Most anime fans are very concerned with the quality of the shows they consume, always looking out for the most critically acclaimed and universally praised series in the medium. However, there are more reasons to watch and enjoy a show than its objective quality. Some popular anime series are unapologetically subpar, indulging in redundant tropes, lazy character writing, and cheap narrative tricks.
Nevertheless, they continue to generate fans, and most admirers openly admit to recognizing their favorite series’ glaring flaws. Bad media has a unique appeal which often leaves more critical viewers confused. However, critical backlash doesn’t stop the fans from indulging in their guilty pleasure favorites. Some of the worst anime series out there are just too entertaining or investing to put down.
10/10 Girls Bravo Is The Ultimate Guilty Pleasure Harem Series
The absurd, self-indulgent synopsis of the isekai harem series Girls Bravo gives the audience an accurate idea of this show’s quality. The plot follows a fragile-looking boy Yukinari who breaks out in hives if a girl even approaches him due to a rare health condition.
Suddenly, he gets transported to an almost all-female fantasy world called Seiren, beginning a typical harem quest. Girls Bravo is a surprisingly charming guilty pleasure show despite its lackluster premise. Its uniquely appealing art style and refreshingly well-developed protagonist made myriads of fans forgive Girls Bravo‘s glaring flaws.
9/10 Hand Shakers Became Popular For Being Awful
The modern classic of “so bad that it’s good” shows, Hand Shakers, is one of the most notoriously awful anime series. From the show’s nonsensical plot to its overstimulating CGI art style, Hand Shakers has many elements which explain its reputation.
However, almost everyone who has had the displeasure of watching this infamous show claims that everyone should give Hand Shakers a try, if only for a good laugh. It might be difficult to genuinely follow the series’ plot without getting dizzy. Nevertheless, its flaws make the show an incredible piece of entertainment.
8/10 Ghost Stories Became An Unintentional Cult Classic
The infamous Ghost Stories dub is one of those unintentional comedy classics that fans revisit constantly. Intended as a serious horror mystery in the original Japanese broadcast, the series notoriously underwent drastic changes during its English localization.
The voice actors were allowed to go wild, creating a surreal gag comedy out of a generic spooky show. The notoriety of Ghost Stories made it an internet cult classic. Nowadays, more people know the series’ dubious English version than the original, which was rather unremarkable and didn’t pick up steam even in Japan.
7/10 Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens Spices Up The Ecchi Genre
Often featured on definitive ecchi must-watch lists, Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens is a more obscure example of the genre. Yet, like most over-the-top fanservice shows, it’s similarly less concerned with quality writing than giving the fans what they want.
One difference that makes Ikki Tousen much more tolerable than most ecchi series is its effective use of supernatural elements and martial arts action to make the show impossible to put down. For all of its raunchy explicit content, the idea of high school reincarnations of glorious warriors from the Three Kingdoms period fighting to the death in a glorified tournament is, at the very least, inventive.
6/10 Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Exploits Nostalgia Well
Most Naruto fans don’t argue with the accusations that Boruto: Naruto Next Generations was an unnecessary continuation that capitalizes on the audience’s nostalgia. The new series fails to capture the charm and excitement of its predecessor, remaining a shallow shadow of the former shonen king even five years after its premiere.
However, fans of the original still gravitate to Boruto to reminisce about the show that got an entire generation of kids into anime. Quality aside, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations knows how to keep the viewers entertained, and the old Naruto fanbase is massive enough to keep the show afloat.
5/10 Horror Fans Are Not The Target Audience Of High School Of The Dead
As fanservice continues to be a topic of heated discussions in the anime community, some shows unapologetically accept it as part of their appeal. Explicit content is a sure way to get people’s attention, and some fans continue to enjoy over-the-top fanservice flicks even after their subpar quality becomes glaringly apparent.
That was precisely the case with High School of the Dead, a horror ecchi show marketed as a gory zombie spectacle. Unfortunately, fans of survival horror will most likely find the series underwhelming. Nevertheless, diehard ecchi fans still hold High School of the Dead in high regard.
4/10 Bunny Drop Is Problematic To Enjoy Due To Its Manga’s Notorious Ending
It’s difficult to call Bunny Drop a bad anime for its writing, production quality, or character development. Most fans of wholesome slice-of-life unapologetically enjoy following Daikichi’s challenging journey of fatherhood as he tries to raise his adoptive daughter Rin.
The controversy behind Bunny Drop lies in its notorious source material, the ending of which made fans furious with its transformation of Daikichi and Rin’s familial bond into a romantic attraction. The problematic manga made many fans skeptical about continuing their enjoyment of the anime, yet, for most, the adaptation was just too good to drop.
3/10 Is This A Zombie? Is Self-Aware Enough To Play Its Flaws For Comedy
Even the most diehard fans of Is This a Zombie? agree that the series has poor writing, glaring plot inconsistencies, and uncomfortable humor. However, it’s almost impossible to watch this series without laughing out loud at every episode.
Is This a Zombie? follows the bizarre antics of Ayumu Aikawa, a human-turned-zombie on a hunt for supernatural monsters, and his ever-growing harem of cute girls. Without pretending to be more than it is, Is This a Zombie? indulges in unsophisticated ecchi cliches with the sole purpose of making the audience laugh at its absurdity.
2/10 Aldnoah.Zero Simplified Mecha For Mass Enjoyment
Fans of science fiction often expect it to be both entertaining and thought-provoking. However, sometimes viewers just want to turn their brains off and be immersed in a possibly low-quality show.
Aldnoah.Zero scratches that itch by giving fans all of the excitement of a mecha series without the sophisticated complications of Gundam or Neon Genesis Evangelion. Following a tense conflict between the people of Earth and the Vers Empire of Mars through the eyes of a high school boy Inaho Kaizuka, Aldnoah.Zero values simple entertainment above quality.
1/10 Haters Don’t Give Akame Ga Kill! Enough Credit For Being Entertaining
Akame ga Kill! is one of the most violently criticized yet popular series in the shonen genre, often accused of mistaking edginess and gore for maturity. The show follows a band of assassins known as Night Raid and their newest member Tatsumi as they go head-to-head against the nation’s corrupt government.
Filled to the brim with violence, Akame ga Kill! fails to adopt the same mature themes and elements to its plot and character writing, making its story painfully underwhelming and predictable. However, it works perfectly as a mindless action piece for fans of gory, uncensored action.