5 worst anime I've ever seen

There are a lot of great shows to watch when it comes to anime. I've seen a lot more good than bad anime as well. But, there's still SOME anime I've seen that are just.... bad.... terrible.... garbage.... you get the point. Anyways, here's the 5 worst anime I've ever seen.

5. Endless Eight, Season 2. (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

I picked this even though I actually like the show for the most part. In case you don't know, endless eight is an arc in the show that repeats the same 2 weeks  the characters have for 8 episodes, due to them being stuck in a time loop. Almost the same exact things happen in all 8 episodes, except for some minor things such as different cloths, and small changes in dialogue. But besides that, it's 8 episodes of the same thing. The animation studio even took the time to reanimate it all 8 times. To top it all off, the show was on a 3 year hiatus before returning, and it returned with this bullshit. The fact that a studio would waste so much money and manpower on something so that will obviously be hated by most people blows my mind. If any of you liked this, let me now why, I'm dying to know.

4. Rosario to Vampire

I've talked about this show in one of my previous posts. The main character, tskune, is an clueless idiot that always has to be saved by everyone because he's useless and weak. I hate him.One of my least favorite characters of all time. The main girl in this ecchi anime is Moka, a girl who seems normal, but her true form is that of a very powerful vampire. But there's a lot about this show that sucks. It's one of the most predictable anime of all time. Here's how pretty much every episode plays out:

All of them fighting over an awful and useless character. 

-Tsukune meets an antagonist

-Tsukune gets in trouble 

-Moka tries to help

-Tsukune accidentally removes Moka's rosary (when it's removed, she turns into her vampire form)

-Vampire Moka beats the hell out of the antagonist

-Everything is goes back to normal

Rinse and repeat for 26 episodes, and you got Rosario To vampire. Another thing I hated was the HUNDREDS of panty shots. Having some panty shots is fine, but Rosario To Vampire took to a new (shitty) level. There's AT LEAST 50 panty shots an episode. Sometimes even 100. Ok I'm kidding obviously, but still, there's way too many. The animation was really good though, and the 2nd opening certainly is hilarious/different. But besides that, this anime was really bad. 

3. Gantz

From left to right: boobs, idiot, asshole.

This anime starts out with an interesting concept: our main character and his friend are killed in train crash and are forced to play a "game" in which they and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens armed with a handful of futuristic items, equipment, and weaponry. Sounded pretty cool, so I watched it all. Bad mistake. The main character, Kei, is a selfish and unlikeable asshole throughout the anime. His friend is a naive idiot. The female lead is a worthless dolt that seems to just be there for fanservice. But that's not all. The pacing in this show is SOOOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW. In 1 episode, they spend the WHOLE episode deciding whether to kill one of the aliens. Think about it. A whole episode dedicated to arguing over whether to shoot an alien that WANTS TO KILL THEM, or not. Add in the fact that the animation and art look bad, and you got Gantz.

2. Sekerei

Cloths exploding for no reason, the anime. 

This is the worst ecchi show I've ever seen. There's absolutely no original or unique characteristics at all. It's got all the ingredients for a shitty ecchi anime: Lazy characterization, clueless and stupid female lead that loves the loser main character for absolutely no reason, and oversized tits. But wait, there's a twist! Whenever the sekerei fight each other, their cloths rip off! Oh wait, it's not a twist, it's just another retarded cliche in anime that I hate. The animation is good... yeah that's about it. The soundtrack has absolutely no standout tracks. The opening and ending are nothing special. The characters are all idiots. No seriously, they're all idiots. The decisions they make and the reasons for doing so made me feel like I was losing brain cells. This show is even on netflix, which actually makes sense since MOST anime on netflix is mediocre or worse. Anyways, this is awful.

1. WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Unpopular!

Another great plan to get popular. Wonder if it'll work?!?!?

