Top 10 Unwatchable Anime

In a post-apocalyptic world where music is nowhere to be found, the young Echo Rec discovers the joy of a good beat when he finds an audio port in… a girl? Yeah, that’s right, he sticks an aux cord into the amnesiac Mu, and no, that’s not a dirty metaphor. It’s the literal plot of the show. Oh, and there’s also mechs! Don’t ask us why; that implies there’s a reason for anything that happens in “Listeners.” The characters love to spout off names of classic musical artists, but otherwise, it’s a boring nothingburger of an anime that squanders its potential beneath cringey jokes and nonsensical plotting.

As more and more battle anime come out of the woodwork, it’s becoming harder for any one to stand out from the crowd. But, forcing your leads to always hold hands? Is that really the best selling point “Hand Shakers” could come up with? If this were a comedy, or even a light-hearted isekai, it’d be funny. But it’s not. It’s just awkward. Then again, the story doesn’t matter when the visuals alone are enough to turn most people away. Studio GoHands has a track record of turning in some of the ugliest anime around, and “Hand Shakers” CG attacks are no exception. Trust us and stay far, far away from this one.

Whether you play basketball, volleyball, football, or something else, there’s a great sports anime out there made just for you. Rugby players, on the other hand… Well, they got “Try Knights.” It’s a lifeless, stereotypical underdog story stuffed full of lifeless, stereotypical characters. And, even worse, it’s all topped off with some of the most abysmal animation to ever make it to public broadcast. There’s no speed or impact to anything that happens onscreen, which makes “Try Knights” utterly impossible to take seriously. Given the lackluster plot, we wouldn’t blame the animators if they just cut their losses. So, seriously, don’t bother trying “Try Knights.”

The original “FLCL” is an untouchable classic; that much we can all agree on. But, instead of leaving good enough alone, Adult Swim just had to go and milk the brand for all its worth. Out came three different sequel series: “Progressive,” “Alternative,” and “Grunge.” Somehow, each is worse than the last. Without even touching on the poor animation quality, the overblown storylines feel like they miss the intimate heart that put “FLCL” on the map in the first place. It’s not just that they’re disappointing; these cash-grab sequels actively detract from the original’s legacy. So, if our choices are sink or Adult Swim, we’d choose “sink” every single time.

Let’s make one thing very clear: “Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer” isn’t a bad manga. It’s actually pretty damn good, especially once it starts peeling back the dark layers of its demonic characters. It’s unfortunate, then, that all the best parts of the series are stuck on the page. Somewhere in translation, the anime lost sight of its source material, instead doubling down on bad fanservice and cliche jokes. “Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer’s” poor adaptation hurts all the more because manga readers know that, if it were in other hands, this show could have been great. Sadly, “could have” is as close to greatness as it will ever get.

Adult swim strikes again! Instead of spitting on a beloved IP, they went for an original idea this time. But, things didn’t turn out much better, anyways. “Ninja Kamui’s” whole story is the same old, tired revenge tale you’ve seen a thousand times before in a thousand better anime. Then, rather than doing anything new with its very familiar setup, the show throws a bunch of agonizingly boring fights at the screen and turns in for the day. It’s an insipid, try-hard piece of fiction that feels like it only exists to cash in on the success of other, better action shows. Based on the negative reception, we’d say it epically failed.

Saving the world with the long-lost artifacts of Nikola Tesla is pretty serious work. So, it’s a real head-scratcher why “Tesla Note” can’t seem to go more than sixty seconds without cramming another low-brow joke down your throat. Every engaging plot development is almost immediately shoved to the side in favor of more attempts at comedy. Although, given the truly awful 3D animation, there’s a good chance “Tesla Note” would’ve flopped even if it had been a straight drama. You’d think combining spy thrills, flashy action, and quirky characters would be a foolproof operation, but somehow, “Tesla Note” came out much less than the sum of its parts.

The only entertaining part of “Uzumaki” is figuring out what the hell happened behind the scenes. Announced in 2019, the four episode miniseries faced delay after delay, before finally hitting screens five years later in 2024. And, after all that waiting, fans of the manga tuned in to see a PNG slideshow that barely qualifies as animation. While the first episode looked fine enough, the following three fell off a cliff. To say fans were disappointed would be the understatement of the century. It makes you wonder; what in the world were they doing for five years? Because, clearly, it wasn’t working on “Uzumaki.”

Some shows are unwatchable because they’re boring; others because they squander their potential. Some are just flat-out tasteless. But, when we say “Ex-Arm” is unwatchable, we aren’t even talking about its convoluted plot, misguided changes, or blatant fanservice. No, it’s unwatchable on a pure visual level. The dizzying camera and atrocious 3D animation is more likely to make you sick than keep you entertained. There’s no way to sugarcoat it; “Ex-Arm” is an indefensibly ugly show. It’s such a monumental misfire that, at this point, it’s pretty much the face of bad CGI; if not anime as a whole. Fans of the manga… all we can say is we’re sorry.

As it turns out, slapping the name of a popular show on a cheap spinoff anime does not automatically make it good, funny, or worthwhile. But, really, we shouldn’t be surprised considering this “Rick and Morty” offshoot was partly produced by, you guessed it, Adult Swim. Most of the show’s issues can be summed up by the fact that none of the original cast reprised their roles for the English dub. That’s right, they couldn’t even get Rick and Morty back for a “Rick and Morty” anime. That’s how little care went into the production, and you can see it reflected in every painfully unfunny corner of this disaster.



What’s an anime everyone else seems to love, but you can’t stand? Let us know in those comments below!