Usually when people say "hidden gem anime" I and a lot of other people think of Madoka Magica, Ranking Of Kings and Made In Abyss which are all pretty well known anime at this point. I call these anime "uncovered gems."
(Uncovered Gems
anime that were hidden gems but got popular.)
I made up this term for anime like the ones listed above. Except the anime I am going to talk about isn't uncovered, it is in fact a true hidden gem.
Saber Marionette J is a 1996 to 1997 anime about a broke teenage boy finding three robots in the forms of females which are called Marionettes. The first half of the show follows these charters on episodic adventures while the second half goes in a more story focused and charter growing direction like the anime Trigun. After that is the charters which are definitely some of my favorite charters of all time. The main charter of this show is Otaru Mamiya aside the fact that he is broke he is an amazing charter he is kind, patient, strong willed and a hard worker. He wants to protect the marionettes from any harm.
The first Marionette we get introduced to is named Lime. She is a spunky, naïve girl who wants to learn about the world around her.
The second Marionette is named Cherry. She is a calm, mature girl who knows how to cook and wants to be wifed up by Otaru for sure.
And the last but not least Marionette that we get introduced to is named Bloodberry. She is mature, tough and likes to fight. she competes with Cherry for Otaru's affection.
The animation for this show is surprisingly good, very fluid and crisp. especially the intro.
I usually don't talk about this but the sound effects in this show are impeccable, every time a charter walks there is a signature sound of there foot steps, the Marionettes foot steps sound like little beeps. While Otaru's sound like thin pieces of wood clanking against the ground.
The voice acting in this show is amazing, I watched this in the English dub and it is surprisingly good. Usually old anime English dubs have a bad reputation for being rushed and being poor quality but this English dub is very well done. The voices match the charters perfectly and most of the jokes land because of the voice acting.(even the emotional scenes that happen later on in the show are really well done)
Another surprising thing about this show is in fact the main villain(s). Lord Faust and his three Marionettes, Tiger, Panther and Luchs. In the first half of the series these charters are kind of like team rocket from Pokémon they show up battle the main charters then leave, but that is just the setup for these charters just like the rest of the charters in this show these villains have there own burdens to bear and a reason for the things they do. I won't say they are the best but they aren't the worst ether. They are kind of dysfunctional just like the main cast and are doing there best.
so if you want an old sci-fi, adventure, some what romance, anime then this is defiantly for you. The charters are endearing and (in my opinion) are absolute icons! The story moves at a good pace.
check it out when you can! thanks for reading.