The 20+ Most Disappointing Anime Of The Decade (2010-2019)

This is gonna sting if you’re the type of person who “gatekeeps” anime fans who disagree with your opinion.

Otherwise it’s fair game, and you can share your worst anime of the decade in the comments.

Or whatever else you have to say in response. 😉

For me though, during 2010-2019 – I’ve watched some disappointing anime.

Not necessarily the worst anime, but disappointing.

Here’s my list:

Most Disappointing Anime (2010-2019):

1. Angels Of Death

Angels Of Death… A horror anime I loved the look and feel of at first.

Made by J.C Staff (a personal favorite studio) I thought I’ve GOT to try this anime and show my support.

The 1st episode captured a lot of the horror and psychological elements that involve a “game” of survival. But once episode 2,3,4,5,6+ came around, the anime fell flat on its face.

It lost its spark that it had in the first episode. I originally compared the quality to Death Note, but each episode became more stale than the last.

I don’t really know what happened, but it’s as if the writers became disinterested and lost their inspiration and direction.

Relevant: 11 Of The Greatest Anime Shows Like Angels Of Death

2. Danmachi

Danmachi is another anime I loved in the beginning. I didn’t think it was the greatest series, but it seemed decent enough.

Bell Cranel is almost killed in the first episode, saved by a gorgeous adventurer, and that girl becomes his source of motivation to get stronger.

Cliche, but acceptable.

Later down the line though – Danmachi started throwing in all that “Shounen” shi*t which felt unnecessary.

By time it was over It felt like I was watching Fairy Tail instead of Danmachi like the title implies.

I enjoyed Sword Oratoria though.

3. Beyond the Boundary

Keep in mind – there’s no bigger Kyoto Animation fan than me. If I had to choose one studio it would be Kyoani.

But…. Beyond The Boundary was shockingly bad for a Kyoani series. And I’ve never rated a Kyoani anime so low before (2/10).

It’s the kind of anime that would have been better off sticking to a romance/slice of life format.

Beyond The Boundary tried mixing in action, violence, and it felt so out of place that none of the intended pieces were able to fit.

Worst Kyoani series by far, and I love the studio.

4. The World God Only Knows

The World God Only Knows is a pretty good harem. At least that’s how I felt in the early stages.

In all honesty – the first season isn’t even THAT bad. It’s better than a lot of comparable harem anime with a similar setting.

What’s disappointing about this series is the continuation.

It doesn’t get better, it gets worse. You can see the anime runs out of ideas to entertain and keep things fresh as time goes by.

Adding more characters to the mix is probably part of why it went downhill.

5. 18IF

18IF gave me similar vibes to Angels Of Death. Meaning it’s an anime that looks good and the 1st episode doesn’t disappoint.

The story and how the characters are in this “dream” like world seemed well done. And it’s colorful as F just like No Game No Life (but even more).

Similar to Angels Of Death, the disappointment comes from later episodes that lose direction. It’s the kinda feeling where it’s clear the anime doesn’t know what it wants to say, how it wants to say, or where it wants to go.

There’s too much going on and none of it is memorable or able to keep you entertained.

6. Black Rock Shooter

Black Rock Shooter is an anime I’ve wanted to watch for years (prior to seeing it in 2018-ish).

One thing that drawn me to the anime is the “mental” aspect of how it tells its stories.

Depression and other elements play a role in Black Rock Shooter, but the CGI feels tacky. And the anime could have done without it.

It only spoiled the point it was trying to make by making each scene more dull than it should have been.

Plus it gets stale overtime and doesn’t give you anything “new” to keep you hooked.

7. Deadman Wonderland

It’s not my first time saying Deadman Wonderland is a horrible series. Probably the worst protagonist I’ve ever seen in my life. And the plot + action was too plain and dry for my tastes.

Disappointed me considering how many people say it’s good.

Deadman Wonderland didn’t do itself any favors by having a mediocre, sh*tty protagonist to “run” the show and push the plot forward. The personality is a mismatch.

I’d say this is one of the most disappointing anime of my life, not just of the decade.

8. Fate Extra Last Encore

I love the fate franchise. Fate Stay Night, Fate Zero, Apocrypha, Fate Grand Order…

To different degrees – all of these anime are worthy of praise (Fate Zero being the best). Nothing can touch Fate Zero.

Fate Extra almost made me lose faith in the franchise. The careful planning, plot, stunning action and incredible characters were nowhere to be seen in Fate Extra.

I guess this can be blamed on it being an “adaptation” of a game but that’s not a good excuse.

It’s almost as if the anime was sent off to someone like Hollywood and Hollywood took a shot at making it (it’s that bad).