Yes, that's the actual name of the anime. Anyways, this show is about a teenage girl who is a loser with no friends, and during the course of the anime, tries to change that. That's it. That's all that happens. Here's how every episodes plays out: Tomoko, the main character, comes up with a terrible plan to get popular, it backfires, and she's back to square one. People told me this was funny, but for the most part, I was just cringing the whole time. The sheer amount of awkwardness in this anime is impressive. It's as if the creator made it their mission to try and make people feel as uncomfortable as possible while watching, and sure did succeed. Like I was saying, absolutely nothing happens in the anime. It's just Tomoko being socially retarded for 12 episodes. I've seen some people say "I can relate, so it's good!" All I have to say is that if the only thing it takes for you to like an anime is to be able to relate to the main character... then you have low standards. To sum up this anime in 1 word: CRINGE

Subs versus Dubs

Anyone who has been an anime fan for a while will know all too well about the sub versus dub debate. If you don't already know, subs are anime with Japanese subtitles, and dub is anime with English voice actors dubbing over the original Japanese voice actors. I've seen countless arguments om the internet and in real life on which one is better. Hell, I've even argued about it on occasion. Now, which one is better, subs? Or dubs? Let's find out...

Subs

Anime fans who ONLY watch subbed anime are "purists" you could say. Now while I don't necessarily agree with all of these, here are some reasons for why subs may be better than dubs. 

+ You get an extremely accurate translation with the subs, which might include quirks in the original language that wouldn't be there if it was dubbed. 

+ Anime is an art, and changing anything about the original work just damages the quality.

+ Japanese voice actors are much better than English Voice actors

+ Subtitled anime has a much wider potential reach  because it is easier to produce and the licensor can turn a much larger profit on the smaller cost.

To counter the positives, here are some negative qualities of subs.

- Having to read the subtitles at all times takes away from actually watching the anime.

- People (not me) like to do other things while they watch anime, and with subs, you can't really look away that long or you'll miss out on important dialogue.

- The subtitles can be changed, or can just be very low quality in terms of proper grammar, text speed/color, etc. 

Dubs

Most people who watch anime started out watching it dubbed since it's what we saw on TV. From there, people either branch out into watching anime subbed, or stick with dub. Here are some reasons for why dubs may be better than subs.

+ It's in English, the language you speak, so it's better.

+ You can pay closer attention to detail since you don't have to read all the dialogue. Can appreciate the background art and animation more.

+ Viewers who process spoken word better than written word will like dubs better, as they can comprehend what's going on much better. This is especially true in more complex and dialogue driven anime

+ Hearing the dialogue in our native language makes it easier to immerse ourselves in the anime and feel a sense of familiarity with the story and characters that is much harder to obtain while trying to hear dialogue in a foreign language and simultaneously read subtitles.

4kids does shit like this all the time. 

To counter the positives, here are the negatives of dubs.

- If an English voice actor is bad, it's VERY easy to tell they're bad, and lowers the overall quality.

- The lips don't match with what they're saying. While it may not seem like a big deal, I can understand why it might be very annoying.

- Like I said earlier, there is sometimes translation problems, where the English language just doesn't have a suitable translation for a certain part of the original dialogue, and is then changed due to that fact. (Usually ends up being a bad).

- Studios like 4Kids entertainment censor and change an anime so much that it's almost a completely different anime than the original.

My Thoughts

I used to only watch dubs, as I liked listening to English much more than Japanese. That changed over time, as I began to find some anime I REALLY wanted to watch were only subbed, so I was forced to watch it in Japanese. This made me love subs as well. I hate that anime fans bicker and fight over which one to watch, as both have their merits, and I can understand completely why someone would choose to only watch subs or dubs.The way I watch my anime is simple: Watch 1 episode subbed, and then 1 episode dubbed. Whichever one I like better, I'll watch. Simple. We as anime fans shouldn't try and shun dub watchers, as we should be happy that other people are getting into anime, and dubs are a great way for newbies to start their journey into the world of anime. If dubs didn't exist, anime would be a lot less popular and anime studios would make less money, which means less new anime being released from said studios. So while you can not like dubs, you have to appreciate what they bring to the table. 

To sum it all up, who gives a damn how people watch anime? Just enjoy yourself! 

