Most Disappointing Anime of 2012, Animesuki's Choice

[Kirarakim]

Just a note disappointing does not mean worse. I didn't hate any of my choices but I was let down by them.

I think to truly be disappointed you have to invest some time in the series, you have to have certain expectations. It could be because the premise really interested you or the first half of the series was great. To be disappointed your positive opinion has to change.

On another note I remember last year we had a most surprising series to go with this thread. I liked that because it is the opposite of this: series you had low or no expectations for that exceeded your expectations.

[Ichuki]

Sword Art Online- The premise was interesting but the plot was executed badly and the characters were kind of bland.

Kill Me Baby- I like the characters but I didn't like it how it felt so draggy.

Tari Tari- I felt it was a bit too draggy for me.

Code Breaker- The bland parts out numbers the good parts.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by sudolicious

Exactly, I doubt this thread will really offer some meaningful result. Some shows disappointed me greatly, but they're still much better than other crap that was airing. I'd be more interested in a general "worse anime of 2012" thing, but maybe that's just me.

The problem is that I think it will be very difficult for most people to honestly differentiate between "shows that disappoint me" and "the worst shows". Most people think the two are interchangeable because "the worst to me is the one I'm most disappointed by". Which makes this thread the more honest of the two. (Not to mention the shows people will list are among the ones they've watched, and they had a reason for wanting to watch them in the first place... unless they're the sort of person who literally watches everything just because it's anime, and that gives you a whole other sort of perspective...)

In other words, if we did create a "Worst Shows of 2012" thread, I would be willing to bet that the results would be pretty much the same as here, even though I doubt that -- if you're being truly objective -- the shows most-listed here are really "the worst of the year". Opinions are subjective in the end.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by sudolicious

Exactly, I doubt this thread will really offer some meaningful result.

For me, the posts here are fun to read. And just like Triple R said, sometimes there are posters who can calmly and clearly explain their disappointment which can give me some good insights. For example, I haven’t seen Another, but after reading many posts here, I get the general picture of the show (and I’m okay with a bit ending-spoilers). It helps me decide to watch the show or not.

Originally Posted by sudolicious

Some shows disappointed me greatly, but they're still much better than other crap that was airing.

I think that's the idea behind this thread. It's about disappointing anime, not worse/worst anime of the year. They can be the same but not always.

Originally Posted by sudolicious

Also, some people's choices make my head hurt..

Then don’t pay attention to others’ choices here. At least, you’ll lose your headache by doing that.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

For me, the posts here are fun to read. And just like Triple R said, sometimes there are posters who can calmly and clearly explain their disappointment which can give me some good insights. For example, I haven’t seen Another, but after reading many posts here, I get the general picture of the show (and I’m okay with a bit ending-spoilers). It helps me decide to watch the show or not.

Watch it. It's not that bad. If nothing else, Another has eyepatch moe. People seem to be a sucker for that.

As for the thread, so far so good. It's kind of bad form to ask why people should be disappointed in certain shows (it's their opinion; why should it matter if you disagree?) but, luckily, that hasn't caused much argument, so everything's cool.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

^Ah, another (no pun intended) input for me to watch Another . I don’t have “eye-patch fetish” though . But yeah, I’m already interested. I’m gonna watch it when I have the time.

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Well, I've found it informative. I'm genuinely surprised by how many people have listed SAO on this thread. I'll admit that there's some comfort in knowing that I'm far from alone in seeing certain weaknesses in SAO.

I actually expected that SAO would be the most listed series here. In general, I assume there will always be many people disappointed by an adaptation of a series that popular just because they'll never be able to include every aspect of it that fans love. However, by now I've seen enough consistent complaints on specific points, including ones I have noticed myself as someone who has never even looked at the original material (not the least of which the direction the series has taken after the end of the first arc), that I think it probably goes deeper than just having an unpleasable fanbase. I still look forward to it every week and wouldn't say I'm particularly disappointed personally though. If nothing else, the widespread disappointment surrounding it has increased my motivation to stop being lazy and actually read the novels.

I am really curious if people would actually list SAO in the previously mentioned "Worst Anime" thread though.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by RWBladewing

I am really curious if people would actually list SAO in the previously mentioned "Worst Anime" thread though.

I don't consider SAO the "Worst Anime" of the year. It managed to hold my attention for a dozen episodes or so, and I found them largely entertaining.

For me, the big change now is...

