Anime's a vast medium full of many titles, plenty of which are held in high esteem for their stories, settings, animation, and characters. Sadly, not every anime is a winner, and for every series that becomes a favorite or classic, there are just as many that fall flat on their faces, if not more.
Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom for all bad anime, as even some of the worst shows can have at least one redeeming quality that makes them watchable or even entertaining. They may not be all that good regardless, but it's better than being a complete trainwreck.
10 Saito's Sacrifice In The Familiar Of Zero Is Really Well Done
The Familiar of Zero isn't an anime best known for its quality. A fantasy story dragged down by harem/comedy clichés and some unlikeable characters, it can be a frustrating watch at times. However, it's not completely devoid of emotional and tense moments, such as when Saito faced an entire army alone.
The fight itself is well done, and the atmosphere remains heavy throughout as Saito sacrifices himself for Louise and fights an unwinnable battle, slowly succumbing to his wounds. It's as action-packed as it is gut-wrenching, and it's a scene that stands out thanks to it being so unlike the rest of this anime's usual fare.
9 Love Tyrant Isn't The Best Romcom, But Guri Is Hilarious
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Despite its zany tone and bizarre characters, Love Tyrant tries to be a unique romcom that parodies other anime like Death Note while tackling the many definitions of "love." However, it is held back by problematic characters and some dull episodic stories. However, its comedic leading lady, Guri, saves the series.
Energetic yet lazy, BL-obsessed Guri's wacky personality and supernatural shenanigans take full advantage of the comedic tone that the anime was going for. As a result, Guri ends up being a hilarious and likable character who bounces off almost everyone else in the cast rather well.
8 Sword Art Online Has Its Issues, But The Animation Is Amazing
It can't be denied that Sword Art Online has made its mark on the anime world, though the question about its quality can be rather divisive among viewers. Often derided for its overpowered protagonist, lack of depth in terms of both its characters and story, and tropes that it would go on to popularize, it has its fair share of issues.
If there's one thing that SAO has had going for it, it would be its animation. SAO's visual presentation brings its world to life. That visual splendor has only gotten better with each new installment, especially during its high-octane battles where swords clash from all angles.
7 Fighting Foodons Is A Pokémon Ripoff That's Full Of Interesting Creatures
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Everything popular eventually has imitators, and Pokémon would go on to have a lot of them. One such Pokémon-clone was Fighting Foodons, an anime where chefs brought their food to life to do battle with each other. It was an outlandish take on cooking battles, but it wasn't unique enough to be seen as anything more than a knock-off.
Fighting Foodons just couldn't make it out of Pokémon's shadow and eventually faded into obscurity. Though, the designs of the Foodons themselves are phenomenal. From mythical beasts to super sentai characters, the creative ideas and inspirations behind these living recipes were interesting, to say the least.
6 Norman's Return Was Welcomed In The Promised Neverland Season 2
Season 1 of The Promised Neverland saw the Grace Field kids trying to make a daring escape from the sinister orphanage, but not everyone made it out. Sadly, the young prodigy Norman was shipped out before the rest of the kids could stage their breakout. It was a heavy loss and an emotional blow to Emma and Ray.
Sadly, the second season ended up being a huge downgrade from the first as its story was rushed, resulting in bad pacing and whole arcs being cut from the story. But the heartfelt reunion between Norman and the rest of his family was the one bright side in a season that marked an unflattering end for this series.
5 Marvel Disk Wars Is Marvel With A Coat Of Anime Paint
Marvel has made the foray into the anime medium more than once, to varying degrees of success. One of the stranger ones was Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers. It saw "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" trapped in disks and teaming up with some kids, who send them out to prevent other disks from falling into the wrong hands.
It's a weird combination of superheroes with a Digimon-like formula that doesn't always gel together. While it may not be the deepest or most well-conceived Marvel anime out there, seeing all these familiar faces get the anime facelift can make it worth the watch.
4 Record Of Ragnarök Had An Awesome Concept That Was Poorly Executed
There's been a lot of battle-tournament anime over the years full of unique fighters and intense battles. Sadly, Record Of Ragnarök isn't one of them. With unappealing characters, a lacking story, and animation that can't keep up with its intense fight scenes, this man vs. god tournament is anything but a knockout.
Its premise is admittedly a really cool one, with the strongest humans in history teaming up to fight gods from various myths and legends for humanity's survival. The interpretations of these deities are pretty unique too. The series could have been amazing if it didn't waste such an interesting idea.
3 At Least Dragon Ball GT Had Super Saiyan 4
Dragon Ball has had its ups and downs as a franchise,. While Z became a household name and Super took it to the next level, Dragon Ball GT didn't fare nearly as well. Making Goku a kid again and trying to go back to the basics of the original series made it feel like a step down from what Z brought to the table before.
While GT tried its best to replicate Z's success as it went on, it just wasn't the same. However, one good thing to come out of this entry was Super Saiyan 4. Viewers got to see Goku, Vegeta, and even their fusion, Gogeta, power up into an excitingly different take on the franchise's popular form change.
2 Bad Karma Came Back To Bite Makoto In School Days
There are plenty of well-written romance anime, but School Days isn't one of them. With a sloppily written story and an unapologetically awful protagonist in Makoto Itou, this high school romance anime can be a real slog to get through. However, those who were hoping for karma to come back and bite Makoto might be happy to know that eventually, it does.
After all his cheating and gaslighting, Sekai finally snaps and ends Makoto's life towards the end of the series. It's admittedly pretty brutal, but it's hard to feel bad for Makoto since he really brought it upon himself. It doesn't make the rest of the anime good, but at least Makoto's actions had consequences.
1 Ex-Arm's Failure On All Fronts Actually Might Be Its Redeeming Quality
With a nearly non-existent story, lackluster characters, and horribly ugly CGI animation, Ex-Arm is a truly infamous anime. Pretty much failing on all fronts, this anime is practically unwatchable, and it's no surprise that it's regarded as one of the worst anime ever made. However, its awfulness makes the anime worth watching.
Ex-Arm being such a spectacular kind of failure makes it actually hilarious to watch, especially together with friends to riff on it. It doesn't make this anime good by any means, but at least viewers can laugh and enjoy it for just how bad it is.