Ask any anime fan and they'll agree that one of the best parts of any series is when the animators clearly put all their time -- and budget -- into a key action scene or a beautiful piece of character animation. These moments are the ones everyone remembers and talks about, so it makes sense that production companies spend a huge amount of money producing them.
There are, however, many cases where a show uses up all its budget on these scenes early on, leaving the rest of the show struggling to animate even the most basic sequences. Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably the most famous example -- but it's far from the only one.
10 His And Her Circumstances, An Entirely Different Show, Was Also Affected By Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion's budget issues are legendary, but what's often overlooked is the fact that the amount of money spent on certain episodes impacted not only Evangelion's production team but the animation studio Gainax as a whole.
One show that was especially affected by the lack of money the studio had available was His and Her Circumstances, a classic romantic comedy that had to resort to, among other things, using still photographs, paper cut-outs, and unfinished sketches.
9 Sailor Moon Crystal Disappointed Loyal Fans
Sailor Moon Crystal was in an awkward position from the beginning: a remake of one of the most iconic and beloved anime series of all time was bound to receive an enormous amount of hype, but, at the same time, the nostalgia attached to the original meant that fans were unlikely to be satisfied with anything.
It does make sense, then, that the creators tried to differentiate Crystal by sticking closer to the gorgeous art of the original manga. Unfortunately, this approach backfired: Naoko Takeuchi's ornate, hyper-detailed designs proved too difficult for the animators to recreate using the budget they had, leading to dodgy screencaps that the internet roundly mocked.
8 Brighter Than The Dawning Blue Started A Meme
Many anime community in-jokes have sadly fallen into obscurity, and one that older fans will definitely look back on fondly is spotting a show's obligatory hyper-detailed cabbage. The origin of the meme was a little-known show called Brighter than the Dawning Blue, which, among other examples of seriously dodgy animation, infamously showed a "cabbage" that was just a smooth, green ball. This was fixed for the DVD version, but by then it was far too late: the cabbage had taken on a life of its own.
7 Lost Universe Became Infamous Among '90s Anime Fans
Younger anime fans will, of course, be most aware of budget issues from more recent shows. But anime running out of budget isn't a new phenomenon, as anyone who remembers the obscure '90s show Lost Universe knows.
Thanks to a shoddy and obviously rather desperate outsourcing job, one particular episode looked so awful that it caused a fan outcry in Japan after it ended, and had to be almost completely redone for the DVD release. It was so infamous, in fact, that part of the episode's title, yashigani, became a shorthand for terrible animation.
6 Bakemonogatari Sometimes Left Out Animation Altogether
As bad as animation and art in anime can get when the budget starts to run out, there's usually something that's been drawn on the screen. Bakemonogatari, however, reached a new low when episodes were released using large amounts of photography for backgrounds. They weren't even traced over, and certainly didn't look like part of the anime's world.
These backgrounds were fixed for the Bluray release, but it still annoyed fans. SHAFT is known for artistic choices that can disguise budget cuts, but they didn't get away with this one.
5 DRAMAtical Murder Had Some Dramatic Animation Issues
DRAMAtical Murder was a yaoi visual novel that, with its appealing character designs and endless shipping possibilities, quickly became a favorite among fans who like their bishonen angsty and their relationships ambiguous.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that popularity translated to the anime adaption's budget. Instead of the clean, detailed art of the visual novel, fans were given shoddy animation that didn't even manage to stay on-model when it was staying still. And, for a series that depended so much on viewers finding the characters attractive, this was a particularly big problem.
4 Spice And Wolf Should Have Taken Its Own Economics Lessons
It's rare for the second season of any anime to be considered even better than the first, but the excellent writing and character development of Spice and Wolf meant that the second season was embraced by the fanbase, who just couldn't get enough of Holo and Lawrence's bantering chemistry.
There was one thing that held the second season back, though, and that's the fact that the series' budget -- which was clearly not much to begin with -- seemed to have almost completely run out. It's a huge shame that the second season of such a fantastic series should get an animation downgrade, rather than an upgrade.
3 Puella Magi Madoka Magica Featured Blank Cities And Empty Rooms
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is known for its gorgeous, collage-like art when its characters encounter the Witches, but it's obvious that those scenes ate up a huge amount of the show's budget. When what aired is compared to the Bluray, there's a dramatic difference in detail.
Sometimes it's not that important, but when it comes to things like Mami's room, which in the TV version was almost completely bare and in the Bluray was cozy and full of trinkets, it means viewers missed out on visuals that added real depth to the characters.
2 The Promised Neverland's Last Episodes Killed Fan Hype
Budget issues are unfortunate enough when they affect lesser-known shows, but they're all the more annoying -- and inexplicable -- when found in popular shows with a lot of hype.
There's no better recent example of this than the second season of The Promised Neverland. Poor plotting and awkward story changes meant that fans were already unlikely to be impressed with the follow-up to the critically acclaimed first season, but swapping stellar animation for off-model action scenes and criminally overused still frames was the final nail in the coffin.
1 Evangelion's Budget Almost Completely Runs Out -- But It's Still A Classic
It's well-known that Neon Genesis Evangelion blew almost all of its budget on early mech battles, leading to some severely limited animation by the end. And yet, the series is still remembered as one of the greatest anime of all time. So, how does that work?
Evangelion is a masterclass in making the budget limitations work with the show, rather than against it. Still frames, including famous ones such as Rei and Asuka in the elevator or Unit 01 holding Kaworu, are used like held camera shots to build tension, while the sketchy style seen in the very last couple of episodes perfectly illustrates the stripping down of Shinji's psyche.