Top 10 Anime That Crashed and Burned after One Episode

“Lost” is a good way to describe this misguided mystery. Despite an intriguing setup surrounding an expedition to a fabled village, it fumbles the execution at every single turn. To put it nicely, “The Lost Village’s” first episode is either a flat thriller, a weird drama, or a boring character study. It’s hard to describe because the show has absolutely no idea what it’s trying to do. To make matters worse, it wastes precious screen time introducing its thirty - yes, thirty - main characters. By the time the credits roll, “The Lost Village” will definitely leave you scratching your head, just not in a good way.

Hailing from the creator of “Hitman Reborn!” this sci-fi shonen debuted as one of the must-watch shows of the winter 2017 season. But, in just twenty, cringe-inducing minutes, “ēlDLIVE” turned all that hype into utter dread. The story follows middle-schooler Chūta as he fights an alien, meets some busty women, and becomes an intergalactic cop. Why? Because the plot says so. Lacking any of the magic from the author’s previous works, “ēlDLIVE” felt like a lazy attempt to cash-in on a few popular trends. While not without some creative merits, the disappointing first episode didn’t convince many people to stick around - and we can’t even blame them.

If anyone didn’t know what this anime was about going in, they sure learned fast. We’d almost respect it if the results were so stomach-churning. For the uninitiated, “My Sister, My Writer” follows Suzuka, a young girl who pens a story about someone banging their older brother. Oh, and you’ll never guess who the real Suzuka has feelings for. There’s absolutely no gray area about where this show is headed, so it’s no surprise that i left viewers jumping ship before the first commercial break. For those in search of a romance anime, be warned that “My Sister, My Writer” isn’t a meet-cute. It’s a meet-cringe.

Let’s make one thing very clear; “FLCL” didn’t need a sequel. At just six episodes, the original series was the perfect encapsulation of youth, style, and flair. Frustratingly, those are the same three things these long-awaited follow-ups sorely lack. Airing over fifteen years after the original ended, it’s almost impressive how quickly “Progressive” and “Reload” go off the rails. The new seasons butcher the characters, double down on mindless action, and still have the gall to put the “FLCL” name on top. Longtime fans only needed a single episode each to realize that these addendums aren’t just bad, they’re something even worse: plain unnecessary. “FLCL” deserves better.

The only mystery worth solving here is how things went so wrong. Any real plot development or thought-provoking ideas are immediately hijacked by a nonsensical story featuring, ironically, an actual hijacking. For some reason we can’t even begin to understand, teenager Kimihiko becomes the sidekick to master detective Siesta. Except, to her, solving the case looks a lot like dropping a ton of exposition and glossing over gaping plot holes. Then, after all that, Siesta just dies! It’s clear the audience is supposed to care, but the premiere is so overstuffed, the only emotion it elicits is pure exasperation. It doesn’t take a detective to see why this whodunit fizzled out.

At the start, “Black Butler” was a dark coming-of-age tale about a young boy named Ciel giving up his soul in the name of vengeance. “Black Butler II,” however? It’s not quite as easy to break down. In a truly baffling turn of events, the second season diverges from the source material, throws all character growth to the side, and places an inordinate focus on a new crop of cast members. Claude didn’t hold a candle to Sebastian, and that’s putting it nicely. After just one episode, audiences realized the show was “Black Butler” in name alone. There was no precedent, no build-up, and no reason to keep watching.

With a name like that, most fans tuned in expecting a high-octane clash between their favorite characters. What they got, instead, was decidedly not super. There’s really no way to sugarcoat it; the animation here looks like it came out of a powerpoint. It didn’t help that the quote-unquote story read like bad fanfiction. You know it’s rough when even the seasoned Japanese voice cast sounds like they’re phoning it in. Given everything, the first episode wasn’t exactly warmly received. “Torn to shreds” is a better way of putting it. “Dragon Ball” hasn’t always had the smoothest track record, but clearly, fans expected a whole lot more than this.

Most people would look at “Eureka Seven’s” beautiful, conclusive ending, and realize it doesn’t need a second season. Unfortunately, the suits behind the anime aren’t “most people.” For no other reason than to milk the series’ brand recognition, “Eureka Seven: AO” fast-forwarded a few years and to tell the story of Eureka’s son. Sadly, good plotlines, strong characters, and compelling themes don’t run in the family. But, the worst part is how hamfisted it feels. The sheer amount of unbelievable contrivances in its first episode alone will have you rolling your eyes till they hurt. It’s almost impressive that, in just one outing, “Ao” completely wrecked the fifty that came before it.

This one hurts. By all intents and purposes, a show from the creators of “Death Note” should have been a slam dunk. Throw in a compelling setup involving an angelic battle-royale, and it sounds even sweeter. And yet, when people finally got to see “Platinum End,” the reviews were bad. Not lukewarm, not mixed. Bad. Many agreed the show got lost in its own moral musings, trading fun and adventure for an ethics lesson. Considering the high expectations, no angel could save “Platinum End” from a quick, messy execution in the court of public opinion. And that was just after episode one. “Platinum End” is no “Death Note,” that’s for sure.

The second season of this beloved anime decided to forego the source material and follow an original story instead, nearly ruining the whole franchise in the process. Wait, is there an echo in here? As if the retconned plotlines weren’t bad enough, this premier closes with Kaneki pledging his loyalty to the bloodthirsty Aogiri Tree. You know, the same people who literally just finished torturing him to madness. This one, mind-boggling decision is a complete disservice to the character, the story, and “Tokyo Ghoul” as a whole. One episode in, any fans who’d held out hope realized that the “Tokyo Ghoul” they knew and loved ended with the first season.

Should we give any of these one-shot misfires a second chance? Let us know in the comments below!