).
	+ This is the exact reason Funimation kept its UK operations under the Manga Entertainment branding for almost a full two years after acquiring them in 2019. While Funimation is well-known for its anime distribution in the US, not so much in the UK and Ireland. In fact, Funimation hasn't really been known in the UK outside of some fans who knew about the series' US licensors until 2019. Come 2021...
* Some anime aired on Toonami are somewhat forgettable. However, Toonami itself averts this, to the point where Adult Swim gave it a reboot in 2012.
* Magical girl anime series tend to get this from time to time, the few exceptions either becoming really popular outside Japan or being outright deconstructions of the whole genre.
	+ True magical girl anime series produced since 2011 (save *PreCure* and reboots of older series) *will* have this trope pushed on them, thanks to *Puella Magi Madoka Magica* ending the concept that the true magical girl formula would be profitable. Before Madoka happened, *Jewelpet* (noted on their own page) was planned to shift from a serious magical girl show to a comedic one (in fact, its Sunshine season was about to air just as Madoka happened), and *Shugo Chara!* sunk the franchise's last hope after *Party!*. When *Madoka* aired, it signaled the beginning of the end to the true magical girl formula (which, as noted before, is now limited to *Pretty Cure* and reboots); the popularity of *Aikatsu!* was more or less the final straw.
* Name any Sanrio franchise that *isn't* Hello Kitty, Show by Rock!!, or (as of January 2018) Sanrio Danshi, and eight times of ten, it will be obscure in America. This actually got so bad, after *Mewkledreamy* premiered, Sanrio got its own page. Then *Jewelpet* topped *that* by getting its own page, months later.
* At this point, this can apply to Neon Alley, as they were replaced by a normal Viz Media website.
* Studio Trigger, despite becoming so popular that the first six Trigger anime series even got an English dub, has hints of this:
	+ At least one of its shorts were never localized and thus the characters' only Western debut was in Space Patrol Luluco.
	+ Miss Trigger herself in the West, prior to Space Patrol Luluco getting localized.
	+ When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace: The manga adaptation never got an English release and thus is completely obscure in the Anglosphere, though the anime was licensed and *even got an English dub*. The light novels *did* get licensed, albeit *years* after the anime was released by Sentai.
	+ Kill la Kill: Though the anime and OVA avert this, there's at least one character within the anime that became obscure thanks to being overlooked.
	+ Little Witch Academia *within* Japan (prior to the TV anime, at least). LWA's sequel OVA was funded almost entirely by fans in the Anglosphere, and every LWA OVA (and the TV anime) has seen a dub, for the most part.
* By the time 4Kids Entertainment declared bankruptcy in 2011, the only anime dubs done by them that were *not* the infamous One Piece dub, yet still known, were, as follows: Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sonic X, and Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (and that's only counting their anime licenses). However, Pokémon USA has since snatched up the rights to the Pokémon anime and 4Kids' Kirby license expired. Of these four, only Sonic X was snatched up by Saban Brands (and later, Discotek Media).
	+ The main reason for 4Kids' bankruptcy was because of a lawsuit filed by TV Tokyo (yes, that TV Tokyo) over Yu-Gi-Oh!, whose license has since been acquired by 4K Media.
* Anime in *general* in South Korea prior to the 1990s due to South Korea's historical ban on Japanese media. Think about it- the US only discouraged people from getting exposed to Japanese media prior to the Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II, while South Korea outright banned *anything* from Japan for decades after World War II. And while we're on this topic, the first anime the United States got was Astro Boy, dated from *1963*. The first anime series South Korea got were from the 80s/90s and *largely* removed Japanese references from the dubs. Basically if it's Japanese and it relies too heavily on Japanese references, either it would be changed to Korean references in Korean dubs or banned entirely in South Korea.
* Most of the anime licensed by Nozomi, if it wasn't already license-rescued (the case with Galaxy Angel, Martian Successor Nadesico, and Revolutionary Girl Utena, rescued from Bandai, ADV and Central Park Media respectively, not to mention the first Astro Boy anime), will be this.
* Similarly, anything released by Discotek Media that either hasn't been previously license-rescued or is unrelated to Fist of the North Star will be this. This is averted with Cutie Honey, on account of the sequel being released before.
* Out-of-print anime. Usually expensive (some shows are so obscure they sell for really, really cheap- and that's if you're lucky), yet it's the only way to experience anime legally without resorting to Toonami or streaming for most people nowadays- some thrift stores sell out-of-print anime for way less than what it retailed for. In 2004, for instance, a DVD of *Medabots* sold for an expensive price in retail whereas today there's no one to care if the now-out-of-print volumes sell at a loss. And this is just *Medabots*.
