2010's Worst Sci-Fi Anime of Every Year

The 2010s were a treasure trove of groundbreaking sci-fi anime that explored the technological and philosophical possibilities of the future. But in between these triumphs, there were epic flops that seemed to be brilliantly constructed from ground to flop. These are usually the result of overly ambitious ideas, dwindling budgets, or a lack of understanding of how to construct a futuristic story. An exploration of the decade's biggest missteps provides an interesting exploration of how science fiction can go astray when throwing away the reason for plot twists or inferior special effects.

Navigating these critical darlings is a tale of lost potential and technological disasters. From confusing time-travel stories to harrowing visuals, these are the nadirs of science fiction in the decade. While they may have set their sights on the stars, they ended up in a black hole of critical and fan derision. This list is a reminder to any company that tries to dip its hand into the murky waters of high-concept futurism, without a solid narrative vision.

10

Togainu no Chi (2010)

The show is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia after World War III, and involves a young man, Akira, who must compete in a street-fighting competition to survive. The town is ruled by a ruthless gang, whose job it is to collect dog tags. It seeks to incorporate cyberpunk themes with a dark psychological battle for freedom in a chaotic world.

Sadly, the show suffered from an abject lack of quality control, with animation that often fell to static and sometimes placing images on off-model characters. The story fails to translate well with pacing issues and an empty world. Instead of a gripping dystopian thriller, we were treated to a visual nightmare that failed to evoke the power of the world around it despite having an interesting premise and good character design.

9

Freezing (2011)

This sci-fi/action series is set in a world under attack by Nova, multidimensional aliens. In an attempt to eliminate the threat, young women (Pandora) are genetically engineered to have supernatural powers and are paired with male “freezers”. It follows the rigorous training and personalities of a special military academy training humanity's “last stand”.

The show is notorious for its excessive fan service and ripping clothes above its intriguing science-fiction premise. The plot often came secondary to cringe-inducing awkward power struggles and mindless action sequences. Its “ecchi” sensationalism turned off viewers looking for a more mature war story, with it being more weird fan service clips than actual anime with a compelling story.

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8

Busou Shinki (2012)

In a futuristic world, little robots known as Shinki are best friends/playmates. The small robots are sentient and can be equipped with various weapons and armor to fight. The anime follows a special set of Shinki as they go about their lives with their masters, and occasionally take part in some techno-battles.

This premise could be the basis of a good toy-based sci-fi PokemonBut it turned out to be a weak set of vignettes without much of a story. The animation was slow, and the “battles” were more product placement for physical toys than a dedicated anime. It lacked the kind of detail that would flesh out a high-tech concept into anything more than a gimmicky product pitch.

7

Valvrave the Liberator (2013)

This mecha action series is set in a future where humans live primarily in space colonies, and tells the story of a high school student who unwittingly pilots a sentient robot mecha. The show tries to explore the concepts of immortality, revolution, and the toll of war between giant space forces. It was originally pitched as a decent high-budget and interesting series with high-quality animation and a complex political storyline, but ultimately missed the mark in every aspect.

It is most notable for its “train wreck” storyline, which introduced outlandish twists at a breakneck pace. Its political roots quickly progressed to absurd character behavior and supernatural situations that didn't seem to fit the world created for the show. Its high production values ​​didn't help the fact that the script was so inconsistent, and became a meme, that turns the play into a comedy.

6

Pupa (2014)

Pupa is a series that presents itself as science-fiction horror, or at least tries to, and follows two children who are infected with a virus that turns their sister into a cannibalistic zombie. His brother can grow arms and legs, and lets him eat his flesh to satisfy his hunger. It deals with themes of family sacrifice and the biological implications of a strange viral-induced mutation in the contemporary city.

Although the concept was very interesting, the adaptation was a notorious flop due to its four-minute episodes and censorship. The story was fragmented, and there was no time for characterization or any story development. No explanation is given as to the “science” behind the virus or the backstories of the characters, leaving the viewer with unintelligible, heavily censored, boring and consistently dull animation.

5

Comet Lucifer (2015)

One day, on the planet Gift, where energy is derived from a beautiful blue crystal called Giftgeum, a young boy finds a strange girl in the mines. Their meeting sets off a grand adventure in a technologically advanced, fantasy world aided by giant robots. The show sought to be a “boy meets girl” action-adventure with a mix of traditional robot battles, rich world building, and mysteries to solve.

Arguably the biggest flaw of the series is the plot discontinuity which leaves the audience confused. After a captivating opening, the story veers into a silly “chosen one” story without warning and ends in a completely undeserved ending. The characters remained inconsistent and unmotivated, and the emotional punch was lost because it failed to explain the world it was set in, leaving a visually beautiful but empty show.

4

The Big Order (2016)

From the minds behind Future Diaries, this science-fiction thriller is about a boy who uses his “order” ability to accidentally trigger a catastrophic apocalypse a few years ago. He now lives in a world where many people have received powers to alter reality based on their prayers, and must navigate an ever-changing political environment. It was set to be an action-packed cat-and-mouse game of psychedelic forces in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Shakti quickly became a joke for its terrible, stiff dialogue and a plot that made no sense. The main character's motivations were unaligned, and the show was based on shock values ​​and illogical “rules” about its powers that changed according to the plot. It seemed like a send-up of 2010's “Agelord” tropes, and it didn't deliver the “mental torture” it tried so hard to achieve.

3

Hand Shakers (2017)

Set in the future, “Hand Shakers” are people capable of using weapons called “Nimrods” when they hold hands and their souls merge. Couples fight for the right to face God in a virtual world and get answers to their prayers. The show was promoted for its distinctive, high-contrast visuals and “innovative” use of the camera to make the fights more visual.

The end result was a visual train wreck and a health hazard with dizzying camera shakes and CGI collisions that left many feeling nauseous. The plot lacked substance and contained generic tropes, while the characters' dialogue was downright awful. The show's emphasis on “style” over substance made the show the worst-rated animation of the year, and more filters don't make better animation.

2

ReRideD: Derrida, who travels through time (2018).

Derrida is an engineer who discovers a flaw in the “autonomous machine DZ” robots he helped develop. He is frozen in time, only to wake up 10 years later in a world dominated by these out-of-control robots. He must “time-leap” into the past to stop the robot and save his friend's daughter.

The animation was a mess, one of the worst animation spoofs of the decade, with characters mostly not models and wooden movements. The physics of time travel was never explained, and the story seemed completely out of focus towards the end. Instead of a heartwarming sci-fi tragedy, it turned into a tedious grind of vague sci-fi language and animation that felt like the early 1990s.

1

W'z (2019)

It was a sequel to the original manga Hand Shakers, and focused on a young DJ, Yukiya, who shares the same powers to enter a parallel world when they shake hands. He uses his powers and music to break out of a world with many factions and learn more about himself. The series attempted to fix the visual problems of the previous series while maintaining an “urban sci-fi” aesthetic.

Compared to the original, the cinematography and story premise were better, but still a neon nightmare and pretty much disjointed. The plot was even more lacking than the first series, relying on “soul-mate” tropes without contributing anything to the mythology of the world. It continued to do everything the first series did wrong and didn't really introduce anything new, thus becoming the epitome of bad sci-fi in the late 2010s even after two attempts.