Spoiler for SAO spoilers:

There's no tension in the new MMO. There's no tension largely because dying there doesn't matter any more than dying in WoW matters.

What made SAO unique was its use of a VR MMO as a death game. This is what took SAO to places that greatly differentiated it from Dot Hack, and made it feel very bold and fresh.

But take away that "VR MMO" death game aspect, and it loses so much tension. Certain other elements of it (the lead character having too much plot armor for his own good, the main villain not being particularly effective as a believable threat, etc...) have basically lowered the tension to zero for me.

To be fair, I can certainly see why people like the show. I feel that the characters are good enough that when tension is there, it's a very good show. But the characters aren't quite good enough, imo, that I'd watch the show just for character drama. I can respect other people feeling differently though.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by RWBladewing

I am really curious if people would actually list SAO in the previously mentioned "Worst Anime" thread though.

SAO as worst anime? IMO not really. Even if the story & characters are really lacking, it’s still has high production value such as great animation/action, great voice acting, great BGM and good OPs & EDs, etc. The anime itself is still quite entertaining.

For me, worst anime should be one of those shows you actually find it painful to watch or absolutely boring it puts you to sleep (assuming that you don’t hate the genre). SAO’s level is not that low (yet).

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Most people think the two are interchangeable because "the worst to me is the one I'm most disappointed by". Which makes this thread the more honest of the two. .

I also think that the term "disappointing" has a more subjective connotation to it. When people read "worst", they're more likely to leap to a show's defense because it sounds like more of an objective statement. Disappointment is a nicer, less provocative way of framing it, I think. (Though still ripe for controversy, of course.) In the end, I don't think it's the same question either, my list of worst shows would be a little different and mostly consist of things I just tried on a whim and ended up hating. Most of those shows I don't even finish and couldn't honestly discuss in any detail though, so there's another reason why disappointing shows might be a better topic.

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

If nothing else, Another has eyepatch moe. People seem to be a sucker for that.

Reason enough to watch any show, I say! (I actually think eyepatches have a good batting average this year with Chuunibyou, Another and Jormungand.)

I've yet to finish Another though, but reading through this thread has made me want to hurry up and see what all the ending fuss is about.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

The problem is that I think it will be very difficult for most people to honestly differentiate between "shows that disappoint me" and "the worst shows". Most people think the two are interchangeable because "the worst to me is the one I'm most disappointed by". Which makes this thread the more honest of the two. (Not to mention the shows people will list are among the ones they've watched, and they had a reason for wanting to watch them in the first place... unless they're the sort of person who literally watches everything just because it's anime, and that gives you a whole other sort of perspective...)

In other words, if we did create a "Worst Shows of 2012" thread, I would be willing to bet that the results would be pretty much the same as here, even though I doubt that -- if you're being truly objective -- the shows most-listed here are really "the worst of the year". Opinions are subjective in the end.

I am sorry I disagree, my response would not be the same if it was worst. Of course a lot of anime I might classify as worst I would never watch in the first place.

However my worst anime I watched any of in 2012 would be SAO. A lot of people are listing it as disappointing. It didn't disappoint me because I had low expectations to begin with. I dropped at ep 5 and just reading about certain things made me glad I did. But was I disappointed in it, not really. How can I be disappointed in something that didnt do much for me from the start.

Now other people seemed to enjoy aspects of SAO or liked its first half, so those posters being disappointed make sense, but that is very different from my feelings for the series.


Heck in my response I even listed a series I generally enjoyed (Kids on a Slope) but I was still disappointed because I feel it could have been much better if it wasn't rushed.

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I don't consider SAO the "Worst Anime" of the year. It managed to hold my attention for a dozen episodes or so, and I found them largely entertaining.

For me, the big change now is...

Spoiler for SAO spoilers:

There's no tension in the new MMO. There's no tension largely because dying there doesn't matter any more than dying in WoW matters.

What made SAO unique was its use of a VR MMO as a death game. This is what took SAO to places that greatly differentiated it from Dot Hack, and made it feel very bold and fresh.

But take away that "VR MMO" death game aspect, and it loses so much tension. Certain other elements of it (the lead character having too much plot armor for his own good, the main villain not being particularly effective as a believable threat, etc...) have basically lowered the tension to zero for me.

To be fair, I can certainly see why people like the show. I feel that the characters are good enough that when tension is there, it's a very good show. But the characters aren't quite good enough, imo, that I'd watch the show just for character drama. I can respect other people feeling differently though.