	+ Out-of-print anime also goes one way or another- one can pick up out-of-print DVDs of some shows, such as the aforementioned *Medabots*, as well as those of *Cromartie High School*, *Tokyo Underground* and *Ultra Maniac*, on the cheap because Discotek Media rescue-licensed them. Stuff such as *Lyrical Nanoha* or any title Aniplex licensed to other companies? Not so much.
	+ Luckily, Right Stuf, whose online site sells a ton of out-of-print anime, much of which are heavily discounted, works around this. Some deals are so good, it's possible to get shows on the cheap that are normally super-expensive on the other sites. The only problem is Right Stuf has to stock copies of it if you want it for cheap, and it's no good if you're not in North America...

## Examples grouped by mangaka

* Akira Toriyama had this happen to so many of his non-*Dragon Ball* works outside of Japan, he has his own page.
* If not for Sanrio (Sanrio even has its own page), Ai Yazawa could be the queen of this trope for shoujo manga/anime, at least outside of Japan:
	+ All her works prior to *Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai* being serialized, both in Japan and outside Japan.
	+ Speaking of which, *Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai* is completely obscure outside of Japan.
	+ *Neighborhood Story*: The manga and anime are completely obscure outside of Japan, *especially* the manga version.
		- *Paradise Kiss* (which takes place in the same universe) is a cult hit *at best* in the United States and Canada. Not helping is Geneon (who licensed the anime) going bust, making existing physical releases more and more expensive with each passing year (and that's assuming one can find a copy).
* Bkub Okawa is well-known for *Pop Team Epic* outside of Japan, but most people outside of Japan have never heard of his work outside of *Pop Team Epic* (and *Hoshiiro Girldrop* doesn't count considering its ties to *Pop Team Epic* by being a joke within the latter manga).
* Every single manga by Cool-Kyou Shinsha (with the exception of *Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid* due to its memes) are cult hits at best outside of their native Japan.
* Eiichiro Oda is well-known for *One Piece* and little else. All of his other manga suffer this trope, especially outside of Japan.
* Basically anything by Fujiko Fujio, if it's not *Doraemon*, would be this outside Asia. Aside from Doraemon, only a few series based off their work received English dubs that were popular in Asia: *Ninja Hattori*, *Perman*, and *Chimpui*.
* Hiro Mashima is known for *Rave Master* and *Fairy Tail*. He's also done a manga known as *Eden's Zero*, which technically shouldn't count for this trope, but (like other manga debuting in 2018) its anime adaptation wasn't announced until *2020*.
	+ Fans of his work know he inserts characters from his older works (or characters that look like and are named after those from his older works) into his newer works. For example, Plue appears in both *Rave Master* and *Fairy Tail*, and by extension the *100 Years Quest* manga. But not a lot of people know that between manga, characters can be very different in biology; in *Fairy Tail*, Happy has a white-end tail and belongs to a race known as Exceeds. In *Eden's Zero*, he has a black-end tail and is just a regular cat... until he becomes a robot.
* Masashi Kishimoto has had all his works that *aren't* *Naruto* either become completely obscure or become cult hits at best outside Japan. His longest-running non-*Naruto* work, *Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru*, only managed five volumes and didn't get an anime before it ended.
* Rumiko Takahashi has a few examples of her own. It's not enough to fill her own page, but there still a few:
	+ As popular as *Urusei Yatsura* is, the 2008 OVA is this outside of Japan. Also all of the OVAs in the UK.
		- Even without being in obscurity, the show's popularity works against it. Individual volumes can be picked up between prices on the cheap to about the same price as a *Naruto* DVD. Either way, want to own the entire series? Get ready to shell out hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
		- Discotek Media were able to rescue-license the movies. The first TV anime had to wait until a few years later.
	+ *Ranma ½* is similarly just as popular, if not *more* popular, in the US. That is, unless you're talking about the *Nightmare! Incense of Spring Sleep* OVA, or the live-action film. The videogames are also mostly unaccounted for, but that's another story entirely.
	+ *Inuyasha* reached Ranma-level popularity when it was exported to North America. It also helps that it was Takahashi's first serious action series. The youkai vibe didn't turn American viewers away, either. *Then* the Hungarian release. To the original broadcaster, the series is completely forgotten in Hungary. But for the rest of the country, it's semi-obscure. And if you want Animax to avert this, they're bust in Hungary making anime as a whole this over there.