Top 5 anime openings

The opening of an anime can be very powerful. It can really hype you up and make you excited, or it can be terrible and you hate listening to it. Here are my top 5 favorite anime openings...

5. Death Note OP2 

Maximum the Hormone- What's up People?!?! 

This opening is a very unique opening. It has heavy metal music, the art and is almost nothing like it is in the anime, and it goes deeper than it seems. This opening is a perfect fit, because it's a great representation of Light's growing God Complex and insanity. It also has some of the most fluid and stylistic animation I've ever seen in an opening. I know some people don't like the music, but still, you can't say it doesn't fit extremely well.

4. Elfen Lied

Yukio Kondo- Lilium

This opening is one of the most beautiful openings in existence. The soothing Latin singing, the beautiful art with the style based on Gustav Klimt, a famous artist. After watching the anime, every time I hear this song, I instantly mellow out and feel a tinge of sadness. The song sounds so haunting as well, which is a fitting precursor since this anime is quite haunting and brutal. Whether this anime is good or not is very debatable, but the opening is definitely one of the better ones in existence. 

3. Attack on Titan OP1

Linked Horizon- Gurren No Yumiya

You really didn't think this would be on here? Since it's creation, this opening has been the most popular opening, by far, and it's easy to see why. This is an unskippable opening. The song is extremely catchy and fun to sing with. The Animation is clearly fantastic and vibrant. It's also epic as hell. The opening gets you pumped up for the next episode as well, which is a rare thing for me at least. Such a shame that they changed it midway through the season though.

2. Ghost in the Shell: Stand alone Complex

Origa- Inner Universe

This opening is very different from most other anime openings, as it's all in CGI instead of regular animation.  I usually don't like when everything is in CGI, but this one is done right. The backdrops look strikingly realistic, and the fighting done in the opening looks extremely fluid and top notch. It really is a visual masterpiece. The music? One of my favorite songs I've heard in anime. The singing is jaw dropping to say the least, and the lyrics are all in Latin, which sounds so much better than English or Japanese I think. Definitely an opening too, as I don't ever see people mentioning this when on the the topic of great openings. That should change.

1. Clannad After Story

Jun Maeda- A Song that ticks away Time

I hate this opening in a way. Not because it's bad. But because every time I hear it I have to fight back tears. That's how powerful this opening becomes once you've watched Clannad (which I highly recommend). The beautiful piano composition and superb singing are what make this opening special. For me, I get a sense of nostalgia as well, like this song just brings a lot of good memories up when I hear it. Which is conflicting, because it's also one of the saddest openings I've ever seen. Seriously, if you haven't watched Clannad, then DO IT. 

5 annoying anime cliches

"Cliche- a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse"

                                                  

Cliches have been part of anime for quite a long time now, as originality is much harder to come by nowadays. There's some weird ones such as when the main character ONLY sits in the back near the window. If you hadn't noticed before, do you understand why? Because I sure as hell don't. There's also the one where whenever a character seems something sexual, their nose starts bleeding. There's absolutely no reason for why your nose would bleed if you saw boobs. Seriously, it's just dumb. Then there's the other weird one where the the character will be late to school, so they run to school with a piece of toast in their mouth. Why is that so popular? Who started it? So many questions. Anyways, here's the 5 most annoying cliches in anime.

5. Never stop adjusting glasses.

WHY WHY WHY WHY

This might seem like it's not a big deal, but for me, it is SO ANNOYING. Almost everybody in my family has glasses, and they rarely ever have to adjust them. So do people in anime just buy shitty glasses or what? Or maybe it's because people think it looks cool. Either way, it's obnoxious. Another thing that's annoying is the character with glasses is almost always the "smart" guy. Like why can't the smartest people have ever have eyes that work just fine? This is another cliche that I just don't get why it exists in the first place. Why the creators of anime/manga felt the need to latch onto this cliche and keep using it is a question I'd pay to have answered.

4. The "comical" boob grab.

When does this actually happen in real life? Never.

