2021 anime shows had something new to offer compared to 2020, 2019, and so on.
Keeping up with the trends of 2019 and 2020, some anime were controversial, but some were made for the dog pile.
- Bad adaptations.
- Awful content.
- Inconsistencies.
These things and more are responsible for the worst anime in 2021.
The genres are:
- Fantasy.
- Magic.
- Games.
- Action.
- Mystery.
And things along those lines….
Here’s a list.
1. The Promised Neverland Season 2
The first season of The Promised Neverland was HYPED and overrated in my eyes. It was decent, but nowhere near what the ratings implied.
I thought OK, season 1 was cool. Let’s see where season 2 goes. Maybe it has more to offer.
We all know where that went.
The 2nd season of The Promised Neverland fell into the dog pile because of a shitty adaptation that went wrong.
Inconsistencies, changes to the plot, going with its own flow…. The 2nd season did its own thing clearly. And it backfired.
Manga fans were disappointed enough to rate it 5/10 on MAL.
2. I’m Standing On 1 Million Lives Season 2
I’m Standing On 1 Million Lives started out back in 2020. I watched it from start to finish.
Not the greatest Isekai series, but it did have some elements that made it stand out and feel a little different.
The protagonist, who’s a unique Shounen protagonist is the reason for this anime’s overall vibe and feel.
Still, the 2nd season was a bit of a let down. And didn’t pan out to be better than I thought it had the potential to be.
The story was getting a little stale and the creativity started lacking. But more than anything else, the interest in the plot started to lose its appeal with every episode or so.
3. Drugstore In Another World
The first episode of Drugstore In Another World starts off with some Yandere cliches which ends up being a good laugh.
Also you get the cute fox girl (who’s a secondary main character) who makes the anime wholesome in general.
Aside from the anime being about business and running a pharmaceutical company, it’s an Isekai that for some reason doesn’t focus much on the main characters backstory.
That didn’t effect the quality, but maybe it did. The anime started to lose its appeal the further you got into it.
The comedy didn’t freshen up much, and that started to get a bit dry and “same old same old” eventually. In the end it’s just an average Isekai series.
It’s wholesome vibes is really what makes it no worse than that.
4. Scarlet Nexus
Scarlet Nexus is adapted from a video game. The visuals in the anime are pretty stunning, and it’s appealing enough that it doesn’t feel basic.
The anime starts off with some drama eventually, and the squads end up fighting and then preparing to fight more of this world’s version of a monster.
There’s tons of them.
Eventually it gets dark-ish by episode 3 or so where there’s a big-ish reveal, but from there the anime starts to get boring.
A good concept for a sci-fi which comes from an original story (the video game), but the adaptation didn’t sit well and only ended up being average and nothing worth remembering.
5. Ex-Arm
Ex-Arm doesn’t need much words really. It’s so bad that it might as well be a sort of achievement, because even the worst anime of the past were never this bad.The Most DISAPPOINTING Anime In 2021 With Bad Adaptations Or Contentoverr
Ex-Arm is a “anime was handled, and how it was portrayed as far as animation.
It’s now rated the WORST anime of all time on MAL by ratings. Not even Pupa or School Days are in the same league as far as how bad Ex-Arm turned out to be.
6. High Guardian Spice
Whether you wanna call this “anime by its creators, so here it is.
It’s another “Crunchyroll played a role in bringing to fruition over the course of a few years.
It feels and looks like Little Witch Academia mixed with an American cartoon. Not to mention politics filled to the brim.
What anime fans expected this series to be back in 2019 is exactly how it turned out in late 2021.
IMDB rated it 1.2/10, C.R rated it 2/10, which is reflected elsewhere.
Related: The History Of High Guardian Spice Controversy: Where It Stands Today (Full Breakdown)
7. How Not To Summon A Demon Lord Season 2
How Not To Summon A Demon Lord Season 2 was a surprising continuation as far as I see it.
The first season was a lot better than it should have been in my eyes. I enjoyed it more than I thought.
It’s a strong Ecchi series that goes to levels some Ecchi don’t, and that may or may not be a reason for why it turned out to be disappointing this time round.
