Anime is now one of the most popular entertainment mediums, so there are clear discussions surrounding some that started off strong but turned into a s***show later.
While it may be rude to write off the latter parts of some of these shows as plain bad, at the end of the day, criticisms are healthy. In the list below,w we are going to take a look at some of those shows.
Anime that had an amazing start, but became a disaster soon
Wonder Egg Priority
In concept, an anime like Wonder Egg Priority sounds like something super personal and sweet. It’s a show that blends the idea of mourning for the lost one with the concept of action-fantasy. As individuals face traumas disguised as their personal demons.
The show was written by Shinji Nojima and directed by Shin Wakabayashi at Studio Cloverworks. An animation studio well known for important works such as Persona 5: The Animation and Spy x Family.
But even though Wonder Egg Priority started off strong, the show could not keep up with everyone’s expectations later. Fans keep bringing up discussions about how badly rushed the ending for the show turned out to be, failing to tie up loose ends ends thus leading to plotholes.
One Punch Man
One Punch Man has to be one of the greatest anime from recent decades. It is a brilliant deconstruction of the superhero genre, especially the savior archetype, which we are so used to in Western comics.
The source material comes from a webcomic written by ONE, which the manga artist Yusuke Murata took and elevated to newer heights. It was an immediate hit, and an adaptation from Madhouse went into work. The first season of the anime blew everyone’s minds with how strong it was.
Unfortunately, production had to be moved to J.C. Staff for subsequent seasons, who had massive shoes to fill in, and they failed at it. Madhouse’s animation quality was way above and beyond the s***show we have been getting in Season 2 and 3.
Digimon Adventure tri.
The Digimon IP may never reach heights of popularity like Pokémon in any sphere, and that is fine because fundamentally, what makes them similar is just the ‘-mon’. In theory, both are very different from each other, with Digmon having its own niche fan following.
Digimon Adventure tri. is an anime film series that was conceived by Toei Animation to bank on the nostalgia surrounding the first anime in the franchise, Digimon Adventure. While the nostalgia bait did work, seeing familiar faces all grown up, as well as listening to remixes of iconic songs.
By the end of the series, the films turned into a real s***show with a very weak source of tension and exposition. This is because the whole thing relied too much on nostalgia, instead of actually giving a reason to the viewers to get attached to the story.
Naruto Franchise (Shippuden, Boruto)
This is an obviously controversial entry, but we had to get it out of the way. There should not be a single soul out there inside the anime and manga sphere who does not know about Naruto.
But if you have been living under a rock, Naruto can be summarized up as a fantasy manga about a young Ninja who is destined for greatness. Honestly, that’s actually what the show was all about for a lot of the earlier parts.
Until it completely went downhill with plot holes and excessively bad pacing, and fillers. Not to mention, it is still an ongoing franchise, now following the story of the next generation of Ninjas. Completely off track into something else, which a lot of people now dislike.
The Promised Neverland
We rarely come across works of fiction, at least in the medium of anime, which depict minors in dangerous situations. Even if there are some out there, it’s always outside the mainstream reach. The Promised Neverland changed that by giving us a dark tale that got mainstream popularity.
Writer Kaiu Shirai penned down the tale of an orphanage full of compelling child characters who find out that they are actually being raised as fodder for demons, as a part of a pact with humans. That’s a really strong plot point for a compelling story, and the anime knocks it out of the park, only initially, though.
That is because by the end, The Promised Neverland anime unfortunately became a severely flawed show. It is marred with pacing issues and improper adaptation of the manga, which angered the fans.
Tokyo Revengers
One of the greatest sub-genres of popular anime has been missing since the early 2000s. We are of course, talking about manga and anime centered around high-school delinquents.
Ever since the advent of moe and isekai anime, we have not seen it ever be explored again, at least not in mainstream popularity. Tokyo Revengers by Ken Wakui is set to change that. Finally, we were getting a story that centered around over-the-top rockabilly hairstyles and school uniforms.
To top it off, there was also an element of sci-fi and fantasy with time travel involved in this anime. Things were looking really strong. As the initial episodes rolled in, people were really hyped.
But unfortunately, Tokyo Revengers failed to live up to the hype pertaining to several factors, mostly surrounding an unlikeable protagonist. A fourth season is scheduled to roll out in 2026, but fans already find the ending in the source material to be weak.
Psycho Pass
Psycho Pass is another one of those anime that had the winning formula penned down before it was even conceived. From an animation produced by Production I.G. and a story by the famous Gen Urobuchi, known for his prolific works in the sci-fi sub-genre in anime.
But that’s not all, the art direction for the anime was conceived by Akira Amano, who had already made a place for herself in the popular shounen manga space. Psycho Pass had strong roots as a sci-fi thriller following a cast of well-made characters getting themselves involved in criminal investigations.
As you have guessed by now, the reason this show is being brought up on this list is that even though it had a great first season, the show falls off hard after that. The subsequent seasons have been criticized for poor writing and are marred by loopholes.
Seven Deadly Sins
Speaking of really popular shounen anime that had a strong start but ended up a s***show, how can we forget about Seven Deadly Sins? One of the most promising shounen anime of recent times.
Even though it did not reach the heights of popularity around shows like Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia, it was still the underdog in many fans’ eyes. With an original manga created by Nakaba Suzuki, the story aimed at personifying the seven deadly sins as powerful heroes.
But if you are someone who was following this anime, then you know how things ended up turning out. Seven Deadly Sins became the victim of a horrendous downfall in animation quality, with visual horrors beyond comprehension.
Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan is another one of those controversial picks from outside because many fans won’t find a single flaw with the show. While there’s a completely different side of the fanbase that keeps on debating about its ending eternally.
Regardless, it is definitely one of the most important anime from recent decades, with a really strong root to the story. We find humanity on the brink of extinction, having been cornered behind massive walls to protect themselves from the creatures known as Titans.
The story eventually develops into something deeper with lots of twists and mysteries. But the ending for the anime is an absolute s***show, botched by inconsistency in characterization and pacing issues.
Getting too deep into it would mean discarding the rest of the amazing show, which is why we will leave it to you on the note of recommended viewing.
Draling in the Franxx
Darling in the Franxx is one mess of a mech show anime, which had a really strong start. It was set to carry the same torch that most of the popular shows in this sub-genre have thrived on. Having young characters at the frontline of human conflict against something far larger.
While it is a different story that most people who look at this show from the outside only remember it for all the memes around its fan service elements, which it went overboard with. Darling in the Franxx is not considered a s***show because of that.
It has far more serious problems in the latter half of the show that are dragged on till the end. Mostly due to the usual suspects, such as inconsistent pacing, too many mischaracterized characters, loose ends to plot points, and a lot more.