You know what I'm talking about when I say this. The guy trips on top of a girl and accidentlally grabs her boob. First off, people rarely ever fall down and land on another person in real life like they do in anime. Even rarer that they happen to grab their boob. It wasn't funny the first time I saw, and it wasn't the 1000th time I saw it either. The girl, no matter if the guy really didn't mean to do it or not, will then slap him, punch him, kick him, *insert other physical violence here.* Even if the the girl falls on the guy, she STILL gets angry at him. This is what specifically annoys me the most. Sometimes I wish the guy would just yell "IT WAS YOUR FAULT!', and then leave, but that hasn't ever happened from what I've seen sadly.

3. Over abusive tsunderes

"Tsundere- is a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time."

There are 2 types of tsundere in anime. The first I'll call type A. They're the tsunderes that are nice, sweet, and generous, but just happen to have a hidden violent side as well. Type B tsunderes are the ones that are jerks pretty much all the time AND they're violent. Type B tsunderes annoy the hell out of me. Take Taiga from Toradora for example. Even when she's dating a guy she really does love, she's STILL a jerk to him more often than not, and is STILL abusive. Apparently it's supposed to be funny. Who knew? All I know is it makes me dislike the character a little less every time she beats the hell out of one of her "friends". 

2. Nobody can aim worth a damn.

Standing 3 feet away? NOPE YOU'LL STILL MISS

You've seen it before dozens of times. The main character is in being shot at by a bunch of bad guys, but NONE of the 20+ bad guys can shoot him. I mean, I've only shot a gun a few times, but the bad guys in anime make my aim look great. I know the main character isn't going to die, but can the creators at least make it so that's it's not completely laughable at how bad everyone's aim is. While on the topic of bad aim, have you noticed that the characters in anime can dodge bullets? Like, they see them coming and dodge them, which is completely impossible to do. Even though I love action anime, the genre is almost always guilty of doing this. But even this isn't as bad as... 

1. Amnesia.

Perfect example of a character ruined by the amnesia cliche

If I had a dollar for every time I watched an anime where one of the characters had amnesia, I'd be a very rich man. After a quick google search, I found that less than 5% of the population has amnesia, yet in anime, it seems like it's about 85%. It's been so overused that it's more laughable or groan inducing than believable. Whenever an anime introduces amnesia, I immediately lose some interest, as I feel like the creators were so uncreative an uninspired, that they went with the easy route for character development. You know, where the character slowly gains back his/her memories throughout the anime. There's also always the "forgotten childhood best friend" too. Like when the main protagonist has a harem, and unbeknownst to him, one of his lovers is a childhood friend. But no, he has amnesia, the most overused and annoying cliche in anime, so he won't remember her until the last few episodes.

5 worst anime characters.

I'll preface this post by saying I'm sorry if a character you like is on this list. Now let's get started...

5. Tskune Aono (Rosario To Vampire)

Tskune is your typical harem lead, meaning he's clueless when it comes to women. Now there's a lot of characters that are clueless when it comes to the opposite sex, but Tskune takes it to a whole new level. The amount of cringing you'll do while watching this bumbling idiot try and talk to women will be over 9000 (Overused joke, but you will probably cringe that many times). He's also always having to be saved by the girls in his harem. Every. Single. Episode. He's also the most indecisive guy of all time. Throughout both seasons, he never chooses any of the girls, he just says "I DONT KNOW UGHHHHHH *WHINE*WHINE*WHINE." This guy is everything that's wrong with harem leads, all balled into one terrible character.

4. Nina Einstein (Code Geass)

Nina Einstein starts as a your typical very intelligent and shy girl. Nothing noteworthy at all. As the anime goes on, you see that she's a massive racist and annoying psychopath. It's never explained why she hates the Japanese so much either. She's a weak minded character too, as she has to obsess over another person for emotional support. I also hate her because during the anime, she was so crazy, that she would've blown up all of Tokyo just to get revenge for Euphemia (person she obsesses over).Couple that with the fact she has really ugly hair as well, and you got Nina. 

