Most Disappointing Anime of 2013, Animesuki's Choice

[Kameruka]

Time's up! Voting phase is over. Time to decide the "winners". Check the first post of this thread for the "winners".

Those who live in Western hemisphere can change your clock to Singapore's time zone.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Lyocol

I guess if Free! was never shown then people would have better perception on Kyoukai no Kanata but too bad the damage was already done. By the way KnK could got better reviews if it was a 3-hour movie instead of 12-episode TV series.

No, really, one of KyouKana's main flaw had been the subpar characterization. You know something have been done wrong when all you remember from characters were the stockphrases they have been repeating episodes after episodes, and not much else.

[AmeNoJaku]

Originally Posted by Sheba

No, really, one of KyouKana's main flaw had been the subpar characterization. You know something have been done wrong when all you remember from characters were the stockphrases they have been repeating episodes after episodes, and not much else.

We were talking about this in the KyoAni thread, but I am really surprised how their remaining fans still expect from them something different from K-On

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

We were talking about this in the KyoAni thread, but I am really surprised how their remaining fans still expect from them something different from K-On

While I'm very surprised that KnK is getting so many votes as it is, the video KyoAni made for the original novel looked far less conventional then the eventual anime was.

Expecting a K-On! clone and getting Hyouka was only a year ago is probably still fresh in memory for many too, though I would think most KyoAni fans are aware that Hyouka is the kind of thing that doesn't come around all that often.

[Joyce_Steele]

Oh yeah KnK "win" but I'm still glad Ore n Imouto 2 got lots of votes there.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

We were talking about this in the KyoAni thread, but I am really surprised how their remaining fans still expect from them something different from K-On

This was the first time that KyoAni had tried a truly action-oriented show since... Full Metal Panic? It was also the first time they had tried a more dark/serious show since... Full Metal Panic?

Combine that with the KnK PV, and I think many of us (myself included) were expecting something like Shakugan no Shana or Fate/Zero, only with the KyoAni visual polish.

But yeah, we learned our lesson.

Originally Posted by Joyce_Steele

Oh yeah KnK "win" but I'm still glad Ore n Imouto 2 got lots of votes there.

This is the analogy I would use to explain it...

Imagine you're a teacher.

KnK is a new transfer student that you've heard great things about, and that you expect to get straight As.

Ore no Imouto and Infinite Stratos were students you had last year, and they finished the year in the Bs (and some fellow teachers felt you were easy on them, and should have given them Cs).

KnK, Ore no Imouto, and Infinite Stratos all end up C-/D students for you in the school year after KnK transfered in. Who's the most disappointing? For me, it would be the guy I thought would be getting As, not the guys who had been getting Bs.

[NoemiChan]

I'm so happy Coppelion got a lot of dislikers.^^

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Imagine you're a teacher.

KnK is a new transfer student that you've heard great things about, and that you expect to get straight As.

Ore no Imouto and Infinite Stratos were students you had last year, and they finished the year in the Bs (and some fellow teachers felt you were easy on them, and should have given them Cs).

KnK, Ore no Imouto, and Infinite Stratos all end up C-/D students for you in the school year after KnK transfered in. Who's the most disappointing? For me, it would be the guy I thought would be getting As, not the guys who had been getting Bs.

Well, I wouldn't have used quite this analogy, but I too was thinking something similar about this earlier today. A disappointing sequel is actually somewhat different from a disappointing new show in terms of the context of the disappointment. And actually, in the case of both of these sequels, an argument could probably be made that you're talking about a first season that combined a lot of different elements, and a sequel that shifted the focus somewhat more towards certain elements and subtly away from others. Whether someone was disappointed depends particularly on what elements they preferred, but the feeling of disappointment if it applies could also be more intense because they feel more invested in the franchise. By the same token, and going by the numbers, people who weren't that impressed with the first season are unlikely to have had high expectations for the second, and thus may not have even watched the show, or if they did felt the same degree of disappointment (like your B to a C-/D example). So, you could almost argue that disappointing a franchise's fans is more "weighty" than disappointing a crowd who came in not really knowing what to expect.

