If you are a fan of anime, you clearly like it when it is well-crafted, coherent and of course, smoothly played. But as always said, only God is perfect (in all aspects), and the works of men are not perfect. Not perfect doesn’t mean the work has to be awful. Indeed, not all anime are ‘perfect’, but there are others that are clearly not well made and that shall be the center of our discussion. I shall list, from a personal point of view, the top 15 worst anime ever made in the japan animation world.
Top 14 Worst Anime Ever Made
- Ex-Arm
- High School DxD
- Shakugan no Shana
- Yugioh Zexal
- Jayce and the wheeled warriors
- Moero Top Strickers
- Bakugan Battle Brawlers
- Inazuma eleven go
- Vampire Knight
- Tokyo Ghoul: re
- Shokugeki no Soma
- Saint Seiya Saintia shou
- Soul eater not
- Fairy tail
- Beyblade
1. Ex-Arm
One thing that strikes all anime viewers is the animation style used. I, for one, am a huge fan of 3D-CGI animations. But the drawback with that kind of style is that it is difficult to bring out facial expressions, emotions and feelings. Hence when it is not well done, the characters are plain, expressionless dolls. This makes the anime really messy.
Ex-Arm on its own did not only have expressionless dolls, a worse-than-senseless plot, but the animation was so sloppy that saying it is a failure is actually a compliment. It speaks of a wanna-be hero who hates electronic devices but whose fate becomes intertwined with those devices he hates the most.
I don’t know if it is written somewhere but in most anime the MC (Main Character) gains ‘superpowers’ after an unfortunate accident (usually getting hit by a truck or a lab failure experiment that always ends up with an explosion). This happens to our MC, who miraculously survives the accident, only to become a supercomputer.
He can only use his powers due to the permission of a female-looking robot who has to be kissed by another female supervisor. (Not that I hate kisses, but that kind of power unlocking is just more than me).
He shall be chasing a renowned terrorist that actually looks like him revealing to us a sloppy plot, with fighting scenes that made me think that the studio that made them was composed of monkeys and cats. (Monkeys are said to be our ‘cousins’, maybe they can do some animation).
These are reasons why I consider this anime one of the worst anime ever produce in the Japan animation.
2. High School DxD
Do you like the supernatural, demonic and angelic anime genre? Yes, I do!! I do so, with the concept that angels and demons are sworn enemies. But when angels and demons are friends and form a harem around a demon guy, then there is a problem somewhere.
The animation style is shinny and rather attractive, but the degree of fan service and straight plot spoils everything it makes.
The MC is a high school student who gets tricked and killed by a lurking but rather beautiful demon in his school.
He is reincarnated by the president of the occult committee who is actually a high-ranking demon. You expect him to have great demonic powers, powers from otherworldly dimensions, but guess what, our MC has boob powers.
He can read girls’ minds by seeing the movement of their boobs (funnily, the ladies like it when he does that.). and getting power boosts after touching the nipples of a girl.
He is a demon that can wield a holy sword incorporated into his demonic armor. (So now you can have a holy demon. Lord have mercy!!!).
This anime is clearly one of the worst anime ever made in Japan Animation, no wonder it is second on my list.
3. Shakugan no Shana
Still in the supernatural genre, is Shakugan no Shana. In a developed world, demon hunting and exorcism still occur. There are spiritual entities that feed on human souls for survival. In order to stop those evil doings, there exist ‘exorcists’ each with their tool for chasing evil. If the story was just this, I would have loved it. But then…
One thing that has always surprised me is the issue with creators loving love triangles and all that. Or telling us that the power of love can create miracles or move mountains. That is what really necked me in Shakugan no Shana.
The MC is a red-haired little girl (small in size), wielding a magical sword called nietono no shana and who knows only about hunting down spirits. In one of her missions, she saves a city and an anomaly occurs, with a human capable of interfering in the alternate or spiritual world. At that meeting point, we leave from a supernatural genre to a really boring love story.
The little girl, who is named Shana by the human, goes to school and learns of love, jealousy, and heartbreak. The story becomes so slow and lame that I had to skip to the last season to see how all of it ends.
The fighting scenes were redundant and really not interesting. I wouldn’t advise someone to watch that as it’s really one of the worst Japanese animation anime produced.
