2024 was a great year for anime, offering a variety of shows for fans to enjoy.
It introduced several hidden gems, new seasons of popular series, and long-awaited adaptations.
We even ranked our picks for the best anime of 2024.
It featured exciting continuations, such as Oshi no Ko Season 2, and fresh hits like The Elusive Samurai.
The last few months of anime were full of amazing shows.
However, not all premieres in 2024 were a big hit.
Among the many new shows, some were disappointing and did not meet expectations.
These are the series that are unlikely to be remembered as fan favorites or classics.
As the year ends, it is clear which ones will be forgotten.
Here is our list of the worst anime of 2024. These anime either failed to meet expectations or simply underperformed.
Worst Anime Of 2024 Ranked
- 10. Suicide Squad Isekai
- 09. A Condition Called Love
- 08. Tasuketsu: Fate of the Majority
- 07. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night
- 06. Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
- 05. Uzumaki
- 04. Ninja Kamui
- 03. My Deer Friend Nokotan
- 02. SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary
- 01. Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells
10. Suicide Squad Isekai
Many comic book fans feel disappointed by recent releases from Warner Bros. The Suicide Squad Isekai series, while not as bad as Kill the Justice League, still fell short in many ways.
Suicide Squad Isekai combines an anime genre that many people are tired of with a DC Comics story that fans feel indifferent about.
The show does not stand out in any major way. Even when it seems to find a rhythm, it quickly loses it. From the writing to the animation, nothing stays steady, making it feel like a rushed, low-effort project.
It is surprising that the show lasted as long as it did.
Though, there are some positives to the show. The character interactions are fun, the music is excellent, and fans of the series may enjoy seeing the squad in a fantasy setting.
The show does manage to bring some fun energy, especially in the final scene where Amanda Waller dances to a loud song.
Overall, it mostly tries to promote some decent songs but offers little value beyond that.
09. A Condition Called Love
We genuinely made an effort to get into this anime, but the main character can be quite unsettling at times.
It’s almost as if he’s just a few steps away from pulling a Joe Goldberg move.
In A Condition Called Love, Hotaru Hinase feels sorry for her classmate, Saki Hananoi, after he gets dumped.
When she gives him her umbrella during bad weather, he believes they are meant to be together.
Hananoi becomes obsessed and aggressively tries to start a relationship with her. However, Hotaru has never experienced love and does not think she can.
The show quickly turns uncomfortable due to Hananoi’s strange behavior.
He tells Hotaru that if she does not fall in love with him, he will never speak to her again.
In the first few episodes, he spends an entire night searching for a hairpin she lost, even though she repeatedly asks him not to.
There is a disturbing scene where he thinks about how he wants more from her than she realizes.
Even though the story later tries to explain his actions, his behavior still feels creepy.
It often seems as if Hananoi could be the kind of person who would break into someone’s house just to watch them sleep.
This unsettling side of the character is one of the reasons why this series is being in the list of the Worst Anime of 2024.
08. Tasuketsu: Fate of the Majority
The death game anime genre is hard to master.
Creating enough suspense without making the story too predictable or illogical is tricky. Sadly, Tasuketsu fails to do this.
The anime follows Saneatsu and his friends as they try to survive a deadly game. In this game, making the wrong choice leads to certain death.
However, Tasuketsu struggles with unclear pacing, confusing decisions, and weak characters.
As a result, it is hard to care about what happens next.
The biggest issue with Tasuketsu is its lack of intrigue.
Without that key element, the show cannot grab the audience’s attention. This lack of excitement makes Tasuketsu one of the Worst Anime of 2024.
07. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night
Jellyfish Can’t Swim In the Night received a lot of praise for its feel-good story about four young women who use their talents to become musical stars.
It was an original series and quickly became one of the most highly-rated shows of the year.
However, it fails to live up to its potential in several ways and is not truly deserving of all the hype.
A lot of the story focuses on how the band is received online, which could be interesting.
However, without a solid plot to support it, this part feels too abstract and confusing.
Shows like Oshi no Ko handle similar themes much better.
Despite being about a band, the musical performances in Jellyfish Can’t Swim In the Night are almost nonexistent.
This makes it feel like the show is only loosely connected to its own idea.
The final episodes also hurt the story and pacing, as they try to add unnecessary drama.
The series ends up feeling rushed, and a single extra episode could have made it much better.
While Jellyfish Can’t Swim In the Night is not a bad series, it fails to live up to expectations.