If you want to insert a third group into this equation for the sake of the argument, you'd have people who were familiar with the source and watching the anime adaptation. This could give you a different sort of disappointment again due to the context of the expectations. (I'm sure we've all observed that, in general terms, serious source material fans tend to have very high expectations for how the anime could have done the source "justice" if only they'd just...) I personally tend to downplay this sort of disappointment to some degree if I feel the expectations are a bit unrealistic or don't reflect the inherent differences of the medium.

In the end, for the sake of this poll, obviously things were combined, but I think it may actually be more useful to have the vote in three separate categories:

1. Most disappointing new anime (first-time viewers or original anime)
2. Most disappointing anime sequel
3. Most disappointing adaptation (only for source readers)

I suppose it's conceivable that the same show could win in two out of the three categories, but it'd often be different. The nature/source of the expectations is quite different in every case.

[KholdStare]

Shingeki no Kyojin

It had a nice premise that had potential to be great. Then halfway through characters change their minds randomly, horrible pacing, and all-around disappointment, from A to D.

[Joyce_Steele]

Possible 2014 offenders:

Space Dandy: Nothing special about it except "disco guy saves the world/galaxy/universe". Disco is dead and there is no reason to revive it. While it is and interesting concept on paper but it can get old very fast.

Kantai Collection: Strike Witches with battleships and many times less the pantyshots. There's nothing wrong with it if you're a big fan of ecchi genre but it just overused.

[Fuyuno]

Wait, it is already over? Too bad I wasn't here earlier but at least it's good to see Kyoukai no Kanata got the first place though. If its a SHAFT production instead of KyoAni one people may react very differently but the damage was already done. Good job too all those who voted for it and let's hope KyoAni learn their lesson after this.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Joyce_Steele

Possible 2014 offenders:

Space Dandy: Nothing special about it except "disco guy saves the world/galaxy/universe". Disco is dead and there is no reason to revive it. While it is and interesting concept on paper but it can get old very fast.

Kantai Collection: Strike Witches with battleships and many times less the pantyshots. There's nothing wrong with it if you're a big fan of ecchi genre but it just overused.

Please don't go there.
Judgement based on presumption is silly and ugly.

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by aohige

Please don't go there.
Judgement based on presumption is silly and ugly.

I did a bit of a double take there. How can you even speculate about what series will disappoint you? It's like asking "Which series do you expect to like less than you expect to like it?" My head spins.

I guess it's more like asking: "What anime do you think will fail to live up to your hopes?" or "Which anime do you expect to like less than the hype suggests you should?"

Seems "disappointment" is a complex subject.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

I did a bit of a double take there. How can you even speculate about what series will disappoint you? It's like asking "Which series do you expect to like less than you expect to like it?" My head spins.

Perhaps it's more like the show you expect others will end up finding the most disappointing a year from now, which is perhaps another way of saying "What upcoming shows do you feel are over-hyped?" Either way, that is a whole other topic.

[Mad Pierrot]

I didn't have huge expectations for Valvarave but that ending. They didn't want to solve several mysteries and even added more things. It is competing with Shin Mazinger for the title of "Biggest Troll Ending."

Other than there weren't many shows I was disappointed with... Maybe Watamote considering the first episode was fun because the brother reacted to her sister's strange traits while in next episodes they forgot about making others do that. Also, the episode they used molestation alongside the traumatic results as laugh kind of disturbed me. I would give the show another try if didn't use that ever again.

[Enternal]

This is why I like it over here in AnimeSuki. I read the reviews from AnimeNewsNetwork and some of the "Worst Series Concept" that showed up was Neptunia, Pet Girl of Sakurasou, and a few others. The thing is that everyone here who wrote about their disappointment in a show have a reason and they actually watched the shows. Over on ANN, it clearly showed that they only watched 1 or 2 episode yet they brand these shows as the worst of 2013. How could you review something when you have not even fully watch it. Especially when you only watched 1 or 2? For example: "Yeah. The first episode actually wasn't bad, but the concept was so stupid that I just could not tolerate watching more." How could you do that? Judge the show for what it is and not for what you assume it to be.