3. Yukiteru Amano (Mirai Nikki)

I'm baffled at the fact that some people like Yuki. He's THE most whiny character I've ever had the displeasure of watching. Even when his life is in danger of ending, he still whines and bitches about everything. This is made even worse by the fact that, for a couple of episodes, he actually mans up and DOESN'T whine and moan the whole time. He then reverts back to his normal self. Characters that act differently for no reason is a huge negative in my book, as it takes any character development they had, and just throws it out the window. Also, Yuki has a really annoying voice actor (Japanese), which just adds to the hate I have for this character. It's so whiny and nasally, like he always has a cold. The only thing I like about him

2. Kirito (Sword Art Online)

Kirito is THE definiton of a Gary Stu. A Gary Stu is a character, that is perfect. They look good, they're smart, they're overpowered, everything goes right for them, and is pretty much just there for the viewers to self insert. Kirito has almost no personality, no character development, and no matter how powerful his enemy is, he ALWAYS wins. No matter what he does, he's perfect at it, and it's never explained why. The fact that he solos MMO bosses is enough to confirm that he's overpowered as hell. I thought I would like him since he is also a hardcore gamer like me, but even that wasn't enough to save him from becoming one of my most hated characters. 

                            1. Kirino Kousaka (Oreimo) 

"Tsundere- is a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time."

This girl... this girl right here, is the biggest bitch I've ever seen in anime. Throughout the whole anime she is a jerk towards almost every single person she comes into contact with. If there was an award for the worst tsundere, she would take first place, no questions asks. If I had Kirino as a sister, I'm not sure I could live my life without strangling her once. Character development? Hardly. From episode 1 to the last episode, she was a conniving, bossy, stuck up, spoiled brat. The constant insults and abuse to her brother were funny at first, but eventually, they just became obnoxious and infuriating. Oh, and she's also into incest, which is icing on the (really shitty) cake. 

5 things I hate about anime

Anime. One of my favorite things in life that's always provided me with quality entertainment for years. Now while I love anime, there's some things that I see across multitudes of anime that I  really hate. Here are 5 things that I HATE about anime.

Random drops in animation quality.

Good, quality anime.

Anime caught my eye because of how different it looked compared to american cartoons. I loved the way everything looked and how everything was animated in general. But  negative aspect I see in a lot of anime is animation quality. One example of this is Welcome to NHK. The first 3 episodes looked just fine, and then I get to watching episode 4, and it looks like shit. It is really hard to look at, and even harder to take seriously because of how bad it looks compared to before. I'm not asking for perfect animation either, I'm just asking for consistency, whether it be high quality OR low quality. Some people aren't bothered by the animation at all, but for me, it's a pet peeve. 

Overly oblivious/beta main characters.

Most whiny and spineless character of all time.

Another huge annoyance I have with anime is the mass amount of anime where the main character is completely clueless when it comes to the opposite sex, or they're just so dense that they don't even notice another character likes them, even though it's OBVIOUS. Some examples of anime with a main character like this include Seitokai Yakuindo, B Gata H Kei, Elfen Lied, and Mirai Nikki. It gets to a point where I end up hating the main character because they're so beta and whiny (Looking at you Yuki from Mirai Nikki). Now I know there are people like that in the world, and that's fine, but lately It's gotten to the point where almost every new anime I watch, the main character is completely spineless. I just want SOME anime to have a beta main character, not MOST!

This is who dies to keep you safe

Most of the main characters are teens.

Again, I like a lot of anime where the main cast are teenagers, I just don't like it when EVERY anime is about teenagers, no matter what the situation. Oh the world is ending? BETTER SEND A TEENAGER TO SAVE US! The best fighters in the world? ALL TEENS! The people who defend you from witches? 14 YEAR OLDS! *Cough Madoka cough.* It has gotten to the point where I just assume every animes main characters are all teenagers, unless said otherwise. I'd like to see more anime involving full grown adults, as a more grown and mature main cast is a breath of fresh air in the high school ridden anime realm. 

