With the infinite amount of anime there is to consume; sometimes we come across ones that are just soo bad. From terrible adaptations to eye-splintering animation quality, some of these animes are soo bad they keep you watching.
In today’s article, we compiled a list of 10 anime that is soo bad they’ll keep you watching. We all have our tastes when it comes to what we consume anime-wise, but these anime stand out for their saving graces despite their flaws.
1. Dynamic Chord
Dynamic Chord is an anime that follows the lives of four bands under the agency Dynamic Chord. Each band has its own unique story and style of music, and the anime explores their struggles and successes as they try to make it in the competitive world of music.
An anime about music hardly touches upon it. Fans have said this anime is not a music anime despite the premise that it is supposed to be one. Coupled with its poor animation quality, this anime has received many poor reviews across sites.
However, this anime is fun to watch because of its chaotic nature. I would say this is for a reaction video, so try watching this with your friend and share your thoughts on it.
This anime moreover explores the boy band drama and successes/failures of what it means to be in the music industry. The anime divided its story into 4 sub-stories, so if you’re a fan of that, this anime might be up your alley.
2. Chargeman Ken!
Chargeman Ken! is probably one of the worst anime ever made, but that’s where its charm comes from. Remember, this anime was made in 1974, so the time of conception also plays a factor in its poor reviews by modern-day anime fans.
This anime is the epitome of being lazy and cutting corners, from scenes with no sound to frames being cut in fight scenes. However, that’s where the beauty of this anime lies. Seeing an anime like this in our modern-day kind has an exciting vibe that draws us to see it. It is like when you tell your best friend to do something that you wouldn’t do; the curiosity about the poor animation work and the scripting makes it a joy to watch.
In writing this review, I took some time to watch some of Chargeman Ken! and it’s soo bad that it’s good; it just made me want to watch the anime implode on itself more and more as the episodes went by; I felt like a masochist watching it haha.
3. EX-ARM
Every season we get new anime, and there’s always that one anime that is soo bad that it becomes popular solely for that. EX-ARM is a science fiction anime that follows the story of a high school student named Akira Natsume, who discovers a powerful artificial intelligence known as EX-ARM. The EX-ARM has the ability to control and manipulate any machinery, and Akira decides to use its power to fight crime and injustice.
This anime’s problems stem from its horrific animation quality and horrible manga adaptation. Watching this, I never realized there could be bugs in animation, but the number of visual glitches/untimed zoom-in/outs make you think this was uploaded onto YouTube, trying to avoid a copyright strike. Interestingly, the head director for the anime, Yoshikatsu Kimura, had no experience in animation whatsoever; he has only done live-action movies, so you could say this anime was doomed from the start.
Only the anime’s storyline will keep you hooked, with an interesting plot and characters; EX-ARM is like the joker meme, “we live in a society” embodied. The voice acting is also well done; they really bring to life the characters of a dead-on-arrival anime. All in all, watch for the experience of poor animation and stay for the story.
4. My Sister, My Writer
Imagine being in a housefire and the firefighters come at the right time to save you, but the water has been swapped for gasoline; that is My Sister, My Writer. My Sister, My Writer is a romantic comedy anime that follows the story of a high school student named Tomoya Mizuhara, who discovers that his younger sister, Suzuka, is a talented and successful light novel author. He then has to navigate through his feelings for her and being a light novel author.
From the characters being one-dimensional to the inconsistent art style, this anime was already in the gutter. The saving grace that makes you want to continue watching is the characters’ dialogue. It’s soo poorly written and cringe that it becomes a guilty pleasure after the first episode. The dialogue is so dry and vague that it naturally creates funny moments, which helps in the case of the visual horror you must endure.
From my experience, when the MC talked with his sister about her being an LN author, I almost threw my monitor in disbelief that the script got greenlit. But then I stopped and realized that it’s soo painstakingly bad that it turns into a comedy whenever a character opens their mouth.
5. The Promised Neverland (Second Season)
The Promised Neverland fandom has not since recovered from the second season, and I don’t blame them. Being a horror genre, the anime struck the heart of fans looking forward to the second season of this popular anime and completely botched it, hook, line, and sinker.
The second season of this popular anime was rushed and changed deliberately due to time constraints. This, in turn, led to an outcry of anger from the anime’s fandom, and unlike some studios which will listen to the fan’s feedback, they completely ignored it and never gave it another chance/re-work. The second season also left out important parts of the manga which would have saved this fandom and its golden goose.
