If You're Just Getting Into Anime, Please - Avoid These 10 Series at All Costs

Anime has truly taken off in recent years, and with that, new fans are always looking for good places to start. Shows like Dragon Ball, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are often easy recommendations because of their fun stories and great animation, and more often than not, they do a great job of turning newcomers into diehard fans.

There are plenty of great anime for beginners, but unfortunately, the opposite is also true. As is always the case, plenty of anime simply aren’t worth watching because of bad writing, poor visuals, or some combination of the two, and it’s to the point that some anime are so bad that they could turn newcomers off of anime entirely if they’re the first ones someone watches. A few anime of that scale are particularly worth highlighting, and with any luck, no one will be so unfortunate as to make them their first anime.

10 Digimon Frontier

Anime Series By Toei Animation; Directed By Yukio Kaizawa

Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! Digimon Frontier Digimon Frontier (2002) is the fourth series in the Digimon franchise, focusing on a group of children who possess special spirits allowing them to transform into Digimon warriors. These children embark on a journey to save the Digital World from an evil force. The series introduces a fresh perspective within the Digimon universe, diverging from previous storylines to explore themes of courage and friendship in a new format. Where to Watch stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date April 7, 2002 Main Genre Animation Cast Junko Takeuchi , Kumiko Watanabe , Masami Kikuchi , Kazuko Sugiyama , Sawa Ishige , Michael Shitanda , Hiroshi Kamiya , Ken'ichi Suzumura Character(s) Takuya Kanbara , Tomoki Himi , Neemon , Bokomon , Izumi Orimoto , Junpei Shibayama , Kouji Minamoto , Kouichi Kimura Creator(s) Akiyoshi Hongo Seasons 1 Expand

Toei Animation’s Digimon Frontier is the fourth series in the long-running Digimon franchise. Like other Digimon anime, Digimon Frontier sees a group of kids summoned to the Digital World to protect it from a mysterious evil, but rather than form teams with Digimon to fight, the kids take on the power of Digimon to fight, themselves, making it an odd mashup of Digimon and the tokusatsu genre.

Digimon Frontier is the weakest of the Digimon anime thanks to its flat characters and repetitive storylines, but quality aside, Digimon Frontier is a terrible anime for newcomers because it gives a false impression of what Digimon is like. Anyone new to Digimon and anime, in general, should start with one of the more conventional stories, and when they have a better understanding of how Digimon works, something so far removed from the formula like Frontier will be much better to watch.

9 Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night

Anime Series By Doga Kobo; Directed By Ryohei Takeshita

Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night revolves around four young women in Shibuya who form JELEE, an anonymous artist group. Through their collaboration, an artist, a retired idol, a V-tuber, and a composer explore self-expression and embark on a journey of self-discovery. Where to Watch stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date April 7, 2024 Main Genre Anime Network Tokyo MX , BS11 Cast Miku Itou , Rie Takahashi , Miyu Tomita , Miyuri Shimabukuro , Sumire Uesaka , Miho Okasaki , Yukina Shuto , Sally Amaki Character(s) Kano Yamanouchi (voice) , Mahiru Kōzuki (voice) , Mei 'Kim Anouk' Takanashi (voice) , Kiui Watase (voice) , Miiko (voice) , Mero Seto (voice) , Momoko Yanagi (voice) , Akari Suzumura (voice) , Kaho Kōzuki (voice) , Mion (voice) , Arieru (voice) , Koharu (voice) , Yukine (voice) , Honami (voice) Seasons 1 Expand

Doga Kobo’s Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night stars Mahiru Kozuki, a former artist who’s inspired by former star idol Kano Yamanouchi to get back into art. From there, Mahiru and Kano meet a talented pianist and a popular VTuber, and they all come together to form the anonymous artist group JELEE and show the world what they can do.

While the show starts strong with its flashy visuals and strong character writing, Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night falls apart in its final act thanks to forced drama, little to no closure for its stories, and overall having nothing to say about its themes of success and self-worth beyond a surface level. Anime like Bocchi the Rock!, Ya Boy Kongming!, and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! all do what Jellyfish does with far more competence, so a person is far better off just watching one of those anime, instead.

8 Day Break Illusion

Anime Series By AIC; Directed By Keizo Kusakawa

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AIC’s Day Break Illusion takes place in a world plagued by Daemonia, powerful creatures who use negative emotions to turn people into monsters. The only ones who can stop them are the magical girls of Sefiro Fiore who fight with the power of the Elemental Tarot, and the newest member, Akari Taiyo of the Sun, is quick to learn how dark her new world can really be.

Day Break Illusion is serviceable enough with its animation and writing, but that’s the problem with it; Day Break Illusion never does anything to stand out from other dark magical girl anime, so it comes off as a waste of time more than anything. The series was created to cash in on Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s success, and overall, there’s no reason why anyone shouldn’t just watch Madoka or any of the other dark magical girl anime with far more to offer.

