Top 10 Cancelled Anime

Top 10 Cancelled Anime

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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Cancelled Anime. For this list, we’re going to be looking at the anime that at one point or another were kicked off the air by the powers that be, even if they were brought back at a later stage. Which cancellation made you rage quit life? Let us know in the comments!

It may not have been revolutionary, but there was every chance for this cyberpunk action-fest to have risen to the occasion and become a juggernaut of its time. A group of all-female mercs with mecha-suits and next-gen motorbikes shooting down rogue robots? What’s not to love? Well, whatever chance they may have had was gutted due to internal strife behind the scenes. With the production companies at odds and various budgetary issues adding to the chaos, what was supposed to be a thirteen-episode saga was reduced to a mere eight. The Knight Sabers deserved so much better.

Oh boy. For being such a superstar of the retro anime scene, the Manslayer hasn’t had the easiest time of it, has he? His first two seasons? Magnificently told and packed to the brim with stellar swordplay. The third season? …not so much. The amount of filler crippled its ratings, and as such hardcore fans had to either leap to the manga or wait years to be drip fed various OVAs that would conclude Kenshin’s story. Worst of all, the original series ended with an absolutely dreadful magic based scenario which had no right to be in a show such as this.

One of the most recent examples of an anime getting canned, and it’s also one of the most shocking. After all, this is one of CLAMP’s more beloved properties, one that not only desperately needed a fresh coat of paint, but had every chance of satisfying newcomers giving its supernatural edge and focus on a compelling shounen-ai sub-story. You’d think in this day and age that would be an instant win. Alas, according to reports, the production committee’s loss of faith in the project combined with allegations of plagiarizing character costumes…this thing now is dead on arrival.

Looks like the PTA scored a victory against anime after all, just a shame that such a ridiculously brilliant example of an off-the-walls comedy was lost in the crossfire. Apparently Bobobo’s hair-raising antics were too violent for Japanese parents, whose numerous complaints led to its cancellation on all fronts. The only solace we can take away from it is that right up until the end, the cast weren’t afraid to smash apart the fourth wall, and in doing so gave fans the most ironically fitting conclusion possible.

You know something has gone terrible wrong when a proposed fifteen-episode fantasy drama gets torn apart and reduced to two due to funding issues…only for the second episode to be cancelled soon after the first’s release due to poor reception. That’s downright brutal, especially since it’s a side story that focuses on one of the characters from the classic fighting game Samurai Shodown. There should have been at least some interested parties wanting to follow Nakoruru. No? Okay then, to anime hell with you!

#5: “Final Fantasy: Unlimited” (2001-02)

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Does anyone even remember this little venture? Goes to show that no matter how many chocobos you put on screen, nothing can save a mediocre series from whittling away under the weight of its own blandness. It certainly didn’t help that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within absolutely bombed at the box office, leading to Unlimited having its story essentially cut in half to twenty-five episodes. Which still might feel like a lifetime for those who consider its brooding lead to just be discount Vincent Valentine.

#4: “Battle Programmer Shirase” (2003-04)

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Well…this is unsettling. While you might have the occasional meta moment where a series acknowledges that it’s on its last legs due to outside forces, it’s rare you get one that ends up thanking the viewers directly. Oddly enough, the conclusion to Shirase is so infamous that it completely overshadows the plot revolving around its hacker protagonist. How often do you see a property go out of its way to not only thank Japanese fans, but also those abroad, and even those fansubbing it all without permission!

This one really walked on a fine line, so much so that quite a few television broadcast networks dropped it like hot lead after its content proved to be too spicy even for Japanese audiences. While the plot did revolve around busty monster girls and getting jiggy with them, what made this particular departure so painful for some was that it had way more charm than the other pervy trash that's aired. However the content was so polarising that it was even dropped by western streaming services after only a few episodes.

This one hurts. This one really hurts. The original is one of the most beloved sci-fi’s out there, complete with a hilariously slick lead and everyone’s favourite cat girl. A sequel of any kind should have been a no-brainer, and yet they couldn’t even get a single OVA out of it. After showing off drafts for a sequel following on from the original, any plans quietly ended due to a lack of interest for the show in Japan. No matter how unlikely it is, we’d absolutely love to see a follow up to this all time classic.

#1: “Mobile Suit Gundam” (1979-80)

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That’s right, the pride of all mecha anime actually found itself sent to the scrap yard after it’s legendary run. You’d think it's a tale of war, revenge and the infamous rivalry between Amuro and Char would make it a household name overnight, but nope, it’s popularity didn’t spike until the re-runs came into play. While the original series was meant to run for a whole year, poor ratings resulted in it getting shafted early on. Guess we should be thankful that it concluded on such an amazing note. After War Gundam X also suffered a similar fate, only with the final result being a million times worse.