All in all, If you ever, and I mean EVER, want to try out The Promised Neverland, watch the first season, then read the rest of the manga. If you’re a fine diner of trainwreck animes like me, watch the second season with a bunch of your otaku friends and laugh at the dread of what rushing an anime does to a masterpiece; at least there, you’ll find something to make your time worth it.
6. Pop Team Epic
Pop Team Epic is a Japanese comedy manga and anime series with a cast of characters who parody various pop culture and internet memes. The series is known for its non-linear and surreal storytelling, as well as its use of a variety of animation styles. Where this anime gets crazier are the voice actors.
For an anime with no actual plot and is all about the “funny,” the voice actors are incredible. Their depth and range bring to life these simple characters we see. I guess since there’s no plot, it would turn off many hardcore anime fans, but its addictiveness lies in its beauty. Coupling the “waste” of talented voice actors, the pop-up-in-your-face comedy style this show portrays leaves you wanting more.
Japanese anime fans refer to this anime as “a waste of voice actors (声優の無駄遣い),” and for a good reason; there are plenty of other animes that need good voice actors, but this memed to hell one got it, haha.
7. School Days
A textbook case of a lousy anime for real. School days is that one joke anime I would refer to anime newbies back in high school and ruin their innocence. This anime is devoid of logic and has an MC whose crimes would be severely punished in the real world. However, as the boys over at Trash Taste said, It’s a masterpiece of our generation.
School days is comically bad in every way, from characters, story, and even the fact that the content of it is soo mature at times it got put on adult websites to be streamed. The MC’s writing also makes anime fans hate this because he is vapid and degenerate. The other characters are devoid of logic as well as they let the MC get away with his antics (they are federal crimes, I swear). This 12-episode torture will forever be legendary for being known as “garbage.”
What makes you want to keep watching simply boils down to the writing. You know what they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and that is what School Days is.
8. VIRTUALSAN – LOOKING
V-tubers in anime? What could possibly come of it? Look, V-Tubers are taking the world by storm, and hey, you may have one that you’re particularly fond of, but not all things are meant to collab. You’re probably better off just watching a stream of the V-Tuber than watching this anime.
The idea of the anime aimed to increase V-tubers’ popularity, but in my opinion, it did the opposite for them. The anime has too many inside jokes and 4th wall breaking antics that would drive a casual anime viewer crazy. The visuals are horrible; it sometimes looked like a microwave was running it.
Despite all its cons, VIRTUALSAN did something new by bringing V-Tubers into the anime world. While the project was a failure and became a meme in the anime community, It still draws fans to watch it simply due to being an entertaining dumpster fire.
9. Pupa
Sometimes I think I have bad ideas, but then I remember Pupa and feel much better about myself. The story follows a pair of siblings who left their abusive household, and one day they both get infected with the Pupa virus, which turns the younger sister into a deformed man-eating monster. At the same time, the brother gained the ability to regenerate his limbs to help feed his sister…yeah.
Imagine if the Human Centipede was watered down to fit a PG-13 audience, that’s as far as entertainment you’ll find in this anime. It’s full of grotesque scenes that will turn your stomach upside down. On MyAnimeList, it is one of the lowest-rated shows on the site.
Now you’re wondering, “what makes it so enjoyable despite being so bad?” Nothing. You watch this at your lowest point in humanity; simply watching the vore and cannibalism makes it a really, really dark fantasy for anime watchers.
10. The Seven Deadly Sins (Third Season)
Seven Deadly Sins (SDS) is a casualty, and I will always defend it. Not only is it one of the most popular shonen media out there, it saw massive popularity during its run. But we SDS enjoyers were quickly met with demise during the release of season 3.
Season 3 was supposed to be unique with the upcoming fights fans fawned over. Still, due to a switching of animation studios, fans were probably brought some of the worst animation quality to date in a shonen series. A simple example comes from the Escanor vs Meliodas fight. In the manga, it was surreal to read; in the anime, your eyes would burn and fall out from the wack animations.
Despite this, the storyline is still something that kept viewers both hardcore and casual. Also, this particular season was home to significant plot points that would shift the series; it’s a shame that the animation quality could not have been better. I recommend sticking to the manga or holding out during season 3’s fight scenes.
Summary
The anime we listed are popular in the anime fandom for being guilty pleasure watches since there’s remotely nothing good about them except for their 1 saving grace. Whether it’s animation or writing, it’s quick to pass judgment on why an anime is bad. However, there’s always something good to someone in them.
We hope you found an anime that piques your interest!
Be sure to keep checking back on our site for more great anime recommendations!