Top 10 Moments That Ruined an Anime

Top 10 Moments That Ruined an Anime

WHY? Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we are counting down our picks for the top ten moments that ruined an anime. For this list, we’ll be looking at key points in an anime that put a damper on the series as a whole. As such, be on the lookout for several spoilers down the line.

#10: ALFheim Online

“Sword Art Online” (2012-14) The first arc gave us everything we could want from a fantasy series, all of which helmed by a touching romance between our two leads; Kirito and Asuna. After escaping their RPG prison, you would have thought that the two would take a sabbatical from gaming for a while. Then came ALfheim Online, where Asuna goes from proud warrior to your typical damsel in distress in the worst possible way, while its Kirito’s job to venture out and save her. You know, in-between all of his extracurricular flirting.

#9: Ending

“Neon Genesis Evangelion” (1995-96) Which one you ask? The original that caused a series of continuations since it was so choppy, of course. After all of humanity is merged into a single entity, our deeply flawed protagonist Shinji contemplates his life over and over until his existential crisis final ends with him thanking all the people in his life for their support. For what it is, it’s pretty neat - but the production budget cuts are glaringly obvious and… the whole thing is a bit of a mess.

#8: The Fillers

“Bleach” (2004-12) The battles against the likes of the Gotei 13 and the Espada were by far the highlights of this Shonen juggernaut. Want to know why? Because none of it was anime-exclusive filler made to stall for time until more canon content could be released. Bleach is rather infamous for this, given that it doesn’t just get filler episodes, it gets filler arcs! The Bounts, Shusuke Amagai, the zanpakuto coming to life, the rejected zanpakuto, the list goes on! It’s a shame there’s such an ocean of unneeded episodes, since it does detract from the series’ greater moments.

#7: Brock Leaves

“Pokemon” (1997-) It’s no secret that Brock falls in love with every single girl he meets, but did he really have to leave Ash and company just to have a shot at a sexy professor? While we still got plenty of Pokemon battles, Team Rocket blasting off again and all the other usual clichés, the series just didn’t feel the same after the resident ladies’ man went AWOL – and Tracy was a poor substitute. Sure he would eventually return in the later series, but that only led to him leaving AGAIN. We were fools for every trusting you, Brock.

#6: Missing Plot Points

“Tokyo Ghoul” (2014-15) Ken Kaneki’s struggle to exist in a world as a half-Ghoul definitely made a splash. However, despite some truly disturbing aspects and a gripping tone…its adaptation took a look of liberties as far as the source material was concerned. The chronological orders of some storylines are swapped around, essential character development for Kaneki is either rushed or skipped, the anime even had him joining the organisation that had him tortured as opposed to forming his own separate group. Missing characters, plots points and ENTIRE ARCS are unacceptable.

#5: Season Three

“Rurouni Kenshin” (1996-98) How do you follow up a brutally awesome season that involved Kenshin taking on the likes of the Shishio Makoto? What could you give us after one of anime’s most burdened heroes clashing swords with such a ruthless villain? …You give us an entire season’s worth of filler. It wouldn’t be so painful if they were actually entertaining, but after coming off of such a high and then giving us over thirty episodes that lacked any real tension, characterisation or even decent sword fights? No wonder it got cancelled.

#4: Satoru Doesn’t Get The Girl

“Erased” (2016) Really? After all that they don’t end up together? Upon discovering he has the power to travel back through time into the body of his eleven-year old self, Satoru tries to change the future by saving his old classmate Kayo from being killed at the hands of a serial kidnapper. Along the way they form a sweet friendship that you hope will flourish into a romance one day as adults. But alas, even after saving her, back in the present day Kayo has already gotten married and become a mother. That’s our payoff? C’mon.

#3: The Fourth Great Ninja War

“Naruto Shippuden” (2007-) Goes to show that by trying to throw everything plus the kitchen sink in a short space of time you end up spoiling what could have been monumental. In the space of a single arc we get rapid-fire battles not only with resurrected foes but with brand new characters that go no development whatsoever. But perhaps its greatest crime comes from the fact that the main antagonist title changes hands several times! First it was Obito, oh no wait he was working with Madara. Well I guess that’s not so bad, oh no wait it was actually Black Zetsu. Hang on now, why would – oh no wait it’s actually Kaguya. Come on, guys!

#2: The Death of L

“Death Note” (2006-07) The battle of wits between Light Yagami and L was the crux that made this supernatural drama series so engrossing to begin with. With contrasting views of justice, both were embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse, which eventually comes to an end when Light manages to win the day by killing his greatest adversary. However, as expected L had a backup plan in the form of his successors; Near and Mello. And…yeah they kind of sucked. They weren’t especially awful characters but compared to L they just felt like pale imitations. Especially Near.

#1: Endless Eight

“The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” (2006-09) You all know the trope: a character finds themselves waking up with a major sense of déjà vu only to discover they are literally reliving the previous day? It might be good for a laugh if you confine it to one or two episodes. Turning it into the majority of your second series on the other hand is ridiculous. The aptly named Endless Eight sees the SOS Brigade discover Haruhi has unknowingly trapped them in an infinite loop so their summer vacation never ends. We have to sit through eight episodes of pretty much the Exact. Same. Thing. Well, there’s a few hours of our lives we’ll never get back.