Sometimes cliffhangers in anime can lead to some spectacular expectations and outcomes in the following episodes. However, there are also some anime that have cliffhangers leading to both underwhelming and overwhelming outcomes for the viewers.
Some of these anime suffered from having too many cliffhangers thanks to the various story arcs, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yakitate!! Japan. Others, such as Phantom in the Twilight and Battle Game in 5 Seconds, had cliffhangers that overwhelmed their viewers with too much information. Either way, these anime often suffered in the quality of their pacing thanks to having so many cliffhangers.
10 Yu-Gi-Oh! Suffered From Too Many Cliffhangers Thanks To Long Duels
The first anime adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh! suffered from having too many cliffhanger endings for their episodes in later arcs, especially the Waking The Dragons arc and the final arc. It made sense that some of the best Duels involved would take longer than one episode to complete, especially if the protagonists faced the main villains of each arc or had more than one person dueling each other. However, this led to many cliffhanger endings that tired out fans just wanting to see how they all resolved in the end.
9 Girlfriend, Girlfriend Had A Few Too Many Hooks To Watch The Next Episode
Girlfriend, Girlfriend suffered from having a few too many cliffhangers thanks to its relationship drama. The episodes were action-packed enough with dealing with all of the drama from Naoya being in a relationship with both Saki and Nagisa. Adding in cliffhangers at the end of episodes felt like overkill to some viewers since it overwhelmed them with the new information.
Even though the initial cliffhangers hooked viewers to go see the next episode as soon as possible, they quickly grew tired of trying to keep up with all of the new revelations at the end of each episode, then having to wait for anything to be explained.
8 Mr. Love: Queen's Choice Cliffhanger Endings Emerged Thanks To Bad Pacing
The romance anime adaptation of Mr. Love: Queen's Choice mainly suffered from cliffhanger endings thanks to all of the episodes' bad, uneven pacing.
Some of these cliffhangers revealed interesting and exciting twists. However, many of the cliffhanger endings in the latter half of the series felt overused and rushed. These same cliffhangers also resulted in underwhelming outcomes in the following episodes. While the episodes to come after resolved plotlines, they often didn't live up to expectations and made the cliffhangers feel cheap.
7 GAMERS! Had A Few Too Many Cliffhanger Endings To Prolong Its Misunderstanding-Fueled Drama
GAMERS! suffered in a similar way to Girlfriend, Girlfriend since its cliffhangers added information that overwhelmed viewers. Even though this series focused on a group of gamers and their related problems, it also majorly focused on their shared relationship drama. It also focused on the misunderstandings that ensued from said drama. Adding in more misunderstandings as cliffhangers overwhelmed viewers more than entertained them. Even though some of the initial cliffhangers were fun to watch, it may have added more drama than the series needed.
6 Drugstore In Another World's Initial Cliffhangers Led To An Underwhelming Introduction For A New Character
Drugstore In Another World had cliffhangers detailing the world's Demon King slowly being addicted to the drugstore's potions. Several of the initial cliffhangers about the Demon King's addiction showed him reaching the point of finally going to the store himself.
However, many fans found themselves underwhelmed by his in-person appearance thanks to how quickly he became the joke of the rest of the series and amongst the drugstore staff. Noela was disinterested in the Demon King despite his best attempts to woo her, and the rest of the staff did not get along as well with him as they did with each other.
5 Rent-A-Girlfriend Suffered From Too Many Cliffhangers
Part of Rent-A-Girlfriend's charm is the relationship drama and the hilarity that ensued. The anime adaptation was also praised for condensing the slow pacing of the manga adaptation. But Rent-A-Girlfriend somehow still took it too far with cliffhangers, especially in the latter half. Instead of hooking viewers into wanting to see the next episode, it tired them out over time and made them wish that the drama from the cliffhangers was shelved for the next episodes or just resolved. There is hope that the second season will fix this issue.
4 Battle Game In 5 Seconds Had Too Many Action-Packed Or Sudden Cliffhangers
Battle Game in 5 Seconds largely suffered thanks to its uneven pacing. This resulted in the series having too many action-packed or sudden cliffhangers when viewers did not expect them. The cast all have special abilities and test them out in various challenges, so continuously drawing out the action of the series with cliffhangers gave little time to process what was witnessed earlier in the episode before needing to process even more information. Battle Game in 5 Seconds would have benefitted from the action being spaced out differently among the episodes.
3 Phantom In The Twilight's Cliffhangers Were Often Extremely Vague And Confusing
Phantom in the Twilight had a good concept: supernatural beings running Café Forbidden and the main heroine discovering that she had magical abilities. However, much like Battle Game in 5 Seconds, the series suffered from having constant cliffhangers at the end of most episodes.
The heroine was barely informed of the powers she had and barely had a clue of the foes she faced in the opening episodes. This led to the cliffhangers doing more to confuse viewers and made them wait much longer for more information than they should've had to.
2 Yakitate!! Japan Had Too Many Two-Part Battles Leading To Cliffhangers In Its Final Aired Arc
Yakitate!! Japan had fairly steady pacing throughout the series, but its final arc, Yakitate!! 9 (Yakitate!! 25 in the manga), prolonged the pacing too much by having many two-part battles. This resulted in there being many more cliffhangers than usual, and viewers quickly grew tired of them.
It also did not help that the series itself ended on a massive cliffhanger, and this especially disappointed fans of the manga. Though the anime adaptation ended at the Yakitate!! 9/25 arc, the manga continued to have two more arcs, and the second-last arc would have resulted in a battle with Yuiichi Kirisaki, owner of St. Pierre and the series' main antagonist.
1 Re: Zero's Constant Cliffhangers Tired Out Fans Despite Popularity
Re:Zero had constant cliffhangers at the end of every episode. Many of these were fine during the beginning of the series when much of the world was still meant to be a mystery. However, over time they became played-out as Re:Zero overused the cliffhangers to pack in more worldbuilding and character development, then suddenly ending the episodes. Despite arguments about whether the series overused cliffhangers, however, it became an incredibly popular isekai anime thanks to its dark take on the genre.