Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime had a great idea.

Go to your MAL or AniList or Excel, or brain, whatever you use to keep track of your anime. Pick the 5 shows you personally rated the lowest (but still remember) and say something nice about them.

When Anime Fans Hate Anime

And then, Crow from Crow’s World of Anime jumped on the bandwagon and I figured, “why not? This looks fun.”

I mean, sometimes I feel like I’m too positive about shows and don’t write enough negative reviews. What kind of garbage is that?! I shouldn’t look to hate things! And god willing, I do my very best to be optimistic about whatever I’m looking to watch for a review or analysis.

So I’m more than happy to try – however difficult it may be – to find the good in some of my lowest-rated things on MyAnimeList. For many that shared the same score, I had to try to determine which of the 3’s were bad enough to earn their spot on the list. Otherwise, I had to determine if a few of them truly qualified. Like, if it was some low-budget 10-minute ONA on YouTube that I thought was trash, should that be on there over a show or film I spent more time with?

After hopefully not too much overthinking, these are the five worst shows I’ve seen and the best things about them.

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Psycho-Pass 2 | MAL Rating: 3

When it came to disappointing sequels, it was either this or Tokyo Ghoul √A. This probably disappoints me more in retrospect because I view the first season so highly. The positives?

• An absolutely killer opening that goes a step beyond by changing as the season goes along. There are fewer more powerful ways to keep me watching an otherwise flawed show than with an amazing OP.
• There’s a scene where one of the antagonists reveals to Akane that her grandmother has been killed while Nessun Dorma from Turandot plays in the background and I’m just a sucker for operatic music during incredibly dark sequences.
• The episode with the guy holding everyone hostage in that store naked until the blast doors open and the police have to kill everyone because their psycho-passes are so high? I still remember being shook like nothing else.

A Kite | MAL Rating: 3

I was so excited to check out this film because I’d seen clips of this director’s work and thought “wow, how cool.” Afterward, I was… less excited to check out their other work. Wait- shit! Positives, positives!

• The ideas behind the story were interesting. A girl with a gun with explosive bullets, a mentor who gave her contracts while also working in the morgue. There were cool ideas about the premise. It was learning more that killed it.
• I mean, I suppose the benefit of most of the adult male cast being pedophiles is that you get to watch pedophiles die… so, there’s that.

Tenkuu Danzai Skelter+Heaven | MAL Rating: 2

I won’t waste time with bullet points on this. There was a sudden jump-cut between scenes where a character just started screaming inside their terrible-looking CGI fighter jet and I must have rewound that scene like five times when I watched it with my friends because it was so funny. I know that sounds like a thinly-veiled insult but look I’ve got to give it something and I’d prefer it be the moments I was smiling.

Ex-Arm | MAL Rating: 2

Wow, something good about Ex-Arm?

Okay, so no joke, while the action is abysmal, you can tell by the way it’s choreographed and designed that there was some serious thought put into how the action scenes would look. All of the problems came in once the actual animation was done. A-Tribe is a great stunt studio and I would love to see a compilation of the entire show’s pre-viz.

Redo of Healer | MAL Rating: 1

I’ve already written about this series in extensive detail. I think it’s abysmal. However, there was one interesting idea that I latched onto before I bowed out. The character’s healing magic being so coveted for its utility that the health and well-being of the healer were ignored was compelling. Additionally placing a character at the front of the narrative who has to rely solely on healing magic is a neat idea.

That’s all I’m gonna give that one.

In conclusion…

There’s probably something good about any show you can think of. It doesn’t have to mean your criticisms of something that you think is bad are invalid. If anything, the few positives could be the reason something was worse for you. If I see some great potential get squandered, that can make me even more disappointed.

But it’s important to give credit where it’s due in anything, even the things we hate. I truly think that kind of mentality can foster a more well-rounded mindset towards not only critique but one’s enjoyment of media as a whole.

So take a look at the shows you find to be complete garbage and find something positive to say about them. It’ll be fun, I promise. And if you’re a blogger or plan on spreading this fun activity, copy and paste the quote and link to Irina’s post from up above. Get more people looking on the bright side.

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Normally this would be the place where I tell you where to watch these shows but I think I’ve been nice enough.

Thanks for reading, and as always, I’ll see you next time!