Top 10 Weirdest Anime For Kids

Top 10 Weirdest Anime For Kids

Shield little Jimmy’s eyes – things are about to get weird. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Weirdest Anime For Kids. For this list, we’re looking at anime marketed towards the younger crowd that, in some way or another, is just plain strange, gross or nonsensical.

#10: “Samurai Pizza Cats” (1990-91)

For those who saw the Ninja Mutant Ninja Turtles and thought – more fur and pizza, please. Set in an alternate reality which combines feudal Japanese with modern; Samurai Pizza Cats follows the silly adventures of three cyborg, feline, samurai as they try to foil the evil Prime Minister's dastardly schemes to replace the Emperor. Obviously, the Prime Minister is a Rat. When it came stateside, the show proved so wacky that they couldn’t help but take a few liberties with its translation…

#9: “Inazuma Eleven” (2008-14)

Some shows start off weird. Others seem pretty normal at first, luring the viewer into a false sense of familiarity, before going insane. Inazuma Eleven is one of those shows. Endo is a soccer fanatic and wants nothing more than to lead Raimon Middle School's team back to the top. How hard could that be? All he has to do is join a club, take part in a country wide tournament, face the best school in Japan, defeat an alien race planning to take over the world, travel back in time to stop the eradication of soccer, and, finally, win the world cup. See? Pretty straight forward.

#8: “Doraemon” (1979-)

Nobi Nobita is the worst student in class and is destined for a lifetime of failure. Prone to mistakes, his destructive life dooms future Nobi generations to poverty. In a last ditch effort to break the cycle, Nobita's great great grandson sends Doraemon back in time to teach Nobita how to be successful. Despite having access to tons of futuristic gadgets, Nobita continuously finds a way to screw up. With well over 2000 episodes, Doraemon has gone to some weird places over the years and even tackled serious subjects like death, mental illness, and greed. That’ll learn those kiddies.

#7: “Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers” (2014-15)

The result of a fusion between Toei Animation and Walt Disney, this adaptation says to hell with originality and just combines Pokemon and Marvel. Tony Stark has created a new device called DISKs to capture villains. Unfortunately, Loki is out and up to no-good and manages to steal the technology to trap the heroes instead. The DISKs end up falling into the hands of a few children, who instead of handing them over to the remaining superheroes, are asked to go on a world spanning adventure to collect all the grown-ass-men-in-disks. Adventure! Action! And all the merchandise Bandai can sell.

#6: “Dogtato-kun” (2004)

Instead of focusing on the content of the episodes themselves, which are rather harmless, the show's basic premise makes us question what the people at Studio Egg were smoking. As the name suggests, Dogtato is half dog, half potato. He lives in Veggie Town alongside other produce/animal hybrids like Hedgetato, a hedgehog combined with sweet potato, and… Peachmingo. Presented as a series of shorts, Dogtato-Kun does not believe in plots or teaching life lessons and, instead, focus on these frankensteined things.

#5: “Heybot!” (2016-)

It is hard to really pinpoint who this acid trip of an anime was meant for. Its colorful art style, quirky but well-meaning characters, and its Sunday morning airdate suggests that it's for children. On the other hand, Heybot! Is overflowing with references to 1980s pop culture – especially American movies and popular video games. The story – for a lack of a better word – centers around these specials screws which can be inserted into a bots' head. Once done, a battle begins to see who can tell the best joke. It's wacky, irreverent, and so quick-witted that even adults might struggle to keep up.

#4: “Bananya” (2016)

Ever feel like your fruit is watching you? Maybe, in the middle of a night when nobody is awake, they suddenly spring to life and start living out their own adventures? No – Well, someone must have because Bananya exists. On a counter rests some ripe banana. Within their golden peel, sleeps a cat named Bananya. Yes, that is the premise. A cat lives in a banana and spends his non-fruit time hanging out with other similar creatures. Their goal in life? To ascend into the heavens and transform into a banana sundae.

#3: “Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirou” (1993-)

One of the more popular Japanese children shows; Striped Island Tiger Shimajirō is an educational program that follows a group of anthropomorphic animals as they attend kindergarten and learn a variety of life lessons. Shimajiro is a tiger cub and best friends with a white bunny, a green bird, and a female lamb. From their time together, they learn the importance of friendship, why they should help others and – the most crucial lesson of all – how to use the toilet for the first time. The new version even received an Emmy nomination for best-animated series tailor made for preschoolers.

#2: “Pom Poko” (1994)

Throughout his career, Isao Takahata, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, has constantly found new ways to move audiences to tears. Although it struggles in comparison with Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko is a masterful parable warning about the dangers of industrial expansion at the expense of nature. Masquerading as a children's story about transforming raccoon dogs with huge testicles, Pom Poko sees two feuding tribes join forces to try and safeguard their home. It is a sad story filled with weird moments, at one point the tanuki even use their ball sacks as make shift parachutes, and ends with a plea to think about the animals.

#1: “Crayon Shin-Chan” (1992)

Anime's answer to South Park – or is it the other way round?- some of Shin-Chan's weirdness is, unfortunately, lost in translation. A spoof of educational shows, the main source of humor is the pervy preschooler's constant misuse of Japanese phrases. After he makes a mistake, his parents or teacher attempt to teach the young rascal the correct way. Unlike educational shows, Shin-Chan uses that lesson to make things a whole lot worse. Not intentionally, instead it just happens. Despite being only five years old, Shinnosuke Shin Nohara constantly hits on older women, uses adult language and drops his trousers at the drop of a hat…