Animes that were 'disappointing' upon rewatching

Anime lovers on Reddit are engaged in a lively debate over the evolution of their tastes and perceptions of the series they once loved. The question that sparked this discussion was direct and profound: “ What is an anime that you loved but were disappointed when you watched it again? “.

Forum users expressed a variety of opinions and personal experiences on this sensitive but relevant topic. Many shared stories of animes that captivated them a decade ago, but upon revisiting them years later, they found that their appreciation for them had waned significantly. Personal evolution, growth and exposure to new series and genres were cited as key factors influencing this transformation of opinion.

Some participants highlighted how their perception of certain plots, characters, or themes changed over time, which affected their overall enjoyment of the series. Others pointed out flaws in the narrative, animation, or character development that they had not noticed on their first viewings, which contributed to their disappointment upon rewatching the anime

However, the debate was not limited to just negative reviews. Many users shared how, despite having been disappointed when rewatching certain anime, they still held a special fondness for them due to nostalgia or memories associated with their first viewing. This aspect raised the broader question of whether it's possible to separate critical appraisal from emotional connection to a beloved series.

« The original Naruto series, especially the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. A big fight ruined by a cascade of Itachi flashbacks .
" Tokyo Ghoul, without a doubt ."
« Well, I'm going to feel old now and say “Love Hina”. I thought this was the pinnacle of comedy when it first came out .'
« Oh yes, Love Hina was one of my favorites back in the day. Now I'm about 30 years old and I tried to watch it again recently and I couldn't stand it .
« Elfen Lied. For some reason that anime aged horribly, but the manga is still pretty solid .
« I tried to watch Elfen Lied for the first time as an adult. I can't do it, too much cringe. It definitely had its time, but now it is not .
« The Seven Deadly Sins. I liked it so much the first time that I watched it again later, and then the annoying pig, Meliodas abusing Elizabeth, and her absurdly inconsistent power scale made me not like it at all. It went from a 9 to a 6 in the repetition .
" I've been avoiding re-watching Golden Time and AIR for this very reason ."
« Like an alternative take. I tried to rewatch Golden Time and couldn't continue when the Banri ghost started appearing. I really liked the first half, but I found the pre-amnesia Banri irritating .
« Soul Eater after having read the manga ».
« For me it was Sailor Moon. As a child she was obsessed with this series. Beautiful and powerful girls? It was the best way to keep quiet as a child while glued to the TV screen. However, I rewatched Sailor Moon when the '90s version came back on TV and it wasn't the same. Too many filler episodes and bad pacing. But it's still a very nice series. I still love its aesthetics. But I think that's life, our tastes can change .
« Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, I saw it for the first time when I was 12 years old and recently I decided to watch it again and I realized how cringe it is, but the manga is definitely better than the anime . »
« Rosario x Vampire and Given, I was 13 when I first saw them and I didn't understand half of what was happening. I saw them again and they really made me cry from the shame of others .
« Death Note/Code Geass. I thought it was so cool when I first saw it when I was a teenager. Seeing him as a grown-ass adult is literally just fuel for the edgy kid who thinks “I'm so much smarter than everyone I know .”
« Lovely Complex was one of my TOP 10 when I was a teenager, but then I watched it again and couldn't even make it through a whole episode . »
« Death Note. I still enjoyed it, but it wasn't as clever or clever as I had thought when I saw it as a teenager. I also realized how ridiculous the cat and mouse game was and how cartoonish the anime was .
« For me, Gundam Wing. When it first came out and aired on television, it was epic. Great battles, great story, awesome characters. Impressive mecha fights. A few years ago I had free time at work and binged the entire series. That rhythm. Awful. So slow. And the characters are no longer as cool as before .
« Toradora. I really liked it when I started watching anime. But after trying to watch it again, Taiga is so annoying and abusive towards the male lead, I know he's a trope, but I've really come to hate the overly violent and unfair tsundere. Although there are some exceptions .
« Honestly HUNTER x HUNTER was a difficult rewatch for me even though I loved it when I first saw it . »
« Blue Exorcist, I thought about watching the third season again because of the long gap between the seasons, but I couldn't finish it, I found it quite boring, so I will skip the new season, I seem to remember that it is much better than it really is » .
« Code Geass. "I couldn't recreate my excitement from the first time I saw it and realized that most of the characters are immature and messy for no real reason ."
« One Punch Man. When it first aired, I was involved in the hype cycle with everyone, but watching it again much later, it seemed very... normal. Good, but nothing outstanding ».
« I watched a lot of short anime growing up when I went to rewatch them I had to stop because of all the underwear shots and bullying, as an adult now I can't watch this type of anime anymore but when I was younger I guess I just I ignored it .
" One Piece, just such a bad pace made me re-read the manga instead of watching it again ."
" Nisekoi: False Love, unfortunately ."
