Top 10 Worst Anime of 2018
For this list, we're diving back into the bottom of the barrel, and seeing what kind of animated swill this year has cooked up for us. Needless to say; they really dropped the bar this time around!
#10: “Märchen Mädchen” (2018)
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Taking every stale trope out of the magical girl handbook, this unimpressive attempt at whisking us away into a storybook world filled with fantasy and wonderment doesn’t even come close to the others in its genre. We’ve seen this plot a million times before, the characters and gags all fall flat, and its lack of imagination is only matched by its degrading animation quality. In a medium this saturated with sparkling, pure-hearted girls who only live for fun and friendship, it’s kind of impressive that this series could stand out as such a failure.
#9: “Cutie Honey Universe” (2018)
We’re not angry at you Honey, just severely disappointed. Whereas Devilman came back with a tour de force of a reboot, Go Nagai’s other iconic character didn’t really manage to get out of the starting gate. They could have done so much with a femme fatale like Honey, integrated so many details and expanded upon so many subtexts. Alas, it falls woefully short when compared to other entries in its franchise. Stick with Re:Cutie Honey for now and give this one a hard miss.
#8: “Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King” (2018)
Never in a million years did we think we’d long for the days of Big Order, but here we are! Otherwise known as The Scarlet Stupidity and The Carmine Clown, this is yet another example of a series presenting a somewhat decent idea, only to fall at every hurdle due to terribly written characters and a nonsensical narrative. Evil fog, hidden powers, two warring factions trying to recreate the earth, and a protagonist whose only good for screaming out the names of the cast. Honestly, this show would have been a bit more tolerable if they actually went full grimdark – that’s how terrible it is.
#7: “My Sister, My Writer” (2018)
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Thought we were over this anime, how after Eromanga Sensei we agreed to leave the incest barrier alone. And what do you give us? A series that can’t even be enjoyed as entertaining trash due to its abysmal quality. You’ve got your run of the mill sibling duo who are just dying to bump hips, plenty of side characters who would probably make for far better love interests and a plot farted out from Oreimo’s remains. Oddly enough, the biggest reason for this show’s failure would be the visuals. The dip in quality after the first episode is atrocious, to the point where the brother/sister action isn’t the most disturbing thing on screen.
#6: “Hakyu Hoshin Engi” (2018)
When an adaptation is so bad that it leads to a petition being launched by detected fans, then you know you’ve royally flubbed up. Not had to see why, as what was supposed to be a fantasy series filled with rich lore and epic battles was cropped and rushed out in such a sorry state that nobody really had any idea what was going on. Collecting the spirits of demons? China being controlled by an evil spirit? Some idiot flying on a hippo? Trying to follow this convoluted mess might give you whiplash…
#5: “The Thousand Noble Musketeers” (2018)
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Ah yes, the age-old concept of taking inanimate objects and turning them into sexy anime characters. Hey, if it worked for legendary katanas then why not guns? While it’s clear that the aim of this anime was to entice the female demographic with as many bishounen beauties as possible (seriously, just how many characters did they fit in this thing?) it doesn’t give you the excuse to dish out a series of such laughable quality. Don’t be surprised if your husbando of choice is suddenly missing a mouth in one scene.
#4: “Between the Sky and Sea” (2018)
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This anime may have gained infamy due to the supposed gender politics of the initial episode, but don’t let that detract you – there are way more reasons for why you should give this anime a pass. With the premise of fishing in space, you would have thought we’d be in for a hilarious sci-fi adventure from the get-go. Nope. Most of the time the characters’ feet are squarely placed on terra firma while they go on about how fish are the greatest things in the world, while also reinforcing their architypes. The art may catch your eye, but there’s nothing of substance to warrant giving this series a second glance.
#3: “Conception” (2018)
Just when you thought video game adaptions couldn’t get any more padded with substandard shows, along comes this sleazy little number. The premise? Oh you know; a great evil that needs defeating and the only ones that can do it are a bunch of superpowered children. However, since there seems to be a lack of willing male participants in this vast fantasy world to create said children, it’s down to your average student to hop on over and start getting intimate with every lady he sees. It’s kind of amazing to come across an anime that probably would have had gained better reception if it was an actual hentai.
#2: “Himote House” (2018)
If you’re looking for some exquisite 3D CGI trash to watch, then you’re in luck, because this supposed slice of life has it in spades. We would go into the repetitive nature of the narrative, how its comedy doesn’t exactly measure to others with similar premises…but is there really any point? Just look at this crap. It’s like they took all the unfunny scenes out of your average slice of life and recreated them via Yandere Simulator. So much for this animation style taking several steps forward.
#1: “Fist of the Blue Sky: Re:Genesis” (2018)
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How did this insult to Kenshiro’s legacy land itself two bloody seasons?! Combing all of the worst aspects of anime 2018, including terrible CGI animation and poor pacing, what should have been a return to form for the Hokuto Shinken master turned out to be one great big disappointment. How are we supposed to enjoy a crazy, macho fight scene when we can even see the lines where the character models were cropped? Kasumi Kenshiro might take the crown for having the biggest neckline of any anime character this year, but his series is nothing more than a colossal waste of time.