7 Beyond The Boundary

Anime Series By Kyoto Animation; Based On The Light Novel By Nagomu Torii

Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! Beyond the Boundary The dark fantasy series Beyond the Boundary follows high schooler Akihito Kanbara, a half-youmu with quick healing abilities. He befriends Mirai Kuriyama, a spirit world outcast with the power to manipulate blood. Their meeting triggers a series of unsettling events within their supernatural surroundings. Where to Watch Season All Season 1 stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date October 1, 2013 Main Genre Animation Finale Year November 30, 2013 Cast KENN , Risa Taneda , Ayako Kawasumi , Yuri Yamaoka , Moe Toyota , Minori Chihara , Masaya Matsukaze , Naomi Shindo , Hiromi Konno , Akeno Watanabe , Tatsuhisa Suzuki Character(s) Akihito Kanbara , Mirai Kuriyama , Izumi Nase , Ai Shindou , Sakura Inami , Mitsuki Nase , Miroku Fujima , Ayaka Shindou , Yayoi Kanbara , Shizuku Ninomiya , Hiroomi Nase Seasons 1 Expand

Kyoto Animation’s Beyond the Boundary is set in a world where people with supernatural powers called Spirit World Warriors protect the innocent from monsters called Yomu. One such Spirit World Warrior, Mirai Kuriyama, is the last of her clan, and to get stronger, she teams up with the immortal half-Yomu Akihito Kanbara, as his immortality makes him the perfect practice dummy.

Kyoto Animation is famous for anime with either great comedy, great drama, or a combination of the two, and because of that, Beyond the Boundary being a standard action fantasy makes it stand out in the worst of ways among Kyoto Animation’s more clever anime, especially with how lackluster the writing is. The visuals are as great as any of the best Kyoto Animation anime, but overall, any other Kyoto Animation anime is more worth a person’s time than Beyond the Boundary.

6 The Lost Village

Anime Series By Diomedéa; Written By Mari Okada

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Diomedéa’s The Lost Village sees 30 people from an online group meeting up IRL to move to the mysterious Nanaki Village. Nanaki Village is supposed to be a utopia and the perfect escape from their problems, but it soon becomes clear that there’s far more going on than anyone could have predicted.

Between the often lazy visuals, the nonsensical plot twists, and how increasingly unlikable the cast gets, The Lost Village fails at being a dark mystery in every regard and even fails to enter the territory of being bad to the point of being funny. Series creator Mari Okada has written many iconic anime like Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, O Maidens in Your Savage Season, and Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, but unfortunately, The Lost Village does a poor job of showing what’s she’s capable of as a writer.

5 Rent-A-Girlfriend

Anime Series By TMS Entertainment; Based On The Manga By Reiji Miyajima

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TMS Entertainment’s Rent-A-Girlfriend stars Kazuya Kinoshita, a college student who, after getting dumped by his girlfriend, hires a girl from an escort service named Chizuru Mizuhara to make himself feel better. Kazuya and Chizuru have a horrible time on their first few dates, but due to various circumstances, they have to pretend to be a couple in front of their friends and family.

Harem anime are always contentious with fans and critics alike, and with how bad the pacing tends to be, combined with its predictable story beats and largely unlikable protagonist, Rent-A-Girlfriend is one of the worst harem anime to watch for how much it plays into the worst tropes of the genre. Great harem anime like Nisekoi, Girls Bravo, and Girlfriend, Girlfriend show how fun a harem anime can be with the right execution, but unfortunately, very little of that charm can be seen in Rent-A-Girlfriend.

4 Uzumaki

Anime Series By Production I.G USA; Based On The Manga By Junji Ito

Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 star 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star 0/10 Leave a Review Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! 10/10 Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror is an adaptation of Junji Ito's acclaimed manga, directed by Hiroshi Nagahama. The series unfolds in the town of Kurôzu-cho where inexplicable events related to spirals plague the inhabitants, leading to terror and madness. Highlighting the psychological and supernatural, the show follows high school student Kirie Goshima and her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, as they confront the spiraling horrors that engulf their town. Where to Watch stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date September 29, 2024 Main Genre Animation Cast Uki Satake , Shin-ichiro Miki , Mariya Ise , Toshio Furukawa , Mika Doi , Takashi Matsuyama , Katsutoshi Matsuzaki , Tatsumaru Tachibana , Kôichi Tôchika , Ami Fukushima , Wataru Hatano Seasons 1

Production I.G USA’s Uzumaki follows Kirie Goshima, her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, and their lives in the small town of Kurouzu. Once a quiet town, Kurouzu and its inhabitants find themselves continually plagued by supernatural occurrences revolving around spiral patterns, and their repeated failures to break away from them slowly lead to a gruesome and unavoidable fate for everyone involved.