« Fushigi Yugi. I loved it when I was 15, but as an adult... too many attempts at sexual harassment for a shoujo series. I mean it gets to the point of being silly. Watase also has a fetish for killing off all of his characters in every damn thing he writes .'
« Madoka Magica. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad series by any means. But at this point, I feel like I like the idea of the series more than the series itself. There's nothing like seeing it for the first time, blind. However, the second viewing... As the series itself is quite dark and depressing, going to very dark places, I found it really difficult to watch the second time. Without any of the surprises/rewards that the first viewing gives you, when you don't expect any of the twists or the sudden change of tone after 3 episodes... I didn't even finish it .
« Fullmetal Alchemist. I loved both when I watched them as weekly premiere episodes. I tried to rewatch Brotherhood a couple of months ago and couldn't get past the second episode. "I got so tired of Edward after the umpteenth time he got angry because someone told him he was little or thought Al was his big brother."
« No Game No Life: when I was 15 it was the peak of anime. I tried to watch it again two years ago and I couldn't get past the third episode .
" Mirai Nikki is a series that is impossible to watch again ."
« No Game No Life. I still like it but there is too much fanservice and often underage characters. I would love a second season and I hope it's not too bad. Log Horizon. It's a lot more trite than I remembered, which may be because I watched it when I was younger and didn't know anime. Before seeing it again, I also highly recommended it to my brother. Both have scenes that continue to impact me when I watch them again. Honestly, I feel more motivated to read the original material than to finish any of my reviews . »
« Sword Art Online. I saw it as a teenager when it came out. It was literally the first anime I ever watched and I thought it was the hottest shit since sliced bread. All the other TV shows and movies I watched before couldn't even compare, except for a few cartoons. Now… well, I'm very far from the target audience, so I can understand why, but… now it's boring. Cringe even. "I can't get past Episode 2 without feeling like I'm dying ."
« Hellsing Ultimate ».
" Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid really went from a 10 to ~6.5 on replay for me ."
« Fairy Tail. And I do not know why. It was nice and entertaining to watch, but now it's a bit disappointing. And I hated Death Note then because it was too complicated for me and I didn't understand the hype. But now it's exactly what I'm looking for in anime .
« Bunny Girl Senpai. I was really sick of the melodrama of this series by the time I saw the third movie in theaters. There are a couple of good arcs, but the rest of the series is pretty average and many of the characters are forgettable .
« Soul Eater. I remember thinking it was the best anime in history... then I watched it again in 2021 and I was like yooooo, there are so many glitches and fanservice .
" Gundam Seed, I loved it when I saw it for the first time when I was 13, but when I saw it again years later it didn't seem the same to me, although at least I came to appreciate Mu and Murrue more the second time ."
«Neon Genesis Evangelion».
" Saint Seiya. In high school I had my Gemini model armor and everything, and I still remember certain moments that I associate with “archetypal” ideas (Aquarius in his role as teacher of his student's student). But man that's buried in a bunch of bullshit .
« “Orphen” I thought that Orphen was the coolest character ever created, and that the story was a gem, he suffered so much and was a brave, badly wounded hero…. I saw the remake and it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't the best anime ever made .
« For me, it's Konosuba. I remember thinking it was a funny anime and quite fun to watch when I was 16-17 years old. But, my God, it's unbearable. The characters (most of them) are so annoying, the humor is boring, and the story is just meh. But the animation has aged well .
« The first seasons of Konosuba were the most fun I watched in my life, when I was 12 or 13 years old. The movie was meh, and the Megumin spinoff had its moments but it was also meh overall. I think fans refuse to accept that Konosuba's comedy stops seeming funny as you grow older, and many of them “refuse to grow up . ”
" Bunny Girl Senpai, I saw her again recently and she didn't live up to the pedestal I had placed her on in my mind ."
« Sincerely Toradora. "I remember liking it a lot and also that it had a huge cult following, but when I watched it again it just didn't have that impact ."
« Terror in Resonance: When I first saw it, I was shocked, excited, and thought this anime was very underrated. A few years later, I watched it again and realized it's kind of stupid and pointless. I still love the beginning, but man, they ruined something that could have turned out great .
« Shakugan No Shana. I enjoyed it when I was in middle school, but oh my god, I barely remember anything and it was because it was incredibly generic .
« Shaman King. I watched it as a child and when I suggested it to my husband to watch it together, we both thought it was silly and boring, so maybe it's more appropriate for children .
« Cardcaptor Sakura. When I saw it again when I was 20, the teacher-student relationship (Terada sensei and Rika) disgusted me a little. She's in 4th grade, damn it .
« The Irregular at Magic High School, I'm not sure how I finished it the first time, I'm sure I was bored at the time. I mean, I was fine with the story line (I guess) but the fucking weird brother/sister ass nonsense wasn't at all. I'm not sure what some of these writers are going through to be honest, but that trope has to die quickly! ».