        

Too many filler episodes

Nothing makes me want to drop an anime more than excessive amount of filler episodes. Some examples of this include Naruto, Bleach, and Detective Conan. I don't ate filler episodes, that's not my point. In Code Geass, for example, I love the school festival filler episodes, because they're entertaining AND don't go on for too many episodes. But an anime like Naruto, for example, has a LOT of filler episodes. If you don't look up an episode filler list for Naruto, you could spend over over a DAY watching filler that is completely pointless and doesn't add to the story in any way. But even this isn't my biggest problem with anime, my biggest problem with anime is...

Bland and overused archetypes for characters.

Archetype- a very typical example of a certain person or thing

 For this, I'm talking about when an anime is full of walking and talking archetypes that aren't anything more than that. For example, in a lot of anime, there;s the "shy and awkward" type, the " talkative pervert" type, the "airhead with big boobs" type, the "emotionless and quiet" type, and so on and so forth.  There's a lot more, but I'm sure you can think of a few. Anyways, a character CAN have one of these archetypes and still be an amazing character. For example, Yugi Nagato from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a common archetype (emotionless, quiet), but is still a very great character, because she changes over the course of the anime and is a memorable character. But in a lot of anime, the characters offer nothing other than that specific archetype, and stay that way throughout the show. An example of a show that's guilty of this is Demon King Daimao. I do like the show, but all the characters are pretty much specific archetypes and aren't memorable or original in any way. 

3 most underrated anime

Underrated: underestimate the extent, value, or importance of (someone or something)

For this list, I am talking about anime that I feel is very good but not talked about or as popular as I think it should be. Think of them as diamonds in the rough.


3. Speed Grapher

I found this anime while browsing Netflix about a year ago, and thinking it would be another mediocre anime, because netflix pretty much only has mediocre anime. But after watching it, it became one of my favorites. After going to myanimelist.net and  looking at the popularity ranking (639), I was shocked. Speed Grapher is one of the most unique anime I've seen to date. When I say that, I mean it's not a bunch of cute highschoolers or any other generic and overused plot/setting. What I really like about Speed Grapher is how it's a very character driven, gritty, and dark show that shows what the ugly side of people is, sometimes literally. Oh, and the main character, Saiga, has a power that let's him blow anything up with a camera. Pretty cool right? Has an amazing opening song, cheesy but fitting music, and has one of the most exciting battles towards the end. A must watch. 

2. Kanon 2006

This anime never seems to be brought up when talking about great romance/drama anime. Clannad (my favorite anime) is usually brought but never this, even though Kanon is a great anime as well. Much like Clannad, you end up loving almost all of the characters, which can then turn into sadness, because this anime is quite a tearjerker. The animation and music in this are also top notch, with the music being what really makes every scene memorable. The storyline for this seems simple: the main character goes around helping other girls with their problems. But I see it as such a good anime BECAUSE it's simple, yet it is so entertaining and beautiful. A definite must watch for fans of Clannad, or drama/romance anime in general.

1. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

This is another anime that liked because of the very unique setting and characters. The main character wakes up not remembering anything about his past life, or even his name, and given 2 choices. He can either become an assassin for a gang called Inferno, or he can refuse, and be killed. He decides he wants to live, and is partnered up with an emotionless girl who also doesn't remember anything about her past. We watch them live their dangerous lives as assassins, becoming immersed in their world. This is another anime driven by the characters, as such, you'll end up rooting for the 2 to somehow escape their cruel situation, and crying in pain along with them. This is one of my top 5 anime, yet it seems like a lot of people have never even heard of it. That needs to change, because this deserves more recognition for being a brilliant anime.

3 most overrated anime

"Overrated- have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved."

Since anime is completely subjective, this is just what anime that I think are highly praised by a lot of people, but isn't actually that good. Sorry if one your favorites is on here, but anyways...