While promotional material painted a promising picture of Uzumaki’s success, when the anime finally premiered, Uzumaki’s terrible art and animation, combined with its awkward pacing that ruined the tension of the manga, made it one of the worst horror anime in recent years, by far. Junji Ito is one of the greatest horror writers in manga, but anime adaptations of his works always fail to properly translate things into animation, and Uzumaki is the worst attempt at doing so yet.

3 Berserk (2016)

Anime Series By GEMBA, Millepensee, & Liden Films; Based On The Manga By Kentaro Miura

Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! Berserk In his quest for revenge, Guts confronts sinister forces, including violent criminals, evil spirits, and a devout adversary. Despite the immense personal cost, he fights relentlessly, relying solely on his human strength and swordsmanship to face enemies with unnatural powers. Where to Watch Season All Season 1 Season 2 stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date July 1, 2016 Main Genre Action Finale Year November 30, 2016 Seasons 2

GEMBA, Millepensee, and Liden Films’ Berserk is the second TV adaptation of the legendary dark fantasy manga by Kentaro Miura. First released in 2016, the anime was the first adaptation to move past the Golden Age arc of the manga, the anime instead focusing on Guts’ adventures in the present hunting down Griffith in his quest for vengeance.

It’s one thing for the 2016 Berserk anime to have some of the worst CGI of any anime, but when combined with its short runtime and lackluster direction, the 2016 Berserk anime does a terrible job of bringing Kentaro Miura’s work to life due to a combination of poor pacing and terrible visuals. There will never be a Berserk anime that fully captures the manga’s strengths, but anyone unfamiliar with the series is far better off watching the original anime from the 90s.

2 Danganronpa 3: The End Of Hope's Peak High School

Anime Series By Lerche; Based On The Video Game By Spike Chunsoft

Your changes have been saved Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School is an animated series serving as the finale to the Hope's Peak Academy arc of the Danganronpa franchise. The series is divided into three parts: Future Arc, which focuses on Makoto Naegi and his friends and their involvement in a killing game with the Future Foundation, Despair Arc, which focuses on Hajime Hinata and his involvement in experiments on humans, and Hope Arc, which served as a finale to both stories. Release Date July 11, 2016 Episodes 12 Season Number 2 Series Danganronpa: The Animation Network MBS

Lerche’s Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School is the grand finale of the Hope’s Peak Academy arc of the Danganronpa video game franchise. The series is split into two different, alternating stories: Future Arc, which saw Naegi and the Future Foundation thrown into another death game by Monokuma as they debated the fates of the Remnants of Despair, and Despair Arc, which served as an origin story for the Remnants of Despair and the plot, as a whole.

Naturally, the anime doesn’t work for anyone who hasn’t played the games, but even for longtime fans, Danganronpa 3 is a terrible anime for its messy retcons, an overabundance of new characters, and its overall terrible plotting for the sake of delivering a forced happy ending. It’s a terrible finale to an iconic series of games, and old and new fans alike would be better off skipping it, entirely.

1 Guilty Crown

Anime Series By Production I.G; Directed By Tetsuro Araki

Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! Guilty Crown In a post-apocalyptic Japan, high school student Shu Ouma acquires a unique power that thrusts him into the conflict between a resistance group and a governing entity. As he navigates this turbulent world, Shu confronts the demands of his newfound abilities and the hidden truths of his past. Where to Watch Season All Season 1 stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date October 13, 2011 Main Genre Animation Cast Ai Kayano , Daisuke Sakaguchi , Minako Kotobuki , Koki Uchiyama , Ayana Taketatsu , Kana Hanazawa , Takahiro Mizushima , Yûki Kaji , Yuichi Nakamura , Takehito Koyasu , Anri Katsu , Aya Endo , Chika Fujimura , Kazuhiko Inoue , Nobutoshi Canna , Yuka Nishigaki , Yû Shimamura Character(s) Inori Yuzuriha / Mana Ouma , Souta Tamadate , Kanon Kusama , Daryl Yan , Tsugumi , Ayase Shinomiya , Yahiro Samukawa , Shu Ouma , Gai Tsutsugami , Shibungi , Arugo Tsukishima , Arisa Kuhouin , Haruka Ouma , Shuichiro Keido , Makoto Waltz Segai , Yuu , Hare Menjou Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Crunchyroll Expand

In Production I.G’s Guilty Crown, Japan has become a police state under the thumb of the GHQ in their alleged attempt at containing the outbreak of the Apocalypse Virus. The GHQ is opposed by the terrorist organization Funeral Parlor, and after a chance encounter with the popular singer Inori Yuzuriha, ordinary high schooler Shu Ouma gets wrapped up in their conflict when he accidentally inherits a powerful genetic weapon called the Void Genome.

Guilty Crown’s art, animation, and music are some of the best of any anime from Production I.G, but unfortunately, Guilty Crown’s bad pacing, boring characters, and all-around terrible writing make it one of the worst anime a person can watch. Guilty Crown tries and fails to capture the same aesthetic that made Code Geass a success, and with just how terribly it fails, Guilty Crown is easily the worst anime to introduce to newcomers.