Ask John: What are the Worst TV Anime Ever?

Question:
If you could guess, why would Nichijou be considered by a group of anime fans to be in the top 10 worst anime? Is it because it’s more of a skit show than a show with a plot line?

Answer:
This month’s Biglobe ranking of worst anime ever is an unofficial, user created poll that includes, as of this writing, 4411 votes from an unspecified number of voters. Given the nature of the poll, the ranking doesn’t practically prevent individuals from voting multiple times or consciously skewing the results, and the poll participants represent only a select sample of voters rather than a scientifically viable representative selection. In effect, the results of the poll, seem to be most viable as comedy rather than a legitimate reflection of viewer taste. The ranking includes, presently, 34 titles. One of them is listed under a nickname or isn’t an anime at all, leaving 33 titles that I recognize. Among them, only three legitimately vie for recognition as a “worst anime ever” candidate. The top ten titles on the list are: K-On!!, Angel Beats, Ged Senki, 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku, Nichijou, Manyuu Hikenchou, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, The IdolMaster, R-15, and K-On! That list seems closer to a list of current most popular anime rather than worst anime. So apart from humor, the ranking serves as a reminder that such rankings, especially in Japan, are frequently dominated by whatever’s current at the moment. The ranking also serves as a reminder that popularity and quality are sadly not consistently parallel.

Intelligence is frequently exhibited in the ability to incisively observe the obvious and overlooked. So in the spirit of pointing out the obvious, critics should remain conscious of the fact that quality is determined by objective criteria like narrative structure, characterization, animation quality, editing, and direction, not by personal taste or spiteful contradiction. I’ve stopped counting how many times I’ve seen “worst anime” lists that include titles such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade, Boboboubo Boubobo, Alexander Senki, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Evangelion, or one or more Gundam series. Not liking an anime doesn’t mean that the anime is bad. I have to presume that anyone who seriously and honestly argues that any of the aforementioned titles are legitimately among the worst anime ever is either foolishly shortsighted or woefully inexperienced. With the cornucopia of anime available, the very worst shows are the rare ones with genuinely laughably poor production and execution. Even mediocre programs that got canceled, such as Cho Kosoku Galvion and Final Fantasy: Unlimited, still exhibit competent production values that elevate them above the level of “worst anime ever.” Certainly a respectably quality production like Nichijou that simply hasn’t reached the stratospheric success of Kyoto Animation’s previous works is far from “worst anime ever” qualification.

I question even my own authority to compile a list of legitimate candidates for worst TV anime ever because I haven’t watched every TV anime. While the best anime are frequently, but sadly not always, programs that are high watched, recommended, and remembered, the especially bad shows are frequently ones that slip into obscurity. I believe that I’ll get little, if any dissension about nominating the following ten titles as ranking among the very worst TV anime series ever broadcast:

Chargeman Ken! (1973)
Kyoryu Daisenso Aizenborg (1977)
Nessa no Haou Gandalla (1998)
Submarine Super 99 (2003)
Cho Henshin Cosprayers (2004)
Legend of Duo (2004)
Koi Koi Seven (2005)
Naikaku Kenryoku Hanzai Kyosei Torishimarikan Zaizen Jotaro (2006)
Gundoh Musashi (2006)
Kissdum -Engage Planet- (2007)

2006’s Kujibiki Unbalance TV series was certainly not good, but its art design and animation quality certainly elevate it into the realm of passable. It’s reminiscent of 2004’s Cosprayers, which may actually, ironically, be one of anime’s greatest creative works if it was consciously intended to be embarrassingly bad for satirical purpose. After all, the show was literally cited as an example of terrible anime in its spin-off series Hit wo Nerae! As widely seemingly agreed, 2006’s Gundoh Musashi is very probably the absolute worst commercially produced TV anime series in history. My own list of ten titles may be debatable, but I honestly believe that anyone attempting to argue that a particular series is among the worst anime ever must be familiar with these ten titles in order to be qualified to make a legitimate, critical comparison. Any other attribution of “worst anime” is probably a confusion of “least favorite anime” rather than a genuine, objective criticism of production quality.