There are plenty of anime that have wound up at the bottom of popularity lists or have found themselves topping the ranks of most hated anime polls. Most of them end up there for similar reasons: they had terrible animation quality, the writing was weak, the plot or characters were unoriginal, or the show included devices that were offensive to fans.
There are also successful anime that, upon a rewatch, make fans shudder and question why they enjoyed the show in the first place. These shows are cringe-inducing and have aged exceptionally poorly. From bad anime to anime that have fans looking back embarrassed, there are some anime series that audiences want to forget.
10 Elfen Lied Does Not Hold Up Upon Retrospection
Though Elfen Lied enjoyed initial success, it was not long before anime fans began to realize how much it relied on cheap shock factor to gain acclaim. There is ample blood, gore, and abuse in Elfen Lied, and it reaches the point of being entirely unnecessary. The main characters cannot catch a break and they hurt others as a result.
Some fans consider Elfen Lied a masterpiece, as it was one of the first anime that became popular while including such horrific, shocking, or controversial moments. However, most see it now as a product of trying to be edgy with gratuitous shock value.
9 Sword Art Online Sparked A Wave Of Isekai Flops
Isekai as a genre has been widely criticized for its laziness, its adherence to distasteful tropes, and its tendency to focus too much on things like harem subgenre tropes. While Sword Art Online has often been seen as one of the better Isekai animes, fans still remember it and shudder.
For one, it marked a wave of more Isekai anime, which was neither needed nor wanted. Additionally, Sword Art Online relied heavily on sexual assault as a plot point, which the author has said he was fixated on thanks to the media he consumed in his youth. However, this arguably makes the inclusion of sexual assault even worse.
8 Skelter+Heaven Makes It To A Lot Of Worst Anime Lists
Sometimes, an anime is so bad and so absurd that it becomes funny. That does not mean fans want to remember watching it, though. Skelter+Heaven is one such anime and it has been criticized for its terrible animation and poor-quality writing.
Skelter+Heaven includes mecha fights and romance but little else. Even the action and love stories are done poorly, which is why it is often seen as one of the worst anime in existence. However, the director, Yoshiteru Satou, would not stop there.
7 Mars Of Destruction Suffers From The Same Problems As Skelter+Heaven
Yoshiteru Satou, director of Skelter+Heaven, also directed another well-hated anime, Mars Of Destruction. Mars Of Destruction was the lowest-rated horror anime on MyAnimeList and suffers from similar problems as Skelter+Heaven. Ranking only a fraction of a point higher than Skelter+Heaven on MyAnimeList, Mars Of Destruction is a show fans wish they could forget.
Once again, Mars Of Destruction is guilty of poor quality and poor writing. Furthermore, the show lacks any sort of originality.
6 Shigurui: Death Frenzy Went Too Far For A Lot Of Anime Fans
Shigurui: Death Frenzy certainly lives up to its name, as it is filled with an excessive amount of violence, gore, and sexual assault. Death Frenzy follows the reign of the Tokugawa family and one of its sadistic leaders, who is obsessed with watching violent displays.
Death Frenzy has been banned in many countries thanks to its depiction of horrific sexual violence, gruesome fights in which limbs are hacked off, and brutally sadistic characters. Death Frenzy reaches a point where it sickens audiences.
5 Pop Team Epic Got Old After A Few Episodes
Pop Team Epic is a nonsensical show that relies on random and absurd jokes to get laughs, subvert anime tropes, and create a surrealist experience. Pop Team Epic was based on a webcomic, so it takes on a sketch-like comedy quality in its anime adaptation.
The problem with Pop Team Epic is twofold. Firstly, its humor is not for everyone. It can be annoying or not funny to those who are not into absurdist humor. The other issue is that translating such short-form humor to the longer-form anime makes the show get old after a couple of episodes.
4 Hetalia Is Cringe-Inducing Looking Back
Hetalia is a show that glorifies some of the actions during one of the worst wars in history and stereotypes many nations, which is in poor taste. On top of that, many fans look back at the content of the show and cringe. Despite its initial popularity, Hetalia seems a joke upon a rewatch and the characters are largely forgettable.
Though Hetalia and most of its characters have landed on the list of more hated anime, some characters are still remembered fondly, such as England's character.
3 Deadman Wonderland Did Not Even Get Continued
Deadman Wonderland never made it past its initial season, which was likely a result of the abruptness of the show's plot and its gratuitous violence. Deadman Wonderland also did not have much of a memorable cast beyond the two main characters. Even that is arguable, as protagonist Ganta Igarashi does not have any hugely original qualities. The other main character, Shiro, is most notable for her striking character design and her duplicitous nature.
On top of that, the power system in Deadman Wonderland is a bit clunky and poorly explained in the anime adaptation. Many fans wish to forget Deadman Wonderland.
2 Akame Ga Kill! Is Often Looked Down On For Clichés
It was not the worst anime but between the ceaseless deaths, the unyielding tropes, and the desperation to be edgy, Akame Ga Kill! lost many fans and was not particularly memorable. In a way, many fans have already forgotten the show. Something felt too formulaic and Akame Ga Kill! often seemed like killing off characters was a way to combat that.
Furthermore, Akame Ga Kill! relied on a lot of unoriginal plot devices, one being the idea of the demon sword, which can be effective when done well but is an overutilized device.
1 Pupa Is Another Almost Unanimously Hated Show
Pupa is another horror anime that did not see a lot of success. Pupa sees plenty of gratuitous violence and gore, and because of that, it felt like the show was taking the easy way out to get its scares. The main characters contract an illness that turns them into flesh-eating monsters, but they resolve to stick together.
What Pupa does well is its sibling dynamic. However, even that is not laudable, as it does not elaborate the relationship enough to redeem Pupa from its other terrible qualities.