Any example of a strange story concept that turned out really popular?

[HGohwell]

Oh boy man the spinoffs got wilder (I love the series I make fun of them out of love) but yeah they kinda get progressively insaner:

• Insane card game based school island (same timeline as DM)
• Capitalism ruins everything + Aztec (I think) and a sprinkling of Norse mythology + zombies + androids + time travelling evil cosplayers (still the same timeline) (card games on motorcycles)
• Augmented reality, alien ghost, reincarnated rock aliens, toddler dads, and dragons that created the universe (new time line, card games in space) (also, noticeably the most popular spinoff in Japan despite hate in the west)
• Actual solid creations of card games you can interact with (don't think about that for too long) split all the previous series into their own worlds and call them parallel universes and they're at war because realistic consequences of children having to deal with the fate of the world means they might as well be child soldiers. (The point where everyone realized Director Ono needs to stop abandoning the series for Symphogear please)
• Card games in virtual reality + using people's consciousnesses to create AI by abducting and torturing children (the first YGO to ever get so bad behind the scenes and so unpopular it got cancelled half way through)
• Current season, no idea what's actually going on, it's only just started but everyone is noticeably younger and it's a new studio so who knows but I'm sure it'll end up insane and there's a love of 7s.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Anything high concept and made for children. Veggie Tales comes to mind for me. A reasonable chunk of my childhood was watching vegetables talk to me about bible stories.

[DiegoPalacios]

You know what`s crazier?

Seto Kaiba`s facscination with the game led him to develop a massive card game tech industry to the point it became one of the three biggest industries of the world and made the world revolve around a card game to the point he was able to fund a card game school and actually make a profit.

Seto is one of my favourites excentric millionaires.....definitively not a hero, but the sheer concept of how far he is going for a freaking card game is hillarious and entertaining.

[DiegoPalacios]

Speaking of weird kid shows.....

Trippiest........kid's show........ever!!!!!!!! XD

[HGohwell]

Yes this! This is is exactly what I was talking about the video saying, which I've now dug out for anyone wanting to indulge with us one how utterly insane this world really is if you actually take a moment to think about it rather than just rolling with it.

[HGohwell]

Ok funny story here, related to the Teletubbies are the Boohbah:

Both shows are all preformed by dancers and acrobats. My uncle (I will call him uncle, he's my dad's cousin) was the blue Boohbah and his boss was Lala. He then went on to choreograph some of the London Olympics opening ceremony (the flying wires parts) and now does so all over the world for big events. You can get places doing these weird kids shows, it's insane.

[bear1]

I think ‘one punch man’ was pretty weird....although looking at the other examples, this might be a rather sane idea after all XD

[Hazumirein]

All of mine are more "successful within certain groups of people, particularly internet communities" more than mainstream media, but:

The story premise itself wasn't THAT weird, but the worldbuilding and characters in Undertale were pretty out there.

Also, in relation, Homestuck was a wild ride from start to finish and was wildly popular for quite a few years.

Finally, honorable mention to intentionally weird stuff like Don't Hug Me I'm Scared and OFF that was mostly just popular on like, 2010's Tumblr for a bit, but still had their fifteen minutes of fame.

[MrOwl]

The story premise itself wasn't THAT weird, but the worldbuilding and characters in Undertale were pretty out there.

Also, in relation, Homestuck was a wild ride from start to finish and was wildly popular for quite a few years.

Their fanbase tho, cringe overdrive... xD thank you~

[Hazumirein]

Oh god yes, the fandoms were nuts haha. Gotta give them some credit for the sheer amount of fanworks produced though.

[MrOwl]

Gotta give them some credit for the sheer amount of fanworks produced though.

You're right, and I do respect them as a whole, like I respect any other fandom, but their bad apples do stand out lmao.

[allenT]

One thing i like about japanese creativity is they accepts bold ideas and not afraid to show them. I personally think no matter how weird your story is, if your execution is good enough, it will turn people into acceptance.

Also there's a thing called bandwagon effect. (social psychology)

[SpavVy]

For me it would be Star Wars because it's basically samurais in space.

[azzy-m]

I always get a sense of euphoria whenever someone mentions Homestuck outside of Homestuck fans' circles, lmao. I was never aware of it during its active years (I was familiar with Homestuck but somehow I managed to avoid its rabid fanbase during 2015/16), so, haha.

Anyway, yea, I gotta agree with Homestuck for this thread. I still struggle how to tell people what the plot of it actually is. The best I could ever come up with is "four kids start the end of the world after playing a game together and they have to make a new universe" lmao.

[NickRowler]

Star Wars was originally going to be a Buck Rodgers film but they couldn't get the rights. It pulls from Westerns flicks more than Samurai flicks. So it is sort of cowboys in space, or at least that is how I see it.

[kirayuin]

A bunch of strangely dressed characters, occasionally posing like they're either on a runway or their back was twisted at a 180 degree angle, with the ability to manifest strange powers into muscle-y, shiny humanoids that fights for them. Third season also includes lots of hAnDs yum

(yes I'm talking about Jojo)

[Darth_Biomech]

Most animated shows?
Like, there's a town of people, but these people are made out of sweets! But it's actually a post-apocalyptic far future! And there's a boy that lives completely alone in a tree, thinks that the world is a DnD campaign, and have a dog, but that dog is yellow, and is a shape-shifter, and is voiced by Bender.

[Random_Guy]

I mean, I could cite any of the Dragon Ball shows?
The original Dragon Ball:
Here's this boy, he has a monkey tail and turns into a giant ape cause he's based on Sun Wukong! But that's less important than martial arts. Oh, and martial arts give you the power to shoot lasers.

But then Z:
Hey, you remember that monkey boy? Well, he's actually an alien and now it's the same thing but in space! And he becomes a super legendary form that makes him blonde!

And then Super:
You remember that alien boy? Well, now he's fighting to save the world, and now he's fighting to save another timeline, and now he's fighting to save the universe!

[Freemints30]

I got into and its fanfiction after RPG monger made a vid on it, so I got in late. Im glad since that just allows me to sort through the best aspects of 2011-2014 fandom(where the the greatest fanfics and art are) and....ignore all the bad stuff. But yeah I can never explain it to my bro without him going...What?.

I'm not as into it as most(stop at act 5) and I dislike epilogues and stopped right there. But damn was it a wild ride

[azzy-m]

Yea, I just got into it this year, so I'm SERIOUSLY LATE, lmao. Sometimes I hear about stories of the fanbase from when it was at it's peak (for example, Homestucks crashing Newgrounds upon the release of Cascade).

Same, I kind of stopped around Act 6 Act 5. I also hear a bunch of people saying the epilogues and Homestuck^2 sucks ass (though I hear more hate for Homestuck^2 than the epilogues), I'm kind of wondering why, but I guess I'll find it out for myself when I get around to reading them, haha.