3. Sword Art Online

When I first heard the synopsis of SAO, I was extremely excited to begin watching it, and it started out as a good anime with a very original and cool idea for an anime. Since I like RPGs, this was like heaven to me. If only the second half had been as good as the first half.... Most of the original cast is set aside except for Kirito, so all the time developing them felt completely wasted. The random as hell incest thrown in just adds to my dislike of the second half. Kirito is also one of the most bland boring main characters I've ever watched. He has no personality at all, and he's a master at almost everything he does, and no reason is given why. Wasted potential is my main gripe with SAO though

2. Angel Beats

Angel beats is what I would call the perfect definition of a rushed anime. I feel if the studio making Angel Beats could have made it into a 24 episode anime, it would have been much better and more fleshed out. Sadly that's not the case. I also don't know why they added 3 episodes of filler when it was already such a short series. Back to the rushed part; The plot is very slow paced until about the last 2 episodes, then immediately starts going fast, leaving unanswered questions and loose ends galore. Add in the fact that all the characters are walking and talking heavily used stereotypes, and you end up with Angel Beats. 

1. Naruto

One of the most popular ongoing manga/anime series, Naruto has been a huge success here in America as well. Despite that, I still think it's a quite overrated anime. Let's start with the absurd amount of filler episodes. I'm completely fine with some filler, just as long as it doesn't get to a point where it's been  5...6... even 7 episodes of straight filler that add nothing to the story. Another problem is the also absurd amount of flashbacks. They add a flashback from 3 episodes ago, that clearly isn't needed, and the FLASHBACK takes up the whole episode that I'm watching. Frustrating. The constant talking during the epic fight scenes also detracts from the show, as unnecessary talking that last half the show really ruins the fight. Overall a pretty mediocre anime that I dropped after finally losing hope that it would get better.

Top 5 Anime Characters

We all have our favorite characters in anime. Some we like because they are fearless badasses. Some we like because they have  back stories that we can empathize with. Some we like because they have big boobs. No matter the reason, some characters just hold a special place in our hearts. Now, here are my top 5 anime characters.

1. Lelouch Vi Britannia; Code Geass

The most popular anime character of all time according to myanimelist.net, is a character that I initially didn't like. He is a self absorbed, egotistical, lying, genius, traits that I wouldn't think I would like in a character. But by midway through the first season, he was already one of my favorites, and after the second season, he was firmly planted at my number one character spot. You really want him to succeed, and the way he goes about trying to change the world is nothing less than really entertaining. Despite all the morally questionable things he does to change the world for his sister, you can't help but love this very complex and interesting character.

2. Mugen; Samurai Champloo

This puffy haired badass is one of my favorites mainly because he's exactly that, a badass. His style of sword fighting is a blend of traditional sword fighting mixed in with what seems break dancing. He's rude, vulgar, and a massive womanizer, yet he's such a funny character also. Not much is known about his back story, only that he used to be a pirate and that he never knew his parents. But there is some sympathy to be had for his harsh life as well, but he doesn't let that get in the way of being a very funny, cool, and lovable character.

3. Tatsumi Saiga; Speed Grapher

A character AND anime that are very underrated. Saiga, an ex war photographer who now lives in Tokyo, is an odd, but great character. I say he's odd because his love for photography turned into a sexual fetishism. He ends up receiving the ability to explode anything he aims his camera at due to his secret fetish. Now tell me that isn't one of the most unique powers you've ever heard! Besides his power, he's a very protective character towards people  that are important to him, as most of the show is about him trying to protect
someone. Cool, calm, collected, and having awesome hair, also helps.

4. Zwei; Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

This character is very different from the rest on my list, mainly because you know almost nothing about him for almost half the show, yet still ended up being one of my favorites even before you found out about his history. The amount of hopelessness and depression he feels throughout the anime was thrust on to me as well, which is why I rooted so hard for him to escape his terrifying situation. He's also an assassin, which made watching him very entertaining and suspenseful. Couple that with him, despite being an assassin, being one of the most caring and kind characters towards the people he loves, and you got one hell of a guy.

5. Tomoya Okazaki; Clannad

One of the most developed characters of any anime I've seen, Tomoya starts as a student in high school who regularly skips school, sleeps in class, and is regarded as a delinquent. This alone caught my attention, as the main character is usually your average high school student. As the show goes on, he goes through the struggles of growing up and the struggles of adulthood, which is something that you don't see too often in anime. Watching his struggles through his life made me cry along with him at times, that's how powerful this character, and this anime in general are.