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Top 50 Anime To Start And Then Never Finish

#26 — Chillin’ in My 30s after Getting Fired from the Demon King’s Army

Seriously, we have to stop it with these names.

#27 — PERSONA 5: the animation

You’ll start this and then quickly realize you could probably just play the video game again.

#28 — Cells at Work

Maybe you forgot to study for a biology exam so instead you decide to binge Cells at Work. You quickly realize that’s not going to help because you’re just watching a cartoon, so you go to sleep and hope for the best.

#29 — Attack on Titan: Junior High

Awesome, just what we needed: Attack on Titan’s answer to Muppet Babies. Maybe you caught up and you’re looking for more to watch. Get through five minutes of this show and you’re eligible for some sort of cash settlement.

#30 — Attack on Titan

They’re really dragging this thing out, huh?

#31 — Rurouni Kenshin

The original series is iconic for a lot of reasons, and is one of the most influential manga out there, but if you just can’t get into this one due to author-related controversies, I won’t blame you.

#32 — Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train

Maybe you heard this was the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time and decided to check it out with no prior knowledge. “Who are these guys? What’s going on? Is the train evil?” It’s a movie that is firmly slotted in between two seasons of an existing anime, so without that information it’s probably going to bounce right off of you.

#33 — Puella Magi Madoka Magica

“Hey this isn’t Sailor Moon! Wait a second, they’re trying to subvert the genre– let’s get ‘em!”

#34 — Bakuman

This series from the powerhouse duo who brought you the one of the most thrilling and suspenseful manga of all time, Death Note, is about two boys who are trying to get famous by drawing manga. That’s really charming and all, but I’ll be honest, I dropped this at least halfway through because the numerous “ratings battles” just weren’t as gripping to me as a murder notebook that can be used by anyone.

#35 — Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Listen, your friends told you to check out Evangelion, so you did, but you didn’t know what the hell you were getting into. The math equation in the title didn’t tip you off to anything, and you’re now comatose in a vegetative state. We’re all rooting for your speedy recovery, but you shoulda checked a watch order list first.

#36 — Hajime no Ippo

The only reason to drop it is that there’s not enough. They just need to make more seasons of this, straight up.

#37 — Doraemon

Doraemon is one of the most famous anime characters in all of Japan, so naturally you’re going to wonder what that’s all about, right? Well, let me just save you a little bit of time. I looked this up and did the math: there are around 3,000 episodes of this show and counting. Think you got what it takes, big guy?

#38 — Elfen Lied

This was the go-to recommendation of every mid-2000s edgy anime kid. You ever watch this show? It sucks out loud.

#39 — JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean (Part 2)

Netflix’s stupid release schedule probably lost a lot of people by releasing “Part 6” in three disambiguated separate parts. Well it’s out now and it’s worth finishing, if you’re still around to want it.

#40 — Initial D

There are a whole bunch of different Initial D series, but despite the cool aesthetics and probably the greatest soundtrack in all of anime, you might forget over time whenever a new one does actually come out.

#41 — Hikaru no Go

They really tried to push this anime and manga a lot in advertising, and I feel like it just never took. Maybe “Go” isn’t an exciting enough concept to hold readers for an entire series. Or maybe we’re too dumb in America to get it.

#42 — Baki the Grappler

This is like the meme of that guy digging with a pickaxe underground but turning around and giving up before hitting a wall of diamonds. The first series is pretty rough around the edges before its continuation on Netflix many years later, but just know that it does get better. It gets better!

#43 — Paprika

Someone out there will think this is a rip-off of Christopher Nolan’s Inception and not the other way around.

#44 — The Devil is a Part-Timer

Not only is this series sacreligious, but it reminds you of your awful job that underpays you.

#45 — Devil May Cry

This is another one of those instances where you realize this would probably be a lot more fun if you could just have a controller in-hand and play the actual game this is based on.

#46 — The Simpsons

It’s really long, and the quality dips pretty heavily at a certain point. If “slice of life” isn’t your thing, you’re probably not going to like The Simpsons.

#47 — NARUTO Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals

Well, it’s mercifully shorter than Naruto at least.

#48 — Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

You’re either going to love or hate this one. The humor is raunchy and the animation can be off-putting at times, but it’s pretty tragically short at the very least. Apparently there’s more coming, but new episodes of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt in 2023 sounds like a pretty tough task to pull off.

#49 — I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level

Stop it!!

#50 — One Piece

I’m putting this at the end because I really like One Piece but am totally aware that the anime has its pacing issues and, well, it is very long. If you can’t do it, no worries, but just know that I will be judging you.

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