Of the great variety ofanimethat deserve every bit of the praise that they receive, others that viewers claim to love are somewhat overrated. Even though some anime series generate more hype than others, sometimes there is a large gap between their popularity and quality, which makes the line between both blurred for viewers. Because of this,a good number of anime franchises with loyal and dedicated fanbases that stand by for their quality often miss the markand don’t live up to their praise.
The most overrated anime are those so hyped for their own good, that viewers expect them to be amazing, but instead, they leave them scratching their heads thinking about how the series even got so recognized in the first place. While some started off promising but later fell off in terms of quality and originality as the story progressed, becoming a mess,some of the most overrated anime don’t deserve to be so highly regarded and aren’t actually that worth watching.
AlthoughClassroom of the Elitegained popularity quickly thanks to its cunning and manipulative protagonist, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, itwasted its potential with a lackluster adaptation.Classroom of the Elitehas many loyal fans with a confirmed fourth season in production, but was also heavily criticized for the changes from the source material in the adaptation as well as its inconsistent animation quality.
Despite its interesting premise, the anime lacks executionas some of these changes impacted the development of many side characters, becoming flat and one-dimensional, and making some moments feel incredibly rushed and confusing by skipping many dialogues. Moreover, instead of delving into deep issues in today’s society, like humanity and manipulation, the differences between people, and what money can buy, the anime loses into a typical harem. It has a good start, but as the episodes go by, it becomes very predictable, with the following season having a worst animation quality.
Darling in the Franxxwas one of the most hyped animes of all time with a production under three renowned animation houses Trigger, A-1 Pictures, and Cloverworks. But even thoughmany viewers thought thatDarling in the Franxxwas on its way to becomingthe successor ofNeon Genesis Evangelion,carrying the mecha genre with a similar sci-fi premise of teenagers piloting giant robots to protect humanity, the anime took a turn for the worst during its second half.
Darling in the Franxxhas fluid animation, excellent action and character design, as well as cinematography, and the use of the soundtrack that makes certain moments memorable, which has earned it praise from the audience. However, the series' pacing, story, characters' interactions, and world building went progressively downhill,becoming more of a melodrama with an inconsistent tone than an action series with a deep portrayal of human conflicts.
Due to its medieval setting and graphic and disturbing content in its first episode—which depicts violent sexual abuse—Goblin Slayerbecame highly popular as a dark and gritty anime. Furthermore, asGoblin Slayer’s brutality was toned down after its premiere episode revealed that its true premise was about an adventurer becoming human again after going through a traumatic event,the anime raises comparisons with amasterpiece series likeBerserk.
However,Goblin Slayerisn’t as philosophical as some viewers claim and lacks depth, getting progressively worse, which only heightened how the initial violence was a plot device instead of a resource to enhance the cruelty of the beings the protagonists face. This way,Goblin Slayerevolves as a simple and shallow story with a generic and uninspired protagonist focused only on killing goblins, becoming repetitive, and getting old extremely quickly, so it shouldn’t be considered a good watch among the dark fantasy animes out there.
Charlotte,from the same creator ofAngel BeatsJun Maeda, is an anime where, similar toX-Men, adolescence is accompanied by superhuman abilities.Charlotteis mostly recognized thanks to its good animation, emotional climax and twists during the second half of the series and is often recommended to those looking for a different story about superpowers. Unfortunately,despite its good critics,Charlotteisn’t worth watching.
Its detailed, colorful, and fluid animation is not able to bring the anime to life, sincealthoughCharlotte’s story seems solid at first, its problems become more evident after episode 6, having a more dramatic approach that tries to be deep but fails to due to its one-dimensional characters, plot holes and excessively hasty pacing. This way,Charlottedoesn’t convey the emotion it wants to express and that other animes from Key likeClannadandAngel Beatsdid a lot better despite their faults.
Even though its hype went down due to the amount of time between seasons,The Irregular at Magic High Schoolwas massively popular due to its magic system and overpowered protagonist. However, it has many flaws that become more apparent as time goes on. Its protagonist, Tatsuya Shiba, lacks personality, and is almost comically favored most of the time, which has been a point of critique in many other series, likeSword Art Online. Butwhile the last might hold up due to the series' worldbuilding,The Irregular at Magic High Schooljust comes as generic.
Without many action scenes and an excess of dialogue,the anime doesn’t stand out due to its inconsistent animation quality,which worsened with the change of studio. Moreover, the anime has some of the most caricatured and one-dimensional stereotyped villains and doesn’t bring anything new or interesting to the medium getting a new season due to its legion of fans rather than its quality.
WhileTokyo Ghoulis well known for itsbad anime sequels, suffering from the same fate as series likeThe Promised NeverlandandThe Devil is a Part-Timer,it is quite a disappointing adaptation from its first season.The first season ofTokyo Ghoulremains really popular and is rated high, but even this installment didn’t do justice to the source material art style and faced a pacing and censorship problem, being mostly overrated because of its impactful finale.
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This has often been overlooked, asTokyo Ghoul’s following seasons were an even bigger letdown, skipping a lot of content from the manga and taking too many creative liberties that ended up in a rushed mess that speed-ran towards its end inTokyo Ghoul: Re. Because of this, despite its incredible soundtrack,Tokyo Ghoul’s story is most enjoyable from the beginning in its manga version.
The Rising of the Shield Herohas become one of the most popular isekai animewhere the protagonist Naofumi has a different type of weapon having to fight with a shield, unlike the rest of the summoned humans. The series starts with a betrayal that forces Naofumi to be exiled, creating a fascinating premise at first. However, this initial excitement steadily wears down as the story progresses, becoming more boring.
The praise of the story decreased even more with the second season ofThe Rising of the Shield Heroas the story seems to be going nowhere, and even though the following installment was an improvement, this has already caused irreversible damage to the franchise. Also, the anime lacks good villains that can challenge Naofumi and make conflicts resonate more with the audience as in other isekai anime likeRe:Zero.
Despite its controversial protagonist,Tokyo Revengershas gained a lot of popularityin recent years by mixing gang fights and time travel as well as its appealing character design and the charming nature of most of its side cast. While its initial hype has decreased due to how criticized its ending was,Tokyo Revengers’s overall reception and expectations continue strong with an upcoming fourth season.
Yet,Tokyo Revengersis far from what should be considered a good anime, it has animation flaws, lackluster action scenes, and characters with a lot of potential that are abandoned to their fate—like Hanma and the Hantani—and introduces too many new faces halfway. Furthermore, the time-travel aspect—which was the most interesting part of its story—has many plot holes and takes a sideline, focusing extensively on the drama of Takemichi’s relationships and how to find a way to save them all, which isn’t as well-developed as it should.