		- After all the trouble the original anime went through, surely *Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon* would be licensed in Hungary, right? Wrong. Since *The Final Act* couldn't be licensed separately from the main anime, it may be the same case with *Yashahime* in Hungary too.
		- The only obscure Inuyasha releases (to America, at least) are the 2008 OVA, the light novels, the live-action film, and several videogames, mostly the WonderSwan games (justified since the console itself was obscure). As for the rest, Viz and Bandai picked up *everything*.
	+ Only the manga and the main anime is all that's known of *Maison Ikkoku* in North America. The live-action films and OVAs are still obscure. Notable since *The Final Chapter* resolves *everything*.
	+ Rin-ne, all thanks to Sentai licensing the anime. It may not be as obscure as other examples, but it's nowhere near *Urusei Yatsura*/*Ranma*/*Inuyasha*-level popularity.
	+ Rin-ne's obscurity is a very small footnote compared to *MAO*, which not only doesn't have an anime (as of this writing; keep in mind that *Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon* is also a factor in *MAO* being anime-less at the moment), but the manga took almost two years to finally be licensed in North America (it was licensed in a few other countries prior).
* Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata are best known for *Death Note* and *Bakuman*, and save the latter mangaka's involvement in *Hikaru no Go*, every other manga they worked on are either this (ex. *Skip! Yamada-kun*, which technically didn't have Obata involved) or are cult hits at best outside of Japan (ex. *Platinum End*).

## Examples that were previously translated into English and/or released in North America

* The Adventures of the Little Koala's English dub, which aired on Nick Jr. back in the 1980s, wasn't as widely received as Nick's other anime series and it shared the same amount of obscurity as other anime series aired on Nick Jr. It wasn't until Dragon Ball Z Kai began its Nicktoons run that Nick was able to acquire more well-known anime series (mainly Yu-Gi-Oh!).
* *Akiba's Trip* in anime form in Latin America since Funimation was on the production committee.
* Astro Boy was once one of the most popular anime in the US. He still has a cult following, but there are a few works based on the manga that remain obscure.
	+ The Canadian dub of the 1980s series, in contrast to the better-known American dub.
	+ And then comes the 2009 film. Well, it technically isn't obscure, but it's known for being a less faithful adaptation than the previous anime. It took down Imagi, which filed for bankruptcy not too long after the film's release.
	+ The American comic book- rather than translating the manga first time around, when the original anime was airing the rights-holders to the print media decided to go the *Saban Moon* route and remake it specifically for America. It's obscure nowadays, not only because the publisher to that lost the rights, but the manga was finally translated.
* Attack on Titan: Junior High doesn't have as big a cult following as the manga it parodies. However, it ended up with an anime too, which in turn was dubbed by Funimation.
* The Big O may be a cult hit in the United States (thanks to airing on Toonami and later Adult Swim), but if you live outside of North America, chances are it'll be obscure, *unless* you live in Australia. The obscurity in Japan initially led to its cancellation, but it was brought back thanks to the funding of Cartoon Network. While the titular robot became more popular in Japan thanks to Super Robot Wars, the anime itself is still obscure outside of North America and Australia.
	+ The second season is this unless you live in Japan, North America, or Australia.
* The Nelvana dub of Cardcaptor Sakura, due to a messy tangle of rights issues (the current Cardcaptor licensor in North America is NIS America). Any attempts to search it will either yield results for the Animax dub or the movie.
* "Obscure character, popular anime" example: Cheese-kun was, at the time, Pizza Hut Japan's mascot. But in America, he was almost completely forgotten and would have been entirely if it weren't for *Code Geass* and its fanbase.
* Corrector Yui only had 18 episodes released stateside and is semi-obscure, to boot. That amounts to only a handful of DVD volumes (all 18 episodes can be found on the cheap, at least before shipping and handling comes into play; if you take shipping and handling into account, get ready to shell out big sums of cash just to get all of the English-dubbed episodes on DVD).
* Crayon Shin-chan has the Vitello and Phuuz dubs, which are completely obscure (but not completely forgotten). The Funimation dub used to fall under Pop culture, but is now semi-obscure with an outrageous cult following (part of the reason being a lot of the technology shown in the Funimation dub being outdated).
* Due to its obscurity in the United States and Canada, it took until the 2010s for Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel to be released in any form over there, and only then due to Anime Sols stepping in and releasing it to DVD... which can hardly be obtained new anymore due to Anime Sols shutting its doors. What makes this worse is that the DVDs were released in limited print runs.