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4. Yu-gi-oh Zexal
For an anime based on cards, Yugioh is one of a kind. When you think of all sorts of card combinations, rules and techniques used in the anime, you can’t help but praise the creator for such an imagination.
Yu-gi-oh has several series, amongst which my favorites: Yu-gi-oh, Yu-gi-oh 5Ds, Yu-gi-oh GX. These cartoons really made my childhood epic. But Yu-gi-oh zexal came and spoiled everything.
Yu-gi-oh zexal airs after Yu-g-ioh GX and seems to combine all that has been seen in the other 3 cited above. But in combining all the 3, the MC was packed with faults. Lack of personality, not charismatic, and especially very slow to pick up. Hence, the anime figures in my list of worst anime ever created by the Japan Animation world.
In the previous Yugiohs, each MC had its own intensity but portrayed leadership and strong abilities. One that makes an MC a real MC. But in Zexal, our MC there is just so annoying that the duels and the story is dragged behind and feel heavily boring.
On this one, I say, the creator should have stopped at Yugioh GX (but then, maybe he does that for a living. Who can blame him).
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5. Moero Top strickers
A football fan like me, couldn’t list the worst anime ever and not touch those dealing with football. Football is the only sport capable of creating a civil war in a country.
But when such a magnificent sport is made to look like some Bollywood films in an anime, you can’t help but shed tears. I watched the French dubbed version of this anime and I was always shocked by the animation.
The football stadium seemed to be 10km long and wide. (could take an episode to leave from the midfield to the goals). The players kept advancing with the ball coming back to them as though it was a boomerang.
The techniques used in this anime made football look more like a spiritual issue than an issue of training. You will see shots that will leave the stadium, then make a U-turn and still enter the goal nets (talk of fictional football).
What left me shattered was a world cup session in the anime. Here, the country football teams were actually having odd titles and appellations not even reflecting the countries they are representing.
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6. Bakugan
Inspiration is not for everyone. I understood that immediately after I watched an episode of Bakugan. Group of youth with ‘alien’ warriors wrapped in the shape of a little handheld ball. When these balls are thrown, they take their true forms and fight the adversary in front of them.
Am I the only one that sees that the setting strangely looks like Pokemon? (the only difference is that it is very lame.).
Round objects are thrown, then transform and fight for no good reason. Everything in the anime lacks substance and existence. Really isn’t worth wasting time on it.
7. Inazuma eleven go.
Still on football, this anime continues the successful anime; Inazuma Eleven. But then, creators should understand that visual effects are not what makes a sports anime nice. (just look at captain tsubasa. A masterpiece).
As an anime, Inazuma eleven go is clearly nonsense. We leave from simple techniques to warrior spirits, then worse than senseless training to master new techniques (like tree climbing or hill climbing.
How do they help in football?). There is also time travelling to the era of samurai in order to save football. Saving football?!
Everything in this anime, especially the plot, is a mess.
8. Vampire Knight
This anime made me know the difference between the shoujo type and the shonen type. But being a shoujo type is not the criteria for falling on this list.
Stories of vampires have always attracted attention. Magical immortal creatures, strong, charming and charismatic. But there are still creators capable of spoiling that image.
Vampire Knight centers around 3 individuals. The genitor of all vampires, who supposedly can’t kill one of his creations (that creation is the villain).
His sister (how does that even make sense?) apparently did not know she was a vampire of pure blood. Then a hunter who has undergone a special ritual to be the strongest hunter ever.
All the setting takes place in a high school with a morning section (for humans, though the vampires there can walk in sunlight) and an evening section for the vampires. You have a disturbing love story between a vampire hunter and a pure-blood vampire.
The vampire hunter himself becomes a vampire in order to be stronger and capable of apparently protecting his loved one.
The story ends with the ‘couple’ promising to kill each other whenever they meet. (love is strange right?)
The story has no head nor tail just centers around vampires behaving like kids and playing around. Really a stupid anime.
9. Tokyo Ghoul: re
Tokyo Ghoul is one of the anime whose debut really caught the attention of a vast number of seinen fans.
Man-eating ghouls, blood flowing, brutal fights between the ghouls and ghoul hunters, deep story that makes it difficult to choose sides.
