Another Top 10 Moments That Ruined an Anime

“Berserk” (2016-)
You all remember the original series, right? How despite its obviously limited budget it gave us a haunting tale of Guts… Given how it ended on the mother of all cliff-hangers, we all hoped we would see a continuation, only to realize we should really be careful with what we wish for. The whole thing is saturated in an ugly art-style and framed with lacklustre camerawork to the point where the series suffers for it. The sad thing is, whenever it transitions to 2D animation it looks ­awesome... Why can’t they just keep it that way?

“Oreimo” (2010-13)
Ok we’re kinda beating a dead horse at this point but... even if we somehow managed to look past the fact that you decided to romantically pursue your own sister instead, just from a character perspective Ruri is just so much better. Sure, she’s a huge nerd who loves to cosplay as a gothic Lolita and has huge social insecurities, but damnit she was “best girl”. As opposed to Kirino, who degrades and slaps you around every episode…and once again is your SISTER. The breakup in of itself is a truly heart-breaking scene to watch, and knowing what could have been only makes it worse.

“Digimon Adventure tri.” (2015-)
While giving old school fans of the anime everything they could want from a reunion with the original Digidestined, there were also a few surprises along the way that more than warranted excitement. One of them happened to be the arrival of a figure who looked almost identical to Digimon Adventure 02’s former antagonist; the Digimon Emperor. Wait, does that mean we’re getting cameos from the rest of 02’s Digidestined? Is it maybe going to retcon some of the worst parts of the series? Could Ken have gone back to being evil? What could this mean?! Oh, it’s just a pointless disguise by this dude. Well that’s a digital dud.

“Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer” (2010)
Aside from having a title that has no reason to be so long, this flick does a sorry job of being a love letter to those that enjoyed the Gundam 00 series. The mecha battles certainly have some polish to them, but the narrative is so convoluted and stuffed with characters that even diehard watchers may find themselves getting lost along the way. And yes, the villains of this movie are actually extra-terrestrials. Remember when Gundam was about opposing ideologies and the consequences of war? Yeah, we miss those days too.

“Kokoro Connect” (2012)
As far as creating a light-hearted atmosphere, nothing beats an anime that focuses on the highs and lows of high school friendship and romance. Sure, there might be the occasional nod towards more mature content but more often than not all you’ll be getting is gentle blushes and a serious case of ‘notice me senpai.’ Not in this case of this show, wherein Taichi and Himeko confess their darkest secrets to each other so they can overcome some personal demons. Except said confession happens to involves both of them admitting to getting off to the thought of the other. Lovely.

“Love, Chunibyo& Other Delusions” (2012-14)
After two seasons of waiting, two seasons of build-up and two seasons of being on the edge to see this adorable couple finally lock lips, you go and pull a stunt like that? While having to overcome all manner of social awkwardness, namely Rikka’s inability to separate the real world from her fantasies, she and Yuta manage to nonetheless proclaim their love for each other. However, her frailty and introverted nature prevents her from entering the ‘kissing stage’ of the relationship, at least for most of the series. Then comes the finale and it looks like they are about to finally take that next step…until it’s interrupted. And everyone’s time was wasted.

“Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ” (1986-87)
Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta may have reached or surpassed the pinnacle of the original, and a sequel it carried over the central theme of the brutality that comes with war. And then the threequel came along, where it became very clear that it was going to be taking a lighter approach. When you’re coming off the back of two very sombre shows that focus on the deaths of thousands, then you’re suddenly focusing on the goofy antics of some junker kids kinda kills the mood. Granted if you get past the first batch of episodes it gets pretty dark, but this introduction just left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths…

“Psycho-Pass 2” (2014-15)
In a future where humanity had traded individuality for safety, we have the awesome duo of Kogami and Akane to confront the flaws of their supposedly perfect society. Not to mention blow up a hell of a lot of limbs while they’re at it. Needless to say after the first series we were eager to see what was on the horizon. Okay, looks like Akane is back and…wait…where’s Kogami? Are you saying he literally just hoped on a boat and left? Don’t get us wrong, Akane is alright but one of the best parts of the show was how these two worked off of each other…

“Dragon Ball GT” (1996-97)
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Any hope this show had of being considered as respectable as its hugely popular predecessor went right out of the window when they turned everyone’s favourite Super Saiyan into a child. Honestly, who thought this was a good idea? Were they trying to recapture the glory of the original Dragon Ball? Whatever angle they were aiming for, it failed miserably. Considering how bad the rest of the series was, you can easily point to Goku’s anti-aging dilemma as the tipping point for what followed.

“Pokemon” (1997-)
Again?! After spending an eternity beating gym leaders, various criminal organisations and entering countless tournaments you still can’t secure a win? Once again finding himself in the finals, Ash engages in what is admittedly a pretty epic showdown with Alain. But then he loses at the last second, making it perfectly clear that he was likely never going to become champion of anything. We would’ve expected this had they not titled the episode in Japan, “Kalos League Victory! Satoshi’s Ultimate Match!”. This was just a big “fuck you” to anyone who had been waiting for this moment for 20 years.