* *Crush Gear Turbo* wasn't really popular outside of Japan to start with, but its sequel series *Nitro* fits the bill since it was never dubbed outside of Asia (unlike *Turbo*, which even got English dubs for Southeast Asia and Australia). On top of that, most *Crush Gear* fans in the West (especially in Germany, where the entire first series was dubbed and aired) only know of *Turbo* and have most likely never seen *Nitro*.
* Prior to Spike Chunsoft revealing it to be part of the Danganronpa franchise / canon, Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer was this.
* The Tokyopop version of the Deadman Wonderland manga is so obscure, it took the popularity of the anime to make the English version of the manga popular again (this time via Viz Media, thus putting Tokyopop's version into this trope).
* Di Gi Charat does this three ways. Not helping is that only the original series has been license-rescued. The rest? Individual volumes aren't too bad (you can easily pay only $5 per volume just to get the entirety of *Panyo Panyo*), but if you're looking to collect *every out-of-print Region 1 Di Gi Charat DVD that exists*, get ready to shell out big sums of cash.
* Similar to the below bilibili example, if you live in Latin America, Dimension W is this thanks to Funimation being in the production committee- Funimation doesn't export their licenses to non-English-speaking regions.
	+ Even with that, the license was cancelled in the UK as Anime Limited saw so little to value in the license that they didn't want it released. This, despite Toonami broadcasting it stateside.
* The British dub of *Doraemon* is this compared to the US dub, which is still a cult hit among *Doraemon* fans in the US. It also helps the US dub is the more widely-available among the two dubs. And this isn't counting Ted Turner's attempts to get Doraemon onto US television decades prior...
* Dororo got hit with this twice. First, the entire anime up until the 2010s in the US (that was when Anime Sols released it to DVD). Then Anime Sols' boxsets themselves became this due to none other than Discotek Media rescue-licensing the property.
* *Dragon Ball Super* crashed Crunchyroll every Saturday when it aired in Japan due in no small part to the popularity of Dragon Ball Z. However, a possible English dub was this throughout 2015 and 2016 due to Toei Animation forcing licencors to make deals with TV networks for airings. Once Funimation got the license, they made a deal with Toonami first chance they could to avert this.
* *Elfen Lied*: The show is a cult hit *at best* in its native Japan, yet considered a mainstream anime classic in North America (and to a lesser extent in Germany and Latin America). Despite this, it's obscure pretty much elsewhere (in China's case, it's justified).
* The anime version of *Ex-Arm* is a laughably bad anime (most people watch it to see just how bad it can get) and caused the *wrong* kind of Colbert effect; the manga version, however, fits this trope since almost everyone outside of Japan who watched the anime never even bothered to read the manga, and in some places where the anime is streamed, the manga is impossible to get through legal means.
* *Fighting Foodons* is a cult hit among 4Kids fans in the US. However, it's completely obscure in its native Japan, to the point where the *American* physical release (courtesy of Discotek Media) is the anime's only physical release *period*.
* The *Fire Force* anime outside of Japan, China, and North America. Not only is bilibili in the production committee (see below), but Funimation as well, similar to Dimension W- bilibili doesn't export their properties outside Japan and China (*Fire Force* is one of the exceptions since they're not on top of the production committee), and Funimation doesn't export their licenses outside English-speaking regions.
	+ However, for Latin America, this becomes more of a Downwards Funnel situation since the distributor Funimation sub-licensed the anime to does not deal with simulcast companies *at all*.
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood got less ratings in Canada than in the US thanks to Super Channel. Sales of DVD releases by Funimation did *slightly* better than Super Channel airings, but then Funimation's license expired and went to Aniplex.
	+ Not helping was that Edward Elric's English voice actor, Vic Mignogna, was ousted from Funimation for reasons we cannot discuss here. Needless to say, Funimation was sued over the entire debate.
* *Ghost Stories* is an odd case. Tbe dub produced by ADV Films did earn the anime some fans in North America, but as mentioned in the subpage for literature, the anime's based off a book series that fits this trope outside of Japan. *Ghost Stories* just happened to become popular in the West *because* of the dub, to the point where most fans of *Gakkou no Kaidan* in North America only refer to the anime and the few movies coming out in America when talking about it.
	+ Despite the rumors that it didn't do well on Japanese TV, in Japan this was actually an aversion since it was very high-rated for its timeslot on Fuji TV. The only reason it got cancelled was because high ratings don't always translate to high home video sales, as Aniplex found out.