As with other anime on this list, it’s a matter of the story losing appeal, relying on too many cliches, and not having anything solid enough to keep the anime interesting regardless of its genre.
8. Girlfriend Girlfriend
This is the type of anime I was looking out for long before it released. I’m the type to look at the name of a series and watch it out of curiosity.
This anime takes things to another level. The main character basically has multiple girlfriends, and they all of course agree to it.
It’s an anime that focuses on polygamy.
It’s not that this kind of anime, if handled right, couldn’t have been much better than it is (Rent A Girlfriend was better than expected).
Girlfriend Girlfriend just couldn’t pull it off, even though the topic had potential.
It’s an OK anime, but nothing worth shouting about.
Relevant: Is Harem Anime BAD? Well, It All Comes Down To This
9. The Detective Is Already Dead
The Detective Is Already Dead was off to a good start. Well, a decent start anyway.
Siesta as she’s called (white hair) is the most important character of the series. The male character who sticks by her isn’t the best match up.
Together they’re not the duo they could have been, but that’s the story’s fault and the adaptation in general.
This anime suffers from not being able to sustain itself (entertainment, humor, curiosity). And that becomes obvious the more you watch it.
It’s not that it’s the WORST anime series, more so that it’s disappointing.
10. Peach Boy Riverside
What annoys me about this anime the most is it had the most potential out of many 2021 anime series.
The first episode was solid, brutal, shocking, and on point. It sets the stage and makes you as curious as you need to be to keep watching for what happens next.
The director decided to mess with the watch order and purposely air each episode randomly. So episode 2 would be episode 8, episode 3 could be episode 5 and so on.
It was all jumbled and obviously made so little sense that all the quality the first episode built up fell apart because the confusion caused you to lose interest.
Who knows what the director was SMOKING with what I’d call the worst decision I’ve ever seen in the anime industry.
Season 2 may never happen now.
Related: 21+ Of The Most Attractive Anime Girls In 2021 (Waifu’s)
11. My Hero Academia Season 5
My Hero Academia season 5 wasn’t the best, and it seems the ratings overall reflect that. I always wait till it finishes to watch it, and the lower ratings made me curious.
I can honestly say after watching it from top to bottom, MHA season 5 wasn’t as compelling as previous seasons.
If we’re comparing previous seasons, season 4 easily beats season 5 in every facet.
The BIG reveal with Shigaraki Tomura, and his backstory was one of the season’s BEST moments no doubt. The fight though? Not all that.
The training arcs were good, and Shoto Todoroki’s “arc” was solid, but that paired with everything else the anime was good at best.
That makes it disappointing this time around.
12. Battle Game In 5 Seconds
Battle Game In 5 Seconds was one of the anime that felt underrated at the time it aired. The concept was fresh.
A bunch of characters after they die are forced into a set of battles against each other, each battle with a time limit. How these battles are orchestrated and thought up with the rules and all is what makes the concept different.
Yuuri Amagake’s backstory is deep, and she brings an emotional side to the anime’s theme and plot.
As is the case with many anime on this list, the more it progresses the more mistakes it makes and the more its appeal starts to break.
The awful decision to use CGI is one this anime’s biggest flaws and worst decisions. It made the fights (which were good before) only that much worse and elementary.
The anime could have been more, but instead it was a disappointment.
13. Wonder Egg Priority
Wonder Egg Priority was a GREAT anime series for the majority of the episodes. In fact it’s an important anime for mental health.
Each character goes through their own mental struggles and trauma, and this is what brings them together as they fight their personal battles.
The last few episodes, maybe the last 2 in particular is where this anime starts to fall off a cliff and land on its face. Splattered across the floor.
It was rushed, which is typical of some anime when they feel the need to “cram” so much information into so few episodes.
Things made less sense, and all the plot build up feels like a waste once you reach the so called conclusion.
Even with the “extra” episode they aired to clarify things, it didn’t help the anime’s original reputation and the quality it brought to the table in the first half of Wonder Egg Priority.
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