Even some ofthe best anime series of all timecan’t escape downright terrible seasons. It’s a disappointing reality to face, but it isn’t easy for any creator or anime studio to put a solid 10/10 series forward. While shows likeSolo Levelingseem to only get better the longer they’re on, that isn’t the case for everyone. Some series seem like they’re doing everything right, only to drop the ball during their second or third seasons.
Having a terrible season in the middle of a great series hurts even more than an all-around terrible animebecause it makes fans wonder what could have been.Some series are able to recover from their lows, but other series become synonymous with their worst moments, showing just how important it is for a series to maintain its quality throughout its runtime.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slimeis one ofthe best isekai series of all time, and somehow, its third season nearly ruined everything. The series stars a former Japanese man reincarnated as a slime in a new world. While slimes are almost always the weakest monster in any fantasy series, Rimuru Tempest is the exception. He’s so absurdly powerful, he’s able to start and defend his own nation.
The third season ofThat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slimeis so surprisingly bad that it feels like it belongs in another franchise. Commonly referred to as “That Time I Got Stuck in a Meeting” or “That Time I Got Reincarnated in a Meeting”,the season is so fixated on meetings that it feels like the series is messing with its fans.In a series defined by action, the third season of the isekai takes all the excitement out of the franchise.
Tokyo Ghoulis one of the most beloved anime series ever, which makesTokyo Ghoul:re’sfall off even more disappointing. The original series is ranked as the10th most watched anime series of all timeon MyAnimeList.com, one of the biggest anime forums on the internet. The sequel toTokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul √A,isn’t too far behind as the 59th highest-ranked series. Both series also have 7.79/10 and 7.02/10 scores respectively, two great scores for the franchise.
Tokyo Ghoul:reunfortunately doesn’t share the same accolades. It’s outside the top 1000, ranking as the 119th most popular series, and carries a low 6.37 rating. Fans considerTokyo Ghoul:reto be confusing, awkwardly paced, and underwhelming.It’s a sad change of events from what started out as a powerhouse of anime.At least the first few seasons are solid, but it would have been even better if the entire franchise was as great as it began.
The Saga of Tanya the Greatis one of the most entertaining and unique isekai series of all time. The series stars a normal Japanese man as he’s killed by a coworker. While he’s dying, he claims that there is no God in the face of a creature claiming to be exactly that. “Being X”, as the man describes the entity, reincarnates the man in a new world as Tanya von Degurechaff.
Tanya soon dominates her world ferociously as one of the youngest and smartest characters in it. While both seasons of the series are solid, the movie is terrible.Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movieis a pretty great entry into the franchise until it introduces Mary Sioux, one of Tanya’s mortal enemies. One ofthe worst tropes in animeis when a character dies only to be revealed to be alive yet again.
Tanya and Mary have a great fight, and it seems like at least one of them had to have died from the intense fighting. Unfortunately, neither of them died, making the entire fight seem entirely meaningless. It’s a underwhelming and frustrating end to what could have been a great movie.
7Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside
Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life in the Countrysidehad the potential to be one ofthe best romance series of all time. The first season introduced a fun and unique concept to the art form, setting the scene for a great season. The series is about Red, a character kicked out of the hero’s party who decides to live a quiet life of peace instead. He meets Rit after opening his own shop, and the two quickly fall for one another.
The hero and Red’s sister, Ruti, make her way to her brother’s shop and lives with him at the end of the first season. The second season could have capitalized on the first’s success, but instead, it chose to introduce an unlikable villain and pitted Ruti against him for no reason. The series could have delved deeper into Red, Ruti, and Rit’s new life, andit would have made for a great continuation of everything the first season put forward.
Fire Forcewas one of the hottest anime series when it first came out in 2019. The 2020 sequel and second season took everything that the first season put forward and ran with it, creating a great adaptation of the manga that the anime is based on.Fire Forceis a simple shōnen anime with great fights, amazing animation, and some of the best sound design in the entire art form.
The third season didn’t come out until 2025,snuffing out all the momentum the first two seasons worked hard to create.While the third season of the series looks to bring the same high-powered fights to the franchise, it doesn’t feel the same. The moment is gone, the pacing is off, and it struggles to keep up with the edge the first two seasons brought to the table. The third season feels rushed, which is ironic considering how long it took to come out.
One Punch Man’ssecond season was a huge letdown to anime fans across the world. The second season itself wasn’t horrible, but compared to the masterpiece that was the first season, it wasn’t a worthy successor.One Punch Manhas one of the simplest premises in anime: what if a character could defeat nearly anyone with a single punch? It’s one ofthe funniest anime of all timebecause of where it starts,but unfortunately, the second season takes a different direction.
There are two main problems that plague the second season ofOne Punch Man:the series doesn’t focus on its main character and a new animation studio took over. Madhouse is one of the best studios in anime. They created the first season, but were too busy for the second. J.C. Staff came in for the second season and let a ton of fans down.
Overlordis another solid isekai series with a great premise that makes the show entertaining from the start. The series stars Ainz Ooal Gown as he finds himself trapped in his favorite video game. Luckily, Ainz is one of the strongest characters in the world. Where other isekai characters might come to their new world with the hope of improving it, Ainz looks to be the titular Overlord, dominating his enemies through conquest and power.
Overlordhas four seasons; the first, third, and fourth are almost perfect.The second season is so bad that it feels like an entirely different show at times.The second season ofOverlordrarely focuses on the main cast of characters, instead highlighting a random group of lizard people that have nothing to do with the main story. There is a fun battle scene where Ainz eventually subjugates the lizards, but that’s about it for nearly 15 episodes.
Shangri-La Frontierisn’t the first anime series to take place within a video game. Whether or not it can truly be called an isekai series doesn’t really matter either, becauseShangri-La Frontieris amazingly entertaining from the very beginning. The premise of the show is that an expert video game player who normally plays bad games finally plays one of the best, quickly becoming one of the most unique characters within his new game.
Because Sunraku chooses to forge his own path, unlike other players, he uncovers some of the most interesting parts of the video game he’s playing. For whatever reason, the second season betrays everything put forward by the first,forcing Sunraku to play a more servant-like role to the guild masters of the game he’s in.It’s a change that makes the series do a complete 180, ruining what could have been an exceptional series.
Tower of God’sfirst season brought one of the longest and most popular webtoons to mainstream anime viewers across the globe. It stars Bam climbing the titular Tower of God, trying to find himself, his best friend Rachel, and whatever is on top of it all. The first season had a lot of great things going for it. The most captivating aspect of the first season was the incredible art style, showcasing the main characters in a form unlike any other series in anime.
The second season ofTower of Godtook several steps back in terms of quality.First and foremost, the art style changed from top to bottom, reverting to a normal, run-of-the-mill style. Second, there was barely any animation at all, asTower of Godbegan to look more like a PowerPoint presentation than an actual animated series.
Unfortunately, the only time people talk aboutThe Promised Neverlandis when they’re referencing how bad the second season is. The first season ofThe Promised Neverlandwas promising to say the least, showcasing an interesting premise, adorable characters, and one ofthe most gripping premier episodes in anime. The series starred a group of intelligent kids in an orphanage as they quickly and brutally learn that the world they live in has a dark twist to it.
The second season ofThe Promised Neverlandmade such bad decisions that it is baffling.The anime adaptation skipped arguably the best arc in the entire show, omitting key characters, plot points, and creating massive plot holes at the same time. The writing felt worse, the characters' decisions didn’t seem to make sense anymore, and the show as a whole felt like it abandoned everything that made it great.
