There are lots of game based anime out there. Whether they are playing on the computer, playing shogi or anything else, games make for a great plot device. However, some anime just don’t quite manage to make the experience of watching people game fun. And so I’ve made a list of the top 5 worst game anime that I’ve watched.
That said, because I like to celebrate anime rather than tear it down, next week I’ll have my list of top 5 favourite game anime that I’ve watched and we can have a look at the anime that have gotten it right.
Obviously this list is my own opinion and I understand that some of the anime on this list may have appealed more to some of my readers so as always feel free to share your top 5 worst game anime in the comments. Also keep in mind that I actually did finish watching all of these anime so there are definitely worse game anime out there.
Worst Game Anime No. 5: Gamers
You would think with a title like Gamers and focusing on a group of high schoolers playing games for fun that watching the anime would be pretty enjoyable. And in honesty, if you totally switch your brain off and just go with it, Gamers is kind of fun.
The reason it gets a place on the Worst Game Anime List is the games take a back seat to relationship drama and miscommunications, the plot ends up a complete mess driven by confusion and coincidence and none of the characters ever really make it beyond their basic trope.
Gamers was definitely watchable and there are some good moments in it, but I’d hardly recommend it.
Worst Game Anime No. 4: King’s Game
I know, some of you are wondering how this isn’t no.1 on the list of worst game anime.
That’s probably because King’s Game is a bad anime but it is a cheesy bad horror anime and the game element is actually pretty solid in that the king gives instructions and characters have to carry them out or face a penalty (which is usually horrific death).
However with terrible visuals and animation, a plot that ultimately makes no sense as they try to explain how the King’s Game actually works, and really unlikeable characters, you have to really like bad horror to enjoy this one. I certainly do like bad horror so King’s Game worked for me, but it still deserves a place on this list.
Worst Game Anime No. 3 The One’s Within
Okay, creepy horror anime seem to have crept into this list of worst game anime. However, The One’s Within or Nakanohito Genome belongs here. It has an interesting concept but each of the ‘games’ the characters play are actually pretty lame.
When you couple that with an incomplete ending and ultimately not really knowing what the point of any of the games was then you can’t really say it was aa good game anime.
As an interesting piece of visual story-telling The One’s Within kind of works. So not a terrible anime but definitely a bad game anime.
Worst Game Anime No. 2 Netoge
Netoge: And You Thought There Was Never a Girl Online is an anime that I really just didn’t know what to do with. An anime about a group of teens who form a school club for online gaming (still questionable how that got approved) but then just kind of fluff about.
Some people will definitely object to this one because there are some real fans of the anime, but Netoge just didn’t click for me and would have been number one on this list until fairly recently.
There’s some character points that could have been developed throughout the story but it all just kind of felt like they were drawing random tropes and events out of a hat to progress the story. Throw in copious amounts of fan-service and questionable comedy and really it just wasn’t my kind of story. Basically, of the game anime I’ve sat through, Netoge is one of the worst game anime I’ve finished watching.
Worst Game Anime No. 1: Full Dive
Maybe after some time has passed and I’ve finished writing my full review of Full Dive I’ll change my mind on this one. Maybe time will soften my overall disdain for this anime that uses cruelty and passes it off as humour and is filled with incredibly unlikeable characters playing an awful game. Or maybe Full Dive really is the worst game anime I’ve ever watched and will retain the number one spot on this list.
Time will tell on this one but honestly Full Dive is a chore to watch by the end, much as playing a terrible game that just perpetually beats you down and never allows you to progress would be. And potentially if the characters had charm or chemistry or anything to at least make watching the disaster more appealing they could have salvaged a half-decent ride out of this.
Instead, every episode was harder to stomach until I realised I was only finishing the series because of the time already invested in it and once I got to the end of episode 12 I realised that I was sighing with relief and pretty thankful that the ordeal was over. Seriously, I should learn not to be too curious about anime with that many problems at episode 3.
Anyway, Full Dive is undoubtedly the worst game anime I’ve completed and I kind of hope it is the worst I ever sit through.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
I’m not surprised you weren’t into Gamers, since you’ve said many times that comedies really aren’t your thing. I liked that series a lot, one of the funniest shows I’d seen in years. Episodes 6 and 8 especially I remember laughing until my sides hurt. But I probably wouldn’t have even thought to put it on a list like this, since to me it’s not a game anime, it’s a comedy anime where the characters just happen to be gamers (or not, in Aguri’s case). Kind of like Saekano, which I don’t consider as a “game” anime either even though the whole plot is centered around creating a visual novel. I haven’t seen the other four and never cared to.
My own list of favorite game anime would include Saki and Hi Score Girl for sure. I kinda wanted to see that gambling anime a couple years ago – Kakegurui, I think? – if it hadn’t been a Netflix series.
That’s a fair enough point about games though even as a comedy it didn’t do much for me – then again, not surprising really.
I still haven’t watched Hi Score Girl but it is one that has been on my list to check out because there are a number of other bloggers who seem to really have enjoyed it.
Other than Gamers I don’t think I’ve seen anything on this list. And Gamers I only caught a couple of episodes of. I’m interested to see what makes your top 5 best ones.
What anime about games have you enjoyed?
Hmm… New Game, both seasons, was really great IMO. I also enjoyed C Control, though to a lesser extent. D-Frag! also provides fun for me.
I can definitely understand why “Gamers” is one here. Like you said, it kind of just goes off the rails and ends up in a completely different space than what it implied initially.
Gamers could have potentially been a fun rom-com if they had just committed to it, but there just never seems to be any certainty about what kind of anime it wants to be.
Very true, it felt all over the place.
I got to the game with the eggs in The Ones Within and then gave up. Had no idea what was going on and really didn’t care to find out.
I’m surprised to not find Angels of Death here. I only managed 3 episodes of that. I tend not to drop much so if it’s gets dropped, it had to have really annoyed me.
I also was not a fan of angels of death but it wasn’t so much an anime about playing games as it was an anime based on a game. Minor distinction but ultimately it didn’t quite fit this list.