9. The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins reminds me of Fairy Tail, in the sense that it suffers from a fan service problem.

Seven Deadly Sins takes it 10 steps further with levels of perversion and unnecessary behaviors that I cringed too much to ever get “far” enough with the series.

It’s a shame really.

It’s like eating out at a restaraunt and only having ONE meal that tasted good. The anime lacks the “whole package” deal for me.

10. Fairy Tail: Final Series

Some of you know I’m a big fan of Fairy Tail in general (fan service aside).

The memorable characters, the family vibes, what it means to be loyal, the music, and so many other themes make it appealing.

Fairy Tail‘s special and I’ll never forget some of the best moments earlier seasons had.

But the FINAL series killed me.

It started out good but it wasn’t long until it fell on its face and took the “CHEAP” road to moving the plot forward.

It’s so disappointing I couldn’t finish it.

One moment that killed it for me was Erza’s battle with Irene.

11. The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland was one of the most HYPED anime of 2019. I even got caught up in it.

The hype had some ground to stand on though. The Manga for The Promised Neverland has a sizeable fanbase, and a successful franchise.

It’s this fanbase that hyped it up, and I’ll admit – the first episode was killer.

After seeing that 1 episode I was HOOKED.

But as usual – the anime loses its spark the further down the line you go.

It feels like a rip off version of Death Note for how it tried to play itself off as a smart, sinister, and twisted kind of anime.

From what Manga readers say, it wasn’t the best. But not everyone agree’s.

12. Durarara

Durarara is an anime I wanted to like. You can clearly see it’s unique and it has a vibe to it you can’t find anywhere else in the anime industry.

The headless rider, the shenanigans happening within the city, and the mysterious vibes.

Durarara seems to have it all (even with its daft name). But…

In spite of all that – the anime was boring and it was REALLY hard to get into it.

That’s why I fell out of love with it and lost interest.

13. Darling In The Franxx

anime on this list.

I started out loving it. Anyone who follows me knows it.

I still can’t wrap my head around the drugs they had to be smoking to lead the plot in the direction they took it.

Someone said it should have ended around episode 20, I kinda agree. 18 Would have been better.

So much potential was wasted. I was a MASSIVE fan of this anime until it destroyed itself.

It’s a big enough anime that most will know what I’m talking about.

14. Yuki Yuna is a Hero

I went in hoping this was a good alternative to Madoka Magica (which I love).

I tried to look past the designs and the signs of what I thought was coming.

But of course – like many other magical girl series, it’s a let down.

It’s the equivalent of an anime trying to be like DBZ, but changing a few details.

Because of this – it’s not really unique. And offers nothing that helps it give something new to the industry.

A “rip off” Madoka Magica.

15. Magical Girl: Raising Project

For so long I’ve heard of other anime besides Madoka that focus on the dark side of magical girls.

Magical Girl Raising Project is actually MORE violent and savage than Madoka Magica as well.

But that didn’t translate into a solid show.

Again – I went in expecting a GOOD magical girl series, but as usual: it went down the toilet.

anime that don’t deserve any praise.

Awful.

16. Highschool Of The Dead

A horror series gone wrong is all I can say about this.

High School Of The Dead is the horror series you wish would have turned out to be the BEST of its kind. Knowing it had everything going for it to make that happen.

But the zombies are almost used as decoration here. The main focus is throwing Ecchi body shots in the frame, and piling on the fan service at every chance it gets.

Only the Japanese could say “you know what? Let’s make a zombie horror series with so much fan service the horror doesn’t even matter”.

17. Love Live Sunshine

I’ve watched the original Love Live and had no problems with it. In fact It’s an anime I enjoyed but never talk about it.

The teamwork, the chemistry of the characters, the original Love Live is better than I thought it would be.

Love Live Sunshine is what happens when a franchise milks the living sh*t out of its fanbase.

There’s NO difference, except some slightly new looking faces and character names.

I can only imagine it’s aimed at anyone who was never a fan of (or ever knew of) the Love Live franchise to begin with.

For “previous” fans like myself it’s a disappointment.

18. One Punch Man Season 2

At first I thought everyone was crazy judging the first episode as if the whole anime would turn out to be “awful”.

But they weren’t lying.

The 2nd season was doomed to fail and I secretly knew it.

You can’t take an anime from one studio and pass it over to another, then expect them to do even better. Especially when that studio lacks the context needed.

I can only think of less than a handful of anime that pulled it off without being disappointing (Full Metal Panic).

One Punch Man S2 wasn’t a good look for the franchise.

Relevant: 34+ Of The Mightiest One Punch Man Anime Quotes (Ultimate List)