That mostly mirrors my opinion but differs slightly, though I'll refrain from saying more since there's plenty of threads discussing the show already.

In regards to it being the "worst" or not, I agree with this and Obelisk's post, and I actually think most people who've posted here would say similarly, though Relentlessflame's post just got me thinking. I tend to agree with his assessment overall but I think this would be an exception and would be interested to see how it turned out either way. Though curiosity isn't really a good reason to start a thread that would likely generate far more polarizing and less civil responses than this one.

[SeijiSensei]

Kim's last comment about Sakamichi no Apollon mirrors my opinion. In general, I'm not going to be "disappointed" in a show I dislike. I'll stop watching it long before I reach disappointment. I'm usually disappointed when a show has high aspirations and fails to fulfill them. That's what bothered me most about Sakamichi no Apollon. I had similar feelings about Lupin III/The Woman Named Mine Fujiko, though I have yet to watch the closing episodes so I do not feel justified listing it here. I understand they are quite good. It's also the reason why I have mixed feelings about Ergo Proxy and Evangelion as well. Shin Sekai Yori could fall into this category, too, I fear, though time will tell.

Space Brothers and AKB0048 are at the other end of the spectrum for different reasons. Space Brothers is entirely unpretentious and tells a simple, heart-warming story about two brothers who want to be astronauts. It delivers exactly what it promises. In contrast, Okada's script for AKB0048 has pretentions of being a political critique of censorship (though it doesn't come close to Oh! Edo Rocket). While the politics were one reason why I kept watching the show, the much more compelling reason was simply that it is a lot of fun with cute girls, solid direction, and a well-written score. AKB0048 definitely would be my "most surprising" series if we had a thread for that again as Kirarakim mentioned, followed closely by Chihayafuru and Tsuritama.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I am sorry I disagree, my response would not be the same if it was worst. Of course a lot of anime I might classify as worst I would never watch in the first place.

However my worst anime I watched any of in 2012 would be SAO. A lot of people are listing it as disappointing. It didn't disappoint me because I had low expectations to begin with. I dropped at ep 5 and just reading about certain things made me glad I did. But was I disappointed in it, not really. How can I be disappointed in something that didnt do much for me from the start.

I understand what you're saying, but you're actually not really disagreeing with the intent of my comment as much as you think. It's one thing to say "of the anime I watched in 2012, this is the one I liked the least" (and yes, that may be different from the one that disappointed you the most). But when someone makes a statement like "The Worst Anime of 2012", it implies that there are things wrong with it that go far beyond just "I didn't like it". As Echoes said above, it implies a more objective judgement that includes more than just a subjective judgement on the plot, characters, and overall direction. (Whether it's right or wrong that it has that implication, I'm not sure.) If we were to make a thread that captures the sort of comment you just made, I wouldn't call it "The Worst Anime of 2012", but rather "My Most Disliked Anime of 2012", just to avoid this confusion and remove the expectation that we're trying to judge quality objectively.

(I do think that some people would be able to differentiate between "The Worst" and "My Most Disliked" (least liked)... but I think you'd have to establish a lot more ground rules and criteria to set the standard. Otherwise, people could easily be comparing apples and oranges (even if we're all talking about anime).)

[Dawnstorm]

Most disappointing?

The crown goes to Kore Wa Zombie Desuka? ~ Of the Dead. Almost pure fanservice, and - I assume - target to people who have read the novels (since some of the stuff I was expected to know didn't seem to come from the first season). I quite liked the first season. I didn't expect the second season to be as good, but it still managed to disappoint. Mostly pointless. Meh.

I was one of those who was disappointed with Another, but I was disappointed from the start. I thought I'd get atmospheric psychological horror. Instead I got an overwrought wanna-be-creepy atmosphere with occasional shock effects. I actually liked the ending better than most of the show, because of its over-the-topness. Some of the deaths crossed into unintended-comedy country. Not a bad show by any means, but I didn't get drawn in like many did.

***

To me, Sword Art Online was neither the worst show (it has some good scenes; it looks pretty, has good character design and voice acting, and a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack), nor was it particularly disappointing (pretty much what I expected). But it does stand out to me as the - dare I mention it? - most "overrated" show of the season.

I suppose the worst thing that can happen to you is this: You're excited about a show, but it turns out to be utterly dispicable, and to add insult to injury everybody around you - even people with good taste - loves it. Welcome to my nightmare. I hope I didn't scare you...