Anyway, for me the most disappointing show would be Kyoukai no Kanata. Generally, I like most shows and enjoy them all to different extent. However, Kyoukai no Kanata is just failing so much that I cannot enjoy it very much. I don't hate it either but it just wasn't exciting. Free was much more fun compared to this so I'm pretty disappointed how that turned out. Even Tamako Market was more appealing!

Gargantia was also disappointing but it was still quite enjoyable. I felt that if they had built more of a story and took more time exploring the world, it would be fantastic.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Enternal

This is why I like it over here in AnimeSuki. I read the reviews from AnimeNewsNetwork and some of the "Worst Series Concept" that showed up was Neptunia, Pet Girl of Sakurasou, and a few others. The thing is that everyone here who wrote about their disappointment in a show have a reason and they actually watched the shows. Over on ANN, it clearly showed that they only watched 1 or 2 episode yet they brand these shows as the worst of 2013. How could you review something when you have not even fully watch it. Especially when you only watched 1 or 2? For example: "Yeah. The first episode actually wasn't bad, but the concept was so stupid that I just could not tolerate watching more." How could you do that? Judge the show for what it is and not for what you assume it to be.

Two of my three favourites of the year (Crime Edge and Sakurasou) made their worst concept list.

I can't say I'm fond of the category for much the same reason - I don't really believe in celebrating judging a book by its cover. But in particular I don't like the statement that Sakurasou is essentially "a romantic comedy about a girl who is essentially a voluptuous and talented infant" without any note of this being, by and large, a false premise. I had a hunch the title/premise was factitious from the get-go, so I'm a bit surprised to not see a similar conclusion from ANN considering they admitted in one of their mid-season reviews the show was much better than expected. Though perhaps I shouldn't be since this is ANN. This kind of thing is why I don't care to read them that often despite the fact their reviewers actually do sometimes steer me in interesting directions.

[Marcus H.]

I think the results pretty much reflects my own top four (although Oreimo would be first, followed by Coppelion, then Maoyuu and Kyoukai no Kanata).

[ReinZwei]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

3. Most disappointing adaptation (only for source readers)

Omg this will inflict a lot of rage, knowing the people of Manga/LN thread they are sure hotheaded when it comes to the original adaptation. This will induce a lot of flame and wounds to the anime material that adapted a particular series to

Even though I'm one of the people who is currently disappointed in Dandy, I myself am not giving it a final judgment yet, just like the other said it is too early to give it a judge's hammer of verdict yet wherein 1 episode only was being shown, the main culprit for this is the hype it reached.

The hyped is one of the main points to tell what show is disappointing that goes for Kyoukai, what do you think when the PV for it when it is aired? I myself thought that show will be an action-packed candy eye animated show and will be the show of the season, same for coppelion when I watched the PV for it, the hyped for these show was raised a notch in different anime blogs and this forum raising the hype, so the standard for these shows is quite high compared to others, another culprit is the studio, wherein expectation can be quite high if that show will come from a well known studio giving some high quality shows, simple example was the Little Busters, wherein some people are bashing it that JC staff were doing injustice on that show.

Anyway the result didn't surprised me, but I'm more disappointed in Coppelion rather than Kyoukai, In Kyoukai I'm disappointed particularly in the final episode, because of the quality the pre-final one have shown.

[Akito Kinomoto]

I've said it before, I'll say it again:
If Fall 2013 gave us many anime presents, Beyond the Boundary is the charcoal, and it's just unpleasant.

The weird thing about Beyond the Boundary is I don't outright hate it. It was somewhere between boring and offensive. Which annoys me more since I can't make up my mind to forget about it or bitch about it.