2023 was a pretty good year to be an anime fan. We got a lot of fun anime series that delighted and entertained us, including outstanding offerings like Sousou no Frieren, Zom 100 and My Happy Marriage, plus new seasons of Horimiya and Mushoku Tensei. But while all the other anime bloggers will be compiling “top 10 anime” lists of their favorite anime this year, I’d like to focus on the “worst anime” offerings, which failed to find an audience for one reason or another.
What Were the Worst Anime of 2023 According to MAL? Let’s Find Out!
2023 was a fine year for anime, with lots of stand-out shows for fans to discover. We got a lot of new shows — around 220, across all four cours — and everyone probably found plenty of fun shows to watch. But for every smash hit series like Tomo-chan is a Girl! or The Dangers in My Heart, there were a dozen shows that fell flat with fans for some reason. Let’s look at some of those, just in case there are any hidden gems you want to go back to and watch!
For these rankings, I’m using the scores from the My Anime List website. While many love to trash MAL as not being a good anime community, all of these series have been ranked by around 200,000 members, making it at least a useful way to analyze the popularity of anime shows.
The Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 2 (score 6.66). There was a time when fans were banging on the table for a new season of this beloved series, about a demon lord who gets “reverse isekai‘ed” into our world, where he gets a job at McDonald’s MgRonald’s. But when the show finally returned after 9 years, fans seemed to have moved on.
The Legendary Hero Is Dead! (score 6.63). This was a fun series about a perverted guy with an “absolute zone” leg fetish who has to take over for a legendary hero when the hero dies. I enjoyed it, but the MAL community is famously not a fan of ecchi anime series. Read my blog post on this anime here!
Reborn as a Vending Machine (score 6.54). I love a good isekai anime, but had trouble getting into this ironic take on the “reincarnated in another world” genre. Do you consider this one of the worst anime of 2023?
In Another World With My Smartphone 2 (score 6.44). A fixture on “worst isekai anime” lists, In Another World With My Smartphone got a second season in 2023. It didn’t seem to be generating any buzz with J-List customers, so I didn’t bother watching it. Was it good?
Why do fans loudly ask for new anime seasons, then refuse to support them when they arrive? Read this blog post!
Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don’t Believe in Humanity Will Save the World (score 6.33). A unique take on the fantasy genre, this show brought four flawed characters together who had all been betrayed in the past, making them bitter and cynical. But they need to learn to work together if they want to save the world. My blog post on this show is here!
Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers (score 6.31). I positively love shows that help define what it is to be an otaku, and Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers seemed to fit the bill. It told the story of a future in which otaku culture had been outlawed in Japan and was loaded with great jokes for anime fans. Sadly, the show might have been too avante-garde for its own good, and it failed to find an audience.
My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 (score 6.24). Another reincarnated-in-another-world story with a long title that started out as a Narou-kei web novel. Obviously, these shows can be enjoyable: Isekai de Cheat Skill should have been terrible, yet I positively loved it thanks to its excellent character design and good execution. But this series didn’t seem to generate any buzz among fans.
Giant Beasts of Ars (6.09). No one can cover every anime made, and I usually can’t watch more than 12-15 shows each season, max. I missed Ars no Kyojuu, an original anime work made by Asahi Production. Was the show good?
Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro (5.95). It’s a little weird that “anime where the main character becomes a pig” is an actual sub-genre? I didn’t like it in Accel World, and I didn’t feel the need to watch Butareba. Sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie, as they say.
Rail Romanesque 2 (5.91). It’s a bad sign when I — someone who watches anime for his job — haven’t heard of an anime, yet it’s already in its second season. This is an anime for railfans (train otaku), but specifically for people who love recording the sounds trains make as they go past using high-end recording gear. That’s quite a specific hobby!
A Girl & Her Guard Dog (5.80). Another show I had on my list, which I didn’t have time to start. It’s a shoujo story about a girl named Isaku whose family is connected to the yakuza. She just wants to enjoy going to high school like a normal person, but her uber-handsome bodyguard Keiya might complicate things for her. Considering what a great year 2023 was for romance anime, maybe I should go back and watch it.
Kawagoe Boys Sing (5.53). I gotta say, I love the huge variety that anime offers us, like this show about bishie boys forming a school choir. If nothing else, listen to the opening of the trailer in which the boys sing the Universal corporate theme, in the embedded video.
Kizuna no Allele (5.29). Damn, an anime featuring Kizuna Ai, the original virtual YouTuber, and I missed it? Sadly the anime seems to have fallen flat with fans. Tell us if it was any good in the comments below!
My Life as Inukai-san’s Dog (5.08). The most ecchi anime of 2023 was a lot of fun, and J-List customers enjoyed sharing memes and clips on Twitter. Naturally, the prudish MAL hated it, which is why we can’t have nice things. My blog post on this show is here!
Gunma-chan Season 2 (not rated). My tax yen at work! All prefectures in Japan have official mascot characters called Yuru-chara to represent them, and Gunma-chan is the character for J-List’s home prefecture, located in the center of Japan. Like the You Don’t Know Gunma Yet anime, this show promotes local products and tourism.
Thanks for reading this blog post exploring the “worst anime” according to MAL scores. How many of these have you watched? Are there any you would recommend? Tell us in the comments below!
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