Just because an anime is popular doesn’t always make it good. Especially when the anime centers around a gimmick that has either been redone better or didn’t work in the first place. These are 10 popular anime that won’t age well.
All the anime on this list aired from the winter 2010 season to the fall 2019 season. Anime that aired prior and continued into this season will not be counted as well as anime currently airing in the winter 2020 season. Note that this is simply our opinion and that if any of the animes on this list interest you, feel free to check them out! Everyone has the right to like what they like without judgement.
This article contains several massive spoilers.
10 Domestic Girlfriend
Kicking off the list is Domestic Girlfriend. The anime follows Natsuo Fujii who finds his way into a predicament where he’s seeing two girls Rui and Hina Tachibana. The girls are sisters and end up becoming Natsuo’s stepsisters after his father remarries. Domestic Girlfriend wont age well due to the number of tropes shoved into one series. The anime has love triangles, romantic angles of both older and younger sisters, heartbreak, themes of adolescence, marriage complications, school-romance balances, and many more.
It’s hard to put a label on the series. It’s likely that this anime won’t be memorable in the future. Domestic Girlfriend was adapted by studio Diomedea during the winter 2019 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for one season.
9 Infinite Stratos
Infinite Stratos was an anime that had themes of cute girls piloting mechs, which is a genre we see more of now. Ichika Orimura is the only male capable of piloting the Infinite Stratos and enrolls in the all girls school, IS Academy to become a pilot.
While Infinite Stratos doesn’t do anything special to stand out it gets out-shined by more memorable mech shows such as Darling in the FranXX from the winter 2018 season. Infinite Stratos was adapted by studio 8bit during the winter 2011 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for two seasons.
8 Restaurant to Another World
Restaurant to Another World is an isekai anime done well but got lumped into the “Just another isekai” pile. The anime features a popular restaurant that serves food every day except Saturdays. Instead of closing, the restaurant becomes a portal sending anyone who enters to another world.
This unique premise for an isekai anime sets it apart from the cliché truck-kun encounters but doesn’t do anything crazy enough to break the isekai mold. Restaurant to Another World was adapted by Silver Link. studio during the summer 2017 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for one season.
7 Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest
It’s surprising this anime got as popular as it did, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest is an isekai series that really is “Just another isekai.” Hajime Nagumo and his class are summoned to another world where they must save mankind. Each of Hajime’s classmates are competent but they leave him behind in the Great Orcus Labyrinth. Hajime survives by eating the flesh of monsters which gives him an overwhelming amount of power.
The anime contributes to numerous isekai anime about a character starting week and becoming overpowered. There are plenty of other series that do this such as Overlord, No Game No Life, and most of the genre in general. Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest was adapted by studios Asread and White Fox during the summer 2019 season. The anime is 13 episodes and has been confirmed for a second season.
6 The Testament of Sister New Devil
The Testament of Sister New Devil follows Basara Toujou, who lives with his two new stepsisters. The catch is that they’re both demons. Mio is the daughter of the demon lord and Maria is the demon lord’s succubus servant. The anime is an ecchi and is filled with censor lines that make it hard to watch the show. The show is outclassed by High School DxD, a similar anime that has themes of devils, ecchi-harems, and characters of the same hair color.
The Testament of Sister New Devil was adapted by Production IMS studio during the winter 2015 season, the season before High School DxD’s second season aired. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for two seasons.
5 Gamers!
Gamers! follows high school student Keita Amano. At the school Keita meets some other students all with the same common interest as him. Games. The anime, however, repeatedly uses the same theme throughout the show, which would have been fine if it wasn’t meant to be the comedic element.
The entire show follows each character as they have continuous misunderstandings with the others. It’s funny at first but by the end of the series the joke has been exhausted. Gamers! was adapted by studio Pine Jam during the summer 2017 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for one season.
4 Masamune-kun’s Revenge
A love revenge story can be a great concept for an anime but suffers when the show becomes predictable. On the contrary, Masamune-kun’s Revenge takes the opposite road of having an unpredictable ending. In fact, the ending is so unpredictable it barely acknowledges the story it spent time building up. Masamune Makabe was rejected by Aki Adagaki for being overweight.
This motivated him to get in shape where he plans to get revenge on Aki by making her fall in love with him. Masamune-kun’s Revenge was adapted by Silver Link. studio during the winter 2017 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for one season.
3 Eromanga Sensei
Eromanga Sensei renewed the imouto (little sister) genre upon its release. There's no doubt that this series will be remembered for years to come, but does that mean it should be? The anime has been the outcome of many memes over the years due to its incestous plot line.
Eromanga Sensei follows a different Masamune, Masamune Izumi. Masamune is a writer works with his little sister Sagiri, a lewd illustrator under the name Eromanga Sensei, to create a light novel together. Eromanga Sensei was adapted by studio A-1 Pictures during the spring 2017 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for one season.
2 Erased
Erased is an anime that suffers from being too predictable. An interesting concept that takes a spin on the classic time travel genre, Erased follows 29 year old Satoru Fujinuma. Satoru discovers a phenomenon called Revival which allows him to back in time 18 years after being wrongly accused of a murder.
Now as an 11-year-old, Satoru looks to prevent the death of his classmate. Erased was adapted by studio A-1 Pictures during the winter 2016 season. The anime is 12 episodes and aired for one season.
1 Akame ga Kill!
Rounding out the list is Akame ga Kill. The anime follows Tatsumi, a boy from a small village that fights as a member of the Night Raid. The Night Raid is a section of the Revolutionary Army that are experienced assassins.
The story is a question of morals challenging Tatsumi throughout the series. kame ga Kill wont age well due to the sheer fact that the anime murders a large portion of the characters despite not taking the proper steps to build them up. Akame ga Kill was adapted by studio White Fox during the summer 2014 season. The anime is 24 episodes and aired for one season.