If you enjoy anime about bands, it is still worth watching, but it is not as good as it first seemed.
06. Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
This show, featuring a Russian character, caught viewers off-guard, just as the character Masachika surprises Alya in the first episode.
The anime has strong points, including beautiful visuals, a unique art style, and interesting characters.
Check Out Our Review Here.
Yuki stands out as a memorable character. However, the plot is weak for most of the episodes.
While it follows typical rom-com moments, like shopping trips and sibling crushes, the story lacks excitement.
There is some fan service, but it does not make up for the lack of plot. Fortunately, a second season is on the way, offering hope for a more engaging story.
05. Uzumaki
Uzumaki is often seen as one of the best adaptations of Junji Ito’s manga, and this is mostly true.
The first episode was a big hit, proving that the manga could work well as an anime.
However, the quality quickly dropped in the last three episodes.
These episodes faced many problems, such as poor animation and rushed storytelling.
While it is still considered the best adaptation of Ito’s work, it does not live up to expectations.
It is surprising how the creators of Uzumaki messed up an anime with just four episodes.
The anime was made by Production I.G. and had a lot of hype because Junji Ito’s manga is a well-loved masterpiece.
Ito’s horror stories are famous and influential, but anime adaptations have struggled to capture their true essence. It is better to just read the manga.
04. Ninja Kamui
At first, Ninja Kamui was loved by fans and critics. Its intense fight scenes made it exciting to watch.
The show seemed to capture the spirit of anime like Demon Slayer and Ninja Scroll. However, things quickly went downhill.
In the first episodes, the series stood out because of its great animation and action. But later, the show used poor CGI, especially during mecha battles.
This made the fights look worse and revealed problems with the characters and story. The writing became confusing and hard to follow. Even the action lost its appeal.
The plot started off interesting. It followed a ninja who left his old group and sought revenge after they betrayed him.
However, as the episodes went on, the story lost its spark. The ending felt dull, the villains were forgettable, and the fights became repetitive.
In the end, Ninja Kamui went from being an exciting new anime to a disappointing one. What seemed fun at first turned into a boring experience.
03. My Deer Friend Nokotan
It is disappointing when a highly anticipated anime turns out to be less enjoyable than expected.
My Deer Friend Nokotan was one of those letdowns. Despite strong trailers, the show ended up being rather average.
The jokes felt forced and often repeated, which made them lose their charm quickly.
While the series may be funny in small clips shared online, it struggles to hold attention for a full episode.
The biggest problem is that My Deer Friend Nokotan has many avoidable issues.
The translation in both the subbed and dubbed versions is awkward. The dialogue feels unnatural, which is especially damaging for a comedy.
The show had potential to be the next Pop Team Epic, but instead, it ended up being forgettable, with the only standout being its catchy opening theme.
Anime comedies are hard to get right, and My Deer Friend Nokotan is proof of that.
02. SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary
Some people may disagree with not liking the show SHOSHIMIN, but everyone has their own opinions.
The main reason for not enjoying it is the slow pace. The story moved very slowly, which made it hard to feel any excitement.
The show focused on the simple dreams of the characters, hiding the fact that Osanai might not have any.
This choice made the story feel less urgent and less interesting.
The characters often talked about small things, like sweets, while barely solving a mystery. This made the show feel drawn out and pointless.
Even though the show did not aim to be fast-paced, it still should have made a stronger impact.
However, it did not. SHOSHIMIN seemed too focused on its own ideas. It tried to appear clever or edgy and pointed out that Kobato misunderstood his own ordinary nature.
Perhaps the show would have been better as a book, but by the end, it felt unimportant. Watching it seemed like a waste of time.
01. Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells
The Worst Anime of 2024 is clearly Failure Frame, which feels like a much foolish version of Arifureta.
Watching this show makes you wish the people who funded it got the smallest tax break possible.
The characters fight CGI monsters with ease, which might suggest the monsters are asking for death.
The humans in the show are often replaced by poorly-made CGI figures, only able to do simple movements.
The main character wins every battle with just three basic spells for most of the show.
There is no clever use of abilities, as often seen in these kinds of stories. It seems the author is not interested in explaining the world or the main character’s motivations.
The show even has villains who loudly announce they are “R” word to make it easier for the hero to kill them.
In the end, Failure Frame proves to be a predictable, poorly-made isekai.
For fans looking for a show to criticize, this one is always ready for a beating.