All that was shattered in the seasons of Tokyo Ghoul: re, focusing on the MC’s love life.
The story itself takes a u-turn, making all the foreplay of the first two seasons stupid.
With that, all becomes slow, sloppy, stupid comebacks of some characters, and predictable fighting outcomes. All that just spoiled all the anime, earning a position in this list of worst anime ever made in Japan Animation.
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10. Shokugeki no soma
Who doesn’t like food? Clearly no one. It is the one thing the great biblical philosopher urged us to enjoy, eating.
This anime, food wars, is all about cooking and presenting food. With very great art and smooth animation, it has nothing to be reproached right?? Well, that is not entirely true.
One thing most anime studios do is to lay emphasis on visual effects. Even cooking is a little bit out of bounds. Scenes like holding a knife and an aura appear on the knife. Or an aura on the pot made me wonder if the cooking style was still normal.
There also is a gross emphasis on fan service with dresses getting torn when a judge tastes a meal (girl dresses being torn, not males. If you ‘see’ what I mean). That from the first season just killed all my expectations. I prefer watching Sanji cooking in one piece than seeing food wars.
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11. Saint Seiya: Saintia Shou
Saint Seiya, the anime based on famous characters of Greek mythology, presents us warriors known as saints protecting their war goddess Athena. With levels divided from strong to least strong.
We have; gold saints, silver saints, bronze saints. Amongst the bronze saints, there are five who do most missions in the name of Athena. Amongst these five, there is the legendary Pegasus saint.
Saint Seiya courses through the sanctuary war, then Azgard, then Atlantis, then finally against Hades. All this focuses on Seiya and his friends. Saintia Shou on the other hand tries to tell us what happened before the sanctuary war. Telling us that the first bronze saints were all women. That is where things got messy.
A saying goes that, what a man can do, a woman can do better. Well, for saintia shou the saying was not respected.
Those girls were weak and lacked substance, the fights were so diluted and lacked intensity. The storyline was so stupidly made that I did not have the energy to watch all 10 episodes that came out. Clearly stands out as one of the worst anime ever produce in Japan.
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12. Soul eater not.
I have never understood this manner of always wanting to make a girl’s version of some popular anime. The result is always shabby and unexpectedly bad.
Just as Saintia should, soul eater not takes it from the main series soul eater. Portraying us as MCs, 3 girls, where one is a weapon with a frequency compatible with the two others.
Unlike soul eater with great missions, fighting scenes and villains, soul eater not is focused on the inability of the weapon to choose who shall be her wielder.
Petty issues, stupid problems, no interesting mission. It all turns around 3 spoiled girls, hence the show is very slow and not interesting at all.
Well, the ending was pretty predictable with the weapon choosing to have two wielders at a time (what a letdown). An anime poorly made indeed.
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13. Fairy tail
Fantasy genre anime are the most popular anime and also those with the most stupid plots ever. Fairy Tail seemed to be different in the first 50 episodes with great opening and ending soundtracks, impressive villains and magic spells, and great animation.
But after a while, it became about the gross exaggeration of boob show. Overpowered villain defeated with the power of love and friendship (who those this kind of rubbish again?).
Pitiful love story show (what a letdown indeed). Fighting scenes in the soundtrack are better than what is shown in the anime series (what is shown resembles the fighting scenes in totally spies).
All that took what could become a great anime down to zero. Many resources are wasted indeed.
14. Beyblade
Of the most incoherent anime I have ever watched, Beyblade is by far the worst.
Actually, anime are lovely due to the fact that some incoherence actually makes us dream, but with Beyblade, it was a total downfall.
When playing with spinning devices, the general idea is that the one with the greatest velocity gathers more momentum and hence can easily win. But in Beyblade the reverse is true. (well it is not also the first time that the laws of classical physics are not respected in an anime).
In Beyblade, it does not matter the speed with which your device is turning. What matters is the person throwing the device.
It is as though when the person believes he will win, he ends up winning even though his device has little speed. This renders the storyline pretty useless.
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With this, our non-exhaustive list of poorly executed anime comes to an end. Critics are meant to be criticized. Anime are made with a purpose and for a specific target. But again an anime is well made when it has a great plot and a fluid animation. The conditions are obliged for the work to be a masterpiece, but that again is only my opinion.
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