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm;

I suppose the worst thing that can happen to you is this: You're excited about a show, but it turns out to be utterly dispicable, and to add insult to injury everybody around you - even people with good taste - loves it. Welcome to my nightmare. I hope I didn't scare you...

Been there done that a few times though it was less me being excited about something and finding it despicable and more me showing interest in something being totally underwhelmed/unimpressed by its execution and then turning around and finding that seemingly everyone was losing their minds over and praising it to the heavens and being utterly UTTERLY baffled as to the major attraction and adulation while at the same time being branded a hater for not joining the chorus. That was my nightmare for 3 years and I hope to never have to relive it.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

To me, Sword Art Online was neither the worst show (it has some good scenes; it looks pretty, has good character design and voice acting, and a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack), nor was it particularly disappointing (pretty much what I expected). But it does stand out to me as the - dare I mention it? - most "overrated" show of the season.

With the amount of people vocally voicing their hatred and disapproval all over the Internet these days, it seems hard to justify "overrated" at this point. It's definitely a contender for "Most Controversial" though (but I'm supposing Nisemonogatari, and Episode 8 in particular, may win that one).

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

I suppose the worst thing that can happen to you is this: You're excited about a show, but it turns out to be utterly dispicable, and to add insult to injury everybody around you - even people with good taste - loves it. Welcome to my nightmare. I hope I didn't scare you...

This is only a problem if you were ever under the delusion that there was such a thing as "good taste" or that you (or anyone else) ever had anything resembling it. But I do understand what you mean in the sense that it's a bit disheartening to find yourself at odds with people whose tastes you are usually aligned with. It just goes to show that no two people value the same qualities in the exact same way; every disagreement is an opportunity to learn more about the other party and yourself.

(Anyway, enough meta from me...)

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

With the amount of people vocally voicing their hatred and disapproval all over the Internet these days, it seems hard to justify "overrated" at this point. It's definitely a contender for "Most Controversial" though (but I'm supposing Nisemonogatari, and Episode 8 in particular, may win that one).

Heh, well, I'd say it can be the most over-rated and most over-hated show at the same time.

This is only a problem if you were ever under the delusion that there was such a thing as "good taste" or that you (or anyone else) ever had anything resembling it.

Seriously, objective judgement of taste issues is only possible if you manage to describe a taste in objective terms and then show how the anime relates to that taste. It's usually too much work for a forum post (but worth it if you care).

But I do understand what you mean in the sense that it's a bit disheartening to find yourself at odds with people whose tastes you are usually aligned with. It just goes to show that no two people value the same qualities in the exact same way; every disagreement is an opportunity to learn more about the other party and yourself.

Exactly. I've learned to appreciate shows I wouldn't have been able to enjoy otherwise through getting to know other perspectives in the past. (Less so with anime; my prime example is Wallace and Grommit.)

[Reckoner]

Well as for me, there are definitely shows I hated more than these (Except one example). These just happened to be the most disappointing (Shows that were sequels and/or that I first thought showed promise in its promotion or early goings and ended up turning out to be something that is less than desirable).

Anyways my list would be the following:

1. Nisemonogatari - I loved Bakemonogatari to bits, but Nise just completely failed to live up to my enjoymnet of its predecessor.

2. Last Exile ~ Fam - The moeified universe of Last Exile did not go so well with me.

3. Eureka 7 AO - A unique qualifier for me for both the most disappointing show of the year and perhaps even my most hated. Loved the original, and was insulted by this sequel. Terrible plot, terrible characters.

4. Kokoro Connect - This show had interesting ideas but its execution ended up being its downfall. I am severely disappointed in it, though it's definitely not a bad watch.

[Flawfinder]

Don't even have to think about it:

Fate/Zero- Blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah . Ironically, it's the Type-Moon anime that I actually like amongst the others.

Kokoro Connect- Kind of interested in it for the premise. Not only did it disappoint, but I ended up hating it because it went off in such stupid directions. KC is also my least favorite anime of 2012 that I completed, aside from Black Rock Shooter.

Eureka Seven Ao- This was practically Rahxephon all over again (shut up, Rahxephon was terrible). Should have expected it though considering it's Bones. They always have unique premises that fail to live to up my expectations.

Avatar: Korra- Not exactly anime, but it definitely counts. What they did to Amon was unforgivable.

Sword Art Online- How can this show be so fucking bad? Tentacles? Really?!

Tsuritama- Didn't give a shit about anything that happened after Episode 5 or so