* Only the TV anime is all that's known of Guilty Crown in North America.
* Hataraki Man teeter-tottered with this trope until it ended up in the hands of Sentai Filmworks imprint Maiden Japan in America. This is why the only physical release in America is on Blu-ray.
* *IGPX* had it hard in the early 2010s. On top of Bandai Entertainment closing its doors, Cartoon Network gave the anime The Write-off. Recently been subverted, when the Toonami staff found a loophole in the write-off, not to mention Discotek Media rescuing the property.
	+ Even with that, Bandai's DVDs will still cost you a fortune.
* JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's OVA on both sides of the Pacific. Not helping is the North American distributor suffering through an extreme case of Bionix Bankruptcy and A.P.P.P. losing the distribution rights in Japan. That it got misplaced by the 2012 anime's *Stardust Crusaders* adaptation also made this worse. You can still get the DVDs, and individual volumes' prices are reasonable, but it'll take a lot of money just to get the whole series.
* Lyrical Nanoha is a rare case where the Region 1 DVDs going out-of-print didn't make the anime obscure. That said, only the first two seasons were released by Geneon and Funimation (with a really cheap dub). However, the English-language production staff (save the voice actors) are completely forgotten (most likely due to the dub being too cheap to be produced under California labor laws). Want both seasons? Get ready to shell out big sums of cash.
* Macross, aside from Robotech, Macross II, and Macross Plus, is somewhat obscure in America, due to a mess of legal issues.
	+ Doesn't stop AKB0048 from being released in America, though.
* *Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou*. While Funimation acquired the anime in English-speaking territories, they only did so thanks to an agreement with bilibili, who holds the top spot in the production committee. Which means that this still applies to non-English-speakers outside of Japan and China.
* One Piece does this two ways: Not many know of the 4Kids dub anymore (in fact, Toei barred 4Kids from licensing any more of their works due to the quality of the dub despite forcing 4Kids to dub One Piece against their will), and if they do, chances are they consider the Funimation dub better than 4Kids'. As for importing straight from Japan... the Japanese DVDs and Blu-rays are completely obscure outside of Japan (and this is enforced, as well).
* The One-Punch Man webcomic outside Japan. The manga version and anime, however...
* *Panda-Z: The Robonimation* fell into this due to Bandai Entertainment- you guessed it- closing its doors. Some volumes- most notably the special editions of volume 1- can be picked up on the cheap... if it's the Region 1 version. The Beez Entertainment release? Get ready to shell out tons of cash just to get the whole series.
* Shuriken and Pleats only lasted two volumes. Combine that with it not getting an anime, and it's semi-obscure (but at least has a bigger internet following than Chloe).
* Speed Racer hasn't had any new entries in Japan since *Speed Racer X*, after which *Mach Go Go Go* fell into obscurity. However, Speed's still big in America, and even then the last new animated Speed Racer material was for *The Next Generation*.
* The Story of Saiunkoku. The fact that Geneon shut down its US operations just before they released it did not help either. Funimation eventually did release the first season on DVD as part of a deal with Geneon, but that was it. Oh, and get ready to shell out tons of cash just to get the whole series.
* *A Thousand and One Nights*, Osamu Tezuka's first adult-oriented work (within Japan) *finally* gets a widescale Blu-ray release in the US courtesy of Discotek Media. Previously the English dub was completely forgotten until the guys at Discotek took the job of restoring it.
* Name *any* pre-Transformers: Car Robots anime based on the Transformers franchise that got an English dub. Chances are the dub is completely obscure, if not completely forgotten, within America. Starting with *Car Robots*, this was averted.

## Examples which haven't been officially translated into English

* The *Animal Crossing* movie is the only installment of the franchise (aside from the N64 game and one of its re-releases) not to have been released in English.
* The 1973 run of *Doraemon* is completely obscure, for multiple reasons.
* Major, by virtue of being a sports manga, which rarely sell in the West. Averted with Major 2nd, due to its Crunchyroll simulcast.
* If you see "bilibili" as the top name in an anime production committee, this trope is enforced by default- bilibili does *not* export their properties outside Japan and China.
	+ And yet, series such as *Space Patrol Luluco*, *Fire Force*, and *Akiba's Trip: The Animation* managed to get a North American release (and even a dub), thanks to bilibili not being the top name in their production committees (though in the case of *Akiba's Trip*, it didn't end up releasing in Latin America anyway, see above).